Yet another in the Violent Winds series

This piece is called Etesian after the winds that sweep south out of northern Europe into the Aegean. It started with a yard of cotton I dyed in the bright reds and oranges. I then added more, smaller, hand dyed shiboriied lengths to create the ground fabric. I had the blue screen printed yardage I'd done about a year ago and spent a long time at the design wall ripping it up and auditioning it onto the base. Then I built a couple of screens with the wonky "donuts" and did the printing to unify the piece. I thought it was visually quite flat in spite of the bright colors so cut out, hand stitched and quilted all those individual donuts. Still not content, I brought in the expert eyes of my artist friend Cynthia Catlin and we mulled and auditioned various things. I settled on the black spirals which add visual depth.

Tapestry Weaving

I have been quite focused on weaving over the last couple of months. The big Glimakra floor loom is set up in my Studio Annex in San Pedro along with my painting supplies. A great big length of multicolored wool fabric is progressing nicely on it. Meanwhile, here at FiberFly Studios my assistant Jessica (age 11) and I have been working away on a new tapestry. It is a large and complicated design which will take several years to complete. We started with the whole process - designing, getting the cartoon copied to size, ordering the yarn from Australia, warping and weaving over the summer. Doesn't look like much so far, but stay tuned!

Terrain

This is a painting I made last year which mimics the earth's surface as it is built upon plaster cloth and acoustical spray for dimension. It is gilded on top of much of the paint. It has been recently "rehomed." I wish it and its new owners the best!

Oroshi

Another one of the earth's violent winds - this one in Japan. Laminated paint (really) and lots of shiboried bits and other hand dyes plus some soluble media to tie it all together.

Harem

Not really sure of the title for this yet. Any ideas? It is for the Art Cloth Network's 2012 challenge. Maybe I'll actually get to show my piece this year . . .