Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Round Robin #2

The next in the still unnamed round robin resulted from a trip to the glorious Hauser Wirth and Schimmel gallery in the Arts District in downtown LA.     I was inspired by the Schwitter paper collages in neutral tones.   Mine has various cut away areas and uses a wider array of materials than he did including metal screen, silk worm casings and many different fibers.  It may become the initial piece in a love poetry and/or Shakesperean Sonnet series I've been toying with for a year or so.  Who knows???






Round Robin #1



I am participating with five other textile artists in an as yet unnamed round robin.  We meet bimonthly and visit an exhibit in southern CA where we see all sorts of fantastic artwork.  This piece was inspired in part by  a work from artist Barbara Murak which was on display at the Fowler Museum at UCLA in a group show called the Box Project in 2016.    She did a red needle lace vessel which glowed.   My work uses a similar technique though quite different materials.  Mine creates reds from magentas and rich oranges instead of USING red materials.  Additionally, mine is created in waves as were several of the works in the original show as they needed to fit neatly into a 16" square box so were gracefully scrunched.  Mine is intentionally rippled to honor those pieces which I saw with that effect.




Monday, January 23, 2017

Fire Log

 Fire Log is a 3D piece 28" long and 6" in diameter.  It is comprised of four layers:  A heavy cardboard tube as armature, a cotton ice dye I did which pretty much glows, a layer of Angelina to add sparkle, and a web I created from cotton backed for commercial printing that I painted in an array of colors, sprayed black and then inked in silver.    It started as a flat piece for the wall but cried out for dimension so here we are.  My friend Steve Mandell, woodworker extraordinaire, is making a stand so the log can be cradled up off the pedestal.



Art Quilts at the Branch Gallery in Inglewood

My piece Lascaux '21 and a couple dozen additional art quilts made by Quilts on the Wall members are in this exhibit I co-curated.    The gallery is at 1031 W. Manchester Bl. #3 Inglewood, CA.  In addition to the opening event there will be an artist walk through on Feb. 18 at 3.    The gallery is open daily till 7 and is adjacent to a great yarn shop.  Come for the art and stay for a beer tasting at 3 Weavers Brewery next door!

Friday, January 20, 2017

Subterranean II

This is the second iteration of the needle lace piece I did a few weeks ago.   There are all kinds of great goodies embedded in the lace, lots to sparkle and add visual depth to the surface.   Hand dyed silk "worms" squiggle about freshening the soil.  I was debating stretching it on a frame but have decided to leave it a quilt for the time being.  I ice dyed the ground fabric then over-dyed it twice to get the very interesting browns.  The piece is about 34" long.




Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Floating Sea Tangle

Though not accepted into the SAQA show H2O! (big mistake guys!), Floating Sea Tangle is a great big gorgeous 3D statement about the vast amount of plastic afloat in our oceans.   I made it in collaboration with Laurie Bucher.   We got help for the armature from our fabulous local Ace Hardware and with the photography from Jessica Brunnenmeyer.   The piece will be in my upcoming solo exhibit (May-June) at the Branch Gallery in Inglewood, CA


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