Off the Wall II
Join Me for the Tucson Open Studio Tour
I will temporarily move my studio to St. Gregory’s School at 3231 N. Craycroft for the 2013 Open Studio Tour this weekend. Janet Windsor and Patricia Hastings-Sargent and Joanne Krawchuk and I will all be in one convenient place. We’ll will demonstrate some of our techniques, from design processes to quilting. Hope to see you there (11 am – 5 pm this Saturday and Sunday).
Come join us for some fun, friends, and fiber art. The event is free and open to the public.
On Kitsch, Quixote, and Angels
It is always a good day in the studio when I get to open the dyepot and pet some new fabrics. This week I was exploring some shibori techniques I learned over the summer and I spent part of the day perusing the results. Looking closely at the details. Planning the next process. Is the fabric ready for a discharge bath or another layer of dye? Or does it only need a bit of paint and quilting to finish? Is the piece destined to remain whole, or be cut into several smaller works? Which side of the fabric do I like best? Do I want to see what the same technique does for a different type of fabric? So many questions to ponder.
It was with a jolt then that I realized that there was an angel in this fabric I have been pondering now for days. She (do angels have a gender?) is small, about three inches tall. She is standing in front of a rainbow. I am not making this up. Under two white doves, no less. I tell you, it does not get more kitschy than this: the top three trite images you can think of, sitting there on my stitch dyed silk. And I certainly did not plan one treacly iota of it….
In the midst of rust-dyeing one day, my friend Peggie found Don Quixote and his sidekick looking strangely reminiscent of this famous sketch by Pablo Picasso. That is really cool. But Pablo wasn’t haunting my dyepot…. It was the Angel of Sweetness and Light. I don’t know whether to put her on my design wall as the patron saint of my studio, hand quilt her into oblivion and sell her for double the price of my other little gems, or banish her into a boiling discharge bath….what would you do?
The Samarium Chronicles: Top Secret–Classified
One year later, my piece for the Studio Art Quilt Associates’ exhibition Radical Elements is complete. It is a huge relief to have the work done, photographed, and shipped to Ohio, where it will stay until its debut in May in Baltimore. When I applied to be a part of the exhibition, I did not realize the pressure I would put myself under to complete the piece.
When you apply to most shows, you submit photos of a finished work. If the juror(s) like it, it gets in. If they don’t, you apply somewhere else. For this exhibition, artists were accepted based on their portfolios. Then we made work specifically for submission to the exhibition. So you have to make a terrific piece and hope it lives up to your reputation. Hope that it holds its own next to that of the other artists. Yikes.
I won’t do that again–anytime soon anyway.
What ‘radical elements’ did I use in the piece? Archival tyvek collaged with decorative papers. A medical exam glove. Window screen. Magnets. Guitar strings. Some of these elements evoke the uses of Samarium. Others allowed me to use my surface design techniques without fabric. I included my new favorite technique of designing a portion of the piece to fall forward off the wall with gravity. Radical indeed, don’t you think?
I can’t show you a full photograph, but here are some teasers:
- detail, ‘Samarium 62: No Relation’
If you see me in person I can show you a full size picture…. Have you ever finished an imporant piece ‘just in the nick of time?’
Fun and Shibori Fabric on Whidbey Island
I spent a week on Whidbey Island with Elin Noble and 14 other artists learning the art of shibori while discharging and dyeing fabrics. It was wonderful! We tried clamping, stitching, arashi (pole-wrapping) and masking a raft of different fabrics: silk dupion, cotton, rayon twill, etc.
Elin is very knowledgeable about the chemistry of the dyeing and discharging process. Armed with that knowledge, you can analyze what happened on a piece of fabric, and predict what will happen on another. How great is that!?
Here are a few of my favorite pieces from the week:
The setting was beautiful. This is not a postcard–it is an actual picture I took from the deck of the Cottage on the Cove:
Sometimes I think I am the luckiest person on Earth.
After a week on Whidbey Island, I spent a week in Seattle, and visited the Seattle Art Museum AND the La Conner Quilt Museum. More on those wonderful outings later….
Longarm 101
Fun, Fast, Freehanding
What’s the Alternative? II
Window screen with gel medium, silk fibers, screen printing, embellishments.
What’s the Alternative?
This piece is a small ‘quilted’ collage made from window screen, kozu and lace papers with digital and hand-printed images, layered and stitched. With cutouts and found objects.
‘Lucina Lighting the Way’ at Opening Reception in Switzerland
Sure wish I could be at the opening reception of Quilt for Change’s new exhibition. The show will travel in the US later this year. Details to follow.
This is the piece I submitted:
Inspiration at the Surface Design Association Conference
The 2013 SDA conference was a terrific and inspiring program with artists on the cutting edge in their respective fields. These are just three of my favorites.
Otto von Busch discussed his fashion hacktivism (check it out here). He offered intriguing ways to subvert the ‘fashion industrial complex.’
Kim Bruning spoke about how she puts electronics into textiles. One project she completed was a leather jacket for a blind woman that would sense objects within 30 inches and vibrated the collar so the wearer could discretely avoid a ‘collision.’ For info on how she works and DIY, click here.
Another speaker was Janet Echelman, who has collaborated with computer graphic designers and textile manufacturers to create her gorgeous permanent outdoor textile sculptures. She has a piece in Phoenix, and I plan to see it the next time I am in town. A link to her TED talk is here.
In addition to a phenomenal speakers program, several galleries around San Antonio featured some outstanding member work. These are just a few of the pieces that caught my eye. Which one is your favorite?
Already planning for the next conference in Tulsa in 2015.
On the Cutting Edge….
I am honored to be a part of the newly published book by Mary W. Kerr called Cutting Edge Art Quilts. Fifty artists who work in the quilt medium are included. A link to more information is here.
Lucina Lighting the Way
Quilt for Change recently asked me to submit a piece for their Light, Hope, and Opportunity Challenge. The project raises awareness about the Solar Sisters program, where African women entrepreneurs are given loans to start their own businesses. They buy inexpensive rechargeable solar lights to sell in their communities. This means fewer costly and dangerous kerosene lanterns in African villages. What a great cause! The exhibition will start in Geneva next month, and hopefully travel to the US.
I have been thinking about burning the edges of a piece for a while, and this seemed like an excellent opportunity.
Here is my artist statement for the piece:
Lucina Lighting the Way
Lucina was the Roman goddess of light and childbirth: She who brings children into the light. Here, the pregnant goddess holds a golden orb. The lively color scheme and bright shapes evoke a hopeful spring. This quilt is a tribute to modern-day Lucinas, our Solar Sisters, who are bringing safe, affordable, solar-powered light to their friends and neighbors. The singed edges are a reminder of the dangers of kerosene lanterns, which maim and kill users across Africa each year. Hand-dyed, and printed linen, painted silk, layered and machine stitched. Techniques include cutwork with a burned-edge finish.
detail:
Sans Samaras
Sans Samaras is hand-dyed, discharged and over-dyed silk dupion, hand-printed, layered, stitched and stretched on a frame. With felted wool embellishment. In a private collection.
Zen II
Handpainted and screen-printed silk, layered, stitched, stretched on a frame, with felted wool embellishment. In a private collection.
UNBOUND Fiber Art Exhibition opens Saturday….
The Fiber Artists of Southern Arizona’s show UNBOUND opens at The Drawing Studio in Tucson on Saturday. The show looks amazing, and the works include my 8′ skyscraper Channeling Gehry and Trish Hastings-Sargent’s new work, a sculptural Desert Tree that ‘floats’ along the wall. My artist talk Confessions of a Subversive Stitcher begins at 5 pm Saturday. The artists’ reception follows at 6 pm. Patricia Hastings-Sargent will host a talk about how she creates her landscapes on Saturday, April 13 at 5 pm.
Click here for info on how to get to The Drawing Studio. Events are free and open to the public. The show runs through April 27, hope you can stop by and see it.
Here is a sneak peak of the show….
Maelstrom
Hand-dyed, printed fabric, layered, stitched, cut and mounted on dyed and stitched fabric.
Zen I
Zen I, 2013. Hand-painted, screen- printed silk with felted wool, layered, stitched, cut and stretched on a frame. 26” x 14.”
Behind the Screen – A Demonstration of the Thermofax Screen Printing Technique
BEHIND THE SCREEN – A FREE DEMONSTRATION
OF THE
THERMOFAX SCREEN PRINTING TECHNIQUE
Did you ever wonder how a thermofax screen works? How to make one from your own photo? How to incorporate them into your art quilts? What is the difference between thermofax and silkscreens? Where can you get them locally? Get answers to all your questions and try the technique for yourself.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
1:00 -2:00 pm and 2:00-3:00
Seating is limited. Please RSVP to
mary@maryvaneecke.com or 520-444-7149
At my studio, 2000 S. Hermosa, near Starr Pass and I-10. Go west on 22nd St., left on Greasewood, right on San Juan Terrace, left on Hermosa. Follow the path through the gate to studio in back of the house.
The Samarium Chronicles, Chapter 4: Papers Please!
Well, I must report that my papermaking adventure with artist Catherine Nash was not a complete success. The class was wonderful and informative (I have a new found respect for the art and tradition of papermaking.) I dutifully made a sheaf of lovely papers embedded with golden colored maple seeds, dyed silk fibers and thread, and dyed papers in the class.
Brought them home to dry. Stuck them on my doorwall (this is called ‘restraint drying’ in paper-making lingo). They looked great. Went to bed dreaming of lovely translucent handmade papers embedded with maple seeds.
Woke up to find that the papers made with thicker abaca fibers had molded. Horrors! The uncooked seeds had some residual spores on them which ‘bloomed’ overnight (duh!). Arrrrgh. Treated them with hydrogen peroxide, which helped to bleach the mold. They look okay now, but I can’t put moldy papers (or seeds, for that matter) in this piece.
The kozo (translucent papers) embedded with the seeds look great…can’t use ’em, but they look great nonetheless.
The papers I made without the seeds are archival. They don’t have anything to do with samaras or samarium, but they sure look purty.
Now to explore silk ‘paper’-making. Thanks to my friend Mary Lee Erdman, I have just the reference book I need. I will leave the maple seeds out of it….
The Samarium Chronicles: Chapter 3
I have thought quite a bit about my options for the Radical Elements piece since I posted ‘The List’ of possible materials. My research has taken some interesting turns, including making some aerodynamic origami (check out the video here–the cats love it, but I don’t think it is going to make the final cut.). Two or three options are ‘percolating’ in my brain about how to go with this project. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but I am thinking of them as distinct at this point.
One way is go is with a play on the word Samarium. I choose this element because of my samaras series and my use of maple seed (maple seed = winged tree fruit = samara) imagery in my work. With this option, I could, for instance, make handmade papers from maple seeds, and use techniques borrowed from my textile work (screen printing, foil, etc.) to make a paper samaras quilt. I like this option, though I know nothing about papermaking. A paper piece like this that ‘references’ a quilt could be really beautiful. It also seems a bit simplistic–if not boring–to just use papers instead of fabric, layer them and stitch with raffia or something similar, and call it done. Issues I must consider are the archival properties of handmade paper, durability, and hanging issues.
Another way to go is to borrow materials from the ways samarium is useful (with none of the maple seed imagery). That would be in nuclear fuel rods (they have a gorgeous blue glow), audio equipment (headphones and Fender guitars), cancer treatment (both curative and palliative), the motion picture industry, and magnets. This option has all kinds of possibilities. Backlighting with blue LED lights…stitching with guitar strings, film strips, and IV lines….Cds layered on steel with magnet ‘stitches’…to name just a few. With this option, I have to think about power, archival issues, and test magnet strengths, etc. Also, I would like the final work to be beautiful, on some level, and avoid a messy, disjointed conglomeration.
Another option that is ‘percolating’ would involve an interactive component.
I reconnected with a high school friend who studied paper engineering. Several online connections will send me springtime samaras, and another harvested a fall crop for me in Washington state. There is more research to be done. In the meantime, I am enrolled in a one-day papermaking class with Catherine Nash. Should be fun…
I will keep you posted. What do you think?
Going to ‘the Show’
Catch me at the Quilt Fiesta this weekend. I will have lots of ‘little gems’ (small art quilts) matted and/or framed for sale, along with my Shibori Chic clothing….I am sharing a booth with Trish Hastings-Sargent, who does wonderful landscape quilts. Be there or be square…
See you at the show!
The Samarium Chronicles: The List (first draft)
Okay. So I have been compiling ever-growing lists of both materials and imagery that may make it into the final piece for the Studio Art Quilt Associates’ Radical Elements exhibition. Jill Rumoshosky Werner, ‘Curator to the Stars,’ as she calls herself, has encouraged us to go far and wide in pursuit of our radical elements to replace the fabric and thread in our ‘art quilts.’
Remember, my element, samarium, is used in nuclear reactor rods, cancer treatments (both curative and palliative), and is magnetic. I have also found that it is used in the music industry–in guitars, headphones, etc. (Go figure.) I chose it as a play on words with ‘samaras’ or maple seeds, the imagery I use in one of my series. Here is the list of possible materials and/or imagery to date, in no particular order:
- gummy silk throwsters waste, silk roving, rods, and coccoons (for silk ‘paper’-making–all can be painted or dyed)
- Angelina fibers and film
- Lutradur
- Grunge paper (gray, tearable, but wonderfully thick, flexible, and leather-like)
- sequin waste
- abaca tissue paper (ordered some and it is not translucent enough for my taste)
- maple seeds and leaves (for handmade paper)
- mulberry bark
- ostrich feathers (let’s expand that to any kind of feathers)
- vellum
- mylar
- wire
- raffia
- screen
- steel
- wood
- medical exam-table paper
- vinyl
- records/CDs
- Fender guitar (it contains Samarium! and costs $1500 on Amazon.com)
- X-ray film
- syringes
- rubber gloves
- chain mail
- credit cards
- plastic bottles
- rattail ribbon
- aluminum foil
- yarn
- rush
- metal grid
- jute
- hemp
- cat gut (not likely for the companion of 3 cats)
- guitar strings
- sutures
- soda cans
- sinew
- mizuhiki (look it up)
- earphones/headphones
- fabulous translucent origami papers
- duct tape
- caution tape
- mylar
- foil
My next step will be to start experiment with painting and printing on, and assembling some of the materials. The final work will ‘reference the layering and stitching’ of a quilt. So, what have I missed???? Leave your suggestions here…nothing is too outrageous.
The Samarium Chronicles–Chapter 1
As many of you know, I recently applied to be a part of the Studio Art Quilt Associates‘ Radical Elements exhibition. The exhibition will be seen only in galleries and museums (not quilt shows) and is designed to highlight SAQA’s new definition of a quilt: The art quilt is a creative visual work that is layered and stitched or that references this form of stitched layered structure.
It was an honor to be accepted with such prestigious company as Wen Redmond, Pam RuBert, Elin Noble, and 36 other artists (see full list of participating artists here). I had researched the Periodic Table and found out there was an element called Samarium. I thought I would submit the next planned work from my Samaras series and leave it at that. My application was accepted.
Then I read the fine print.
It turns out I have to incorporate materials OTHER THAN fabric and thread. Hence the RADICAL ELEMENTS theme. Is that curator Jill Rumoshosky Werner clever or what????
First, some background information for those of us who are are not chemical engineers. Samarium is a white, shiny rare earth metal. It is used in nuclear reactor rods to absorb radiation, cancer treatments, and is magnetic. It is not particularly toxic, nor is it required to support life. Our bodies contain small amounts of Samarium.
I am in the process of collecting all suggestions for the requisite alternate materials. This is the brainstorming phase, so nothing is too crazy. Please leave your comments/suggestions below. My next post will include the full list of suggestions and future posts will show my experiments as I develop the work for this exhibition. The final work is due in September, and you will have to see it in person. The curator has asked that no pictures of finished work appear online.