Farm Girl Landscapes 2010

In September and October of 2010 I was given a solo show at the Boswell Gallery at Kaskaskia College in Centralia, Illinois. It was an opportunity to show a great variety of the work I've done over the past several years.  Below are some gallery shots and several of the 35 pieces that were part of the exhibit. 

I made a good number of new pieces for the exhibit, some of them quite large to take advantage of the spaces in this beautiful gallery.  One wall was over 18 feet high and I was determined to create a piece that would do it justice.

The largest piece, Pond Ripples c 2010, is nearly 15 feet long and 55 inches wide.  It had the large wall to itself.  You can see the large piece here.

I exhibited several of my organza pieces that are layered over black along with collages made with composted silk and found fabric on paper.  You can see the organza pieces on their own page here.

Seed Saver c2005
Mixed media collage

Wedding Cake c 2005

Mixed media collage

The design of the gallery is unusual with a bank of windows to the north and three partition walls about 10 feet high which meant I had a lot of space to fill. 

Wheat Germ c2010

Round Bales c2010

Thistle Down c2010
This piece and Wheat Germ are 9 feet long.
Round Bales above is 12 feet long.

The Chinese cabinet is a permanent fixture in the gallery and I was able to display on the darker walls there with no problem.  The piece on the left is Dying Grass Moon, Imperfect Mirror which can be seen here.

The long view from the north looking toward the gallery entrance.  My etchings and some woodcuts were displayed on one wall with collages and silk on the opposite.  You can see some of my etchings and woodcuts and collages here.

Ananas Comosus  c2010.   This piece was juried into Fiber Twenty Ten a national show at the Foundry Art Center in St. Charles in spring 2010 and was also part of the juried competition at Edwardsville Art Center in Summer 2010.

Sentimental Pentimento was  originally designed to hang on the wall.  For this exhibit my friend Bob Woodard who fabricates my rods and brackets for hanging silk adapted a curved wire hanger that attaches to a beautifully rusted vintage lamp base I found last year so that I could display the piece on a pedestal. 

The Goddess of Frogtown c2002 is an assemblage I created to honor my maternal grandmother.

Junk Drawer Archeology c2002 

is a tribute to my mother.  That's her meat fork stuck in the bundle of string, her beeswax for sewing.

Pearls of Wisdom c2007 made with rust, elderberries and poke berries is around 80 inches long.   The spirals were created with wheels from a piece of farm equipment called a rotary hoe.  It was displayed in the library on campus and later purchased to remain in that location as part of the permanent art collection at Kaskaskia.  It was of particular interest to the college because Kaskaskia College is located in a rural farming community.

 For a sense of scale--a picture of me standing next to Pond Ripples on the day of the closing reception for the exhibition in October 2010.  I'd like to thank Diana Hansen, head of the art department at Kaskaskia College for giving me this wonderful opportunity.