8 months of work

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.