Woodland

Woodland 6"x6"

Our local art center is hosting their annual Winter Party.  They are providing 6" square canvases to local artists who would like to donate to this fundraiser.

Woodland is my donation this year.  It is hand-dyed piece from Carol Eaton, inked with one of my hand-cut tree stamps, free-motion stitched, oil pastel and oil stick colored.

Check it out:  http://guilfordartcenter.org/welcome/whats-new/

Support Your Local!

                                                                                          

From my Secret Series

                   

A House Full of Art

Fine Art Sale to Benefit Guilford Art Center

Thursday, October 9, 6-8pm

55 Wood’s End Road, Guilford

Please join us for a great evening of fine art, wine & appetizers

Local fine artists and artisans will have their works for sale including:

Kim Ruggiero, Dolph LeMoult, Ken Dorros, Lisa Hess Hesselgrave,

Steve Plaziak, David Frank and Diane Wright

A portion of all proceeds will benefit Guilford Art Center’s

 Educational and community programs

Free to the public; no rsvp is necessary

We look forward to seeing you!

Thank you for your support of the arts and Guilford Art Center!

Decisions, decisions

I am literally snowed-in to my home/studio.  Not bad unless you have shopping to do in preparation for our annual Chinese New Year celebration…then the cooking.  AND yesterday we got SAQA/CT's traveling exhibit Local Color hung at the Guilford Art Center (thankfully we didn't need today also as planned).  Friday is the Opening and Sisters in Cloth is hosting.  More on that later.

So.  Decision to be made.  First, at the left is another of my Dijanne Cevaal Sentinelle pieces.  I had hand stitched the center linocut some weeks ago, and today chose it to work on.  I've been thinking more about twin needle free-motion quilting again.  I think you can see the metallic and sliver threads that I used on the black border.  I don't use this technique very often…and after I return to playing with it, I wonder why I don't.  It's very interesting.

Now the Decision.  Do I mount it on the mustard print?  I always over-think things.  Yes.  No.  Maybe.  Darn.   Maybe you have an opinion.  Love to hear it.







The other thing this snowy day provided was a chance to download some of my more recent snap shots from my little point-and-shoot camera.

Aside from over-thinking things (see above), I also forget a lot.  I've begun to blame it on aging grey cells.  But, truth be told, I've ALWAYS had to write things down so that I would have a visual memory that I could call up at some later point.  The problem is remembering to write things down in the first place ;^)

My step-daughter in Florida has always enjoyed having my work in her house.  One of the first pieces I gave her was this Ruth McDowell-esque "Leslie's Hurricane-proof Orchids".  It hangs on Leslie's living room wall.  I felt she needed some cheering after loosing her collection of orchids in the first hurricane they endured when they moved into their new home.

Long ago gift

So here's where the grey cells' loss was revealed to me.  Diaspora below, with detail:  well, I thought it had been lost.  I looked EVERY WHERE for it this spring and summer.  When we walked into her dining room, you could have knocked me over with that proverbial feather.  Get this:  She had admired it Thanksgiving before last and I had GIVEN it to her!  

Diaspora

She told me that she has it in her living room because that's where family eats together when they visit…and it reminds her that we are all spread across the US and Japan and yet we are still a close family.  Now, I will NEVER forget that!

Long ago play with convergence…Steven's room

Woodblock rubbing from Maine coast

 So…back to the task at hand.  Border or not to Border.  Maybe I'll think of it another day…back at Tara.

SAQA/CT Summer Meeting

Our regional meeting was yesterday at The Guilford Art Center where On Higher Ground: Contemporary Hooked Art, along with SAQA's Trunk Show D, was on exhibition.

Liz Alpert Fay, one of the four featured "hooked" artists, graciously accepted our invitation to tell us about the collection. Wow!

And Wow on so many levels...the color, the texture, her journey, the journey of Contemporary Hooked Art (which is remarkably similar to Quilt Art...even with some of the "push-pull" we encounter between "contemporary" and "traditional" labels and practitioners) and her growth as an artist in moving into collaborative work with scientists...yep...you heard (read) it right...scientists!

Speaking of scientists...in this case former scientists...our Barb McKie developed

samples to survey the membership about sun exposure over time on cotton/silk/poly combined with various adhesives. Very scientific: Surveys, controls...lots of thinking, touching, opining...very interesting stuff.

Of course no meeting would be complete without food (thank you, Barb Adams for coordinating another yummy lunch) and a terrific Show and Tell (as usual). AND we got two new CT members! We may be a small state but we are loud...er...enthusiastic.

Final Drawing Class

Today was the last day of my drawing classes at the Art Center. The task for the day was to take drawings done in previous classes and take them further. (I thought mine was finished...but, no, apparently not.)

I had drawn a white Russel Wright teapot...never, ever meant to have decorative bits added (is he spinning somewhere?) and an orange. Imagine for a moment that this sketch was JUST a teapot, an orange and a horizon line.

After talking about other artists, including my one of my favorites, Matisse, our instructor urged us to "go for it".

I missed last week's class because of volunteering at the Art Expo on the Green...but two of the high schoolers (!!) in my class shared the results of their day with me. The day that they went "plein air" outside of our classroom. I loved what they had done. I think I missed an important class and I may have to repeat the whole thing again ;^) (I have a tough life)

Two Opening Weekend ;^)

Friday night the Guilford Art Center hosted an Artists' Reception for their juried show "Poser".

POSER
May 13 – June 26

A group exhibit open to art works in all media that explore various notions of posing for an image, as it relates to artist, subject, and/or viewer.

I'm caught here with my mouth open (surprise) chatting with my friend Alice Chittenden, a quilt maker and a master potter.

Saturday we drove to Lowell MA for the afternoon Artists' Reception of The Brush Gallery's "For the Birds". Again, a very well attended event.

May 7 - June 18, 2011
FOR THE BIRDS
(Part of the Art of Nature Exhibition Series)

Juror: David Allen Sibley; well-known author, illustrator and ornithologist

Organized by Eileen Byrne

Artists' Reception: May 14, 2011, 2 - 4 pm

A collaboration with the Massachusetts Audubon Society to focus attention on birds and their habitats and to raise funds for the volunteers who care for injured birds until they are able to be returned to the wild.

Instead of posting another photo of me with my mouth open, I thought it might be more interesting to see my work from outside the gallery's front window. Pictured here is LeDanseur by BJ Comerford (L), a wonderfully playful oil on canvas and on the back wall (R) is my piece "Red Wing Chorus: Ode to Charley Harper".

One of the things I appreciate most about both of these exhibits is that both are mixed media. While there were just a few fiber pieces in the Guilford exhibit, the Brush was loaded. It is understandable. Lowell is home of the New England Quilt Museum, a big biennial quilt show, a host of fiber artists AND the former base of 10 fabric mills! You can almost taste fabric in the air.

Now...it's also May 15 and reveal day for Fiberactions newest challenge "Embellish".

Connecticut Women Artists Exhibit

This news just in: Selected for Connecticut Women Artists' "2010 Members Juried Show"

are "Abstraction 1" and "Crow"!!

Gallery 53, home of the Arts and Crafts Association of Meriden at 53 Colony St., Meriden CT has hosted this exhibit in years past supported with a wonderful opening reception. Saturday, Nov 6, 2-4, this year, if you can attend it's always a treat. The exhibit will be up until Dec. 3.

Unfortunately I won't be able to be there. And, that's not the only reception in CT that day where my work will on

exhibit...and that I will miss...(it doesn't rain, that it pours). That day is also the Opening Reception at the Guilford Art Center for its annual Artistry Show (Nov 4-Jan 9 2011) which, this year, includes an exhibition of the members of Shoreline Arts Trail. This is the kickoff for the holiday season and promotes the Open Studio event on Nov 20-21. While I will miss the opening reception, I won't miss that weekend!

Saturday Nov 6, I will be in Houston at IQF participating in a Gallery Talk in support of SAQA's "Creative Force" which premieres then. A real bounty of riches!

Melanie Testa Comes to Town

The art quilt group that I belong to Sisters in Cloth always has it's collective antennae up for opportunities....to learn....to exhibit...to challenge. And when we caught word that local girl Melanie Testa was going to be in town we moved into action. More pics are posted on our common blog: (http://sistersincloth.blogspot.com). Also check out her website for more information and news: melanietesta.com

She kindly agreed to extend her visit with her parents and meet with us. She offered us a workshop in Soy Wax Batik and we jumped!

Thankfully, the Guilford Art Center offered us a studio with very short notice and we were happily playing in soy wax and kitchen tools for most of the day.

The top photo is the first application of soy wax onto a piece of fabric that would ultimately be my favorite of the day (It was Melanie's...)

The second photo is my newly acquired wax pot with Melanie demonstrating the next step in layering.

This last photo is the end result of what is my favorite.

It was a glorious sunny day filled with fun, friends and...inspiration!

Photo Challenge in new venue

Our art quilt group Sisters in Cloth has just mounted the Photo Challenge again. It will be on exhibit at the Guilford Free Library, Town Green, Guilford CT through December.

Pictured here are three photo groupings: " Kyoto Summer Palace", "Gaudi Barcelona" and "The Gates NYC".

We are very happy to be asked to exhibit annually at the library and, right from the beginning, we thought this challenge would be a perfect candidate for its audiences.

To add to the fun, we are hosting our regional SAQA group (http://SAQA/CT.blogspot.com) meeting this next Saturday. Like "Topsy" our meeting has grown. The executive director of SAQA, Martha Sielman is giving a presentation about her new book "Art Quilt Masters"; we will preview SAQA's Traveling Trunk Show B; we will enjoy a box lunch; have (surprise) drawings from local retailers; view attending members' Show and Tell; AND, journey to the nearby Guilford Art Center to catch the fabulous SAQA Tranformations: Reflections exhibit. Phew!

If you haven't done so, check out the SAQA/CT blog for information. The meeting begins at 11 a.m. Join us. The more the merrier! For box lunch information and reservations email Barb Adams: b.c.adams@comcast.net.

SAQA Transformations/Reflections 09

Saturday Artist's Talk at Guilford Art Center (www.guilfordartcenter.org)

In support of Studio Art Quilt Associates' fabulous exhibit Reflections, we (in the person of Linda Zimmerman: zimmermandezigns.blogspot.com) invited exhibiting artists to come to the Art Center to talk about their work. We were very lucky: Debbie Bein (quiltstew.blogspot.com) and Judith Plotner (www.judithplotner.com) came last week, staying over after attending the Opening Reception. This week Andrea Limmer from VA generously accepted our invitation to chat with viewers all afternoon about her work "A Walk in the Woods".

The exhibit is generating a lot of buzz about art quilts. Fingers crossed that the feet in the door is so great that we will be asked to mount more exhibits!

Thanks to all who made this possible...and there are many!

Studio Art Quilt Associates' Reflections 09

Viewing (but not touching, honest) Denise Linet's "Squam Lake-Early Autumn" is Aurelle Locke, Yvette Howard and Judy Ross. Behind Aurelle and Yvette, peeking out, is a partial of Pat Kroth's gossamer "Bits of Gold". Two of the pieces in the fabulous SAQA Transformation 2009 Reflections traveling exhibition now on display at the Guilford Art Center, 411 Church Street, Guilford CT (www.guilfordartcenter.org). Aurelle and Judy drove down from the Hartford area today to join Yvette and me to see the exhibit and...of course...lunch. In fact, we ran into another CT/SAQA member, Mickey Lawler, who also had driven down from the Hartford area today to see the exhibit.

With a ton of help from my trusted team of exhibit installers (Linda Zimmerman, Robin Wolek, Barb and Roger Adams, and David Wright) this exhibit opened last Friday.

Why am I only now posting? Good question. My husband sometimes tells me that I keep trying to fill a five pound bag with ten pounds of stuff....okay, that's a paraphrase. But, he's right.

The good news is that the opening was a huge success! And the steady stream of folk through the exhibit since then, with all their compliments, is very satisfying.

The exhibit will be at this venue until January 3 when we take it down and pack it up. Ours is its first venue in the US (it previewed at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England) and it's only venue on the East Coast! How lucky we are! Next it travels to Alaska, Oregon and San Diego.

Sisters in Cloth dye workshop

Today we met at the Guilford Art Center for half a day of dyeing (Rit and a microwave) and a little resist (candle). It was my chance to share some of the information that I had learned in the workshop I took with Beryl Maddalena (see June 7 post).

I'm thinking that not being the winner of that workshop's collaborative rubbing must have weighed not very deeply in my psyche. Because this is the piece I created today: I had previously rubbed a piece of neutral batik with fabric crayon over the bark of a giant beech in our backyard. I "happened" to have it with me for today's meeting. I took this opportunity to do more rubbings on the cracks in the classroom floor...and as the class was cleaning up I painted it with some of the leftover dyes. I like it;-)

The class was a huge success and the firemen seemed to be okay with the cookies we plied on them to thank them (and assuage our guilt?) for coming so promptly when we set off the fire alarm(that only they can shut off). Apparently one of us mistakenly pushed too many minutes on her fat quarter being "shiboried" in the microwave. We have a pic of the residue that one of the members plans to post. Never a dull moment.

Fiber Collage Weekend Workshop

Beryl Maddalena was our leader for the Fiber Collage Weekend at the Guilford Art Center.  And, what fun it was!  Many of the things we did I had done before...and many I had not. However, even for those that I had done before, Beryl had tips and approaches that were creative and spawned ideas for new uses.  

For instance:  I had never done a "faux batik" using a candle for the wax...rubbing it like Shiva sticks onto fabric for a resist to the dyes applied later.  And as for the dyes...I think I prefer the low tech Rit/microwave method.  We even made some small shibori-like pieces clamped in wood and heated in the microwave.

The butterflies on this piece that is now pinned to my design wall were crayolas heat transferred from a drawing I made on a white piece of paper.  I was actually able to get three pretty good transfers from one drawing.  Interesting.  Also included in this piece are bits of fabric dispersed with thiox and pieces torn from painted fusible interfacing.  

Oh, and you should see the collaboration we students (and there were only three of us) made after we finished rubbing a piece of linen with crayolas over the cracks in the cement floors and the trunk of a black walnut tree.  Then we dyed the bright white with various dyes and today Chinese calligraphy was painted and stamped on it.  We three drew straws to see who would take it home.  I think I have visitation rights.

All in all a very good weekend!  I'm tired.... and happy with the new techniques that I learned.  A successful workshop in my book.

Our Photo Challenge is UP!

Sisters in Cloth has been working (for longer than I'd like to think about) on a cohesive grouping of our work that we could package for a traveling exhibition. We decided on a "photograph challenge", inspired in part from an art quilt project that we'd seen photos of from a group that includes Sara Ann Smith (The Frayed Edges).

We have three groups of five photographs that are interpreted by fourteen members. (Actually, twelve current members and two relocated former members who were enticed to participate.)

The first image posted is a shot of part of one of the groups, which includes three interpretations of this photograph. The second is a close-up of a blooming cactus and the third is a seascape with a boy sitting on a rock.

The artists represented here are (L-R) Yvette Howard, me and Gail Kotowski.

Imagine 15 photographs and 75 interpretations!

Half of them are in landscape format (11" x 14") and the other half in portrait format (81/2" x 11").

Our first (of 3-4, we hope) venue is the Guilford Art Center's small gallery, 411 Church St. Guilford, CT. Interestingly, the brightly painted walls worked for us...we did have our doubts! Our opening reception is this Friday, May 29, 5-7pm. We are all very excited and hope to see many of our friends and family that night.