Are We There Yet?

That's the name of this piece which is appropriate as we have been on the road quite a bit this month.  And we are off to France on Monday - Paris and Brittany.  The quilt is a whole cloth piece done with the deconstructed screen printing technique, plus some brush work, then stitched in my recently favorite bird track stitch.

Screen Printing

Spent two exhausting days screen printing with thickened dyes.  A bit of a push since I don't have a proper print/wet studio, but got some interesting results.  This one pleased me so much (and it is on canvas) that I've decided to just have it put on stretcher bars and hung  as it is.  The colors are much richer than the photos demonstrate as it is a foggy June Gloom morning and I just couldn't wait to take the pix.

On the Road and Back

I've been traveling (North Carolina) and will be off again in a week or so for France so there's a frenzy going on at FiberFly Studios during this brief window of being home.    Here are three things I've been working on:

Earth Webs - a contemporary embroidery DONE and off to the framer this weekend

Here's the fourth in the Sea Tangle series.   This is a mixed media piece, sort of a painting on a VERY unusual built ground.   Also  DONE and off to the framer.

And . . . this guy is, at least for now, is named Sunday Best.  When fully clothed he may very well be making an appearance in a book put together by the Australian fabric manufacturing company M+S Textiles as he is comprised largely of their fabrics.  Don't know if I'll be able to get him up and running before my departure date but he's so cute I just couldn't resist posting him.

Collage Project

This piece is part of a small series four of us are working on converting each others' paper collages to textile.  These are my response to Cynthia Catlin's paper collage.  Love her jewel-like reds.   

 

 

 

 

Two More Modules of Chroma:Green are Done

Only three more green modules to go.   Surprising how many cartoon-y characters are green.  And then there's the military use of the ugliest version of the color.  I got freaked out ordering guns, even toy ones, online so there's not a lot here - just enough to tell the story, especially those booties . . .

 

Collage Project

Here are the photos of Laurie Bucher's paper collage and my textile response to.   It is the first of four that I am working on.  It took me about 5 tries to select the right materials to use for the stems and another 6 to come up with the best solution to those big black bars.  And, yea, my orientation is 90 degrees off but it works better for me this way!

 

Chinook Waters

Looks like there might be a new series developing.   Another quilt that celebrates images based on some First Peoples' aesthetic.  This one was done on the embellisher so there is no thread in the applique.

SeaTangle 4

Since SeaTangle 2 sold recently I wanted to add another piece to that series.  -->

The piece is comprised of mixed media elements: paper, textiles, synthetics, which are layered, sculpted, burned, stitched and painted.    They represent the varied forms that occur in our oceans.  Some natural and some left by careless people who thoughtlessly set their detritus adrift.

Haida Waters

Not sure if this is a piece for Confluence (our exhibition about water), for the Quilts on the Wall Challenge called Blues, the start of a new series, or an entirely  independent piece.  We'll see where it fits down the line.   It's an art quilt which took me 3 1/2 full time weeks to complete and is completely hand stitched in the smallest possible stitches to be as invisible as possible so the graphic would be crystal clear. 

Chroma:Green Two New Modules Done

The first is on recycling.  I got to use some of that old bubble wrap and plastic I've been saving plus some of the strange melted objects I've been known to make from glue, Tyvek and other fabulous environmentally unjustifiable things.   The next one speaks for itself - Eat your veggies!!

Tsunami Churn

Four of us have started a new round robin.  We each made a paper collage.  Then we made copies and gave them to each other.  Our task is to make four textile pieces each, one from each collage.  In the end . . . 16 masterpieces!  Here's mine.

SeaTangle II Rehomed!

You can see two gals looking at my piece in the National Fiber Directions 2013 exhibit in Wichita, Kansas.  The great news is that it sold.  This is the third year I've participated and I will definitely have work there again.  It is a very sophisticated show of cutting edge textiles in a lovely space.

Chroma:Green has begun

This is the fourth piece in the Chroma series which so far has Yellow, Blue and  Orange completed.  They are all 72" x 44".    Green now has two finished modules and there will be seven (!) more - the most of any so far.    Here are the first and second.  One is simply about texture and the range of hues we refer to as "green."  The other should be pretty obvious . . .

 

Juarez

This is the piece I made to honor the women who work in the US factories in Juarez, Mexico, who are sometimes raped and even murdered on their way home from work in the darkness. The quilt was selected to be shown at the UN European Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in a show which features quilts on the topic of alternative energy.  My thinking is that if these women's paths home across the desert was well lit they would be a lot safer.  The desert surrounding Juarez has plentiful wind and sunshine which could be harnessed.  The background graphic is an abstracted map of the city of Juarez where it meets the US border.   

 I am THRILLED to have my piece included in this show which will be open for several months during the summer.  I'll provide specific dates as they become available.  An attempt is being made to bring the exhibit to Houston in the fall.

Chroma:Orange Done at Last!!!

This is the third piece in this series about color.  I completed Chroma:Yellow and Chroma:Blue last year.  There is a lot about the symbolism and psychology as well as the natural occurrence of the color orange in this piece.  It is 72" long and 45" wide although I had to photograph it turned 90 degrees clockwise.