Sentimental Pentimento

SDA News Blog makes me giddy! Thanks Marci Rae McDade

2012-03-08T22:36:00.000-06:00

Blessings have come my way in more ways than one lately.

Last week my former professor Laura Strand head of textiles at SIUE invited me to be visiting artist for her advanced students. (That's a detail of her work to the left which is a collaboration piece using my rusted silk as the weft in her weaving.) I am excited--yet terrified (as I usually am prior to teaching). I'm making preparations, pulling out my rusted and organically printed fabrics and typing notes. The class is next week. Oh my! Laura says the class is small, but there is a general invitation being issued to all departments regarding my lecture. Yikes!

Preparations like this always make me crazy. I fly around in a tizzy and distract myself endlessly from the task at hand. So tonight when I was FINALLY going to get something done I checked my email.

And there IT was. An email from Luanne Rimel at Craft Alliance with the announcement that Marci Rae McDade, now the editor of Surface Design Journal, has finally published an article about last fall's Innovations 2011 in St. Louis, the textile event I've written about in several posts. Last year my life was consumed in curating and participating in Collaboration: Reaping and Sewing.

Composite view of Collaboration: Reaping and Sewing exhibit looking to the back of gallery at Jacoby Arts Center

Innovations encompasses many shows in 20 some galleries around St. Louis and St. Charles in Missouri and Edwardsville and Alton in Illinois. The openings and run dates of the shows vary quite a bit, some starting as early as August and some running late into November and December. The biggest event however is the weekend mid September with many openings on Friday, followed by the keynote address and the "in the city" bus tour on Saturday of some 11 galleries and ending with a party for the artists at the private home of some fiber art collectors in St. Louis (an amazing collection!). It was an exhausting day with several thrills along the way, but perhaps the most interesting of all was hearing Marci Rae McDade's keynote address at the History Museum. She is a fabulous speaker with a seemingly inexhaustible knowledge of both historical and contemporary textile art.

Marci came along for the ride on the bus tour and I got to meet her briefly. Thanks to a hint from Jo Stealey who has met Marci before, Marci said she wanted to see the shows in Illinois before returning to Oregon. I made a few late night phone calls (from the party) and arranged for someone to open the Edwardsville Arts Center the next day which is usually closed on Sundays. Laura Strand who curated the show there met us and afterwards we all drove up to Alton to see the collaboration show that Jo, Laura and I along with Erin Vigneau Dimick, Nina Ganci and Erin Cork worked on together.

I can't tell you what a thrill it was to spend nearly 3 hours of private time with Marci that Sunday, getting to discuss my work and that of my colleagues. She was very encouraging, especially regarding my taking the next step to write about and create a catalog of the show. Everywhere that weekend, Marci was snapping photographs and taking notes. She promised that she would include my show in the article and she was true to her word AND HOW!!.

I AM GIDDY! See the article here. The best is saved for (almost) last. Woo hoo.
Love you Marci Rae McDade!
Thank you so much.

OK, back to work...

Opening Night at Edwardsville Arts Center

2012-03-02T02:51:00.002-06:00

It's always a thrill to have something accepted into a juried show and now I have an honorable mention to boot. I had the opportunity to shoot some photos of the exhibition the night before it opened as I happened to be there for a meeting--but the wall tags weren't up yet.

Deirdra Burnside did the large painting in center

Then on Friday night I got some crowd pics and my husband took a photo of me standing next to the piece that won. There was a great turnout for the reception. At one point I could hardly move there were so many people in the gallery. Lots of unfamiliar names among the artists. I'll have to go back for another look and read some of the artist statements.

It's a fine show. Robin Hirsch of Art Saint Louis did a fantastic job of selecting art and Dennis Detoye of EAC did a great job installing the 60 works of art that were chosen by Robin.


Juror Robin Hirsch (L) & Pat Quinn, gallery director.

This was an all media show. Much of the work was 2-D. Lots of paintings and mixed media. I think mine was the only fiber art in the show.
(Andrew Dobson took this photo and the one below on opening night. I know Andrew through Jacoby Arts Center.)

The great thing about openings is that you get to see all your artist friends and spend some time schmoozing. The bad thing is you rarely get a chance to really look at the art. But there are a few stand out pieces by acquaintances that I'd like to share with you--not award winners this time--except in my book.

Quote the Raven by David Yates (photo courtesy artist)

David Yates and I have known each other for several years through the ArtEast event every fall. You can see more of David's fascinating paintings at his website.

Painting by Patricia Badman (photo courtesy artist)

Patty Badman is another ArtEast artist that I've gotten to know over the years. I visited her studio a few years ago and was blown away by her work. This piece is a stunner, although I forgot to ask her the title of the piece. She's on facebook at Patricia Badman.

Morning Coffee by Mike Mason. Mixed Media--digital photo, acrylic and collage (I took this photo myself and hope the color is close to reality.)

Mike Mason is retired from the University Museum at SIUE and he is also a fellow ArtEast artist. In fact the very first studio/exhibition tour I participated in (I think 2002) my work hung along side Mike's. His work with digital manipulation is fabulous. Unfortunately he doesn't have a website. He began printing on canvas a few years ago and this piece is one of the largest I've seen of his work. I think it must be at least 5 feet wide. I love it!

My piece Dawn of Life is on the left.

This piece was more of a challenge than I bargained for because of its width. I measured off a 60" length of fabric and unlike my vertical pieces the selvedge was on the top and bottom leaving my zigzagged sides rather ragged looking. Dupioni ravels like crazy. Didn't look nice--so I was forced to hem the edges and by some miracle I managed not to stretch the fabric and it hangs perfectly straight. Whew!

Here I am trying to look "arty" with Maze of Life that was awarded an honorable mention.

Rejected by Andrew Dobson

Sorry for the reflections in Andrew Dobson's photo at right. Awfully difficult to photograph something under glass. I was immediately reminded of a series of photos I saw in the 1980s. There is a book: The Red Couch--Portrait of America (check out Amazon) and a video (probably no longer available) that aired on PBS. I used to show the film to my photo students when I taught high school. They were all fascinated by the concept as I was. I love this photo!

2012-02-24T00:18:00.000-06:00

Zebra scarf detail, silk satin

I recently took some of my scarves to Edwardsville Arts Center gift shop. I am very fond of this one. One of those unexpected surprises. The full scarf I posted once before, but here it is again...I love the pinkish tone in the background.

The top image was scanned, the bottom shot with camera, hence the slight difference in color.

EAC:TWO

2012-02-04T03:25:00.000-06:00

Opening reception is Friday, February 17, 6 to 9 pm. This all media juried show continues through March 16, 2012 at the Edwardsville Art Center located at 6165 Center Grove Road, Edwardsville, IL, 62025 / On the campus of Edwardsville High School.

I have two big shibori rusted silk pieces in this show which you can view in my previous post...but it is oh so much better to come in person. If you live in the area hope you'll stop by. The hours of the gallery and directions can be found at the link above.

I wish I knew more about the number of pieces in the show or the names of other artists, but EAC hasn't posted that information. But I have other things to worry about...guess who hasn't started stitching the rod pockets yet? I am such a procrastinator and there seems no cure in sight.

What can I say--been enjoying life

2012-01-19T02:37:00.001-06:00

The holidays are over and I must confess I've stretched out the vacation considerably. I just got word that two of my big silks were accepted into EAC TWO, the 2nd juried show at Edwardsville Arts Center in its brand new location at Edwardsville High School. What a beautiful gallery. Can't wait to see my work exhibited there. The show opens Friday, February 17...so I guess I better get the thimble out and stitch in the rod pockets!

Here are the accepted works. Do come see them in person if you live locally.

Dawn of Time c2012
Shibori rust on silk dupioni
54" x 60"

I love working on the dupioni. I first began experiments with it in summer of 2010, fearful that the silk was too thick for the rust to penetrate adequately. Eight layers works fine however and it hangs so beautifully. Wish it wasn't quite so expensive.

Maze of Life c2012
Shibori rust on silk dupioni
66" x 48"

Also wish that I could find it in a narrower width for hangings--I hate hemming. Cut edges do ravel quite a bit, so each piece get zigzagged first.

I am always surprised by the results of this process. Like countless other pieces that I've wrapped I expected a near perfect mirror image and here are two pieces that are anything but!

Path of Light c2012
Shibori rust on silk habotai
64" x 48"

This piece was entered also, but not accepted. Can't have everything...but I do think they make a nice trio. I'm only showing a detail of this one.

Feature on Erin Cork, Collaboration Partner

2011-11-12T03:38:00.002-06:00

This is the 3rd in a series of posts on the people I worked with for the exhibit Collaboration: Reaping and Sewing. I met Erin Cork in 2006 when she was in grad school. She came to my home studio to learn about my natural methods of coloring cloth. Her graduate professor, Laura Strand, head of textiles at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville had asked if I’d be willing to share my organic printing methods with Erin. (Laura is also one of my collaboration partners who I’ll be writing about in a future post.) Erin and I quickly bonded and worked together for 2 summers experimenting with composted and solar dyed fabrics with natural materials. I was just starting my transition to rusting then and so we both experimented with that process too. Although it wasn’t a formal arrangement I certainly considered Erin my student and I have treasured the friendship she has offered in return.

Erin recycled bed sheets for this early composting experiment. The larger piece used walnuts hulls, banana peels, turmeric spice. Fabric was then covered with plastic and sealed up for several weeks, then picked up and cured for a time before laundering.

A number of bundles were solar dyed on the roof of my house. We attempted to document what we were doing. I don't know about Erin, but I know I wasn't very successful in keeping numbers and notes with the fabrics after they were washed. This is one of Erin's bundles before it was sealed up in aluminum foil and ziplock for the process.

Erin created some wearables with the composted fabric she did at my house. This skirt was exhibited at Main Street Gallery in Edwardsville. If you look closely, you can see the yellow flowers of the bedsheet.

Erin’s work with tongue in cheek crochet installations of domesticated doilies and felt for her thesis exhibition and a 2009 Innovations in Textiles show at Fontbonne University greatly impressed me--and they are a hoot to boot. You can see images of her thesis show on her website. When I began formulating my plan to become involved with Innovations 2011, the idea of a teacher student collaboration seemed perfect.


Erin Cork 2011, Collaboration with Erin Vigneau Dimick

Erin was my first recruit. Then I learned she was moving to Virginia and getting married! Suffice it to say, this year has been a busy one for her. Starting a new teaching job; commuting home occasionally for wedding planning; making her own wedding dress which was embellished with hand crocheted and beaded elements; AND working on three complex pieces involving felt for the collaboration in addition to squeezing in meetings with our group—sometimes in person, sometimes on SKYPE—would be enough to send anyone over the edge. But Erin handled it all with aplomb. And she was a radiant bride!

The first piece Erin started for the collaboration involved this weaving by Laura Strand into which she integrated both needle and wet felted elements. A detail is below. Look closely at the wall tag and you'll notice a little red dot indicating a sale. The buyer was none other than Marci Rae McDade! Marci is former editor of the now defunct FiberArts Magazine, but as of January 2012 will be the new editor at Surface Design Journal. I'll tell you about Marci's visit to our exhibit in a future post.

Erin created a third piece for the show, but my own photograph of the piece does not do it justice. I promise you'll see all the work eventually.

To complete this post I contacted Erin who was kind enough to answer some questions about her art.

What possession do you most cherish?

There is something that William Morris said that I try to live by in regards to my possessions - "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." The usefulness of objects to me is not only that it is something functional, but also is it an object that holds some kind of memory as well. An object's usefulness could be as a memory trigger. Many of my possession are cherished because they belonged to someone else before me. In particular, I have many things that belong to my grandmother, in many ways I think of these objects as a way to stay connected to the original owner. I think one of my most recent acquisitions is probably my most cherished possession, my wedding ring. Not only does it function as a symbol of my marital relationship, it also was my great grandmother's wedding ring.

Erin Cork 2011, Detail of collaboration with Laura Strand

What is the source of your creativity? How much is from within? How much comes from outside sources?

I derive a great deal of inspiration from everyday events. Domestic life and the natural world spur my ideas. The way that I manipulate real occurrences comes from within. Combining two things (nature and domestic culture) that aren’t integrated in reality is where my internal creativity comes into play. I use creative thinking exercises to exhaust all possible options for a piece. Then I have a long list of ideas to choose from.

Thanks Erin!

Look for upcoming posts about Erin Vigneau Dimick and Laura Strand. The posts featuring Nina Ganci and Jo Stealey can be found here and here.

Eventually, the entire collaboration show will be documented, but that takes time, so I hope you'll be patient.

Fabric for a dress part 3--working in the dark

2011-11-02T19:34:00.000-05:00

By the light of my headlamp (with a swarm of teeny gnats accompanying me wherever I went) I finished wrapping this piece--6 feet of pipe, 4 yards of dupioni, 10 layers, and 62 yards of hemp string, no bugs swallowed--in about 2 and half hours.

String removed, but still on the pipe this morning. Looks dramatic, but you'll see the final color is much more subdued. Big diff between wet and dry.

I took some pics before washing, but there was no appreciable color shift with this piece. Results below.

Fabric for a dress part 2--results

2011-10-31T03:52:00.007-05:00

This is the result of rusting the stitched and gathered silk you saw in the previous post. The fabric is 4 yards so I didn't manage to fit the entire piece in the picture. Part of it is on the floor.

I tried a suggestion from friend James Dennison to use castile soap to wash the silk. I do not detect any color shift in this piece although some scarves I washed tonight were not so lucky. Not that the results are bad, just was hoping there would be no color change.

I used Dr. Bonner's (with hemp, unscented). Am looking for some other brands to try. Suggestions welcome.

Here is a detail of this very large piece of dupioni silk. The stitching distorted the chevron patterns that usually occur in my shibori rust pieces. The tea created very black marks. I did draw with tea dust, but those areas were not as distinct as I'd hoped either.

Another detail below. There were leaves all over this piece inside the folds and on the outside against the pipe and almost none of them printed or left a distinct mark--just general white resist shapes. Of course they are distorted too because of the gathered pleats throughout the cloth. I can't quite imagine a dress out of this--will have to play with it a bit.

Fabric for a dress part 2

2011-10-22T03:28:00.001-05:00

Stitched

Another 4 yards of silk fabric is being prepped. Had a different light shining on this so the color looks warm compared to the shots below.

Took me days instead of hours to stitch spirals and snakes all over this dupioni. Took a while to gather everything up too and press. I'm slow. What can I say.

The fabric has been considerably reduced in width and length in the process and is now folded and soaking in vinegar. Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll put it out to rust. Haven't decided yet what I'll use. Maybe berries, may not. I work spontaneously once I'm outside. Will let you know when I know.

Detail of a spiral gathered up and pressed flat.

Fabric for a dress

2011-10-16T01:31:00.000-05:00

Tried another large experiment on dupioni with elderberries and shibori rust (I did a 15 foot long piece last summer--click on the Farm Girl Landscape page to see it). This 4 yard length of fabric is destined to become a dress...or not. Depends. Sassafras leaves were used for the resist. To my surprise, they preserved the magenta color that initially came from the berries. The fabric is in my tin box to cure and has not yet been rinsed or washed.

On the pipe, but ready to come off.

Off the pipe, wet and not unfolded yet.

Sassafras leaves preserved the elderberry magenta color.

The rest of the elderberry color oxidized to blue.

Wet, unfolded completely, resting in the shade.

Wet and hanging on the clothesline--sun is behind the piece.

Fabric is dry now. Detail

Detail of string marks and chevron pattern (dry).

Close detail of leaf resist and tea marks (dry).

On the pin wall and floor of my studio (dry).

Detail of dry piece.

YIKES!! A Fire near Jacoby Arts Center

2011-10-02T01:31:00.002-05:00

This is the back of Jacoby from across the lot at Kentucky Fried Chicken

October 1 was the Innovations Bus Tour for outlying galleries. The bus arrived on schedule at 3:10 pm but could get no closer than 1/2 block away due to a fire at the end of a block long building that is across the alley from Jacoby Arts Center on Broadway in Alton. Broadway was blocked off at Henry Street.

Police prevented our visitors from unloading and walking down to the gallery despite many spectators in the area. I was so disappointed.

The fire started about 12:30 pm and by 6 pm several trucks from four fire departments were there battling from Broadway and the large parking lot at the back.

I'm standing in front of Jacoby looking down Broadway around 3 pm

Taken from behind Jacoby around 6 pm.

Firemen had temporarily stopped blasting with hoses and flames erupted at 6 pm.

Broadway looking towards Henry with the hoses snaking around.

On Broadway across the street from Jacoby. Fire is in end of this building.

An alley separates Jacoby from the block where the fire is.

Two businesses and some apartments were destroyed at the far end of the building which was mentioned as being "historic". It has a "modern" exterior however and fortunately the fire is at the far end away from Jacoby. Here's hoping it doesn't spread any closer. It looks like one big long building with several businesses on the ground level. The people who lived there and the businesses lost everything. Too sad.

Lucky me

2011-09-30T15:19:00.000-05:00

A week or so ago I was in Alton to meet some people at the Jacoby gallery. Did some antiquing afterwards and came across this tin box. Could not believe my luck or the price! $27 bucks. I plan to use it for curing fabric before washing.
I'm still trying to figure out where I read (years ago) that the Japanese use tin lined boxes for curing naturally dyed fabric (indigo?) up to 2 years. My friend Kimberly Baxter Packwood suggested that with humidity, the tin would act as a mordant which I suspected. I don't want anything to mildew while in storage, so hope to keep it dry--which is perhaps why it takes so long for the curing process.

I have allowed berry dyed fabric to cure 2 months or more before washing--no need to do that with walnut or rusting. But TWO years is LONG time to wait. So if using color I need to plan way ahead. The interior is just as shiny as can be. The outside is a lovely patina and the lid is red. I forgot to photograph it closed.

Sunday night I wrapped up a few pieces to rust overnight so that I could reveal them to some visitors coming to the studio on Monday. It was dark and sprinkling rain! Had to borrow my neighbor's head lamp when I discovered mine is broken. Being in a hurry to get out of the rain, I was working fast. This long scarf was wrapped on my auger. I piled on green tea and squirted liquid tannin before wrapping and here is the result. Not washed or pressed yet and hoping to avoid any color shift in that delicate pinkish color. Love the zebra stripes and wondering if I can come close to replicating this design in future.

If anyone has a source for information regarding curing fabric in tin boxes, I would appreciate your sharing it.

ARTEAST event coming up

2011-09-29T15:03:00.000-05:00

First time since 2002 that I haven't participated--just couldn't spare the time to make scarves when I had the collaboration show to deal with...but the upside is that this year I get to see everyone's work instead of being stuck in my own venue.

Mark your calendars!!

Saturday, October 15, 9 AM - 5 PM
Sunday, October 16, 11 AM - 5 PM

ARTEAST was initiated in 1998 by a group of artists as a way to pool their resources and bring attention to the extraordinary artists in the Metro East area of St. Louis. Now in its 14th year, ARTEAST continues as an event designed to showcase the artists who live and work in Madison County, Illinois.

Artists from this region participate by opening their studios to the public or participating in exhibits. Over 120 artists working in a wide range of disciplines including collage, painting, ceramics, photography, printmaking, sculpture, glass and digital media show their work and demonstrate their craft.

Organized as a self-guided tour for patrons, ARTEAST provides an opportunity to get a glimpse into the workspace, inspiration and techniques of our resident artists, while exploring the neighborhoods, historic city centers and beautiful countryside.

The event is free and open to the public.

The poster (with map on the back) is available at Jacoby Arts Center and most venues. You can also print out maps from the website at www.arteasttour.com .

ARTEAST Small Works Exhibit opens at the Jacoby Arts Center Friday, October 7, 5-8 pm with a reception. The show will be up through November 6. Most participating ARTEAST artists will have a piece in this group show to provide a preview of the ARTEAST tour event mid-October.

Ron Vivod, Alone in the Dark, Photo Digital Artwork

Ron Vivod, my brother in law, participates in ARTEAST. He will be at venue #24 on the map at

Eden United Church of Christ
903 N. Second Street
Edwardsville, IL 62025

Fiber Focus at Art Saint Louis--Great show!

2011-09-17T02:39:00.000-05:00

Gallery view of Fiber Focus exhibit at Art Saint Louis

Friday, September 16, I attended the reception at Art Saint Louis for the Fiber Focus exhibit juried by Lia Cook. This exhibit is part of Innovations 2011 and will be up through October 13. So proud to be in the show. Robin Hirsch of ASL took this photo which includes my big piece, Garden Kingdom, on the left. On the floor is the Best of Show piece and for the life of me I can't remember the artist. Will post that as soon as I do a little research. It is made of dirt sifted through a lace tablecloth and is most impressive. The show has been up a while and apparently someone must of stepped on a corner and scuffed up the dust. Still beautiful. You can read more about the exhibit here and find the participating artists. Found the info:

Trudy Rogers-Denham, Columbia, MO Best of Show Award sponsored by Missouri Fiber Artists

Feature on Nina Ganci--Collaboration partner

2011-09-02T03:34:00.002-05:00

Interior long view of SKIF International in St. Louis

I took this shot about half way up the steps at one end of SKIF International, Nina Ganci's fashion factory and wholesale shop on "The Hill" in St. Louis. Nina founded SKIF in 1994 after she returned from a year long odyssey in Milan and Paris. Her European adventure afforded her the opportunity to work four months (unpaid!) in the atelier of Martin Margiela, an independent designer in Paris following a stint in Milan working for a man who installed fire sprinkler systems. An odd combination of experiences to be sure, but they left an indelible impression on Nina. Nina told me a story about hand stitching the cuffs on the jacket below for the designer in Paris.

Hand labor experience in the atelier

I first encountered Nina in my classroom at Notre Dame High School where I taught art for nearly two decades. She and I talked recently about her high school years. Both of us are fuzzy on details. (Give me a break--it was the 80s!) I remember asking about her "portfolio" (during her senior year) only to hear that she'd made a bonfire in the backyard over the summer and burned most if not all of the art she'd made to date. I was shocked by the declaration but also in awe of her confidence. She knew then what was of value and what needed purging and she is the same today. I'm touched, however, that she still has the art award I presented to her, an odd bar of glass she coveted from my desk. And one look around the riot of color and design, found objects, racks of colorful fashion, murals on wall and floor and still lifes everywhere convinces me that something else of the Notre Dame Art department rubbed off on Nina too.

One of many still lifes scattered around SKIF

After high school Nina studied at Webster University for a year, then attended FIT in New York on an off for three years. She was initially interested in interior design but switched to fashion with the aim of becoming a designer. She's worked hard to make that a reality. Recently she showed me some of her old sketches, made around the time the "gig in Paris" was coming to an end. I was absolutely enchanted.

The dame (top right) with the hairy legs is a hoot! I am taken with the shoes too. I think these designs are as fresh today as when they were drawn. Simply timeless.

I asked Nina what she got out of her experiences across the pond. I wondered where she'd gotten her business sense. From the sprinkler businessman, she explained, came her understanding of handling money. I should add that when she first arrived in Milan, Nina fearlessly talked her way into a job involving knitting machines (for which she had no previous experience) that lasted all of two days. She could sew however, having learned at an early age from family. So she began sending out resumes. The Paris designer she described as "anti-marketing". He was mysterious, never gave interviews. But she credits her clothing design skills to those four months with Margiela where she came to appreciate the artisanal, handmade things and especially the raw edges that Margiela favored as seen below. Perhaps the greatest lesson was how NOT to treat employees. In Paris she was hired to "basically sew--by hand and machine, leather and recycled costumes. No pay, no thanks, minimalist grunge".

Martin Margiela fashions

Nina returned to St. Louis in 1993 with big ideas. On a visit to the Gypsy Caravan, a huge open air flea market held yearly in St. Louis, she stumbled across and bought huge cones of mop yarn made in the USA. (I asked, and yes, it is yarn for making mops!) She acquired a knitting machine and video instructions and practiced for a couple of weeks. (Remember those 2 days in Milan!) She began turning out sweaters which friends snapped up. Word began to spread. A high school chum of Nina's modeled the sweaters for her in this album.


Early sweaters by Nina, modeled by Trina (Boyer) Barchi

Nina's vision was to start a huge company, create good jobs in St. Louis and to produce radically different clothing. She opened a studio on Washington Avenue downtown and acquired 2 more knitting machines (for different weights of yarn) but for awhile she worked solo. It soon became clear that to grow the business she would need representation in other cities. She found reps in Chicago, New England and San Francisco and did a trade show in New York. In 1996 she introduced a line of pants and shirts. She had to have something to wear--she doesn't wear sweaters!

NY runway show, courtesy SKIF website

Today Nina has five in house employees at the headquarters on Marconi Street and subcontracts with 20 others who work out of their homes with their own knitting or sewing machines. SKIF fashions are sold in 250 boutiques around the country and in Canada, Japan and Australia. In 2009 Nina was given the St. Louis Business Journal's "Most Influential Business Woman" Award. You can read about it here.

Gorgeaous blues on the rack--spring 2011

Ever changing displays keep the factory boutique fresh. And unlike most designers, Nina holds no secrets--her factory/workshop/design center is also a showroom for the latest fashions and they are available for purchase at wholesale prices to anyone who comes in off the street. She provides dressing rooms and a fabulous mirror/still life arrangement for your viewing pleasure. When you visit you'll often hear the clatter of the knitting machines that are located on the second floor balcony that completely surrounds the main floor.

SKIF International office/shipping area

The nerve center of SKIF is this area just steps away from the racks of fashion. Inventory and shipping are done here, orders taken and business conducted. In house employees are masters of many jobs and do whatever needs doing on a daily basis. But they will stop to help customers whenever the need arises.

Sweaters drying--fresh from a very yellow dyepot

When I first approached Nina regarding the collaboration show, I naturally assumed that her contribution would encompass the tools of her trade. But yarn was not on her mind. Over the years she has surrounded herself with all sorts of found objects in the factory that are artfully arranged in the shop for all to enjoy. Found things have also become design staples. The block print used on the seersucker fabric I selected at the swap meet came from a sheet of carved plywood abandoned next to a dumpster. Nina has been using it ever since to print fabric and sweaters. You can find examples on her blog.

As luck would have it, one of the items Jo Stealey brought from her studio for the collaboration swap meet were a set of vintage porcelain casters that Nina grabbed the first chance she had. They were incorporated along with some paper bowls made by Jo into a mobile structure she appropriated from an artist friend and made her own.

Photo of opening by Andrew Dobson of Jacoby

At the opening last Friday, Nina (center), Melissa Cunningham (right) and Barb Farar are having a good time discussing one of Nina's mobiles.

Nina took fabric from me that she whipped into a great dress. She also stitched shibori rusted silk onto stool cushions that are in the gallery to scoot around on. She constructed another very large mobile and a felt and paper cone piece that hangs on the wall. Pictures of those things will be included in a post about the show in general.

Nina's confidence, shrewd business sense, vision and creativity have ensured her success even through this damaged economy. I've enjoyed getting reacquainted with her through this collaboration process and I can't thank her enough for her generosity in allowing SKIF to become the meeting place for the collaboration group--even supplying the computer on which we Skyped Erin Cork when she was in Virginia.

Thank you Nina, best wishes for you and for SKIF!
Check out the SKIF website and Nina's blog.

8 months of work

2011-08-15T21:41:00.000-05:00

Meander (detail) c2011 Patricia Vivod

Still debating whether this piece is finished or not, but I have a few days. Still must rig up the hanging device. Lots more to do on other pieces.

This piece is 56" H x 36" W.

My current mess

2011-08-11T01:57:00.000-05:00

I've got days left to finish everything for the collaboration. A few days ago I answered questions for an interview for Innovations--have no idea if it will be used or not, but I sent them some nice pictures of my outdoor studio and some current project details. I also took some indoor studio pics. It's quite a shock to see it preserved digitally. Oh my--I need a makeover here.

This is the basement studio in which I've been spending quite a lot of the last 8 months. Seeing it like this makes we want to redesign the whole thing. So much STUFF! Be thankful I didn't expose you to the rest of the space!

Despite all the quilting I've got to finish, I have to stop periodically to prevent getting a stiff neck. I head straight for the computer. I'd just like to give a shout out to all the nice people who've started following my blog. Welcome! Hope you enjoy what you see here.

Feature on Jo Stealey

2011-08-06T00:25:00.001-05:00

Title: Incan Mantles (2009) by Jo Stealey
Size: 42”Hx26”Wx4”D
Materials: processed leaves, silk organdy, gold leaf, Buckrum, Acrylic

I have been wanting to share information about the people with whom I am collaborating for the upcoming show at Jacoby Arts Center. I just discovered this fabulous article on Jo Stealey who heads the fiber department at the University of Missouri Columbia and is internationally known. Read here.

I am awed by her talent and honored that she accepted my invitation for this show.

Jo Stealey's standing book detail in progress for collaboration show

Jo wears many hats as an artist. She works both two and three dimensionally. Part of her repertoire includes wall art, installations, architectural pieces and books such as the 14 foot scroll that will be part of our upcoming show and also very small things. This piece is a work in progress that incorporates some burn manipulated organza from Erin Vigneau Dimick's studio, another of the collaborators. It's about 12 inches high.

Jo's work is inspired by nature on many levels. Visit her website to be dazzled!

Illinois SDA blog

2011-08-02T15:05:00.000-05:00

I've just posted my first contribution to the Illinois SDA blog. If you are an Illinois artist and member of SDA, do go over and follow. We want to spread the word. Of course you don't have to belong to SDA to follow--it's a public blog. Lots of news regarding what is going on around the state and lots of links to explore on fibers related things. I wrote at length about the collaboration I am involved in for Innovations 2011 at Jacoby and posted lots of pics. A few repeats from my post several weeks ago, but lots of new information too. Hope you'll stop by to read it.

Garden Kingdom at left was an experiment in re-rusting a piece of silk. It was accepted into Fiber Focus at Art Saint Louis which opens September 16. The show is part of Innovations in Textiles.

Some tidbits

2011-07-27T22:09:00.001-05:00

The showcard is off to the printers--will be so excited to see it in hand. We are all working like crazy to get things done. I know I have much to do yet and less than a month left! In fact I need to get back to the sewing machine right now. I've just started following the Illinois SDA blog--see the link in the sidebar. If you are an Illinois SDA member I hope you'll start following it as well. We want to spread the word. The National SDA buzz has posted information and a link to Innovations 2011 too. The ball is rolling... (BTW, Missouri has a SDA blog too, but nary a mention of Innovations. Boo hoo.)

On another note: I got a pleasant surprise the other day when a friend from the Netherlands shared with me ARTeries: Rust Never Sleeps on Mr. Stitch, a contemporary embroidery and needlecraft blog. The author is Canadian artist and blogger Arlee Barr who also writes her own blog. Arlee penned some very nice comments about my art with rust and featured some images as well. I'm in good company with the other artists mentioned, two I know--Lois Jarvis and Kimberly Baxter Packwood were in a quilt show I curated a few years ago at Greenville College. There are some spectacular things being done with oxidation. Thank you Arlee--nice rusty work you do too!

Now it's back to the grindstone for me!

I Like the Sun in the Morning and the Moon at Night

2011-07-21T02:33:00.001-05:00

Well, not really. I'd rather sleep in if I had my druthers.
But I took one look at this new piece--detail shown below, and knew I was looking at night and day. It is so different from the other pieces I unwrapped this morning. Expected a mirror image-not disappointed.

Shibori rust on silk dupioni (detail)

shibori rust on silk habotai

Freshly unwrapped.

Looks like a perfect mirror image--from a distance.

shibori rust on CDC

Detail of a long narrow piece. That's a sun flare on the upper right.

Doc Martin Saga

2011-07-16T00:12:00.001-05:00

Tonight I saw Elizabeth Adams Marks at the JAC Juried show--where two of Elizabeth's beautiful Cornwall inspired paper pieces are displayed. She handed me a little surprise carried back from a recent trip to England.

I won't repeat any of the story here because Elizabeth tells it so well on her blog. Suffice it to say, she made my day with a gift of some beach rocks from Port Isaac which stands in for Port Wenn on the British TV series Doc Martin that airs here on PBS, AND, a precious autograph from a character in the series.

Read all about it on Elizabeth's blog 2nd Hand Paper here for Doc Martin Part 1 and here for part 2.

Elizabeth is a talented illustrator, papermaker, book artist, full time middle school art teacher-currently working on her 2nd masters degree, wife, mother, avid gardener, and all around wonder woman (she remodeled her kitchen too for God's sake!). Explore her blog 2ndhandpaper, where in addition to Doc Martin and other Cornish delights, she has offered some of her middle school lessons on indigo dyeing and handmade paper.

Photo by Peter Marks

Ian McNeice, sporting Elizabeth's scarf that I made. Ian plays Bert Large in the Doc Martin series. The colors of the rocks Elizabeth collected for me match the scarf quite well.

What I won't tell you

2011-07-15T01:05:00.000-05:00

I've spent a lot of my time in my basement studio over the last several months-- staring at block printed seersucker fabric, handmade paper, cooked and manipulated leaves, curly wool roving and a weaving I finally cut into three parts -- all the original property of my partners in collaboration for an upcoming show that is part of Innovations 2011. You can see an explanatory post on that here and a preview of another piece here.

Notice I said staring. I was basically paralyzed at first, not sure what I wanted to do with the materials I had chosen from my colleague's studios, nor how I would incorporate them into my own work. But work is progressing now (which is very good as the show is only 42 days away!) and I wanted to give you a peek at a piece I'm working on right now.

Shibori rust silk and this work will being combined to create a large wall piece. I shot this detail while it was on the table with a light from the side so you could see the 3-D qualities I've achieved with my needle felting machine. For those of you who saw Innovations 2009, this weaving might seem vaguely familiar. That's all I'll say for now. You'll have to come see the show to know how this will turn out. Stay tuned! (Of course I'll post about this and the other works after the exhibition is up for those of you in far flung areas.)

Work by my classmates--India Flint part 4

2011-07-13T10:45:00.004-05:00

We came from all over the place--representing 9 states--converging on Craft Alliance / Grand Center in St. Loiuis for four wonderful days of Fieldwork with India Flint. We didn't actually go far afield -- the greenery and flowers came to us, but that only gave us more time to bundle and brew, which I think we did with great success as seen below. I've only heard from a few people so far to identify their work, but I wanted to get this post up as soon as possible. If you recognize your samples, drop me a line and I will be glad to post your name.

Darcy Ritzau from California made this piece. It's wool challis with some incredible eucalyptus.

Ellen Flachmann of St. Louis did this group of samplers.

Suzy Farren of Missouri removes onion skins from fabric that she eco printed. Thanks to Theresa Goetz for supplying the photo.

These 4 samples were made by Theresa Goetz of Missouri

Carolyn Lesser of St. Louis made these samplers.

Judy Newland of Arizona did some ice flower dyeing with hollyhocks to create the lavender strips before she came to the workshop.

These samples were already turned into a mini patchwork by the last day. Made by Peggy Cox of Pennsylvania.

I've heard from one person that she's been bundling and brewing up eco prints every day since the workshop. Sorry to say, I haven't been able to indulge myself yet but I do have the copper cauldron and am itching to try out some larger fabric.

If you are visiting for the first time, scroll down to see parts 1, 2 and 3 about the India Flint workshop. I had the time of my life and learned so much. Now I'm waiting delivery of Second Skin, India's new book hot off the presses.

We interrupt this programming...

2011-07-12T00:56:00.000-05:00

I've promised another post about the workshop, but that has been preempted by breaking news--
I'm now the proud owner / mother of this:

Found at an antique store in Alton, IL last week. Actually I found 2 copper vessels. One was labeled brass, but I believe I know copper when I see it. I had it in my hand when I found the cauldron.

Don't like the shiny bit...that coating needs to be removed so that I can cook with it. Inside is a beautiful patina. Not too keen on the brass feet. Trying to figure out whether I might need to set it inside a pan with water to get the heat up around the bottom if I use it on the burner. Don't have a fire pit yet.

The other copper thing was about 15" in diameter and about 6 or 7 inches high with a large opening. Very unusual. Reminded me of a squat basket shape. About an inch or so down the side from the large opening was a round hole about 1.25" diameter. It had two handles made of rolled copper. Nice patina inside and out. Not sure how it came to be labeled brass. I debated which would be more practical and the depth of this one won out over the other.

Can't wait to start using this for bundles.

I also found a nice sized aluminum dutch oven complete with lid. Will work a little better than the big dishpan I bought last year. I already have 2 or 3 iron pots so I am all set for trying my hand at more bundle cooking-just as soon as I get my current show obligations met.

Lucky enough--India Flint Part 3

2011-07-08T02:43:00.000-05:00

Fascinating demo and a detail of the finished cloth

After twenty years of experience one just automatically knows how to take full advantage of a process. Believe me, India knows. Hundreds of people around the globe have been lucky enough to see India in action in person. I am one of them. Hundreds more, if not thousands have been pouring over her book Eco Colour in hopes of gaining insight into this very simple, and yet paradoxically complex method of dyeing cloth. I'm one of those too.

I marveled at India's folding process for this large piece of fabric to make best use of the power of the leaf and the fact that most times (except for eucalyptus) only the back side or veined side of a leaf will print. It's not as simple as it might appear.

The demonstration was done on a piece of light golden drapery silk she bought at a thrift store up north (at least that's what stuck in my memory). What gave me particular pleasure is that India accepted my offer to borrow a flat piece of rusted metal I brought from home to bundle the fabric around.

India's groovy addition to pants

I revel in arty clothes. These pants
were adorned with eco printed patches,
but India had to hike up the apron
to show them off.

My first samples were bundled around twigs but were simmered with pieces that did have iron in them. The upper left piece which is nearly cropped out of the picture was an old linen hanky with crocheted lace edging. It was wrapped around copper and simmered in the copper only pot. It has some bright yellow color.

Iron bundles on the left and copper bundles on the right. We also tried wrapping around rocks. I had great results with one big flat rock, and a big nothing with a rounder one. (Center top in the pic below. Boo Hoo.)

These were my samples unwrapped on the last day. A large sheet of paper was unrolled the length of the workshop room for us all to show off what we'd done. On the tables we had spread out some of the samples stitched together...what can I say...I'm a very slow stitcher so didn't get much done in that department.

These were wet when photographed. The piece on the upper left can be seen here. The orange of course comes from eucalyptus, but I did get a very nice amber/orange color from sweet gum leaves that India calls liquid amber. See the piece on the lower left.

Really like how this one turned out. We have lots of sassafras on our property. I love the many variations of leaves. Some have two lobes, some one -- they look like a mitten, and some have none. Got great green. Looking forward to making more with sassafras.

Here is another example of the beauty of sweet gum leaves. What is curious is that one lobe printed amber, and other parts picked up pink from some japanese maple leaves.

I got a surprise on my first eucalyptus experiment. I had expected orange but got green because I chose the other variety of leaves that had been donated to the workshop. Turned out for the best as the green goes well with the purple prints. Don't ask what they are because I can't be sure what I used. (Maybe rose leaves?)

Part 4 and the final entry about the workshop with India is coming soon.

Stewing and brewing--India Flint part 2

2011-07-07T03:53:00.006-05:00

Bundles in the stew, day 1

Day 2 bundles retrieved

First bundles had to be made without benefit of a rod or dowel to roll on. I had trouble getting my bundle tight and thus the first sample was wimpy. I plan to redye it later. This pot became the designated iron pot once we were allowed to incorporate iron pieces into the folds or actually bundle around a piece of iron. By the last day this water was black as we just kept adding to it.

India demonstrates a loud sharp call used to coax the cows home from the pasture OR get our attention in a pinch. The buzz of 16 people working and the constant hum of nearby computer servers made it difficult to hear sometimes in this large L-shaped room. Having grown up on a dairy farm, I was well acquainted with the call, albeit with an Australian twist.

At her feet lays the first day's pile of greenery. We had no need to take windfall walks because of the generosity of a florist at the Flower Market on LaSalle and several workshop participants who shared bounty from herb and flower gardens, and shrub and tree clippings too.

India explained the importance of knowing the plants you work with--especially learning the scientific names to avoid the possibility of handling something poisonous or otherwise irritating. Also good to know what color yield you might expect. Very practical advice.

On the 2nd day of the workshop India wore a linen dress designed and made by an Australian artist with whom India is contemplating a collaboration. The fabric had an incredibly soft hand. India eco printed the ready made dress and fashioned pockets from a double layer skirt. If memory serves, I believe she said the artist grows her own flax. In future she'll eco print the fabric before construction. *Correction: the flax is grown in Latvia, a place India holds dear in her heart.

Show and tell was a treat. India had an assortment of her beautiful samples to show us, identifying leaves and flower prints. My camera simply couldn't capture them adequately.

Nikki strolled in after a lunch time one day with a bundle of greenery over her shoulder. Down the street some landscapers were getting ready to cut out these plants. She stepped in before they were destroyed and shared them with the class.

Part 3 coming soon!

Nikki Jackson of Louisiana

A glimpse of possibilities with India Flint--part 1

2011-07-07T02:40:00.000-05:00

India Flint-eucalyptus sample

It was announced that India Flint's workshop at Craft Alliance in St. Louis was the first week long adult workshop held there. I was surprised. Perhaps the people at Craft Alliance were too as participants in the workshop came from all over the country. There were a handful of people from St. Louis, one from Columbia, MO and two from Illinois--myself and another from the Chicago area. Joining us were participants from Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

India shows us a St. Louis windfall piece

The evening before the workshop India took a walk collecting windfall along the way. She bundled and simmered the fabric in her hotel room and unwrapped it in front of us on day one.

Minneapolis windfall demonstration piece

She explained a few minutes later about the talk she gave at the recent SDA conference where she unwrapped what I can only describe as an astounding piece of eco printed silk. I'm sure it knocked the socks off of those in attendance at the conference too. Wow it was beautiful!

The one disappointment in the workshop was trying to fit in time to eat lunch. Restaurants in the Grand Center area are rather spread out and none are fast food places. We quickly learned on the first day that India was focused on work rather than nourishment...but in our attempt to go out we did stumble on this incredible and perfectly rusted manhole cover. In the cover of darkness I might be tempted to borrow it for my collection. Friend Suzy Farren took an extra shirt she had with her, eagerly sopped up the rain water collected in the crevices of the manhole cover and rubbed some of the rust onto the shirt for instant mordanting and future dyeing.

Along Olive Street, Grand Center

Bear with me...

2011-07-03T03:51:00.002-05:00

Redesigning blog so you will see more changes as I work out some kinks.

In case you are curious, the surrounding background is a tiled image of a silk scarf I made last year. The piece at left is one of my samples from the workshop with India.

I have also created a new page--Farm Girl Landscapes 2010 that features the work of my solo show last year at Kaskaskia College. See the tabs under the header at top of page.

Distortion through stitching for eco printing

2011-06-30T01:38:00.004-05:00

I am not a hand stitcher--usually in too much of a hurry for that. I use my machine for free motion quilting and my embellisher for felting. But in the recent workshop with India Flint we were given some beautiful silk/cotton thread and told to do some stitching in the cloth prior to bundling. We could create pleats or gather up the fabric. I chose to create a couple of spirals that were gathered along with some curved pleats and darts in a piece of flat crepe. I photoshopped the original path of my stitching -- I could still see the needle holes.

I pressed the gathers flat before laying on oak leaves and rose petals along with some thin leaves that turned to mush in the simmering pot. The fabric was bundled and wrapped on a copper spike like one of those below.

Actually the one on the far left is not copper, not sure what the metal is as it is not rusty. Picked these up at an antique shop nearby.
The cloth was simmered for a minimum of 30 minutes, probably longer. Then cooled overnight in the pot and unwrapped the next day. The yellow was unexpected--probably a reaction of the oak leaves and copper together.

Love these spikes!

I'll be posting more pics from the workshop soon.

BTW--visit my friend Elizabeth Adams Marks' lovely blog 2ndhandpaper. She is a paper maker and book artist and teacher who is currently traveling in Cornwall, England. She arranged quite a surprise for me in two blog posts this week when she and her hubby visited Port Isaac which stands in for Portwenn on the PBS show I love--Doc Martin.

Having the time of my life!

2011-06-24T00:35:00.001-05:00

Learning to eco print with India Flint this week.

Top: wet sample still holding the stitches I made before bundling with rose petals, eucalyptus and other leaves.

Bottom: stiches out, pressed dry

Collaboration: Reaping and Sewing

2011-06-14T13:47:00.001-05:00

My collaboration with five other artists for Innovations 2011 mentioned several posts ago is progressing. Time flies when you are having fun. As curator of the exhibition, I am honored that they all accepted my invitations with enthusiasm and embraced the possibilities that come from such a teaming. Our common link is that of teacher/student/mentor.

Nina Ganci was my art student (in the mid 80s) at the high school in St. Louis where I used to teach. Nina marched to a different drummer then and now. She founded SKIF International in 1994. Laura Strand was my professor and is head of textiles at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where I earned my MFA in 2003. Laura introduced me to her grad student Erin Cork in 2006. Erin spent two summers with me learning composting and solar dyeing techniques before getting her MFA so I claim her as my student too. Erin also studied book arts with Erin Vigneau Dimick, an adjunct professor at SIUE who works closely with Laura and considers her a mentor. Rounding out the circle is Jo Stealey, head of the fibers program at University of Missouri Columbia, and Erin Cork's undergrad professor.

Below are some of the snaps I’ve taken at various monthly meetings since the collaboration began back in December. Part of the fun is that we are meeting at SKIF headquarters in St. Louis which is a riot of color.

Jo Stealey (L) and Erin Vigneau Dimick are discussing Jo's scroll book

while Laura Strand looks on. Erin Cork, who lives in Virginia now,

looks on from Skype on the laptop perched on the stool. Jo has used some

of my shibori rusted silk to construct the book.

Above: Can't meet without feasting! L-R: Erin Vigneau Dimick, Erin Cork, and Jo Stealey. Erin Cork is getting married this summer and has made a couple wedding related trips back home. We try to schedule our meetings around that and when she can't be in St. Louis we catch her on Skype which has been very interesting. Above left--Nina Ganci (R) listens to Jo as she comments on Nina's quilt in progress. Nina is using some of Jo's paper shifu to embellish her quilt.

Nina dangles a piece of plastic that has been used for stencil painting on her clothing and sweater designs for SKIF International, her fashion company which is headquartered on "The Hill" in St. Louis. This plastic and many other stencils will probably find its way into the quilt.

I realized after looking through all the pictures that I wouldn't be in any of them--so while I was trying on my new SKIF sweater, a gift from Nina, I snapped myself in her "still life" of mirrors.

None of us can walk into SKIF without trying on some of Nina's latest creations. I've got some fabulous shots of the store, and I sat down recently with Nina to talk about her life and business which I'll share with you soon. BTW, I hope to give you some background on all of the artists in the next few posts.

Erin Vigneau Dimick, Laura Strand, and Nina Ganci are listening to Erin Cork on Skype as she comments on Vigneau Dimick's work in progress.

In January each of us brought a collection of things from our personal studios and then took turns selecting items that we wanted to work with. The swap meet was great fun. I came home with at least one thing from each artist, although not everyone did that. Two big pieces are well underway. I have plans for at least three more. So I better get off this blog and get to work!

Collaboration: Reaping and Sewing opens August 26, 2011 at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton, IL and runs through October 2. The reception is 5-8 PM on August 26. A talk by the artists is being scheduled sometime during the exhibition.

Jacoby Arts Center is on the October 1 bus tour of Innovations galleries.

This is a prototype for our showcard.

Detail

2011-05-29T13:41:00.000-05:00

Getting back to work

2011-05-29T03:22:00.000-05:00

I reopened my outdoor studio several weeks ago and took these shots of some new work on the clothesline as well as the studio itself.

Wish I had the energy to get the weeds under control. The ivy is doing pretty well. My oakleaf hydrangea is getting huge. I love it.

Weather is still changeable. It was cool and rainy today--though for the holiday weekend it was supposed to be in the 80s. Maybe tomorrow...

Probably should have posted these images before the previous post. You can see the dark piece I discussed already, fresh from rinsing and drying on the line.

I took down the old clotheline and installed a new one that continues at right angles to another tree so that I can see things on that line from the house.

Darcy

Detail of one of the pieces on the clothesline. This is sueded rayon and unfortunately takes the rust so well that it damaged the fibers. I have multiple holes in the rustiest parts, so this piece is destined for collage or quilting.

Full view of a dupioni piece that is about 55" square. I really like the dupioni fabric. Bought some more last week although it wasn't the wide version that I'd wanted.

I have a piece almost the same size as this one that I unwrapped too soon. Very weak design. I plan to rerust it soon. Hoping for deep dark results as on the piece in my previous post. Wish me luck!!

Before and After

2011-05-23T00:44:00.000-05:00

I recently began a series of horizontal pieces. One of them can be seen in the previous post. This second attempt resulted in a wimpy design without bold contrast, just lots of tiny details.

I decided to re-rust the piece at the urging of a friend. It's not that I've never considered re-rusting, but I was making assumptions about the outcome, speculating that the results would be confusing. I should have known better.

I did make a change however--I prepared the silk for a vertical transformation. Could not have been more surprised at the unwrapping.

Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana...New Work

2011-05-11T02:10:00.001-05:00

My "Innovations" collaboration is taking a lot of energy right now which is partly why I haven't posted in a while. I've also waited a long time for the weather to cooperate. It's now warm which is better for rusting, but lots of rainy days have kept me indoors. Here is a recent experiment. Hope to get many more done.

I'm working horizontally which is new for me and continuing with using leaves as a resist.

India Flint is coming to St. Louis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-02-23T11:41:00.003-06:00

Fieldwork Workshop with India Flint

Summer Camp for Adults! Australian fiber artist, India Flint, will be coming to Craft Alliance in Grand Center, St. Louis, MO, to give a 4 day adult intensive workshop from June 21-24, 2011. More details will be posted on the web site soon. Enrollment begins in March and class size is limited.

I have been following India Flint's blog for two years and loving every minute of it. My friend Luanne Rimel at Craft Alliance in St. Louis was already in talks with India last year when I suggested that she try to bring her to town. A schedule could not be worked out then, but its official now!! You can bet that I'll be #1 on the list for the workshop. I'm so excited I can barely contain myself.

Luanne sent me the image above. I will post information for the workshop as it becomes available. India also has a beautiful website that you can see here.

Craft Alliance has just updated their website with information for the workshop. Click here for details, costs, and a word from India about the nature of the class.

Work in progress

2011-02-19T02:24:00.001-06:00

For the first time in my life I am collaborating with a group of artists. The work will be exhibited as part of Innovations (see the sidebar). We shared materials from our studios in a swap meet about a month ago. I brought home an unusual combination of things, chosen simply because I was attracted to them. Here you can see I'm stitching down some block printed seersucker fabric (originally a skirt) created at SKIF International by my former student Nina Ganci. The silk I'm using was shibori rusted last year.

Warm

2011-02-14T12:03:00.001-06:00

The snow is melting finally and it's like an early spring day for now. Who knows what the weather will blow in later. But the warm is so welcome. Made me think of elderberries. Hope to do more things with them this year.

Grandma

2011-02-04T02:53:00.001-06:00

I've been distracted lately with family. My brother has been researching our father's history and at Christmas my sister gave me this photo of my mother's parents. I had a cropped version of this portrait, but had forgotten that the original photo features my grandmother standing on a rock so as not to look so out of proportion to her very tall husband. I don't have a date for the picture, but as my grandfather died in 1935, it was probably taken in the mid 1920s. I think the picture is a hoot.

I've used photos of my grandmother in my art before, as well as my mother and her siblings and my dad--mostly in prints. You can see one or two of them here (scroll down the page to my etchings). Seems like I am being tugged in that direction again. I'll keep you posted if anything new grows out of this.

Natural Selection at By Design Gallery--show images

2011-01-06T05:30:00.097-06:00

I apologize for being away so long...the holidays and some personal family events became a priority, but I couldn't let too much of the new year disappear without posting images from the Natural Selection show that comes down this week. Below is a shot that includes Erin Cork's felted and stitched pieces in the back corner of the gallery.

The gallery at By Design in Alton offers a long narrow space with some unusual traits. The building was formerly the Mississippi Lime Works. The floor is concrete and slants toward the street and along one side you can see the floor curves up forming a narrow ledge. It proved to be a challenge to display my art there, but with my cast iron and pipe banner stands it worked out OK I think.

Above: Both of these pieces are rusted organza layered over black raw silk. The one on the left is Key to the Moon and was rusted from an arrangement of objects. The other piece is Fault Lines done in the shibori rust method.

Ron Vivod's manipulated digital photos look great on the old brick wall. I'm trying to talk him into setting up a blog of his own where you can see his work in detail.

I'll have to check with Ron on the title of this butterfly piece. I think it is stunning. Just had to use this shot as the gallery shot can't do justice to his work due to angle I was forced to photograph from.

Above: Two close-ups of Erin's beautiful manipulated, felted and stitched work. A few of the pieces include Erin's own hair.

The door to the gallery was open and a puff of wind was moving the two pieces on this stand. Both were done by the shibori method on silk dupioni. On the white door you can see one of the pieces I've done by stretching the shibori rust silk over a ready made canvas. I stretch a layer of felt and staple it to the canvas first so that I can pull the silk to the back and stitch it in place. The felt provides a needed cushion for the silk over the rough canvas and sharp corners.

The piece on the left is actually a shawl. At 90" long it looks great hanging as well as wearing. When I picked up my work today, I left it behind for Lillian to sell along with my scarves and other wearables. Lillian told me today that the other shawl I'd left with her--stained with elderberries--became someone's Christmas present. Hope they enjoy wearing it. The large piece on the right is Free Association. I used sueded crepe de chine which despite its drapey quality hangs very nicely.

Natural Selection

2010-11-18T13:14:00.000-06:00

The other artists were a natural fit for this show which opens Friday, Nov 19.  If you live in the area, hope you can make it over to see the work. The reception starts at 5.

I have known Ron Vivod for many years (as I'm married to his brother!). I've always been in awe of Ron's work so it is nice to be exhibiting side by side with him. Though he works with digital technology, his love of nature, textures and colors are a complement to my and Erin's work with natural dyes, materials and rust.

Erin Cork worked with me at my studio in 2006 and 2007 while she was in grad school, exploring organic printing.  Some of her new work incorporates organically dyed fabric. She does a lot of wet felting and stitching and all the work for this show is 3-D.  You can see more of Erin's work here.

BTW, I somehow wrote down the wrong title when I submitted the image for the poster. The detail of mine is actually titled Free Association.

I'm back!

2010-11-13T03:12:00.001-06:00

Didn't mean to be away so long, but the solo show and ARTEAST snapped up much of my time this fall, and since I last posted I acquired a new computer (the old one died a slow death) for which I have to update the camera software for downloads. At last one is taken care of, but the bulk of my art exhibits are on the big camera which is still untouchable.

I plan to share the pics from the solo exhibit on a new page coming soon. In the meantime I'd like you to see the largest piece I've ever attempted. This piece was made specifically for the tall wall at Kaskaskia College. In September I posted about another piece, Round Bales, which at the time was the largest piece I'd made. This one tops that one by nearly 5 feet.

Pond Ripples c2010
Shibori rust on dupioni silk
with elderberries and tumeric
173" x 55"

New Scarves for ARTEAST

2010-10-09T01:39:00.000-05:00

Haven't posted in a while because I've been working to get ready for ARTEAST which takes place next weekend--October 16/17. Lots of scarves-- and some new wall pieces--not quite so big as I made for the Kaskaskia show. These are easily "house" sized. Those haven't been photographed yet, but here are some details of the new scarves hot off the scanner.

A little turmeric goes a long way--bright bright yellow here. I'm trying to figure out a different way of applying it with more control.

This scarf has a lovely purplish cast to it with pinkish gold areas.

I bought a few crepe scarves to try and above is one of them. The others are all silk satin.

Elderberries have created a spectacular blue, but this piece has not been washed yet. Not quite sure how much will be retained. I've been waiting as long as possible before the event.
This is a very large shawl at 22"x90"

It always amazes me when I unwrap the silk to discover what design has been made. This one was particularly puzzling to me with the oval shapes appearing regularly through the length of the scarf.

Sneak peek

2010-09-16T01:55:00.000-05:00

The exhibition is open!

Thistle Down hangs on a partition wall in foreground. Wanted to give you a sneak peek of Farm Girl Landscapes.

You are all invited -- Farm Girl Landscapes opens September 13

2010-09-11T16:21:00.023-05:00

Farm Girl Landscapes at Kaskaskia College in Centralia, Illinois runs from September 13 through October 15, 2010 at the Dee and Sue Boswell Gallery on campus. A reception will be held on October 9 from 12-4 pm. I'll be in attendance then and would love to see my friends and family! I'll also be giving a gallery talk to Kaskaskia students sometime before then, date TBA.

Only one little hitch in the operation--the silk will not be installed until Monday morning, but I'm assured the gentleman who will do it is fast and very good at his job...he just happened to be on a well-earned vacation this past week when I delivered my work to the gallery.

The piece shown above is a small detail of a larger work I've titled Round Bales. You can see and read about how this was made here. I'm pleased with all the color variations from soft grays to deep blacks with pale gold areas and a few spots of pure rust. The grays and blacks are created by three types of tea. I brew loose tea at home and save the leaves. I also use fresh tea if I want deeper blacks. Friends save tea bags for me which I empty. I can draw with the dust.

Round Bales are of course a staple of dairy farming. You can't drive through the Midwest without seeing the huge round forms dotting the landscape. We had a round baler on the farm for a short time-- an old decrepit machine purchased used that my dad had a terrible time keeping in running order. The bales were much smaller than those made today with modern equipment.

My dad preferred (as I did) the square bales that could be handled by one person and stacked neatly on a wagon and in the barn. We went through lots of hay for our modest herd of dairy cows and spent many a day during the summer cutting, raking and baling. Rain was the enemy for those times as dampness would mold and ruin the the hay. Sadly, my brother missed my high school graduation to put up hay because my dad was convinced it was going to rain that evening. My brother and I and various neighbor boys helped put up the hay countless times. It was hot and sticky work and my arms would be covered in scratches by the end of the day. I just could not bring myself to wear long sleeves in 90 degree weather and besides it was a point of pride to prove I could work alongside the guys.

The bulk of the work in this show is connected to my growing up on the farm. The more abstract work always has me searching for imagery within the designs that trigger a memory from that past life.

What a relief!

2010-09-11T00:59:00.005-05:00

Several months ago Diana Hansen invited me to show at Kaskaskia College in Centralia, IL. I've been working all summer on several large pieces--the largest I've ever done, in fact. All the new work employs the shibori rust method. The show will feature some of my older work as well--several prints and collages--hence the need of a larger transport for the big framed pieces. Thanks to my niece and nephew for lending me their SUV pictured below loaded and ready to go.

It took over 2 hours Wednesday morning to load the art which, due to humidity, couldn't be done the night before. Some of the framed pieces measure 36" x 50" and I was working alone. I used every free blanket and sheet I owned I think, along with bubble wrap to cushion each framed piece.

The silk was pressed and rolled onto 60" long tubes I buy at fabric stores. I made fleece coverings for each tube so that my silk isn't in direct contact with the cardboard. In the short term it probably wouldn't matter, but if I must store the silk on the tube for any length of time, I want it protected, so I make the extra effort.

The gallery at Kaskaskia is fairly new on campus located just inside the Lifelong Learning Center. It is a beautiful but unusual space with floor to ceiling windows on the north and partial walls jutting into the interior from the window wall.

I worked out a plan in advance to help me layout my work. On delivery day Diana made some suggestions to take better advantage of sight lines and I think it's all going to work out very well. There is nearly 144 feet of wall space to fill! I'm also going to have a silk piece on display in the library. And, I will have a few assemblages on pedestals to fill out the space. It's really exciting to see it all come together. Can't wait till Monday!

Welcome delay

2010-09-07T01:35:00.002-05:00

It's like a snow day! I was scheduled to deliver my art to Kaskaskia Tuesday for my upcoming exhibit there, but back to back classes for my friend Diana who invited me, makes it almost impossible to do the delivery at a convenient time for her. She suggested coming Wednesday instead. I am ecstatic because now I can finish hemming one more piece and get all the other last minute details seen to without the stress of pulling an all nighter. What a great feeling!

Here's a detail of a piece of silk dupioni that was shibori rusted. The finished piece is almost 15 feet long and 55 inches wide.

Back from Nevereverland

2010-09-02T00:17:00.000-05:00

I was about to give up and post a message that I can't blog until I get my text formatting buttons back...but curiously...they are back!

Picked up my work yesterday from Main Street Gallery. The Elements Show is over. At this moment I should be pressing and hemming all the big silk I've made over the last weeks in preparation for my one person show at Kaskaskia. More about that a bit later. But what the heck. I want to show off one of my acquisitions.

Went antiquing with a friend a couple weekends ago. Spent the whole day driving up I-55 stopping at seven antique malls along the way. I've been looking for a treadle machine for 25 years. The plan is to turn it into a glass topped table, but I probably won't be able to resist rusting from it before I do that. I've never seen a frame completely intact. Something was always missing or hideously painted or the seller was asking an arm and a leg. This beauty cost me all of $15, is perfectly rusted and the treadle still works! Found several other rusty bits that day too that I'm anxious to put to work.

Now I absolutely must get back to work.

The long soak

2010-08-21T23:30:00.043-05:00

I waited till after supper one evening recently (to take advantage of high humidity through the night) to go out to the studio with the intention of setting up a long piece of silk dupion, but I was sidetracked by the discovery that I had a forgotten dishpan under my work table filled with vinegar soaking a few t-shirts, a pair of tights and a fairly big piece of silk habotai. All was well. No harm done after 2 weeks of soaking!! I thought I'd better get those pieces wrapped and rusting instead so put the dupion on hold.

The t-shirt material is sheer jersey cotton. One shirt was continuously wrapped around my auger. I was pleasantly surprised by the results and amazed that the color reached through some 10-12 layers. Also amazed that only a bit of rust shows on one sleeve...the rest of the piece is a soft gray and black. It has been rinsed thoroughly but not yet washed, but I doubt I will lose much color. Hope I don't have to eat those words.

The other t-shirt was wrapped on a large diameter pipe and tied very tightly creating a nice stripe resist.

As I've been doing some very long work recently, I rearranged the tables in my studio placing them end to end at an angle so I can walk around 3 sides easily. Still the 12 feet of table was not enough for this evening's work. I wrapped 5 yards of dupioni and let me just say it was quite a challenge and required 2 pipes. I had to move another table at the end to catch the rest of the fabric. I'll check it tomorrow morning, but probably won't unwrap till later in the day. It takes a while for the rust to penetrate 8 layers of this heavier silk.

This is the second long piece of dupioni I've rusted. The first is 3 yards long and turned out well. That fabric came from China. Not photographed yet. The 5 yard piece I wrapped today was purchased locally and though it goes by the same type name, this silk dupioni was made in India. It's texture and appearance is different from the Chinese made dupioni. Pictures coming later.

Just a note about dupion / dupioni. The online company where I order my fabric refers to the silk as dupion and that is the stuff from China. Nearly everywhere else I've seen this type of silk it has been called dupioni. Both versions are acceptable. They are both beautiful fabrics, but the Indian dupioni has more shimmer and is lofty and crisp--or at least it was before I tortured it around a rusty pipe!

Sampling

2010-08-09T02:34:00.001-05:00

Did some experiments the other day with 12" widths of silk dupion and hemp silk. I like the results and am anxious to try some big stuff this week.

Above: Hemp silk shibori rust, scanned detail. Love the texture and the gold/bronze color. The blurry marks are due in part to the texture of the fabric and the high humidity. The design reminds me of ikat. The piece was tied, but I chose to scan an area where that's not obvious.

This is the silk dupion sample. I can't get over how deep the blacks are.

Both of these pieces were wrapped with 8 layers for the rust to penetrate. Harder going for the hemp silk, but I thought when I started out that the dupion was almost of equal weight. I've used habotai for so many years, did not realize the potential of dupion.

The longest shibori rust so far

2010-08-03T02:20:00.004-05:00

I have been invited to exhibit at Kaskaskia College in Centralia, IL. this September/October. There is a beautiful gallery there and some large spaces to fill. I've been working on a few long pieces of silk. I'm pretty pleased with this one. It's too long, at 112 inches, for my indoor studio pin board set up, so I photographed it on the clothesline next to my outdoor studio.

You might wonder how the design came about. Tried photographing the in process piece in the dark. The days are getting shorter! (I can't help it--I'm a night person and it was darn near 9 pm!) This is just after I finished applying the tea before pleating and wrapping the fabric. The pole/pipe I used is about 8 feet long.

Two six foot tables are end to end here in my outdoor studio. The 45 inch silk twill is folded in half for the application of tea.

A new order of silk arrived Friday. I've purchased some 55 inch wide silk to experiment with. Not sure how I'm going to handle it. I'd love to find a longer pipe too.

New direction

2010-07-28T02:39:00.001-05:00

New work is actually old fabric, created through composting way back in 2006. I haven't done any composting since then that I can remember but I have many many pieces of silk that were composted -- some whole cloth, some in pieces that may some day be dealt with. The silk below so reminded me of the recent oil spill (I hate that inappropriate word) that I felt compelled to work with it for the group show Elements at Main Street Art Gallery.

I have been making free hanging silk pieces since 2001. In 2008 I began a series of quilted/felted collages but for this silk I needed a different way to present it. I did not want to embellish the silk which I felt would take away from the exquisite patterns left in the silk from the composting process. In the end, I purchased ready made canvas stretchers, covered them with felt and stretched the silk over all and stitched it in place on the back. I'm a little concerned about the wrap around edges, but I think the pieces turned out well.

Nevereverland c2010 is 36 inches square.

Moon Garden c2010 measures 24 x 30 inches.

Gold Coast c2010 measures 40 x 30 inches.

Frond c2010 is the smallest at 14 x 11 inches.

Elements at Main Street Art Gallery

2010-07-15T21:46:00.001-05:00

Elements refers to the natural world--earth, wind, fire. The work done collectively by this particular group of artists, myself included, has exploited metal, clay, fiber, paper, and taken inspiration from nature through photography, painting, collage, surface design and sculpting. I would enjoy talking about my work with you at the opening. Hope you can make it over to Edwardsville on July 23rd, 6-8 pm. Main Street Art Gallery is at 237/239 North Main Street.

Two of my pieces in this show come from a single length of silk composted in summer 2006. I originally discussed this bit of cloth in a previous post and recently decided that the skirt must go. The ripper took out the seams and the silk has been reborn as wall art. A detail of one of the pieces is on the postcard above. I'm trying something new for this exhibit...mounting some of my silk over felt covered stretched canvas to show off the surface designs. I'll also have a large free hanging rusted piece on display.

Opening tonight!

2010-07-09T02:36:00.002-05:00

Jacoby Arts Center 6th Annual Juried Exhibition opens tonight -- July 9 -- with a reception from 5-8 pm. The show runs through August 8, 2010. One of my small pieces, Organic Bailout, was selected for the show.

This piece features both rusted and composted silks along with a piece of rusted vintage dishtowel fabric that had been my mother's. I did a lot of free motion quilting and embroidery on this piece which measures only 11 x 8.5 inches.

For those you in the area who plan to attend the opening at JAC, you can gallery hop over to By Design. Lillian Bates has turned part of her fiber arts and wearable boutique into a full fledged gallery. Her first show opens tonight too with a reception from 5 to 8 pm. The show is called Varied Perspectives.

Lillian features my scarves, t-shirts, tights and other wearables in her boutique.

Fireworks

2010-07-05T00:37:00.000-05:00

Only saw fireworks on TV this 4th of July. Too tired to get in the car and drive the 3 miles to see the display in town. Spent the holiday at the home of friend Elizabeth Adams Marks and got a preview of her new paper collages. So beautiful. She and I will be in the Elements show together that opens later this month at Main Street Art Gallery in Edwardsville. The pressure is on. Lots to do. In the meantime I made my own fireworks of sorts with little rusty stars on this silk/rayon blend.

Comparison

2010-06-24T19:28:00.001-05:00

I washed the soft gray scarf seen in yesterday's post and the color is warmer now with some pinkish tones. Interesting, but I wish I could hang onto the cold gray tones. I have hard water. I neutralized the rust with baking soda then washed by hand in Ecover. Will take some experiments to discover why the color shifts. Not much I can do about the hard water. Not sure it is the culprit as I do a thorough rinse of the rusted silk outdoors with the hose immediately after the reveal and nothing changes then. I scanned approximately the same area as before.

Details

2010-06-24T02:27:00.008-05:00

A few days ago I wrapped this 60" long scarf on one of my rust rods. (BTW, this is a scanned detail.) I rolled one direction then overlapped the next layer going the other direction and still had scarf left for a partial third layer. The rust does a remarkable job of penetrating the layers, In this case--with pleating, there were 12, but the timing and the 3rd layer resulted in a much lighter toned design in parts of the whole length of silk.

The soft grays come from used tea bag dust, which reminds me I have hundreds of tea bags in a sack that need to be emptied. I have not yet washed this scarf and I suspect I'll see some color shift when I do. I'll post the washed pressed scarf for comparison later.

Stripes were created by an auger. This is a 72" scarf so a portion on either end had to be folded over before being wrapped on the 4' long iron piece which resulted in the chevron pattern.

Rusty bits fresh off the press

2010-06-06T00:47:00.004-05:00

Another hour or so and I might have had to kiss this silk good bye--at least for wearing. I nearly forgot to unwrap the goodies. Humidity was high and the results are strong. Silk satin is difficult to photograph--too much shine--and the scarves never want to lay very flat, so I threw these on the scanner and just did details. All but the last one will be at the EAC gift shop soon.

Pocket Square

2010-06-05T03:05:00.005-05:00

I've spent a good deal of time lately in the garden getting the tomatoes and other veggies in the ground as well as planting flowers. I just made a list of all the shows I have on the calendar this summer and fall and scared myself silly tonight! Thought I would post some scans of scarves to prove I've actually been working in the studio too. This is a detail of a pocket square 17" on a side before rusting. It was done in the shibori method. Quite a bizarre design isn't it? More new work to see in the next post.

Promises, Promises

2010-05-15T00:34:00.000-05:00

Here's a detail of a new piece I finished today--a collage of composted and rusted fabrics with free motion machine stitching that reminds me of the ongoing oil spill off the coast of Louisiana.

The title is Promises, Promises.

2010-04-27T00:33:00.014-05:00

For several years I've participated in a small works show titled Fiber Fusion that has run concurrently with ARTEAST at The Quilted Garden in Edwardsville. Last year unfortunately the show didn't happen, but I understand this year it will be revived. I'm looking forward to creating something for it. Below is one of the pieces I created for Fiber Fusion a few years ago. You can see other Fiber Fusion pieces and small works I've done by clicking on Silk Books and Small Works at the tab under the header of this blog.

Actually this piece has had two lives. Due to size constraints when first created for Fiber Fusion in 2005 (just after Hurricane Katrina), it was not mounted on the found wood as it is now. I reworked the piece and entered it in a competition at Art Saint Louis. The silk itself measures about 8 1/2" x 11" and is designed to hang on the wall.

Titled Where Is There Another Place, this book has 8 pages torn from a larger piece of very thin silk that was composted and rusted simultaneously. Vintage typewriter keys form the title and page numbers. A seed pod is mounted below. The wood came from old box I dismantled. Following is the artist statement I wrote for The Layered Stitched Assembled Show at Art Saint Louis in 2006.

This little book is an homage to New Orleans, a city I have visited many times in the past and home to a dear friend whose house sits less than three blocks from Lake Pontchartrain. The news that NOLA had flooded after Katrina swept through was heartbreaking. When I began to work with this piece of organically printed silk, every page seemed to suggest an image of breached levees and aerial views of swirling water.

I invite you to lift the pages (very carefully) and "read" about the flood. These are limp and fragile pages with raw edges and loose threads...an apt description of the beloved Crescent City and her people. Time will tell. May she rise again, for where is there another place in the world like New Orleans? Laissez les bon temps rouler

I usually take all photos of my work, but Where is There Another Place was photographed by Joseph Gruber.

Looking ahead to ARTEAST 2010

2010-04-11T03:10:00.004-05:00

I will be in a new place to exhibit for this year's ARTEAST event. I am so excited...and grateful to Alison Reeves, my fellow exhibitor who designs and makes jewelry, for arranging it. Hopefully all four of us who exhibited last year at the winery can reunite for ARTEAST 2010 at the Edwardsville Fitness Studio at 201 Hillsboro Ave, Edwardsville, IL.

I hope the owners don't mind that I've borrowed a photo of the main room from their website. I visited today with Alison who takes classes there and she introduced me to the owners, Sally Burgess and George Johannes who are eager to lend the space to us and get involved in ARTEAST. The space is more intimate than the large high ceilinged room we shared at Villa Marie Winery in Maryville last year, but I think we'll manage quite nicely in the place. The studio is beautiful! Plus there is a small lobby where we can set up refreshments and another room up front that can be used for exhibit space too.

Even nicer is the location...in the heart of Edwardsville, and easy walking distance to many other ARTEAST sites. We'll be just a block from the Edwardsville Arts Center where a large group exhibit will be set up; and a block from Main Street, where several ARTEAST exhibits will take place at various locations.

The winery was a great place last year and the owner did invite us back...but unfortunately in this economy I'm sure she could not afford to turn down paying customers. A wedding reception and party were booked in both available spaces there for the same weekend as ARTEAST. So my little group was forced to find a new place.

Fiber: Twenty Ten

2010-03-31T00:55:00.002-05:00

Ananas Comosus c2010 by Patricia Vivod was accepted into Fiber: Twenty Ten.

Missouri Fiber Artists (MoFA) is cosponsoring this national juried show with The Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles, Missouri. The exhibition, which was juried from over 300 entries by Kay Khan of Santa Fe, New Mexico, will open MoFA's 2010 conference on Friday, April 16, 6-9 pm. The weekend will be filled with a number of workshops and Khan will be the keynote speaker at a brunch on Sunday. I am really thrilled to have a piece selected for this show. I'll be attending both the opening and the brunch and am looking forward to meeting many other fiber artists.

Ananas Comosus is a shibori rust piece. A long piece of silk was pleated and wrapped around a long pipe and tied in place. As always when I do shibori, I relish the surprise when unfolding the silk the next day to see the resulting shapes and marks imprinted on the fabric. The rust penetrates the pleated fabric easily and the silk is very receptive to the color. The mirror image patterns reveal all sorts of little creatures. A detail appears at the bottom of the page.

SIUE Art Auction Update

2010-03-19T01:25:00.004-05:00

The Friends of Art Auction site has been updated with 2010 information. The cataloging of donated items will be done on the 28th and soon after the entire auction catalog will appear online in a lovely slide show so that visitors can get a sneak preview ahead of the auction which takes place Thursday, April 8. As of our FOA meeting last night, 145 items had been logged in with many more arriving tomorrow and early next week. On auction night, a preview time starts at 6 PM with the live auction beginning at 7 PM.

Doing my part for Friends of Art

2010-03-03T22:13:00.006-06:00

I've been donating one or two pieces each year to the SIUE Friends of Art Auction for the last ten years beginning when I entered grad school. Three years ago I was invited to join the board of directors for FOA which organizes the auction. Since 1980 proceeds from art donations have funded the visiting artist program bringing scores of local, national and international artists to the campus in every area of art. The money has also gone to fund an art scholarship, prize money for undergrad and grad shows, a high school art competition and the auction competition, the Lovejoy Library fund, conferences, travel stipends, student art organizations, the Mexica project, and ARTEAST.

Grad school was a fantastic experience for me, coming after 25 years of teaching art at the high school level. The experience was greatly enhanced by the incredible number of visiting artists I got to meet so I will gladly donate to support the cause.

I'm donating the piece pictured above. I've also posted the image under the event calendar for the auction at the right. The piece is called Sunfish (c 2008) It measures 77" long by 45" wide. Hanging brackets allow the silk to float away from the wall about 4". The blue comes from elderberries, the other colors and design were made with the rust process.

BTW, students, alumni and friends of SIUE Art & Design and artists in the community are encouraged to donate. Original art donations are juried the day of the auction. Students can compete for 5 prizes totaling $1250 and non-students have a chance to win a $200 prize!
The entire auction catalog will be online sometime after March 28 at www.siueFriendsOfArt.com. I'll post the updated link when it is up and running for 2010. You can also view the donations at the 6 PM preview the night of the auction. The live auction will start at 7 PM.

New digs, part 2

2010-02-25T23:50:00.001-06:00

My new outdoor studio was finished in June 09 and christened in the midst of the heat wave of the year. It was miserable being slathered with both sunscreen AND mosquito repellent. A little mist from the hose occasionally was a life saver.

Moving the workplace away from the house meant also moving the rust collection. It took several days to clean out the shed and organize some sort of system for storing and easily retrieving items for use. I bought a garden cart which is capable of holding 1000 pounds. Absolutely great going downhill from house to shed! Quite a task going uphill again as I discovered when I began other summer projects such as my first vegetable garden and collecting all the piles of bricks I had under various trees left behind from when I was doing mostly composting with my silk. Bricks were used to weigh down the cocoon of plastic around the fabric.

In the studio I placed the utility sink and another small work table alongside it on the west wall making it handy to the long hose that I stretched down the slope from the house. The studio was designed with a walk through area. I can pull my garden cart in from the west in case rust items are too heavy to carry. My neighbor installed a step on the east so I can access the yard or walk to the clothesline.

Near the end of October my husband visited the studio in late afternoon to shoot some pics of me at work. In the photo above, in the foreground is a table with several shibori wrapped pieces bundled in plastic. The large rectangular contraption is a decorative slab of iron with other heavy items being used to weigh down a pair of tights I'm attempting to rust with flat pattern objects. The other table is being prepped to lay out another scarf. I can walk completely around the big tables which makes it very easy to work. My neighbor attached PVC pipe to the legs to raise the height of each which has saved my back from considerable stress.

When the humidity is low as it was on this day, the wet silk must be covered so that rusting can proceed before the fabric dries. I use large ziplock bags for scarves wrapped on short poles.

As I write this, I have a portable heater on in the office and I feel like I'm freezing. But here I am in shirtsleeves on a breezy 60 degree day handling wet silk. I dont' recall minding the chill. Go figure.

New digs!

2010-02-24T23:30:00.000-06:00

Last spring after a neighbor cleared a large pile of brush away in order to re-roof and paint my garden shed for me, I began eyeing the bare spot of ground behind the shed as a potential place to work. At the time I had work tables and a utility sink on the patio and buckets, boxes and piles of rusty items laying all over the yard behind the house. The view out my sliding door from the dining room looked embarrassingly like a junk yard. I consulted the handyman neighbor with my ideas.

One thing led to another as they say. Three tons of dirt (to level the playing field) and two tons of lake gravel later, along with 100+ feet of railroad ties, five posts, 32 running feet of lattice fencing and a dent in my wallet, I had myself a beautiful 16 square foot outdoor studio with an airy privacy fence. Follow the progress below.

I decided on a gravel floor rather than a deck for the studio as the whole process of rusting is messy and wet. I can spill anything here without fear. Landscape cloth was laid down first before the gravel went in to prevent the possibility of anything growing up through the rock. The gravel is easy to stand and walk on. The only drawback is keeping it clear of falling leaves and walnuts. The rake wouldn't cut it. Had to use the leaf blower several times as the season wore down. Walnut trees are the first to lose their leaves starting in late summer!

Long Day

2010-02-23T01:55:00.004-06:00

I spent most of the day Monday at the Department of Art & Design at SIUE making visits to several graduate and upper level classes. As a member of the Board of Directors of the Friends of Art, I volunteered (along with two of my colleagues) to make presentations on the upcoming art auction that provides the funding for the visiting artist program plus many other projects for art at SIUE.   The goal: to convince students it is in their best interests to donate art for the auction. Hope they took the info to heart.

The real treat came at the end of the day when I returned to the fibers studio to visit with my professor and friend Laura Strand and fellow student, teacher and book artist Elizabeth Adams Marks who is working on her masters in art ed now. Just spending a few minutes with these two gets my juices flowing. Elizabeth and I used to exhibit side by side at ARTEAST. I first met her when she was working on her BFA as I was working towards my MFA. Laura was instrumental in turning me from traditional printmaker to textile artist.

Oh my, I was so sleepy when I got home, I couldn't keep my eyes open to watch the medal performances for Olympic Ice Dancing. Dang! The last pair were in the kiss and cry booth when I woke up.   So I came downstairs to check email and discovered some really great news. The SDA website has listed my blog on the Member Website list. Woo Hoo!!

Future plans for this blog include creating some links to my favorite sites and fellow artists, especially the group I came to know and admire through grad school. And, I promise the next post will finally debut pics of my outdoor studio.   The pictures were taken last spring and summer so they should provide a nice contrast to the cold, gray days we've been experiencing here in the midwest.

Rusty things and Pearls of Wisdom

2010-02-18T02:08:00.000-06:00

I grew up on a farm where most of the equipment was held together with bailing wire. I wish I had some of those old tools and machine parts of my dad's to rust with now. Still, I have amassed a nice collection of iron. I've bought, begged for, found and been given some very interesting things. The lovely twisty thing casting a shadow on my newly painted shed is an auger I bought in Greenville which yielded some great scarf designs last fall. One of my proudest purchases a few years ago at a local junk yard was six spiral toothy wheels, seen above, that were once part of a rotary hoe. The kind man at the yard disassembled the machinery so I could buy just the spirals. I've used them many times as in the photo below.

This shot was taken just after I'd picked up the silk from the work table. The blue and magenta came from elderberries and poke berries tightly packed and mashed around the hub of each wheel. The black resulted from the chemical reaction between tea leaves, fermented walnut juice, vinegar and the iron. Both tea and walnut juice serve as mordants, but even with that protection, this piece was cured in a covered galvanized can for over two months before washing to preserve the wonderful blue. The finished piece which hangs vertically is called Pearls of Wisdom. It's over 100 inches long by 45" wide.

Hello Darcy!

2010-02-10T02:24:00.000-06:00

Darcy is my lone cat. Her companion Uma, pictured in my profile, is no longer with us. My husband thought it was unfair that Darcy was not on the blog too, so allow me to introduce her. Darcy was rescued from a pothole in a parking lot by my niece. She was so tiny--only about 5 inches long when she was brought to me. Thirteen years later and thirteen pounds heavy, she is healthy and happy, although missing one eye now. She does pretty well with out it! Her favorite napping place in the summer used to be on the screen that covers my utility sink, now moved from my patio to the new studio that I'll show you in an upcoming post.

As it's been so cold lately, Darcy spends only a few minutes at a time outside and loves to snuggle in any of several places around the house. Tonight she slept on my lap while I watched episode 2 of LOST. What a sweetheart she is, drool and all.

Happy New Year

2010-01-28T23:50:00.001-06:00

I was once embarrassed into standing up to take a bow at a faculty meeting because I had scored the lowest of anyone in the room on a time management test given by a guest speaker. It didn't help that I sat next to someone (a nun of course!) who got a 95 compared to my 5. I was told my score reflected a chronic problem connected to perfectionism. My fellow teachers and I had a good laugh, but honestly, I had not previously thought of myself as a perfectionist, nor made the connection to procrastination. Later I Googled the two words and found I had a choice of 140,000 possible articles to read. Now you know why it has been over two months since I last posted!

Here it is the end of January--I don't suppose it is too late to wish everyone a happy new year. It has been very cold. The propane tank was filled again today for the whopping price of $3.36 a gallon. Snow is supposed to be on the way tonight although the prediction is only for an inch or so in this area. Darcy my one eyed cat who usually loves to be outdoors is content to sleep in her warm basket, just about 24/7. I am wishing I had some fingerless gloves to keep my hands warm. It is chilly in the basement where the computer lives.

A friend emailed today asking about tights she'd heard I made. I took these pictures at the fashion show I spoke of in the November post. The model is wearing a dress and boot legs designed and made by Lillian Bates. The tights are my design using the shibori rust method I use to make scarves and larger silk pieces. The 3rd image is a detail of a different pair of tights. No two ever come out alike, but I was completely surprised when the design was mostly black and cream with hardly any rust color.

Fall Color and Fashion

2009-11-06T02:02:00.000-06:00

The view from my patio was spectacular last week despite the drizzle of rain. October was declared the wettest October ever, and the fourth wettest month in weather recording history. I had a bit of water in the basement despite new window wells -- one of them leaked water slowly into my studio, but it was not a major disaster and thankfully the leak was plugged and everything was dry by evening.

The rain unfortunately sped up the leaf dropping process so that by November 1st the maple trees were nearly naked, matching my walnut trees that began dropping their leaves weeks ago.

I barely had time to notice the beauty outdoors because I was sewing madly for a fashion show to be held November 7 at Jacoby Arts Center. I completed and delivered two outfits on Tuesday along with some of the tights I've been rust dyeing.

Heads & Threads for Love is a fund raiser for Love 146 --dedicated to abolishing child sex slavery and exploitation--sponsored by Lillian Bate's By Design boutique at 136 Front Street, Alton and Fringe salon next door. Lillian has been selling wearables for me since she opened a year ago. I was excited to be invited to participate in the fashion show.

In summer 2006 I was beginning to explore rust dyeing, but I did quite a lot of solar dyeing because the temperature was in the high 90s and 100s. I also laid a few pieces out on the ground for what some natural dyers refer to as compost dyeing. I usually refer to all my processes as organic printmaking. The silk pictured above was arranged with black walnuts, elderberries, orange slices, radishes, watermelon rinds, rhubard stalks, turmeric spice and slices of red cabbage in the center which were pounded to break the cells in the leaves. The silk was covered and sealed with black plastic for three weeks. I've done composting in the past that took months to produce color, but the heat worked to my advantage.

This is the result of that experiment immediately after picking up the fabric and disposing of the veggie detritus. The color looks rich here, but keep in mind the fabric was damp and as with many naturally derived dyes, the color changed and faded despite leaving it to cure for two or more months before washing.

This summer, I've noticed a dramatic color change when I've used elderberries. Scarves that were magenta in color when I removed them from the rust objects, quickly turned blue on the clothes line.

I put the fabric away for three years and rediscovered it two weeks ago. The fashion show concoction that I'd had my heart set on making for weeks went out the window in favor of using this fabric to create a dress. I confess the dress didn't work out either. I turned the bodice (which is made from another piece of composted silk) into a finished blouse trimmed with vintage cotton lace and the full gathered skirt into a long narrow wrap skirt.

The silk gauze sleeves are from a third piece of fabric that was rust dyed also in summer 2006. The blue comes from elderberries that were packed around the rust objects. The color in the skirt fabric is now blue/violet gray with deep blue elderberry spots along with swirls of deep walnut brown, cream, pink, bronze and yellow. Really a beautiful piece of silk if I do say so.

To make sure the wrap measurements would work, I did a practice run on some commercial fabric I had in my stash...a wonderfully soft, drapey, probably rayon blend paisley in rich fall colors. It paired beautifully with some rusted organza I made just a week ago which I transformed into a poncho/shawl with bead fringe.

ARTEAST at the Villa Marie Winery

2009-10-24T02:08:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pics from the Vino Room. There were so many scarves I had to spread some out on a table while the rest hung on two racks. The top photo shows a selection on the center rack with the orange velvet one a real standout. The brilliant color was a surprise to me--so different from the silk satin rust marks. To the right of the scarves in the background are two of my smaller wall hangings.

I had to get creative with my big silks as I could not use the walls. My friend Bob (who builds my wall brackets and lends me rusty things) and I collaborated on a design for gigantic banner hangers. They are 8 feet tall and can be taken apart for transport. Each can hold works back to back if needed. My friends from St. Louis give you a sense of the scale. The piece they are looking at is Chicken Scratch which won BEST OF SHOW at Fiber Nine last fall at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Illinois. It is rust dyed silk organza layered over black raw silk, 55 inches wide.

Last is a view from the other direction. Alison Reeves makes jewelry. That's her table on the right. In the distance is the watercolor display booth belonging to Jerie Artz and Arvilla Friar. The whole space was really quite beautiful and I thank Judy Wiemann and the staff of Villa Marie Winery for providing us with the venue.

New work

2009-10-22T01:42:00.000-05:00

Besides preparing for ARTEAST weekend which is over now, I created a piece for the ARTEAST Small Works Group Exhibit which continues through November 15 at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton, Illinois. 100 ARTEAST participants have work in the show.

Twitter #54, July 1927: "Etta had company this evening"
Mixed media collage--rust dyed and composted fabric, found fabric, found paper, thread

I usually have to force myself to work small but this piece came together easily when I rediscovered a tiny diary I bought at an antique store in Pocahontas a couple years ago stashed in one of my bins of found objects. Written the same year my parents were married, the words are cramped, sometimes unreadable. I realized as I attempted to decipher the handwriting that the author recorded some pretty mundane thoughts day to day which led me to compare the entries to twittering. Methinks I miss making collages so when I get past my current deadlines, I'd like to make use of more pages from this little gem of a diary.

The Snarky Twins make their debut at ARTEAST

2009-10-16T02:57:00.000-05:00

Shibori rust dyed scarf detail. 100% silk satin.

The actual scarf is about 72 inches long--this is an 8x10

direct scan near the bottom. Shibori is Japanese for

shaped resist dyeing--the only difference is that I do

not make a dye bath. My imagery comes from direct

contact with rust objects. More about that in a later

post.

I've rust dyed 50 scarves! I surprised myself with the

number. That's the most I've made in one summer.

Most of them are in the shibori method--

and all will be for sale at ARTEAST this weekend.

I'll be exhibiting at Villa Marie Winery in Maryville, Illinois.

Maps to 50 venues can be found at the ARTEAST website.

Come see me on the lower level in the Vino Room. I'm

sharing the space with 3 other artists -- Jerie Artz and her

mother Arvilla Friar who are great watercolorists, and

Alison Reeves who makes fabulous jewelry.

Along with scarves, I will have some of my huge silk hangings

and also some smaller quilted felted collages.

This is my first post on my brand new blog. I'll add more

as soon as I can and introduce you to the art I make.

BTW, can you see the Snarky Twins?