Winter Trellis - detail
One of the most beautiful things about fiber is that it just becomes more beautiful over time. This is a detail from Winter Trellis, a piece created for and revisited periodically in the The Garbage Day Project. The fiber has totally changed as it has weathered, gaining a shaggy, mountainous look.
Boundary Waters 32
21″h x 66″w
White cotton fabric, paint, thread.
I finished this piece right before Collage Mania; it was one of those joyful artworks that spring out fully formed.
This artwork is my entry in Art Quilts XIII: Lucky Break at the Chandler Center for the Arts. I’m not entering much this year, but I always enter this show because of the beautiful venue and the personal touch of the curator, Diane Howell.
Boundary Waters 32 obviously continues the series based on my journeys with my sister in The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).
The BWCAW is known for its cliffs and rocky outcroppings, worked in endless layers by erosion, volcanic activity, and glaciers. Huge sheet of granite were broken, tilted and folded beginning over 2.7 billion years ago. The end result is the wonderful landscape we are privileged to enjoy as we paddle along: long narrow lakes, jagged shorelines and towering cliffs.
It’s hard to see, even in this detail, but this piece is stitched twice. Once, very irregularly, with invisible thread to mimic the fault lines in the rocks and once, in parallel lines, over the entire surface with variegated rayon thread to mimic the very orderly stacking of the rock. I like the contrast between the jumbled surface and the regimented top stitching as well as the contrast between the two types of stitching.
Portage: Set Forth
I did a stint at the Studio Art Quilt Associates‘ booth for a bit during International Quilt Festival-Chicago. I came away with a newfound appreciation for those leaders of SAQA who are donating their time and effort to run “a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote the art quilt through education, exhibitions, professional development and documentation.”
To that end, I decided everyone (including me) has time to make a 12″ square art quilt for the SAQA One Foot Square Auction to be held November 10 online.
If you are not a member of SAQA, follow the link above and join. If you want to move the whole world of art quilts onward and upward, this is the organization to join and support.
With the whole series thing on my mind, I decided to take another look at some fabric I had painted while working on my Portage show.
I had eight pieces that were never finished because they didn’t fit the size or palette of my show. Perfect!
Step one: Use some of my peppy new rayon thread (Superior Rainbows) and stitch in a casual wavy manner over a pink, navy and brown piece. For a change of pace, I actually had a three-layer sandwich (top, cotton batting, dyed backing) going.
Step two: Using what I had at hand (Timtex), I cut some viewing frames. I should have used a bigger scrap as I had exactly 12″ pieces; it works much better when your frames are bigger or if you can cut two L-shaped pieces. Usually I cut a hole in a piece of paper or interfacing and use that as a frame to choose what to keep and what to cut. Speed does not always equal efficiency.
Step Three: Here’s another 12″ square possibility with a lot more movement and mystery. It also shows more of the tan/brown/darker pink side of the piece that is needed to balance the many canoes and add contrast.
I made the final cut down to 12″ square and the piece was ready for some kind of edging. I have taken a vow against bindings and am still searching for the perfect way to finish off the edge of textile artwork. Did the invisible thread straight stitch, followed by a zigzag - no. Did the variegated thread zigzag - even more of a no. I finally settled on a variegated cotton ribbon, stitched on through the center with invisible thread and then zigzagged around the edge.
More and more I think that small textile works such as these should be framed to give them their proper “weight” on the wall.
Front right of gas station, including my Mother and Child panel.
Jennifer Marsh is a woman with a dream, a mission and a huge installation completed.
“The goal of the International Fiber Collaborative is to provide an opportunity for people who enjoy working with fiber arts, whether professional artists, hobbyists or students, to come together from all over the world to express their concern about the worlds extreme dependency on oil. This year’s project is called the World Reclamation Art Project (W.R.A.P.).”
Front left of gas station.
The W.R.A.P. project covered an abandoned gas station in fiber panels. You can see the “naked” gas station and read more about the International Fiber Collaborative here.
You can read about my panel here. All the photos in this post were kindly sent to me by Mary Harmon. There will be a reception at the site in Syracuse, NY on May 3, 2008 from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.
As you can imagine, this project involved a great deal of expense, much of it covered by Jennifer herself. If you would like to help her defray the cost of this landmark project, visit the International Fiber Collaborative website here and scroll to the bottom of the page. Donation via credit card or Paypal are accepted.
Back of gas station.
Even the pumps were covered.
You will notice comments are allowed once again. New technology for screening spam is supposed to help. I’m giving it a try. It has been awhile since I reported on what’s up in the studio, so let’s jump right in.
This is how far the series (more than 30 small artworks) for a possible Quilt National entry reached and then I was done. I think, with my summer schedule, that a QN entry won’t be happening this year. The collages in this Third Thoughts series were interesting, but they never developed the cohesiveness or, perhaps, the inner compulsion, that I require in any long-term series.
I have found several small pieces that I might want to expand into their own series. Although I can’t say more at this moment, you will be seeing more of these unique artworks in a interesting venue. If you missed what this series is all about, here is a blog post about them.
So what have I been working on? Something that still hold sway over my creative life - the Boundary Waters series. I finished Boundary Waters #31 and then …
Boundary Waters #32 (Fault Lines) - Detail of work-in-progress
started a nice big piece - Boundary Waters #32. This piece is related to the two Boundary Waters cliff pieces, but it much more abstract (and colorful). It is about the great fault lines in the rocks that caused the impressive cliff faces and jagged shorelines of the Boundary Waters lakes. Just finishing touches remain.