Virginia A. Spiegel

As soon as the weather turns cooler, I am fired up to create.  It is as though a switch is flipped and I am ready to go in the studio and work.

I’m working on both mixed-media collages and small art quilts at the same time.  Here is a detail from small art quilt in progress:

As always, I find that after a very textured “run” of artwork, such as Boundary Waters 48, I turn to a more simplified and painterly look.

And here is a collage, part of a series called Survivor, that is done except for mounting on watercolor paper:

I see more and more barns falling down every week, but, of course, it’s also about something more:  Standing firm in the face of adversity. The barn is from a photo, made into a linocut, and then a rubbing was done on rice paper with inked details.

Here is the next set of collages, entitled Red Leaf, in progress:

I’m going to be unveiling all my new artwork during my birthday celebration.  Be sure to mark your calendar for October 13 and 14. There will be bonuses, special offers, and more as my once-a-year thank you for all my art friends and patrons.

I have been burning some new screens on my Thermo-fax to take along to Texas:

Since I’m not quite sure where I am going with my painting, I decided to go for some texture screens. The dark black ones (and the photo that opened this post) are photos from Alaska that I photoshopped. Included are harbor scenes, nets, buoys, ropes, and various “junk” piled in a Coast Guard yard.  

In the bottom right hand corner and center are a page of text and the same text transposed into dingbats, large and small, that I did in Word.  And last are geometric shapes I drew with a carbon marker.

Remember my Surface Design Associate exhibit entry?  I thought it needed a “real” binding, so I made a trial run of a blue/green 1/4″ binding. I didn’t want to spend the time and fabric to make a double-fold binding, so I just cut and folded strips and pinned them up around the piece on the design wall: 

Even taking into account the glare from a flash, it’s just not to my liking. Although it picked up the blue in the piece and was a nice contrast, I really didn’t like the abrupt halt to the flow of the piece.  I decided to do a zigzag with rayon thread and then painted the exposed batting and edges with copper paint:

It’s subtle and sensitive to the piece while still making a nice sturdy edge.  I also added a bit more hand-stitching to bring those big hand-stitches all the way to the edges:

Detail

If you caught Monday’s post (Part 1), you know I am temporarily without a sewing machine.  It has been oddly freeing. These are all pieces that may become artwork, or backgrounds or be stitched and then cut up for another project. Sometimes it’s good just to have fun and enjoy the process.  

This fairly big piece (with detail above) is made from fabric from the Boundary Waters series that already had MistyFuse on the back. I am trying to work vertically (against my strong artistic preference for the horizontal) as I need to make three vertical pieces for an invitational exhibit in 2009.

I’m also experimenting with various “substrates” on which to build my bigger pieces.  I haven’t been totally happy with either interfacing or cotton batting. I’m evaluating polyester felt, plain fabric, and duck cloth.

This piece is a collage made from another artwork that I cut up.

This will probably stay as-is with a little tinkering. The background is a gorgeous piece of painted fabric with a big combed design over it that covers both the blue and green sides.  Not a train of thought I’m currently pursuing, but I still like it. 

This piece is constructed from painted and screenprinted cotton and upholstery fabric. Still thinking about it.

Two of the four ended up being vertical, so I’m becoming more use to the format.  I don’t mind taking these little detours as sometimes it sends me off on an unknown, but interesting, trajectory.  In any case, I have a nice stack of pieces to stitch when my sewing machines are back.

Boundary Waters 25 (Detail)

What are the chances? Both my beloved Bernina 160s went down the same week and are both in the shop for an extended stay. I guess ten-year old motherboards and hooks just tend to go. What to do?  

Well, first of all, do some hand-stitching. I love hand-stitching, coming from a long line of needleworkers.  I don’t do a lot of hand-stitching just because I have so many ideas and so little time. But with a lot of time, I finished up the three Joe Working (In An Election Year artworks.

Then I backed up for a do-over.  I usually am done when I’m done, but this is one of those pieces that just seemed to be not quite right.  

I added a bit more blue painted organza and hand-stitching with variegated brown pearl cotton to this piece:

Boundary Waters 25
See detail with stitching above.

Here is what it looked like previously:

Part of the problem, obviously, was too light of a photo also.  The photo that inspired this and Boundary Waters 26 is here.

I also started this piece which I think will be called Discarded:

It’s going to be quite big. The background is a, if I may say so myself, a gorgeous hand-painted piece of blue fabric.

The painted, stamped and otherwise surface-designed Tyvek squares are made from one and only one of the many lab coats I secured from someone who wears them once in a sterile environment and then is forced to discard them.

I bought the DISCARD stamp about four years ago and then it languished in a drawer. I must have known I would eventually need it.

I plan on stitching over the squares in an overset grid with red embroidery thread.  That’s the plan at the moment anyway.

What I’m Working On – Part 2 will be this Wednesday and will focus on just having fun in the studio sans sewing machine.