Decision and Delivery

You might guess I changed my mind again.  Not much time to think about which way should be up as I had about 20 minutes to spare when I walked into Jacoby Center today to deliver the piece.  Decided on the original format.

Stippling in the rusted cotton which used to be a dishtowel of my mom's and meandering in the area below to define the elderberry impressions left during composting the silk.  The lighter silk in the picture above was composted at a different time and once again I found  rivers and topography in the walnut stains.

The finished piece with machine free motion stitching, some metallic threads, some rayon or silk thread and bead embellishment.  The blue area is walnut composted sueded rayon that was indigo dyed this summer.  The orange dress fabric also belonged to my mom.  I think it is cotton, but it is very crisp.

Rotation

I stitched the gold down last night and stippled over the rusted cotton. Tonight I continued with the blue thread. Have quite a bit more stitching to do, but my machine keeps popping the feed dogs up which has slowed me down and annoyed me no end as the free motion isn't so free that way. Time to get the machine cleaned and serviced.  I stopped for a bit and drug out my beads as I'm thinking of embellishing.

When I brought the piece to the scanner I had to rotate it to capture the detail I wanted to show here and surprise surprise I was taken with the upside down view. I've been designing the piece to be shown the other way as you can see in the previous post, but now I'm thinking I like it better this way.

Who Does She Think She Is?

Today I played the documentary Who Does She Think She Is? and it was just what I needed to get started on a new project.  Wonderful film.

In the center top is the work in progress surrounded by two older quilted pieces along with scraps of compost and rust fabric. The original idea soon took a new form when I decided to use a piece from the indigo sample.  I'm stitching in place onto a felt back, not piecing.

Not sure what other fabrics will end up in this piece.  But I just have to remark on the little yellow things--my new favorite quilting tool.  Unfortunately not cheap. They are made of self healing foam that you stick on the end of pins. I always use those double pronged silk pins and I have stuck myself on those sharp points more times than I care to count. Quilters' safety pins leave holes in my silk not to mention they are a pain in the butt to open and close when you are sewing.

Straight off the clothesline

...and onto the scanner.  Not washed or neutralized yet.

Past and Present

Look what's growing in the walnut pile. Actually it's not a pile anymore.

Here's what it looked like nearly a year ago when all the walnuts had been harvested. If I recall the pile was almost 5 feet tall and 16 feet across.

Here's the same view now. During the heat wave this is where Elizabeth Adams Marks laid out her shawl for rusting. After the plastic sheet was spread on top we used walnuts to weigh down the rust objects underneath.

Actually there were many more mushrooms a couple days ago, but when I took the camera out yesterday, I found many of them shriveled and beaten down by the heavy rain that came in the night.

Fibers at Lindenwood

Friday I got to see the Contemporary Fiber Arts show at Lindenwood University for the first time. Curator John Troy did a wonderful job in arranging the four artists' works. My big silks look good in the space I think, though John told me that this was the largest work displayed there and adjusting the lighting was a challenge. One of the lights had sagged a bit before the reception leaving The Rain Dancers Ball too dark at the top.
 

Three of my big new silks made during the heat wave hang next to the smaller dark one finished last year for Fiber Focus.

I met artists Leandra Spangler (pictured) and Carol Zeman for the first time at the reception. Leandra's work involves basketry overlaid with handmade paper which is embossed and painted and occasionally embellished. Both artists are from Missouri.

Two more of Leandra's pieces.

Leandra's tall beaded piece Andromeda (reed, artist made cotton paper, knitted steel, metal and glass beads) next to Carol Zeman's art. In the background is one of my silks, Maze of Life.

Several of Carol's works involve found wood and handmade paper with non-traditional basketry techniques.

Bookshelf: Book of the Future is made of bamboo and palm frond paper, recycled paper, artificial sinew  coptic binding. It is only about 8 inches wide.

The fourth artist is Jessica Forys-Cameron from Illinois. Jessica included sculptural pieces (collectively referred to as Unmades) as well as Vignettes which include painting and sculpture. They all have a fairytale quality.

Lots of students came to the opening, among them two classes of fashion design students who had a lot of interest in my silk.  I spoke to one of the classes and was also interviewed by LUTV.  Besides the Boyle Family Gallery, the arts center houses a large theater, a black box theater, graphic design, and the television studio.

The stunning J. Scheidegger Arts Center at Lindenwood University.  The Contemporary Fiber Arts show will be up through September 30.