Virginia A. Spiegel

Formerly Present 4

The Formerly Present series continues with this new addition.  Formerly Present 4 is 23.75″h x 40.25″w.  It began with white cotton cloth that was painted screen printed, relief printed, and then stitched.

I went crazy building up layers of surface design on this artwork as the Formerly Present series is all about layers of history and memory.

The definition I am working with on this series is “Vestige:  Visible signs left by a material thing formerly present.”   Many of the screens for printing were burned from my sketches of an abandoned building, slowly decomposing to its base elements of rock, wood, and metal.

Photos by Deidre Adams.

Mysteries of Horseshoe Rock 2

Since I completed six small Mysteries of Horseshoe Rock, I have been working on additional artwork in this series in a bigger size.  They should finished up to around 36×36″ or a bit bigger. I started with a photo when I did the first six, but now I am working just the way I like to.  I have a specific image in mind, but am more focused on conveying the embedded emotion.  I have four big pieces done, but not stitched and plan on starting the fifth today. I don’t like to stop and stitch when I am on a roll with a series.

Of course the topic occupying my time is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the fun, freedom, and adventure my sister and I experience there twice each summer.

We’re off in June, so as the quartermaster I am trying out new recipes.  Yea on the new granola, the carrot/pineapple bread needs more work, and the purchased chicken dish I tried reminded me why I make all our our food!  Time to also try to whip myself back in Boundary Waters shape after a long winter.

The “Big Pack” photo is back on my fridge as incentive. It’s 50 lb. and I’m usually good to go once we get it up

The other big activity keeping me busy is my gardens. I put down the frame for a 4×8′ raised bed veggie garden this weekend.  I’m hoping I have enough compost to fill it. Gardening on clay makes a raised bed garden a necessity for veggies.

Unfortunately my only sun is in my front yard and I raised plenty of eyebrows with the amount of lawn I have already taken up. Lawn is king in rural suburbia, but I need my own spring peas after buying them for too long at the farmers’ market.

That’s it for this month and don’t forget I try to share a more personal view of my art and life in my free monthly e-newsletter.

Mysteries of Horseshoe Rock 5

See all six of these new artwork here.  Even though they bear a different title, they are really Boundary Waters 54 – 59. Horseshoe Rock is one of my sister and my fav places in the Boundary Waters.  These artworks are definitely based on the specifics of Horseshoe Rock, but they are really about how that place has become almost a talisman for us.  A place to be free, to be awed and humbled by Nature, to be most truly ourselves.

Mysteries of Horseshoe Rock 2

Folio 4, Corvid #8

I was inspired to create the Corvid series after reading Mind of the Raven by Bernd Heinrich. Ravens, blackbirds, and jays as well as the other Corvids are among the most intelligent of birds.  I wanted to show their mental complexity through layers of materials (and thought).

Folio 4, Corvid #5

Materials include hand-painted and screen printed fabric, screen printed papers, florists mesh, Lutradur,ink, graphite, and thread.  Techniques include paint, screenprint, collage, stitch, draw, stamp, and ink.

Stick and Sand, 28×12″

This is my entry for the Surface Design Association member show, Merge and Flow, to be held in conjunction with the SDA Conference.  I have been working on it for some time as you know if you have been following me on my FB Fan Page.

I spent a lot of time building layers of fabric, paper, thread, and paint.  I knew all along that  with a theme of Merge and Flow, the artwork had to be something about the Boundary Waters.  But I decided to let the artwork evolve as it desired.

The center of the blue couched spiral is a piece of tissue paper that I printed with one of my hand-cut stamps.As soon as I focused on that I knew where I wanted to go.  I printed a photo on silk organza of me crouched on a rock in the Boundary Waters, oblivious to everything, creating a design in the sand all around me with a stick.  The design is almost identical to the stamp design that I carved — another one of those too weird to be coincidental moments.

Stick and Sand – detail

I am focusing on ambiguity of late and I like how my head disappears in to the artwork.  It may be unclear to most viewers what exactly this artwork is showing.  I say, Success!