And then there is this gem...

Doing some of this right now!

About a Stash!!!!!

Doesn't this just say it all...

SAQA Purchase

This little quilt that I made and donated to SAQA, an organization that supports fiber artists, was sold at the Houston International Quilt Festival. It’s always a little nerve racking to put yourself out there and you hope for the best. I was thrilled to learn that my work was one of the first chosen. I am glad that someone will enjoy it and that SAQA will benefit because they give a lot to me. I am looking forward to finding out who purchased it.

Creating the Backdrop

The fiber art that I enjoy most are the ones that make me look closely to see how a piece is layered, how depth is achieved, how color is moved. How I achieve this in my own work follows:

•  I start with a sketch. Generally on a plain piece of typing paper. 
• I create some sort of vague nine-patch,; no straight lines here, just roughing in. I use a nine-patch for the same reason the rule of thirds is so appealing in all design.
• I generally draw in another rectangle between the outside edge and inside lines.
• From this starting point, I begin to manipulate the individual lines to create a less structured space.
• I don't like the look of any line moving from top to bottom or left to right.
• I choose a light source. That is, where in this box will my piece be the lightest?  Just as if you are taking a photo and have a window casting light, where on the surface will the lightest place be. I prefer for the light to land anywhere be absolute center but plan to test this soon.
• After this decision is made,  I move around the diagram and mark individual boxes with value phrases. There are five: dark, medium dark, medium, medium light and light.
• I prefer to have the darkest values around the edge and to move from one value to an adjacent without skipping over a value in order to achieve a better flow.
• The darks are not totally around the edge. Near my light source the value will most likely be a medium which is dark compared to the light source value.
• Notice, I have not yet spoken of color.

Here is an example of a background created this way.

This piece is not yet finished as their are elements yet to be placed on top but I save that for a later date.

A number of years ago, when vacationing family reunion style in Durango, CO, my Sister-in-laws and I saw this piece of pottery. We fell in love with it and knew we had to gift our Mother-in-law. She is the mom to 10, add a handful of daughter-in-laws who claim her as theirs, grandmother to 27 and great grandmother to 14. (Although she really is just GREAT to all!)

Once again I don't know who the artists is. I didn't have enough sense to look for and keep that piece of information back in the day.

Draped Panels in The Charleston Airport

Killing time in the Charleston airport was joyful. There was a lot of wonderful art to look at throughout. Most have a river theme. At least that's how I saw it. Beautiful colorings and drapings and delight.I have tried to discover who the artist is but have not been able to. What a shame. If anyone in blogger land know, please let me know so that I can give credit here.

I love these draped panels the most. So graceful and elegant. The view changes as you walk around them. How sweet are they!

Mystery Art in the Antoinette Hatfield Building

I love this mobile. The trouble is, I can not find any information about it and as you cans see it is suspended in the dome of the Antoinette Hatfield building which is too high to get a good look. I don't know who the artist is or the name of the piece or what the materials are made of, just nothing. All I can say is that I love the free floating movement of the piece and how it changes color depending on how the light falls on it. I also love how i looks against a sky that changes color. The blueness of it all is quite peaceful!

If you happen to know, would you let me. Thanks.

If you follow this blog, you might remember reading about the 2012 Liberate Your Art postcard swap. What fun it has been to get something in the mail besides a bill and artsy mail to boot. I will share with you my own private collection. All in all there were

1152 individual pieces of art liberated
193 artists participating
11 countries represented

I will share wth you what I received>

First are the poppies, created by Elissa. It is her first attempt to use watercolors. What a stunner! Keep at it girl. You have figured it out. The quote on the card says "There is no such thing as being done with an artistic life." Julia Cameron

Next up from Elise Ann Wormuth, is a beautiful image of cascading roses. I love the antiqued feel of this image. Simply beautiful!

Our leader, Kat Sloma, included this beautiful image from her time in Italy, I believe. I love how the path leads the eye but the flowers encourage you to stall for a bit.

A mixed media collage from Maria Rinda Ontiveros reminded me of something I know only too well. I love the black and white images juxtaposed with the painted background and ever so slight red edge.

Next from across the pond, Tracey Fletcher King's kitchen art. Her delightful drawing of kitchen things ( I think she must be making lemon bars-YUMMO) is totally fun. I especially love the Kitchen Aid mixer.

And a fractal image from Darnita Howard is amazing. I was blown away and wanna know how to do this too!

Kat Sloma put together this video of all the cards that were sent through the mail. Take a minute to view it. It is lovely and tranquil. To see more links to artists blogs who participated, click here. Blessings to all the artists of the world.

9.11.12

I made this flag quilt in 1994 when I first started quilting. In fact in the class, called PDQ we made three quilt tops in 6 weeks. Each of my quilts got progressively smaller. The concept being taught for this piece was log cabin, which is the star field. Tiny, tiny log cabins. I really love this quilt and get it out for all American celebrations or remembrances. Yesterday was one of these which is still sobering after all these years.

Hey all you fiber art junkies, join me and lots of others in the "2012 Liberate your Art" fun. What you do is take a photo of your art, in an artful way, and print it a few times, send it to our boss, the one and only Kat, photographer extraordinaire. She distributes the goods and you get a like number of pieces of art in the mail. Totally fun and so much better than bills. Sign up here.  Do give it a go.

Wind Worshipers

Wind Worshipers is a part of a show with the theme Memory Wall. My story is... The first time I crossed into the desert on the I-10, I was enchanted with the tall white turbines set against the “oh so blue” sky. Gracefully turning, sometimes in unison as if dancing, with arms outstretched, reaching for the sun and worshiping the wind, they never cease to capture my amazement. 

A Book Review - Art Quilt Portfolio: The Natural World

I received a copy of this book from Lark for review. First and foremost, this is a book review and not a commentary on what is art or even an evaluation of the fiber art in the book.

Art Quilt Portfolio: The Natural World  is written by Martha Sielman. She is the executive director of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates), the world's largest art quilt organization. She has been a professional artist, author, lecturer, curator, juror and arts administrator for over 20 years. This volume is the first of several in this series, each exploring a different theme.

The book is a soft covered book measuring 8.5 by 10 inches and is 192 pages long.  Unlike over sized or fat and chunky books, this size makes it very easy to hold and read and will fit on my book shelf easily (dumb, I know but important to me.) The quality of the paper is superb as are the quilt images, which are very clear and sharply executed. I find it interesting to note that many of the images have been taken by the artist. I add this thought only because of the many discussions that take place in the art quilt world about the necessity of having a professional photographer take your quilt images. These would say that is not necessarily so.

The scale of  the images changes from page to page. Some are juxtaposed with text. For me, having a large photo along with several smaller ones added interest to the overall book. It is also interesting to note that there are no close up/cross sections of any of the quilts. This is different from many art quilt books but brilliant as it allows the reader to focus on design and not techniques or execution. It is, after all, an art quilt book.

What I like most about this book is the way it is organized. There are nine sections: Flowers I, Birds, Water, Animals, Leaves, Insects, Flowers II, Trees, and Textures. Each section opens with two or three featured artists whose typical work is representative of the section theme. A compendium of their work is presented. Not quite work in a series but seeing numerous pieces by the same artist allows the reader to note how an artist applies the principles of design, adds complexity and keeps the eye moving. Each artist speaks to their beginnings, their inspiration and their intent. In addition, there is also work from a myriad of  artists whose styles are quite varied while the theme remains constant.

The section on birds contains a collection entitled Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, which represents work from the group, Fiber Artists Coalition (FAC), who are artists living in the northern Midwest. I was totally fun to see the variety of work produced from this common theme.

Cassandra William's work leads the section on animals. I have seen some of her work over the years and it is spectacular. The complexity she is able to achieve is amazing. I enjoyed the opportunity to read about her and see a number of her pieces all together in one place.

It was also delightful to see Dominie Nash's Big Leaf series. I had only seen her Stills from a Life before this and they are two completely different types of work. This is worth the price of the book.

The vastly different styles of art contained in The Natural World are what makes this book so special. You will find the complex piecing of Ruth McDowell and Cassandra Williams, the complex thread work of Annemieke Mein and Dottie Moore, the soothingly, beautiful work of Nancy Cook and Elaine Quehl and everything in between. I was happy to see digital art and screen printed pieces such as Katherine Allen's included as well.

This is a book worth adding to your collection. Not only is it informative, it is a feast for the eyes. Something you will enjoy for years to come. Congratulations, Martha Sielman, on a job well done. I look forward to the next in this series.