Away in Berlin

Just got back from an excellent visit to Stockholm, Dresden and Berlin.   Here are a few pix.   The first two are of bits of The Wall which are on display mid city Berlin, and the others are just shots of the Brandenburg Gate at dusk.

 

UNHINGED!!

This is the second piece in a round robin I'm participating in which is focusing on texture - both visual and literal.   This is my response to a sweet piece by Connie Tiegel with a welcoming gate.   Being something of a contrarian, I jumped right in by rusting heavy Pellon for the gate, stitching it to a shiboried background, then creating the atmosphere with all kinds of wonderful layers of semitransparent fabrics, stringy stuff and scads of beads.  In spite of the few embroidered flowers, this garden may not be quite as welcoming!

Gyre #11

This could be the last in the Gyre series which addresses the Garbage Patches in our oceans in which vast unmeasurable quantities of plastic swirl, are broken down into tiny beads and consumed by all manor of sea life.  They never disappear from the planet.  They are insidious detritus of our consumer society and our need to toss and replace items in our daily lives.   I have collected household plastics which come to me, iced dyed the fabric, then hand stitched the spinning imagery underlying the bright plastic forms I then appliqued in place.  The piece is 42" x  44"

Dye Workshop!!

There are still a couple of places left.

Here are samples of the techniques we will be doing:

Zephyrs

Zephyrs are light winds.   This piece is part of my Fierce Winds series and is comprised of 8 modules each representing as different zephyr.  I hand dyed, fussy cut and layered all the fabrics.  Then I hand stitched each unit to give the idea of how tenuous the connections are and how unexpectedly the winds dance.  The quilt is 41" x  39"

Texturizers - A New Round Robin Series

A group of eight textile artists from all over the US have committed to a 16 month art exchange.   Each of us has just finished our first piece in the series we are each developing and have sent these works off to the next artist.  She, in turn, will make a piece in response to the one she receives.   Then round and round they go until each artist has contributed to each series.  All the works are then returned to the original maker - eight pieces which visually, and in this case, texturally, cohere.  All are 12" square plus a border for future finishing.   Here are a couple of detail shots of my first piece.  I do NOT post work of other artists so will only show my own contribution.  Once the series is complete in 2016 we are hoping to have an exhibition and/or catalog so we can share all eight completed series ... 64 glorious pieces!

The theme of this adventure is TEXTURES which are, of course, both visual and tactile.  This piece is mostly metal and colored (painted, etc.), burnt non-woven substrate with LOTS of hand-couched embroidery.  No name yet.  Can't wait to see how it all evolves.   

Some Laminated Work

These pieces are all comprised of antique textiles (silk and linen) to which I have laminated printed paper.  I then scrape away part of the paper to reveal the fabric beneath.  I use water soluble media and permanent markers to visually cohere the images on paper to the substrate.  Once satisfied, I hand stitch a bit to bring out the design and further integrate the elements of the artwork.   My framer then stretches and frames the pieces which are all in the 10" - 18" range.

Behind Bars:

Tossed:

Wanderlust:

New Guest Bed Quilt

Augie Marshmallow is enjoying this as yet unquilted log cabin quilt top.

Painting

This is an example of integrating fabric into paint.  The texture is literal as well as visual.

The Banquet of Donny & Ari, scenes from the opera

I was the textile consultant on this book-length epic poem by Naomi Guttman which dropped this month.  It’s an examination of a modern marriage between a textile artist and a composer both of whom are concerned about the state of the natural world and dealing with the pressures of modern life on a Montreal family.  Adding to the depth and universal reach of the poem is that Donny and Ari are 21st century incarnations of Dionysus and Ariadne from Greek mythology.  Naomi found me a couple of years ago by means of my website as I do a lot of fiber art about the environment.  I am so lucky to have been involved in this very classy project!

Long Time No Post!

Time has really gotten away from me. Put on a concert for hubby's BIG birthday - 90 guests and lots of chamber music, etc., etc.   How does this happen???  So here's a teaser.  This is apiece I'm donating to Visions Art Museum in San Diego.  They show nothing but textiles and it's a worthy cause.  Stop by and shop if you are in the neighborhood.

This is silk which has been dyed, printed, felted in places and had the addition of water soluble media, foil and lots of french knots.   The piece is called Pink Study for fairly obvious reasons.

This Just In . . .

I just learned that three of my Fierce Winds quilts have been accepted into an exhibit called Climate Crisis: Solutions at the Water Street Studios in Batavia, Illinois.    I'm so pleased as this is not a textile show so it was a bit brave of them to take the work.   If you are anywhere near Chicago between March 20 and May 2, please stop on by!

Writing on the Wall

Here's a piece I recently finished for a Quilts on the Wall challenge.   The theme is graffiti and my piece us called Lascaux21.   Much of it is from photos I took at a skate park in London; other bits are pix I took of an array of scribbled writing on one of the shrimp trucks on North Shore Oahu.  Then I cut some screens with my OWN tags.  Can you find them???  After all the printing I both embroidered on it and appliqued "peeling paint" made from fabrics I painted heavily with oil paints and which took AGES to dry.

Gyre 10

This is a painting on layers of ripped, stitched commercial fabrics made by me and my nephew - Alex Shirwo, an artist in his own right.

 

Lucky ME!!

My art quilt Haida Waters is featured on the OzQuilt Network's Portfolio site - see lower right hand corner.    www.ozquiltnetwork.org.au

Sneak Peek

The eight panels of Chroma are now entirely finished.  They are at the framer (Kathy's Gallery in Torrance) awaiting delivery to the photographer, but I couldn't wait to show off even these snapshots.  They are all 80"  tall and about 50" wide.  I'm the proud mama after 3.5 years!  Of course I'll post the great professional shots when they are done in a couple of weeks.

Two Thing I Don't Normally Do

First:  I don't often post work by other artists, but I was at the Honolulu Museum of Art last week and saw an amazing fiber exhibit.  Much great work, but the knock out piece was this one by Ann Page - no longer active;  paper, ink and stitching.  This is a detail, but the overall work was about 5' square.

Second:  I don't often post my travel pix as this is an ART blog, but we were at Pearl Harbor where the USS Iowa is still bleeding oil into the sea.   I need say no more.  (Then one irresistible shot of North Shore Oahu just because!)