Collaboration

My nephew Alex Shirwo, an art student in Santa Cruz, California, was here for the Thanksgiving holiday, and we collaborated on this piece. It is textile and paint on board. Fun, fun, fun!

Shroud

At least until a more creative name comes to mind this will be called Shroud. I wove the white piece then buried it in the garden for a few weeks. Once dug up I ripped it up, rusted it, then added heirloom lace from my family's 19th century stash which I also rusted. I put some interesting old bits of metal into it and embroidered it all onto a hessian ground fabric. I'm waiting for my tussah silk to arrive from Thai Silks which I'll stitch the piece to, then off to Kathy's (the best frame shop anywhere!) where Colleen will stretch it.

More 2011 Calendar Images

Here are three more Calendar images. The first is the art quilt Green, Not Green; I figured the opposite of a "green" quilt is an orange one. Below that is a detail of Slag Heap II. It is a heavily collaged mixed media textile which has been dyed, printed and embellished with an array of detritus including rusty metal objects. Last is a bowl made from recycled plastic bags and bubble wrap. Enjoy!

Contemporary Embroidery Workshop at FiberFly Studio

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Harmattan 2

I wasn't planning to make this a follow along project but I am so taken with these colors that I just had to post these photos. I shibori dyed all these (and many more) fabrics in the intense red-oranges. I also dyed the green/blue ground fabric - it's bamboo. I'd done another, cotton, blue/green at the same time in the same dyes and preferred the way the bamboo takes the dye - it has a hand like a cross between really fine German rayon and pima cotton. These photos show the auditioning process during which I decide which to use and in what order. I am pleased with the sequence, after much fussing about, so labeled them in order. As you may notice, my design wall is OUTDOORS. Lucky me, I live in Southern California not far from the ocean, so there are very few days of the year when this is not the perfect place to have it.

Four images from the 2011 Calendar

These are Fractal #1, Red Embroidery, Blue Art Cloth and Big Sur Rusty Bus. I will post a few more in the next week or two.

Harmattan

Harmattan is the name of a hot wind that originates in the Sahara. It is the fourth piece in my Hot Winds series. I dyed all the fabrics then cut and pieced them together and added some stitching in a few places to tie it all together. Because the colors are complementaries, they pulsate suggesting heat rising from the desert floor. This piece is about two feet long and I have already got the new fabrics dyed for a second one about two and a half times the size. I don't usually work over about 40 inches, but I thought this would be stunning LARGE so I'm going to give it a try.