Virginia A. Spiegel

Terry Grant
Judith’s Garden

Terry Grant knows first-hand the devastation wreaked by cancer (read more on her blog) and has generously donated one of her favorite pieces to the Invitational Reverse Auction, opening March 10.

I especially like this piece because of its faint echoes to Grant Wood’s American Gothic. Terry designed the figure of Judith in Illustrator and inkjet printed it onto cotton fabric. Terry explains, “The fused composition was layered and machine stitched and quilted. This piece was the first place winner in a challenge competition and one of the pieces I have most enjoyed making in all of my quiltmaking experience.”

Terry Grant has a degree in art and was a painter and printmaker before turning her attention to fabric art. Her work has appeared in several books and magazines and has been exhibited at the Houston International Quilt Festival, Quilt Expo in Lyon, France, The Association of Pacific Northwest Quilters in Seattle and numerous regional and local shows. Most recently she has had a piece traveling with Fine Focus ‘06, a national juried show of small format art quilts.

For more details, visit Terry’s artist’s page for the Reverse Auction here.

Peg Keeney
Rose Hips 1

Peg made this piece specifically for the Invitational Reverse Auction. It is made of hand-dyed cotton, silk organza, paint, pastels, rayon and silk threads. It is appliqued and free motion quilted.

Peg drew inspiration from her own garden: “Last summer I filled many pages in my journal with sketches and drawings of my garden. In review I was fascinated by the rosehips…their variety in color and shape…and their longevity.” As a gardener, I am drawn to not only the botanical correctness of this artwork, but also its evocative color.

Peg exhibits her work nationally and internationally; her work has appeared in Quilter’s World, Arte de patchwork and Quilting Arts magazines. She is currently a member of the Board of
Directors of Studio Art Quilt Associates, and serves as the chair of the Exhibition Committee. Additionally Peg teaches on a limited basis, and enjoys working as an exhibit curator and juror.

For more details about Rose Hips 1, visit Peg’s artist’s page for the Reverse Auction here.

See more art quilts, beaded jewelry and wearable art for the Reverse Auction here. All donations are made directly to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause.

Jane Davila
enigma
7”h x 5”w
Cotton fabric, rice paper, block printing, stamping, acrylic paint.
Mounted on 10″h x 8″w Bristol board, signed, dated and
ready for framing.

UPDATES: Only six ATC remain to be claimed before the last ten are saved for a drawing for all other Collage Mania artists. The details are explained in the Call for Artists.

There will also be a drawing (as a small thank-you for artists shipping their collages directly to patrons) among all artists whose collages are acquired during Collage Mania. Here is just one of the prizes, with more to be announced later,:

From Fiber On A Whim. Contents: Misty-Fuse, skeleton leaves, foil, beads, perle cotton, Sulky Holoshimmer, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, silk cocoons and carrier rods, Fantasy Film, buttons, metallic mesh. Approximate Value: $75

Thank you, Kristin and Jan! Fiber On A Whim has been a strong supporter of FFAC from the very beginning. Visit their online store here or, if you are so lucky, their store in Atlanta, GA.

On to this week’s featured collages:

Jane Davila
encore
7”h x 5”w
Cotton fabric, rice paper, block printing, stamping, acrylic paint.
Mounted on 10″h x 8″w Bristol board, signed, dated and ready for framing.

Jane sent three collages in this series; you can see them all on her blog. Her block prints are always beautiful; visit Jane’s website to see more.

Jane is the author, with Elin Waterston, of Art Quilt Workbook. In addition to her collages, Jane has also generously donated a $100 gift certificate to Flourish! for qualifying subscribers to Art, Nature, Creativity, Life.

This week also serendipitiously brought collages featuring leaves from three artists:

Pam Knickerbocker
Leaf Study 2
9″ h x 7.5″w
Hand-dyed cottons, commercial cotton, rayon thread, paper, black walnut shell.
In loving memory of two dear friends lost to breast cancer.
Mounted on 10″ x 8″ Bristol board, signed, dated,
and ready for framing.

A very elegant and serene collage and I love the texture the walnut shell adds. If you are interested in dragonflies, you will like the other collage Pam sent, Leaf Study 1.

Fannie Narte
Imagine
10″h x 8″w
Paper, fabric, Swarovski crystals, bronze alphabet charms, thread.
In memory of my father, who passed from lung cancer.
Mounted on mat board, signed, dated and ready for framing.

Fannie is a member of Fiber Art Traders, a group who has adopted Collage Mania as a service project. Fannie’s blog has all the details how she constructed this collage and its meaning for her.

Sue Reno
The Last Hurrah 2
8.5″h x 6.5″w
Heliographic print on cotton, stitching, paint, tulle.
Mounted on 10″ x 8″ mat board, signed, dated, and ready for framing.

Sue’s artist’s statement for the two collages she sent can be read on her blog. Heliographic (sun) printing is a specialty of Sue’s and you can see more examples on her website.

Collage Mania will be held May 5 and 6 with 100% of the proceeds donated directly to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause.

Snow falling in clumps, in February, against black, bare branches! You have to love it. Well, maybe not so much this morning with 5″ of new snow and whippy winds. It’s winter out there, campers!

There is a new post today on my The Garbage Day Project blog.

I have now finished twenty-six small pieces for my new series. Since I can’t show finished pieces at the moment, I will be sharing little glimpses of pieces periodically (See Little Glimpses #1).

I wish I had finished more “components” this past week as 28 will make up one big piece. However, my studio is moving down the hall and chaos reigns at the moment. I’m exchanging my current studio for a smaller room with no through traffic and a closet. Well worth it, I am hoping, once the pain of moving is over.

In any case, let’s start with the photo above. It is hand-painted fabric stamped with pigment ink, free-motion stitched with painted Lutradur squares, and a piece of a photo. I think I mentioned before that I am surprising myself by using cotton batting with these pieces and it encourages me to do more stitching.

This is the box of stamps I keep upstairs (not in the basement where I paint). Not my favorites, but still good for an accent here and there. When I am seriously painting fabric, I use textile paint with my stamps.

This is painted fabric and just a touch of opaque marker. The great fun of these pieces is translating collages I often made in great haste from bits and pieces from magazines into my own fabrics and other materials. The free motion quilting in this piece is my translation of a fragment of a pastel bouquet of flowers.

I want each little piece to tell its own story even if I am the only one who understands it. The working journal of 365 collages is a study of my subconscious. I am studying with great interest what was revealed in the original collages and what I care to reveal in this iteration. I am seriously considering changing my working title from “Like You Give A Damn” to “Third Thoughts.”

Oranges, Grapes and Limes - Detail
Frances Holliday Alford

The Preview for the Invitational Reverse Auction is now open here.

Ten invited artists have donated fabulous fiberart and now you can see it all. Each artist has a page to tell you about the artwork and themselves AND the minimum donation for each day is listed on the main page.

This year’s artists include Frances Holliday Alford, Terry Grant, Peg Keeney, Jay Rich, Susan Sorrell, Del Thomas, Larkin Van Horn, Laura Wasilowski, Leni Wiener, and Maggie Winfield.

Make your plans carefully as the minimum donation goes down each day, but wait too long and your favorite artwork will be gone.

The Invitational Reverse Auction opens March 10 and closes March 13. All donations are made directly to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause. Donors receive an immediate electronic receipt directly from the ACS.