Closer Than You Think

I've been working on some experiments to see if I can make a coherent piece using modules or cells in the style of Chuck Close. The first few were not very successful, but this one works for me. The next one will have much larger modules but I'm going to continue using the screen armature as I can warp it slightly which adds the magic carpet element.

EMBELLISHER WORKSHOP!!!

Both of these pieces were done with the poorly understood embellisher/needle felting machine. Join me March 3 from 10-4 in my Palos Verdes studio to learn more about your dry felting machine than you thought possible. $65 if you bring your own machine; lunch included. Email me to sign up or if you have questions: FiberFly@cox.net

Blue Cloth

In spite of all the prep for various shows and shepherding the one in Redondo Beach, I have had some studio time. Been dyeing up a storm. Here's a piece I over-dyed three times using Presist for underlying patterning. I'm actually thinking of cutting into it, doing some stitching and turning it into a quilt. Haven't quite decided yet. What do you think???

Another Month to See the Exhibit

SUNDAY March 7 from 5-7 is the closing event. 1935 Manhattan Beach Bl. around the SOUTH side of the RB Performing Arts Center directly into the gallery. Hope to see you there!!!

Good News/Bad News

We had a wonderful turn out for our exhibit opening even though it was a dark and stormy night, and the show looks terrific. On the down side, several folks were turned away at the door on that night, and quite a few others have been sent packing since then when they arrived at the venue. The theatre manager has reneged on his commitment to let viewers in at the hours stated on the postcard he sanctioned! After MUCH negotiation we have determined that 1) he is a !Z(&*^@!!BXX%$#@Z, and, more importantly, 2) you can get in if you come to one of our walk-throughs or the closing event. These are Wednesday, February 3 at 1 pm, Tuesday, February 16 at 11 am, and Sunday, March 7 from 5-7. We are very, very sorry if you were one of those denied access and hope you will join us at one of the artist-supervised occasions listed above. You can enter through the main theatre doors or around the Manhattan Beach Bl. side of the building directly into the gallery. Hope to see you then!!

Three Perspectives Grand Opening Night

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Three Perspectives Grand Opening

Friday, January 22 from 5-8. Please join us!!

Embellisher Workshop

Gallery Exhibit

Two pieces of my work are in this exhibition. Hope you an swing by if you are in the area.

Embellisher Workshop

The next embellisher (felting machine) workshop is March 3 at my studio in Palos Verdes, CA. Email me for details (FiberFly@cox.net). Here are three examples of techniques we will be learning>

Fetid Wells III (click on image to enlarge)

This is the third and last piece in the Fetid Wells series. It is about 3' x 4' and comprised of three distinct layers which are separated by foam core and rest about 1/2 inch apart from each other within the frame. It is massive compared to most of my work. It has loads of hand stitching on painted, dyed, printed, embellished, etc., surfaces of cotton on industrial felt. The photos do not really do justice to the shadows which form between the layers. It might just represent a new direction in my work ... time will tell.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

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.