The Month of May

May has been a busy month here at my house.  The farmer’s and artisans market in New Harmony started much earlier this year on April 21st and has continued.  Normally we don’t start til mid-June.  The artist festival, Arts In Harmony, was the first weekend of May.  The heat was pretty bad that weekend, but I was indoors in the air-conditioned gymnasium, even though they did leave the doors open!  It was much cooler inside than it was outside.  Sold some scarves, some note cards, some art.

Then came the highlight of my month.  I traveled to Tan-Tara resort in the Ozarks of MO for the Missouri Fiber Artists conference and exhibit.  The reception for the exhibit was on Friday night and juror Bob Adams chose my piece, Compositions #2, for the Surface Design award.  That was a wonderful surprise.

Compositions #2 Mixed Media and stitch

I took a glass fusing class Friday afternoon and learned a little bit about that process.  I made some pendants and earrings.

Saturday was an all day class with Bob Adams on building images.  That was fun.

Some of Bob Adams’ samples

This is the paper mock up I did in class. My bottle turned out looking too much like a milk bottle for my taste. That was not my intention!

Saturday night was a barbecue with everyone together.

Sunday morning was the final day…we had a delicious buffet brunch, short business meeting and a speaker, Annie Helmrichs-Louder, who shared her journey and her work.  She is one of the featured artists in the new Portfolio book out by Martha Sielman, The Natural World.  It can be purchased here. You can read my review of the book here.  Her work is wonderful.

That’s Annie facing this direction and chatting with some MoFA members.

To be continued….

Paducah

So I went to Paducah this week.  I changed things up a bit this year.  I only went for one day and it was Tuesday! (The quilt show starts on Wednesday.) But Tuesday is the day to go downtown and see Fantastic Fibers at the Yeiser Art Center….and visit the downtown stores and see friends…

That looks like a realty sign up there on the roof of the gray building.  I wonder who that is up there for?  People flying overhead?

I recently made a new online friend named Deborah Bein who somehow managed to get three pieces of her fiber work juried into Fantastic Fibers.  Three is quite an accomplishment for this show!  She asked me to take some photos of her work for her, and I don’t think she would mind if I shared one here.

"Broken Promises" by Deborah Bein

I took photos for a Facebook friend, Marijke van Welzen, of her artwork that was in the show too.

"Green" by Marijke van Welzen, Netherlands

Isn’t this gorgeous?!

I don’t usually visit the quilt museum when I go to Paducah, but this year, there was an exhibit from the U.K. called ACCENT that I wanted to see especially since I wasn’t staying for the quilt show.  I made notes of ideas and compositions that I liked.  I like to study the pieces that interest me and jot down things I like about them.  Get information and see photos of the exhibit here.  ACCENT is on display until June 12.

My friend Julia went with me.  We had a wonderful Mexican lunch at Los Amigos and in the afternoon spent time drinking iced coffee at McDonald’s while we critiqued all the quilts in a book that Julia bought.  Fun day and I didn’t spend too much!

Just Stuff

I have been pretty busy since the last time I blogged here.  January always brings with it the really well intentioned plan that I will actually get my tax information together early for a change…NOT.  Here it is February 13 and it hasn’t happened yet.  And now I’m in the throes of…wait for it…spring cleaning (yeh, I know it’s early, but…) and getting ready for two shows in a couple of weeks.  So there you have it…I do not have time to pull those tax records together.

I have been…pulling down my solo show on Jan. 29, then determining which pieces would go into a juried show (if I get in).  All that paperwork has to be turned in.  The Illinois Artisan shop always has a big quilt event during the Paducah quilt show…sometimes I get stuff in to them and sometimes I don’t. This year I filled out their paperwork and decided what will go there, along with a couple of scarves for their wearable exhibit.  There has been online work too getting photos and info onto websites of groups I belong to.  Check out missourifiberartists.com.  I recently got some of my work catalogued on that site.

Fading Glory, deconstructed screen printing, photo transfer

I did some work with rusting…I layered a few layers of cloth on both sides of a rusted piece of metal and wet it with vinegar.  It doesn’t take long to get an image.

I am going to start working on small pieces of art and these will be part of a series.

Someone has been giving us fresh potatoes and I am having a hard time keeping up with using them.  I found a recipe for Hasselback potatoes online and I thought they looked pretty yummy.

Hasselback potatoes before cooking...

They are sliced not quite all the way through, sliced garlic clove is inserted between the slices, then add some salt and butter and drizzle olive oil over the top.  Bake in the oven.  I can think of some other herbs that would be good on them too.

after cooking....yum!

Birthday party to attend this past weekend and a fund raiser on Sunday afternoon, I was privileged to be invited to set up a small table to sell items.

Tomorrow I am shampooing the carpet. ;=)

At The Gallery Part 2

Here’s a couple more pieces of my exhibit that have not been seen on my blog before.

Sticks and Stones #3

Rust dyed cotton sateen, silk screening, stenciling, applique, hand writing, paint, ink, dyes, stitching with polyester thread.

Sticks and Stones #4

Rust dyed feed sack, discharge dyed cotton sateen, silk screened, stenciled and stamped, paint, dyes and automatic dish washing liquid and other discharging products, hand writing, inks, stitching with polyester thread.

At The Gallery

I thought I would post a few photos of my exhibit, Surface Matters, for you to see how it is hung.  These photos are of the Flow series.

Flow #2, #3, #4

Flow #5, #6

Flow #7, #8

And then of course, the one that started it all…

Flow

Working Like a Madwoman

Ever have those times when you wake up in the morning and something starts talking to you?  I woke up yesterday morning very dissatisfied with how the mounting technique for  some mixed media work was coming along.  I have gone to great lengths to order everything to do it in this particular method, even ordering acid free coreboard which then needed the edges painted because I couldn’t find it in black.  But I awoke with a nagging dissatisfaction about it all.  I got up, looked at the work again, and said, oh, it’s ok…but then later the nagging unhappiness came back.  So because they measure 14″ square and of course, no canvases are made that size, I found my self shopping for a new idea, then shopping online and ordering more stuff and spending more money.  But at least I have peace now…these composition pieces are going to look much better, I think. And they deserve to.

Compositions #2

The time until I hang the exhibit is going fast. Today I feel I made much progress.  I worked on Black and White Compositions #2, #3, and #4.  These are compositions on canvas, made with cut pieces of cloth but they will not be stitched.  I don’t know if anyone realizes this or not (surely I’m not the only one!)…our type of work is much more time consuming than the average painter.  For me, there is the creation of the cloth, then the composition, and lastly, the layering and stitching part.  It is slow work.  In the interest of time, I am creating a few like this that will fill in my exhibit in a different color palette.

I also finished the handwork on the back of “Fading Glory” during tv time!

Tomorrow I will get up and do more of the same.  More mixed media Compositions are in the works too.  Can’t wait to get started on them.

Innovations in Textiles

I had the blessing of being able to take a day off from my work and go to St. Louis this week to see some of the exhibits of Innovations in Textiles.  This is a biannual event that takes place in the area.  Every two years for a two month period of time, galleries and exhibits major in textiles and fibers; there are also lectures and workshops offered by major textile and fiber artists.  Quilt National travels from Athens, Ohio to the Foundry Art Center in St. Charles, MO.   If I lived closer, I’d be majorly involved!

But I wouldn’t miss Quilt National at the Foundry.  And this year, I had two pieces in an exhibit at Maryville University.  The exhibit is called Speaking of Fibers and was put on by the Missouri Fiber Artists (www.missourifiberartists.com).

I took photos at Art St. Louis of some of the interesting fiber works in Fiber Focus.  Here’s one by Suzy Farren, a MoFA member.  I love what she did with paper and various fibers.  I have her permission to share it here.

I Could Fear That Too

To get to Art St. Louis, we had to pass a building under construction…looks like it will be the National Blues Museum when it is finished.

Interesting and very tall building in Art Deco style at 6th and Washington…

Two fiber buddies who spent the day, Julia Sermersheim and Susan Spineto…Susan Marth met up with us in St. Charles, but I didn’t get any photos of her….This quilt didn’t have a center in it, so I had them get in the “frame”…

Julia Sermersheim and Susan Spineto

No photos of Quilt National, of course.  We ate at Picasso’s Coffeehouse in St. Charles…wonderful place with great coffee…I didn’t take photos of that either.

Third Degree Glass Factory on Delmar had marvelously creative sinks and fixtures….

Bathroom sinks and faucets in the Third Degree Glass Factory bathroom

We thought these were the bomb! (unless I can’t say bomb anymore)

I also found an interesting wall to photograph…

It sort of goes with this…which was hanging in the MoFA exhibit…

Weathered Places

Best of show winner, Janet (don’t know last name) with juror Victoria Crowder Payne and Barb Zapulla, who, I think did most of the work of pulling off this exhibit…Pat Owoc’s work is in the background…

More from the reception…I only know a few of these people!

Here’s my other piece in the show…

Fragments of a Life 5b

Here’s another piece from the show by Rosemary Claus-Gray.

Beach Reflections

Well, I’m going to wrap this up…it was a fabulous day…now back to working on my exhibit which is less than 3 weeks away!

August This N’ That

Summer is winding down…it’s August already.   It has gone by quickly.

Along with leaving town a couple of times, working to have items ready for the artisans/farmer’s market each weekend, and now produce coming in from the garden, a girl has to work hard at getting quality time making art.  I have an exhibit to hang in October…!

I have been working on some new work and last week saw me spending a lot of time just doing art.  “Composition” is a new series I am working on.  It is mixed media work and I am enjoying it immensely.  I am having loads of fun using paint, ink and pastels to create on paper and cloth.

Composition - collaged base of paper and cloth, gesso, acrylic paint, oil pastels, ink paper

There are more coming in this series and manner of working.  These measure approximately 15″ square.  Work is also proceeding on a larger piece using discharged black cotton sateen and a rust dyed cotton feed sack.

Scarlet and I have started working on Christmas ornaments for the gallery gift shop.  Mine will mostly be mixed media and made of papers.  They are started but there is much to be done before they are ready for display.

New journal covers I have been creating this summer are photos printed on cotton. Oh, look…one of them is the new artwork, Composition.

I have a couple of shows I will be working in September.  See my events tab (above) to see where I will be.  October will be the time I am finishing up everything for my exhibit in New Harmony, IN.

Well, I guess it’s time to get back to my other work now….

This ‘N That

I haven’t blogged for a while.  I guess it’s because I haven’t been doing that much.  I visited with some friends last week, but I haven’t had much time for artsy stuff, although I do try to keep working steadily for my exhibit in October.

I have all 7 pieces of the “Flow” series now mounted on canvases covered in ash grey cotton.  They look very nice.  The only work left is to finish the back side of the canvas.

Flow #8

Work on Sticks and Stones #3 is finished.  All that is left is to get the hanging slat cut.  I have several pieces layered and basted; I’m ready to start the stitching. Sticks and Stones #4 is started.  I am studying where I am with at this point and where I want to go with it.

Sticks and Stones #3 detail

It’s time to get serious about getting work finished.  October will be here before we know it.  July is almost over.  I need to design my postcards for the exhibit so that they can be at the gallery in time for the August gallery stroll.  I will only be working a couple of shows this fall and no quilt shows since I will be working on the exhibit.

In other news, I had two textile pieces accepted into the MoFA exhibit that will run during Innovations in Textiles in the St. Louis, MO area this fall.  There will be an opening reception in early October at which time I will travel to the area and also go see Quilt National in St. Charles.  I can’t wait for that! I wish I had several days to hang around and see all of the exhibits and lectures and demonstrations going on, but this time, duty calls!  I’m sure I will be too busy and too nervous to take any more time out.  My exhibit has to be hung during the week of October 23.

Scarlet and I have scheduled another play day next week.  We are going to work on special Christmas ornaments for the gallery…this should be interesting and fun!

 

Tuesday

Well, I guess Mondays are lining up to be my “domestic” day.  After making Mounds balls,  I also made biscuits for supper later in the afternoon yesterday.  Did some laundry and cleaning up a bit too.  My husband hates to see things laying around and me…well, if I can’t see it, I forget about it and there are some things I want to remember I have to work on or at least think about so I can make a decision! (I recently found my Indiana sales tax form somewhere it should not have been…out of sight, out of mind.  Luckily, I still could meet the deadline.) My “studio”, aka, the shrinking 9’x 9′ extra bedroom, does not give me the space to leave things out where I can see them and think about them.  I pretty much use the whole house!

The thread came yesterday, so today I will again start stitching on a piece I am working on for my show.  I should be doing that now, but well, here I am.  I wanted to post some of the deconstructed results from last week, and I now have the photos loaded onto the computer.

I used different sized screens and some of these are overprinted…and may still need some more overprinting.  And they have not been washed yet, but you get the idea.  I really really love the breakdown look of this kind of printing.

The reason this whole piece of cloth is not printed is because I am pondering using these  as 4 separate prints for wall pieces.  We’ll see.  They might need more printing on them.