Warm

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

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

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

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!

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

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

The exhibition is open!

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