This Is What I’m Up To

Finally – I’ve done some fiber work this week. This was inspired by one of the small works It’s about 25″ square.

I’ve started quilting it, but black on black doesn’t show. For me, the quilting is the HARDEST decision. After pinning it to the design wall and seeing all the safety pins, I love them. Engergy. Direction. Now I think I know how to quilt it and what to do.

Whew!

After all the excitement of the opening of ThreadLines 2008, Lettie’s and my exhibit The Nature of Things, Pam Rubert’s exhibit, Wish You Were Hair, and Susan Lumsden’s exhibit, Visions of Plenty, and a two day workshop with Jason Pollen, I was exhausted and needed breathing time. If you click the above links to the TreadLines site and Pam’s site you will see plenty of pictures of all the events. There are also more pictures on the Uncommon Threads site. There’s no need of me adding more; besides Pam’s pictures are better than mine.

Now I’m back in the grove – I came away from Jason’s workshop inspired to return to my little black studies. Jason does them on paper with clear gesso and liquid acrylic paint. He exhibited them as an installation about three years ago at the Surface Design Association conference in Kansas City. My admiration of them has not lessened; only I want to work on fabric.

I now realize that my finishing process can be more simplified; they don’t have to be finished like “real” quilts. The first two images below, are old ones from which I cut the seamed edges and squared them up, then satin stitched all around. The third with the flower is raw edge, fused to interfacing and will be fused to the mat board. It is just sitting on top another one right now for the photograph, hence the shadow.

Now, these are really becoming fun.

Apron Progress

A zillion flowers have been cut out from photos that I’ve taken. I need to print and cut about a zillion more. Another grandmother has been added, different kind of flowers, etc., etc., etc. I’ve printed on silk organze, and painted on silk organza. Back to the cutting board.

Apron Series

Several months ago I pictures two of four old, white aprons that I’ve either received as a gift or bought in a thrift store. I knew I wanted to mount them on a black background but just couldn’t get past that.  It came to me while walking the other morning, to make them a domestic icon/goddess series.  Here’s the first one relating to gardening.  These are pictures of my great grandmother, grandmother and believe it or not, the top one is me. They’re printed on silk organza. I think this is going to be fun!

Fantasy Flower

Opening on First Friday, September 5, at the Creamery in Springfield, MO, I’m participating in a two person exhibit with Lettie Blackburn in which she will be exhibiting watercolors and small art quilts of trees and I will be exhibiting photographs and small art quilts of flowers. Lettie came up with a great title, “The Nature of Things.” I’ll also be teaching a Fantasy Flower workshop in Jacksonville, FL in October. So, in preparation for both events I’m making one and hopefully two new flowers. I’m trying to photograph the procedure and keep notes as I go along. Here are a few photos of the beginning.

First a drawing

Fabric audition

Shapes traced to fusible interfacing and fused to fabric

Shapes arranged on top of drawing. Still open to changing my mind, but it’s about time to start sewing.

Back To Work

It’s been hard to work in the studio when there is so much to do outside. Between the vegetable garden and the flower gardens the weeds grow faster than I can pull them out. Nevertheless, I have accomplished one small fiber piece. This was the accidental screening I made in Kerr Grabowski’s Deconstrucitve Screening Workshop 10 days ago. Very small pieces of a commercial fabric, silk ribbon, and a flower image have been fused to it and then all is quilted. It measures about 8.5″ x 12″.

Last Bloom

Day Four at Shakerag

Emily Starr

Eryn Talevich

Veronica Hofman-Ortega

Mine –

This is a screen made by screening thickened dye over wrinkled paper and oval stencils. Then printed. The screen is prettier than the print. That happens.

Shakerag Day 3-A Picture’s Worth a 1000 Words

Hopefully there are not too many pictures, but everyone is doing such interesting work and each person’s is so different.

Kerr is demonstrating how to apply different media directly to the silk screen; Crayola Washable crayons, Caran d’ache water soluble crayons, crayola washable markers, and charcoal.

Printing of the various media using textile medium.

Similar technique by Veronica Hofman-Ortega,

Jo-Marie Karst,

and myself.

The bottom half of this picture is a drawing done on the top of the screen with a syringe filled with black thickened dye and the printed.

This is similar, but the screen was also painted with thickened dye colors before printing. Done by Diane Arthur.

Diane Getty has done a drawing on a screen in preparation for printing.

Jason Romero dyed a silk scarf yellow green leaving blank spots that he is “coloring” in with charcoal.

Day Two

This is Kerr’s screen upon which she has drawn with thickened dye using a syringe.

Some of Kerr’s images

The Screens that the class has drying

My screen and print

Kerr doing a wax rubbing of the sole of her shoe.

And the print of the shoe sole.

This is a drawing from a Freida Kahlo art postcard, painted onto the screen using thickened dye, and printed.

I Have To Stop NOW!

I have to stop now before this gets too tight; if it isn’t already.

After this is all fused down, so I can move it from the work table, I’ll tackle the long, purple “skirt” for the bottom of this piece.

I am, finally, enjoying this.