Screens

I've been wanting to develop some fully resolved pieces which feature small fabric elements that I have "worked" with dyes, paints, printing, stitching, surface design, embellishing, etc.,which can be tied together into a meaningful whole. A bit more than the Small Studies, but which feature some of these interesting components. I also find myself working further and further from the frequently reviled "art quilt." More framing, more stretched work, more mixed media, and more freedom to work the surface as I please instead of satisfying someone else's definition and limitations. This piece, which I am referring to as Screens for lack of a real title, fulfills these goals.

Storm

It's been a while since I've added any new work to the blog as I've been semi-vacationing, but here is a piece I just finished which uses commercial fabric which I machine quilted then washed and rewashed and dried over and over to give it texture. Then I embellished it (dry felted) and finally put a border on it - the hardest part as this baby does not want to lie flat!

BIG day last Friday . . . I took Fetid Wells III to the framer, and I mounted Fresh Water Salmon on its painted canvas. Two huge projects done in one glorious day!! My framer is the BEST - she is cutting mats with holes and they will serve to separate the layers so you will clearly see the shadows between the layers. I'll post better pix of Fetid Wells when I get it back. Meanwhile, Fresh Water Salmon has mysteriously, completely on its own, ended my series on water issues to which I devoted 2009. It revealed that there is still some fine water and these salmon are adance in it. Who knows what 2010 will bring . . .

Mustard Gas - The Book

It is a bit difficult to see the dimensionality in this piece as it is comprised of color, texture and HOLES - lots and lots has been cut away both revealing and obscuring what lies below.

Slow Progress

I have been working 'round the clock over the last several weeks on three projects but have nothing yet to show on the blog. I am trying to get two major new pieces done for the BIG first quarter show in Redondo Beach and they are coming along, but not yet ready to photograph. And I have been working on another book - this one on my favorite color combination of the last several years: mustard and steel gray; I may call it Mustard Gas. Funny, everyone seems to think my favorite color to work with is purple. I think I used to wear quite a bit of it in the '80s - MOVE ON!! Now, as I look around my storage wall and at the pages of my new 2010 calendar I see a surprising amount of orange. Hot, hot, hot. btw - If you want to purchase a calendar, just let me know. They are $30 and have 13 large pix of work I made in 2009.

Three Perspectives - Fine Art Quilts and Textiles

This is the announcement for the BIG show (click to enlarge it). Please join us!!!

Summer Heat

A little late in the season, I have repainted some areas of Summer Heat to make the embellished swirl really pop. Here are the newest photos.

Io, Europa, Gannymede and Surface

Storming energy over the last week and a half. Here are a couple of the results. Io, Europa, Gannymede is the one with the moons (I guess that's kind of obvious from the title!) and the one I'm labeling Surface is so far unfinished but has a lovely luminous quality which is worth enjoying while I decide where to go with it. I may cut it down and mount it on canvas, or add more surface to it, or maybe play around with the edges and let it be a sort of "carpet." Or . . .

Amaryllis Buds

I took this photo last spring in the garden and did almost no Photoshopping on it as it pretty much speaks for itself. It is on exhibit this week at the International Quilt Festival in a show called Eye of the Quilter in Houston which gets close to 40,000 visitors. No fabric, just the photo!

Colors and Holes

I've created a cardboard book with which I'm quite pleased. Of course it's not laser cut so the Xacto knife blade marks are part of the design.

It's Summer: Daylily

I can hardly believe that I have finished the top of Daylily, my piece for the Noble Seasons traveling exhibition for 2010!! Still all the hand work and putting it together ahead, but the design is complete. Let me know what you think by responding with the "comment" button just below. Love that embellisher!

Tracery

Here's the third piece in the Muckenthaler show, Tracery. Hope to see you there!

Remember that you can click on any photo to enlarge it so you can see details.

If you're in southern California on Sunday, October 11, please come out to the opening of Contemporary Quilts at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton from 12-3. I have three pieces on view and there is much else to enjoy including an exhibit of sculptural baskets. Above are a couple of the pieces that will be on display.

Wood Cells

Here's the white quilt. I never use white, just like I never use pastels, but somehow these cells sang out to me, so here it is.

I have been going back to some of the quilts I've made over the last three years and adding a bit to make the colors pop, reframing them, sometimes putting a new back on, etc. Just generally trying to bring them up to date using my new skills and experience now that I'm working full time as a studio artist. It's amazing how fast we develop our artistic talents when given the time!

Zucchini Baring Their Souls/Cells

What happens when you strip a zucchino to its marrow (ha, ha!)??? This really is what zucchini cells look like.

Exploding Pomegranates

I have renewed Jeff's favorite quilt with a new border, some additional quilting and a new back. Here's a close up of Exploding Pomegranates. It will be on display at the Muckenthaler, an elegant gallery which belies its name, in Fullerton, CA, until the end of the year.

Here's a piece called Parti-Wells, part of the Sere series, more practice with flipped circles. Some are deconstructed screen printed. It'll wake you up if you're feeling dozy!

New Course!! Adventures in Contemporary Embroidery

Coming September to the website (DeborahWeir.net) is a complete description of all the various techniques and materials which you can learn to embroider, applique, bead and otherwise employ to go beyond the flat surface of your quilts and other textiles. Above are some examples: Golden Splat!, Blue Box (lid) and DK#5. Yup, all stitched. Email me for more info Fiberfly@cox.net.

New Course!! Using the Embellisher (dry felting) Machine

Here are examples of multiple techniques which this inexpensive and EASY to use machine can do. The course descriptions will be on the website from September 1 (DeborahWeir.net). They are Rotorua Redux, Rosebud and Fetid Wells.

I've been trying out some ideas for the Science Meets Art SAQA challenge and have so far run into a wall as all my ideas have proven too hard to render in fabric. Now if this were an embroidery challenge . . . So here are some silly examples of my efforts to make wood cells - neither the colors nor scale are realistic, just experimenting.

Here's a bit of a teaser: a small close up of a piece I finished this week called Archeology/Language. Click on it to see the details.