Small Works
I have created an eclectic group of small works over the years several which were exhibited at The Quilted Garden in Edwardsville, Illinois in a recurring show called Fiber Fusion which was an open invitational to fiber artists in the area. On two occasions I have made artist books.
In 2011 I made another small piece for a show I curated and participated in at Jacoby Arts Center for Innovations in Textiles. I have written several posts about the show (and not done yet!) in the main part of the blog. The newest piece is just below.
If Only c2011 is a collaboration piece. Underneath the veil of rust printed organza is a devore fabric I received from Laura Strand my former professor of fibers at SIUE. The assemblage is about my mother's sister and includes a felt and sequin peacock brooch my mother made, a photo of my aunt and two pineapple doilies (my mom's favorite crochet pattern). The stand that holds the assemblage is an antique lamp base that I found a couple years ago. It was thoroughly rusted.
Older pieces:
You can find an artist statement and details about Where is There Another Place c2006 in my April 27, 2010 post. I have exhibited this piece several times. It was included in the Layered, Stitched, Assembled show at Art Saint Louis. It took third prize at the Jacoby Arts Center juried competition. It was part of the SIUE 50th Anniversary Alumni Show and published in the catalog for that exhibition. And it was one of two of my pieces featured in Elka Kazmierczak's book Art of Survival, Women, Healing and the Arts published in 2006 by Elka Books, Carbondale, IL for
Like the piece above, Sentimental Pentimento c2006 is a silk book created for the wall. The silk was originally a large single piece composted using walnuts and berries then later heavily rusted to the point that the fabric is iridescent. The underlying composted design, visible on four pages which are double sided, prompted the reference to pentimento. The lace and artificial flower bud corsage are vintage. This work was the title piece of my solo show at Greenville College in 2007.
Tomato Lake c2005 is actually the first piece I did for Fiber Fusion. It is a collage created from two pieces of composted silk glued to paper along with vintage found fabrics. The map is screenprinted onto the silk. Similar to some of my larger collages, the rotted silk with its undulating border resembles a shoreline. Tomato Lake is in a private collection.
Magic Carpet Ride c2007 is a departure from my typical work with silk. I can never seem to throw anything away--even what I considered to be a failure when originally made. This scrap of fabric was salvaged from a piece of cotton that had been a continuing experiment in surface design from grad school. It was dyed with fiber reactive dyes, bleached, screen printed many times, overdyed, and I think even devoreed (is that a word?). I quilted, machine embroidered and beaded the piece finishing it off with a found tassel.
In 2008 I was invited to exhibit at Main Street Art Gallery in Edwardsville for which I created a series of small quilted collages using my organically printed silk and cotton, as well as commercial fabric. Some of the pieces also included felting. This smallest piece in the series (8.5" x 11") was shown first at Fiber Fusion, then included with the other quilt collages for the Texture Show at MSAG. All of the pieces in the series were informed by the financial meltdown and the presidential debates that were going on at the time. The Organic Bailout c2008 is made with composted silk and rusted silk and cotton which is free motion quilted and embroidered with silk and rayon threads.
