Journey Vessel aka Fiber Bowl

I am a textile artist with a passion for travel. I'm also really, really good at collecting stuff...bits of this and that...that I keep as memories of my trip. That's not to say I don't also take hundreds, and now, thanks to digital cameras, thousands of photographs.

This coiled fiber bowl is made from a Kente cotton fabric that I purchased in Ghana. The black fabric, also from Ghana, is used for funeral garments. The amount of red printed on the black denotes the closeness of the relationship the wearer has to the deceased. The "knob" on the lid is stack of fabric samples given to me by Esther, our host in Akosombo, in the hopes of finding buyers for her fabric in the States.

The bowl is home to assorted bits that I found or was given along the way from Accra, Akosombo, Kumasi, Offenso and Cape Coast: invitation to a chief's anniversary Darbar, a bit of tile from rubble in front of the Peace Corps office in Accra, cedi bead necklace from the factory outside Offenso, bits of driftwood and shells from the littered beaches on Cape Coast. The best, that always gives me a smile, is the biscuit/cookie wrapper that I picked up on the ground of a park in Kumasi....red striped pack of Obama Biscuits with President Obama's image.

I'm on to making a couple of other Journey Vessels. They are the perfect thing for me to house my trip memories. I'm really good at j-o-u-r-n-e-y and not so good at j-o-u-r-n-a-l.

Identity in Fiber

Yesterday I volunteered to help Kate Themel, SAQA/CT co-rep AND curator of Identity in Fiber, the exhibit that was installed by the very capable team at Windsor Art Center. Images on the postcard that the Center produced for the event are details of work by Judith Plotner, Mary Ellen Latino, Eileen Lauterborn, Gail Kotowski, Martha Wolfe and me.

I was so impressed with their team! We took about two hours deciding where each of the pieces would be shown to their best advantage....and while we tidied, said our good-byes, the team had two whole sections hung.

The Center is hosting an Opening Reception next Saturday, Jan 22, 5-7pm....complete with live music, and catered by Lilly's Soul Food Restaurant! A not-to-be missed event!

As a post-script: I had to dawdle putting on my coat and gloves long enough to get a quick snap of the team hanging my piece Family Ties which will hang next to a big, glorious piece by Karen Loprete. I can hardly wait to see the "finished product" next Saturday....fingers crossed for NO SNOW.

Old Friends

"I Dreamt of Mary's Quilt" is big, about 74" square and for the last thirteen years has lived in a closet. When I traveled to Florida and North Carolina recently, I packed up several rolls of work for my newly-single son to look through with the aim of making his new house a home. To my surprise...and delight...he chose eight pieces! His home is a virtual (not that kind of virtual) gallery of my work....especially if you factor in the paintings and other art quilts that he has been gifted over the last several years.

This piece actually did begin as a dream. I dreamt of my friend's indigo art quilt that I had seen on exhibit. Of course, it really wasn't anything like this....but every time I see this I think of her and her little Japanese indigo art quilt. I had always imagined that my "Mary" would hang somewhere special, not languish in a closet. So I was overjoyed that my son chose it.

Double Take: Photo and Fiber

My art quilt group, Sisters in Cloth, has been invited to exhibit our latest project Double Take: Photo and Fiber at Yale University's Haskins Lab in New Haven beginning February 1.

Our project was a collaboration with photographer Rose DeLucco-Alpert whose gorgeous work will be hung along side our interpretations. We chose 15 of her botanicals to interpret in fiber. (Three of us have chosen two of her works.)

This is my Roses, along with a detail (below).

I painted the fabrics and machine stitched, using free-motion zig-zag in one rose to create more texture in the nearer flower.

The second photograph I selected was Water Lilies. In this one I free-motion stitched koi swimming beneath the lilies which were not actually in Rose's photo but I imagined that they should have been. I know she won't mind...she is looking forward to the "interpretation" part of the challenge.

Check out Sisters in Cloth and Martha Wolfe's blogs for more great images and information.

Another oldie

Godwits at Hammonassett

This is another art quilt that is in my son's collection. The godwits are thread painted on a piece of batik. I liked this one too and thought that maybe I should return to sketching and to doing a bit more thread work.

This little trip through time via my past art work has been very helpful in nudging me back into the studio. The studio that has not been worked in for a very long time. With all the guests and travel during the past 2 1/2 months, it's little wonder. I loved hosting and our trips...but I VERY much need to get back to work.

Many Moons

I made Many Moons several years ago as a gift to my son (and his then wife....don't you hate it when you get blindsided?). I'm pretty sure it was inspired by something that I'd seen that Ruth McDowell had done. At least that's the picture that's in my memory...if I'm wrong, I'm sorry to whom ever I SHOULD have credited.

DH and I drove to Raleigh NC to help him relocate into his new townhouse. It was a fun, very busy weekend. We selected window treatments, bought rugs, hung artwork and organized the kitchen. Phew! One of the really nice things that happened was that I was reacquainted with some of his artwork that had been in storage....reminding me of all his artistic abilities that showed early on.

His relocation included moving all the artwork I had given him over the years too. Many Moons is now hanging in his new dining room and looks smashing (I say very immodestly). I like it so much I may make another....similar but never the same, of course. This one has tie silks, kimono cottons and silks, taffeta and some pieces that I treasured from long forgotten projects.

TEXTile

This first photo is a shot of my friend Yvette Howard's Connections, her interpretation of our group's most recent challenge to create a piece inspired by "word". She always does crisp, sharp work...and in this case...a bunch of fun. You can't help but smile when you see this. The base fabric was designed by Jean Ray Lawry whom Yvette and I were lucky enough to meet and hear speak a few years ago. If you want to see some happy work check her out.

Twelve present and past members of our group Sisters in Cloth participated. This time we decided to mount our work on stretcher bars. It certainly made for a very easy to hang exhibit!

The thing that strikes me about this collection is how broad the subject matters are. Granted two relate to the judiciary: Gail Kotowski's Justice and Evelyn Judson's Testimony, but the rest span from my rant on the demise of newspapers, to the beauty of nature, to the passing of people in our lives. It is very interesting.

So, if you are in the area stop by the Guilford Free Library, 67 Park St., Guilford CT on Thursday, December 9, 5-8pm for our Opening Reception. We will be joined by the friends and patron of two other artists, Mark Janke and Mary Ann Flick, photographers whose work will be on display in the libraries outer galleries. The exhibit will be up through December.