home
about the artist
gallery
blog
links
contact

Archive for January, 2011

Studio Play Time

Thursday, January 20th, 2011


The next exercise in the Drawn to Stitch book is to add a layer of marks with variety in sharpness, width, shape, etc. I used some red paint and made marks on the black and white woven piece. Then, I almost obliterated the brown and yellow piece.  I am going to cut this one up and reassemble it. The paint was still wet when I took this photo – messy fun.

I also printed on the organza water with metallic paints using bubble wrap, a stamp with tiny dots, a sponge and even a fish.The yellow in this photo is really more green than this. Metallic paint is hard to photograph.

The second piece of organza has more white space which helps when I layer it.

I am anxious to start cutting and piecing this.

I also worked on a panel for the Dream Rocket project.

The Dream Rocket Team is collecting nearly 8,000 artworks from participants around the globe. The artwork will be assembled together to create a massive cover in which will wrap a 37 story Saturn V Moon Rocket at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. We will also be displaying submitted artwork in dozens of national venues prior to the wrapping of the Saturn V.

The panel has to be 2 ft by 2 ft. I had a quilt that I made for an online challenge last year — a black hole. I mounted it on felt that I covered with gold metallic organza to make it the correct size.

I did some stitching on the organza and added some copper foiling to blend with the quilt. I then covered it with Golden Matte Medium. It ended up looking more gray than gold, but it still works. It will be outside in the elements so I wanted to do something to protect it. Definitely not a great work of art, but it was fun and is going to a fun project. Maybe when the matte medium is completely dry, it will look gold again.

With our health care, we get membership in an exercise program called Silver and Fit. You have a choice of facilities. Mr C goes to 24 hour Fitness. I just don’t like the mega gyms. So today, I went to the local swim and racquet club which has just started a program. I can take Pilates and yoga and work out on the machines. In the summer, I can use the pool.

I feel as if I am getting back into the swing of things. My energy level is greater and I am having a good time. If I keep throwing paint at stuff, something is bound to stick!!

Painting Water

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

The Surface Design Association has a non-juried members’ show at the conference. The theme for the conference is Confluence, as in the meeting of two bodies of water. The conference takes place in Minneapolis where I assume two rivers meet. The title of the members show is Merge and Flow, another water reference. The piece is to be 12 inches by 26 inches, either vertical or horizontal.

I plan to do another piece like the sunset piece I did for one of the Twelve X Twelve themes. I painted the organza with several different blues and blue-greens. I placed a piece of silk under the organza which will be used as the base of the quilt.

It has to be done and photographed by Feb 1 so I must get busy. I plan to do some more surface design to the organza with some metallic paints. Then I can start cutting and sewing the little pockets.

I found a new art crush.  Her name is Ivelisse Jimenez from Puerto Rico. Her work is fascinating to me. Great color, complex layering, architectural elements, mixed media – really cool.

Ivelisse Jiménez uses painting as a point of departure to construct pieces that deal with the idea of simultaneity and contradiction. The manner in which objects, images and materials are articulated questions the hierarchies of what is most present.

The work consists of structures made out of a diversity of elements partially covered by a veil of acetate or plastic. This wall/screen serves as a connector that stops or ejects the viewer by making impossible frontal access to what is behind. The blurring of the outside panel unifies the singulars into a whole element. We can still view the inside where the elements are shown as irreducible and coexistent. Perception is relative and dependent upon the position from which it is viewed. The spectator must negotiate a series of points of view. The images are constantly shifting between integration and disintegration. They refer to the body/mind decision making process of finding a method to make something present. Jiménez is interested in structures that are parallel which exist in other configurations such as language. This act of synchronizing is finally a metaphor for the elusiveness of the balance of factors that determine the production of meaning.

So, when I saw the first piece up there, it reminded me of this piece that I made a while ago which I love, but which never gets into any show. Maybe I should start using the actual construction fence!!


This is a Quilt is Done

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

I didn’t have heat in the basement studio until late today so it was a good day to sit and do the handstitching on this little sunrise quilt. It is done and on the way to California to be part of the SAQA trunk show. Silk and organza is hard to photograph. I am not sure this looks true to the actual colors.

Here is a detail shot:

I did an undulating running stitch. It looks quite lovely in person.

Yesterday, it was cold in my studio and when I looked at the thermostat it was blank. I put in two new batteries and it showed the time and the temperature, but the furnace did not go on. We thought the furnace needed repair, but it turns out it was the thermostat. $25 later, it nice and cozy in my studio, again.

I entered 3 pieces in the SAQA Volusia fiber show and all 3 were declined. I am determined to not take this personally. I really want to make art that makes me happy and fulfills my vision and not worry about acceptance into particular shows.

I have done some more perusal of the Drawn to Stitch book. One big problem with it, for me, is the list of supplies that are foreign to me. I think it would be a good idea for authors of books like this to list the comparable products in the US. I am going to try to do a couple of more exercises, if I can find comparable products in my studio. I am not going to buy anything new!!

This is a Quilt

Monday, January 17th, 2011

Submissions for the SAQA trunk show, titled This is a Quilt, are due in California on Friday. The piece only needs to measure 9 – 10 inches square and only 8 inches will show through the mat. I decided to try to get something done and Fed-exed later this week. Since I spent most of the day doing SDA website training an work, I haven’t had much time.

I went down to the studio to start working and discovered that my furnace is not working. So tonight, I put on my long underwear and a couple of sweatshirts and managed to put in a couple of hours.

This is the silk organza that I painted last year for a Twelve X Twelve piece. I love the colors and so decided to put it to use again.

For the background, I am using a hand-dyed silk/cotton blend that I bought at PIQF last year.

Here is the thread that I found in my stash.

For the background, I did simple linear machine quilting.

Then I did a temporary gluing of the organza pieces.

Now, I just need to stitch the organza with the Perle cotton, trim it up and add a back and voila — This is a Quilt.

I went into the living room this afternoon and noticed that my Amaryllis is blooming.

You Bought It So Use It #1

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

I finally found some time in the studio today and decided to get to work on my first post about using items I have purchased and not used. I am starting with this book, Drawn to Stitch, by Gwen Headley. Line and mark making are both favorite design elements and so I was immediately “drawn” to this book when I saw the title and the cover.

The first part of the book deals with making interesting backgrounds for making lines and marks. One method she illustrates is weaving fabric to create multilayered and complex backgrounds. I did two tonight.

First I grabbed an aspen screen print from my stash  and a coordinating commercial print. The fabric needs to have a fusing on the back.

Here is the resulting weave:

I have it fused to orange felt. Not very exciting, but might be more interesting once I add some stitching.

Then, I grabbed a piece of white fabric and made some marks with black paint which I left to dry while we went out to dinner with Lisa and Clay.

You need to have two pieces of media, the same size. For one, you cut lines that do not go all the way through.

For the other piece of fabric or paper, the cuts are made in the opposite direction all the way through and then are woven into the other piece.

This is a much better background for adding stitches and more marks.

It felt good to get paint under my nails and to play with fabric again.