Paintings on Silk

Emergence, 48" x 39"

My latest body of work, Paintings on Silk, has been on exhibit at the Hill Country Arts Foundation in Ingram, TX all month. The pieces in this series were created with a variety of resist techniques, multiple layers of hand painting with dyes and paints and some include needle felting, stitching and metal leaf. This series was created over the past year and represents a new direction for me.  In the past, I have focused on immersion dyeing or screen printing with dye to create my cloth.  This series was created by applying thickened dyes by hand - with brushes, scrapers and even my fingers.  I know it sounds kind of silly, but it was hard for me to make that leap.  In the past, when I tried applying color by hand, I wasn't satisfied with the results. I continued to pursue it because I felt a desire to have my hand directly on the cloth.

Emergence, detail

I was inspired by some of the abstract expressionist painters from the 50's. I'm drawn to that style and wanted to try it on cloth with dyes, rather than on canvas with paint. I've been using compositions with a strong vertical component, and I chose to continue that for this series. I wanted to expand on a piece I created in 2010.

The Best Season, 95" x 30"

The Best Season, detail

I came across Barnett Newman's work while researching the abstract expressionist movement. Barnett Newman is known for his paintings in which areas of color are separated by thin vertical lines, which he called "zips". I was not familiar with Newman's work when I created The Best Season, so my jaw dropped when I first saw his "zips". Funny how we think we are being so innovative and unique - I guess there truly is "nothing new under the sun". Or maybe another way to say it is that I was tapping into the collective unconscious.

My exhibit is being held in conjunction with the Texas Federation of Fiber Artists' Fiberwerkes exhibition.  There is a closing reception for both shows this Friday evening.  If you are in the Kerrville area this Friday, please join us.  Photos of some of the pieces are on my website, and I'll be updating it to include them all within the next month.

Hill Country Arts Foundation
February 24, 2012, 6-8 PM
120 Point Theatre Road South
Ingram, TX