A bit of black and white

Here are three pieces which I've been working on for various purposes which happen to feature black and white. Needle lace and beaded medallions add a bit of color.

Back From Argentina

These are photos I took of the outdoors sculpture at the Chihuly Museum in St. Petersburg, FL, and of the Perdito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia, Argentina. Hmmm . . .

Off to South America!

On our way to Buenos Aires and Patagonia for a few weeks so probably no postings during that interlude. Catch you all when we return!!

Happy New Year

One Year Later

This quilt is a wish for my nephew who has been through two brain surgeries this year. My hope is that a year from now he will have a bright, healthy and unique brain making his life joyous, productive, creative and pain free!!

Studio Art Quilt #6: State of the Art

Honored to have been invited to submit to this small but lovely booklet put together by Sandra Sider. It contains photos of 60 fine art quilts which were created over the last four years by an international array of artists. Mine, Daylily, is on page 27. Daylily is part of the series Noble Seasons which already toured across the US in the Summer exhibition in 2010 and will be on the road again for all of 2012 as the entire exhibit (all four seasons) is seen in many venues throughout the year. It is entirely appliqued by use of the embellisher (dry felting machine) so has NO, that's right, NO thread! The photo credit is incorrect, I took the picture myself, but all else is fine.

Done at Last!

I've been weaving for about 10 months at my annex in San Pedro a piece of wool yardage. It's light weight (this is Southern California after all . . .). And now I'm ready to make something out of it. With 4 yards at 44" wide I think I can get a great swing coat/dress. Cutting into a new piece of fabric is always a scary thrill!!

Back from the Framer

Aerial View is now framed.

LEAF

I'm replacing a piece that is currently traveling in the Noble Seasons Fall exhibition with this new one which matches the rest of the series better - the entire series will be shown at several venues around the US in 2012. It is done primarily with the embellisher (dry felting machine) and there is needle lace to create the veining over hand-dyed and some commercial fabrics.

BTW - I'm going to be teaching needle lace-making at the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, California, next July. More details on that as the time approaches.

Pieces 3 and 4

Lots more to do (like integrating the four elements via stitch, ink, etc.), but here are the last of the finished tops.

I got the second piece put together

Here's the second piece in the series.

Work in Progress

I've been laminating paper to fabric like a mad woman! But of course I dyed, printed, soy wax resisted, painted, shiboriied, etc., etc., the fabrics first. These bits are for a series of small quilts which feature the inked and painted lamination.

Remember commercial fabric???

It's been a long time since I went into my stash of commercially printed fabrics for bits and pieces to use in my "art quilts." I need to change out a piece that has been traveling with the Autumn collection this year (the entire Noble Seasons will be on the road in 2012) as I need the other back for my spring solo exhibition in Maryland which will feature all of the Fierce Winds series. So here's a bit of an autumn eddy which as yet has exactly NO stitching. I'm planning to add some more blank and maybe stitch with black thread just to darken it down somewhat - I mean there is such think as too much fun, right??!!?

Archeology/Language

Just got this piece back from a touring exhibition. It represents the layers of time from the cave wall to the animal bones to the linguistic symbols (and terminology). Pen, stitching, paint, applique, use of the embellisher to add some dimension - all this contributes to the overall image.

SeaGrass

There's a nice photo of my laminated piece Sea Grass on the Palos Verdes Library website. The opening was a bit quiet, but a lot of patrons will see the work over the next couple of months. I'll be picking up three newly framed laminated pieces tomorrow and will post them here later this week.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pvld/6310423442/in/set-72157628046417800

Monster

I've been experimenting with materials that will withstand the elements - fiber folks don't have a lot of choices when it comes to outdoor art. Here's my MONSTER made with a range of products from the Big Box store! Much more to come in this series!

Round Robin

This is my response to two other pieces of contemporary embroidery from two other participants in our 5 Strands round robin. I can't publish their work until we are all done (25 pieces over the course of 15 months) but here's my latest. It started with dyed silk and was built up with lace and a wide range of ribbons, threads, metallic bits and then running stitches. Of course I ended up with my fabulous metallic flake paint!

Aerial View

This piece now has a name - Aerial View - thanks to various suggestions that were emailed to me. It is now done and has just to be stretched over a frame by my AMAZING framer Colleen at Kathy's Frame Gallery in Torrance, CA. I was down for the count with flu last week so am just beginning to finish a lot of pieces that have been waiting so stay tuned!

Big DYE week

I shiboried, soy wax resisted and printed dye through screens using print paste and thickened dyes, yesterday with the companionship of my friend Susan Willen. Today I'm over-dyeing pieces that need a pick-me-up. My hands are covered with hints of color though of course I wore gloves. I wear the that color with pride, sort of a badge of my profession though not a clip on style! Can't wait to see how these new fabrics work their way into my artwork.

Etesian at home

This is a photo sent to me by the gentleman who purchased this quilt within the week it was completed. He's found the perfect spot for it in the master bedroom. He promises that he will be putting the linens on the dresser away any day now . . .

Collage in Progress

I was out of town last week in Florida for the Art Cloth Network's annual meeting and am now happily back in the studio. This piece, as yet unnamed, is developing well: paper and fabric and MANY interesting oddments. I have bent, yes, bent, about a dozen needles working on it as some of the paper is VERY metallic and thick. I'm now using a three inch needle and a giant thimble! Oh the challenges of art!!! It is a foggy day so my pix required a flash even though they were taken outdoors so the metallic appears a bit more reflective than is ideal. Looking for sunshine tomorrow.

Sea Grass Lamination

This piece was just accepted into the Palos Verdes Library exhibit which will be up from Nov. 12-New Year's Eve. The opening event is from 5-7 on Saturday, Nov. 12; please come by if you are in the area. It is a really fun event!