Fiber Art Play Day

Please join me this Saturday at Majestic Ranch for a free Fiber Art Play Day. I will be demonstrating a variety of surface design techniques and there will be an opportunity for hands-on experimentation. Stop by anytime between 10 am and 1 pm to participate. Majestic Ranch is located a short drive from San Antonio in Boerne, Tx.

Hope to see you there!

Tote Tuesday

ToteTuesday is a Fiberart For A Cause fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Over 50 artists throughout the country will be donating totes filled with a variety of books, fiber art supplies and finished artwork. These themed totes will be auctioned off every Tuesday in February. It’s a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society and a showcase for everything that is fun and creative about the fiber arts. So far, the program has raised over $5600 for the American Cancer Society.



The collective at ArtCloth Studios, of which I am a part, has donated a tote filled with goodies related to surface design. It will be up for bid on February 23rd. The collective includes 6 artists: Laura Ann Beehler, Linda Charlton, Jane Dunnewold, Martha K. Grant, Leslie Jenison and me. The tote, made with beautiful artcloth created by Laura Ann Beehler will be filled with artcloth created by collective members, as well as items that individuals can use to create their own artcloth. A photo and partial list of the contents appears on my website.



Information about how the ToteTuesday program works and about the totes to be auctioned can be found on Virginia Spiegel's blog. To bid on a tote, go to the auction bidding site. There are only two more bidding days left, February 16 and February 23. It's a great cause, so I encourage you to bid on a tote. You will benefit a worthy cause, and receive a "packet of fun".

Struggling with Juggling

No, I haven't taken up a new sport. This is about juggling priorities - deciding which balls to catch and which to let go. A conversation I had with an artist friend a few weeks ago helped me articulate what I've been feeling for awhile now. I just don't seem to have enough time. (I know, you're saying "join the club"!) I've been feeling that although I am spending a lot of time on my art, I'm not accomplishing what I want to. What am I juggling? Developing, teaching and promoting workshops, studio time, administration (maintaining my website, keeping records of exhibitions, photographing my work), professional development.

As I look back on 2009, I feel a sense of lost opportunity. I was very busy exhibiting throughout the year, but I didn't complete many larger pieces. My last series was created for a local exhibition last spring. The rest of the year I worked on smaller pieces. They are fun and fast, but not really where I want to go with my work.

I think what was missing was a clear set of priorities. I'm feeling I need to really examine each opportunity/obligation that comes my way and ask, "Is this bringing me closer to the life I want or taking me away from it?" Of course, doing that successfully means that I need to know what it is I do want. More studio time is one of the things I know I want. I am tempted to take a semester off teaching to devote to studio time. Of course, I've already got things booked into this fall, so that means I couldn't take that time until next spring! And there's that pesky mortgage to consider.

So, as you can see, I'm still struggling with how to move forward. I'm taking some time this afternoon to look at the year ahead. To review my obligations, my opportunities, my aspirations and try to determine what is most important. I realize that I will have to let some opportunities pass me by. But I feel it is better to do it intentionally - to choose what is most important rather than try to do it all.

Friday Night Double Header

I'm participating in two exhibitions that open on Friday. I can't make them both, since one is in San Antonio and the other is 2 1/2 hours away in Round Top. They both include many talented Texas artists, so I invite you to attend.

In San Antonio, it's the opening for Small Works for a Larger Cause, This is an annual benefit for Say Si, a local organization that is committed to creating an arts-related environment for the city's youth. Say Si has visual arts, media arts and theatre programs for middle and high school students. The exhibit will open this Friday, February 5th from 6-9 pm. All artwork in the exhibition will be part of a silent auction on February 26.

In Round Top, the Copper Shade Tree will feature work by 24 Texas fiber artists. Juried by Liz Axford, the show includes four pieces from each artist. Three other San Antonio artists are featured in the exhibit, Laura Ann Beehler, Leslie Tucker Jenison and Martha K. Grant. The opening reception is this Friday from 5-9 pm. Round Top is a quaint town and perfect for a weekend getaway. The show runs through March 7th.

Cloth to Dye For

I've been looking forward to teaching a week long workshop, Cloth to Dye For, at a retreat center that was scheduled to open in Florida this year. Unfortunately, they weren't able to meet all the state and local requirements, so the center won't open. I had that week blocked off on my calendar and several people were interested, so I'll be teaching the workshop at ArtCloth Studios in San Antonio instead.

The workshop focuses on a variety of ways to add color to cloth with fiber reactive dyes. Those new to dyeing will learn the basics of working with fiber reactive dyes and more experienced dyers will have an opportunity to combine techniques to create a surface rich with depth. Participants will choose a color palette for the week, and will gain an understanding of how those colors work together in a variety of techniques, including immersion, painting, pouring, and dripping. The workshop will also cover the use of thickened dyes and everyday objects to build a complex surface suitable for use in other projects or that can stand alone as a piece of artcloth.

If the sound of a week playing with dyes in warm, sunny San Antonio sounds appealing, you can find out more information on my website.

New Work

I finished two pieces this week. I started them in December, but with the holidays, illness and other time commitments, it's taken me awhile to get back to them. I started by dyeing, then discharging, applying soy wax, overdying and discharging again. Here is how one of them looked on December 25th.

After many more layers of printing, here is the final.

The photos of the second piece did not turn out, so I'll post photos of it later. Here are a couple detail shots.




These pieces were some of my "play" pieces. I didn't have a plan, I just started and took them one step at at time. I wanted to play with complementary colors and layering soy wax, discharge and overdyeing.

On Exhibit in Ingram, TX

Four of my pieces are currently on exhibit at the Hill Country Arts Foundation in Ingram, TX. The Arts Foundation is located on the Guadalupe River and features a performing arts center, a visual art gallery and classrooms for art workshops. I love how they've placed my piece One with Nature next to a window overlooking some trees.

My work is on exhibit because I will be teaching two workshops there this year. I've enjoyed working with the people there and am looking forward to spending more time at the facilities.

The main exhibit in the gallery is "God and Texas" featuring photographs of Hans Bauer. That exhibit opened yesterday and continues through February 27. Also on display is “Art from Within,” an exhibition featuring artwork by the inmates of the Dominguez State Jail and the work of Debra Richardson.

...and more repetition

Yesterday I took the motif that I created for the previous day's design exercise and continued my repetition studies. This time I changed the orientation on the repeat pattern.

Then I played around with isolating smaller components of the pattern.

I find this pretty interesting - especially isolating segments of the repeat pattern. I can see the potential this process has for creating new imagery.

Repetition

Hmmm, this theme keeps coming up. Repetition was the focus of a surface design symposium this weekend at the Southwest School of Art & Craft. Ilze Aviks, an artist from Colorado, spoke on the topic. There was also a panel discussion with Mary Ruth Smith and Liz Axford moderated by Jane Dunnewold. How serendipitous that my design exercise for today was on repetition.

The assignment was to create a repeat pattern using a simple design. At a loss for an image to use, I scanned my studio for ideas. This stylized leaf was my inspiration:

So I abstracted it a bit and came up with this design:

The first part of the assignment was to create a repeat pattern with the design.

Then, I was to reverse the image so positive becomes negative.

The next step was to create the same pattern, but use color. I chose to use four colors and to make each "block" a different combination of those four colors.

Finally, I decided to repeat the pattern with colors, but make each block the same combination of colors.

As a repeat, it loses it's resemblance to a leaf. And the last version in color reminds me of watermelon! If I had switched the purple and green, it would look even more like a watermelon with a green rind and purple seeds. I'm intrigued by this exercise. I'm thinking of repeating it with the same design, but altering the orientation for each block.

A Week in Class

I spent last week in a workshop at ArtCloth Studios with 9 other artists. It was an independent projects class, so each of us worked individually on our own projects. Jane Dunnewold has been running these workshops in January for a number of years and I have attended for the past 5 years. It is a great way to jump start the year. At the beginning of the week, we each create a plan of what we want to accomplish during the week. I find that having a whole week of dedicated studio time at the beginning of the year helps get me back on track after the holidays.

And, it's a great time to reconnect with friends from around the country. Many of the people have been coming for a number of years and we have formed a bond. This year was a nice mix of people who have come before and a few who hadn't.

A number of people in the class were experimenting with paper lamination. It's a process of adhering paper or metal leaf to sheer fabric. The results are fascinating.

The rest of us focused on dyeing, painting, discharge and just plain having fun!

I was able to accomplish a lot over the course of the week. I moved forward three pieces from a series I'm working on and have two other pieces that are one step from completion. It's a great feeling to get all that done, but now I'm playing catch up with email and all the other stuff that stacked up over the week!

A New Opportunity

On Saturday I found out that I've been accepted into the New Braunfels Art League Gallery. New Braunfels is a small city about 20 miles north of San Antonio. The Art League has a beautiful gallery downtown and has an annual process to jury artists into the gallery. It seems to be predominantly painting, drawing and photography, although there are some ceramics, sculpture and jewelry as well. Most of the paintings were representational work. Working in fiber and non-representational imagery, I wasn't sure how the jury would receive my work. I guess they liked it! There are currently two other fiber artists with work in the gallery, Leila Reynolds and Sandra Edsall Taylor. Three out of a hundred - at least it's a start!

I dropped off some of my smaller pieces for the jurying:

Stepping Stones, 10" x 10"

It is Written, 10" x 10"

Miniatures

Last summer I bought some 4" x 4" mini canvases and I finally started working with them just before Christmas. I used them to create miniature fiber collages. I felt challenged when I started creating 10 x 10 and 12 x 12 collages last summer. These miniatures are even more challenging. It is a very small space to work with! They are fun, though. And it's a great way to warm up and get the creative juices flowing.

I typically start with fabric that has several layers of screenprinting. Then I add more printing, and metal leaf. In some cases, I wrap the fabric around and staple it to the back of the canvas. Others are adhered directly to the painted canvas.

If you decide you'd like a miniature of your own, they are available for purchase in my online store.

ArtCloth Opportunity

Before, Katherine Sylvan, ArtCloth Network member

The ArtCloth Network, a group of artists dedicated to promoting the medium of cloth as an artform, is currently having a call for membership. I'm a relative newcomer to the group,having joined in 2008, however I feel it is a great opportunity for those who wish to be part of a community of other artists working in this new medium. Members of the network meet annually to share what they are working on, and to discuss professional concerns and opportunities. In addition, the group produces an artcloth exhibition annually.

I have enjoyed the opportunity to talk with others about techniques and processes, about art-related concerns and frustrations and about approaches to creating. The annual exhibition pushed me to create work outside my comfort zone. I have also had a couple of teaching opportunities come my way because of my involvement with the group.

If you create artcloth and are interested in joining the group, you can read more about it in the membership application and requirements.

Up From the Ashes

Continuing on with my new year's theme of burning the old and bringing on the new, but this time it's only figurative. I was feeling brave and tore off a section from a piece I was unsatisfied with. I had previously tried to salvage it, but nothing was working. So, I decided to use part of it as a starting point for a new piece I'm working on for an exhibit at the Copper Shade Tree in Round Top, TX.

The main piece was from a series I completed last summer, 10,000 flowers. I wasn't pleased with the color of the flowers and felt there were too many of them. The piece just didn't have a focal point and any ideas I had to create one just weren't working. So, I tore off the bottom portion. (Funny - when I look at the photo above, it doesn't look as bad as it does in my mind. Is there a lesson here? Maybe I can salvage the remains of that piece after all!)

I'm creating a piece that's about 10" x 20", Texas Wildflowers. I plan to layer it with some organza that has been dyed and printed.

I'm close to being finished, just need to assemble it and get it ready for hanging. I'll post photos once the show opens on Februay 5th.

Second Saturday Gallery Night

On the second Saturday of the month, a number of galleries in Boerne, TX stay open late. Many have new exhibits or other special events. This past Saturday, many of the instructors at the Majestic Ranch Arts Foundation were on hand to demonstrate their techniques. It was an opportunity for people to meet the instructors and see art in action!

Here I am explaining and demonstrating the thermofax process.

Stevie Kesner Ricks, Executive Coordinator and Acrylic Painting Instructor

Rachman Ulmer (center), Executive Director and Stone Sculpting Instructor

Vicki Stephens, Printmaking

Susan Conners, Fused Glass

Michael Saul, Ceramics

New Year's Tradition Part II

There is another New Year's ritual that has become an important part of my life. At the beginning of each year, my husband and I have a burning bowl ceremony. For those unfamiliar with a burning bowl ceremony, it is a release of sorts. You think about what you wish to release from your life. It could be a way of thinking, a bad habit, an addiction, a fear. Then you write that down on a piece of paper and burn it. I find it very powerful. Burning is the ultimate way of releasing something. The fire completely destroys it, allowing something new to come up from the ashes to replace it. The second part of the ritual is to identify what you want to bring into your life and then write that down.

This makes me think of a line from a Jewel song, "No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from." (from Life Uncommon on the Spirit CD) We often spend so much energy thinking about or worrying about what we don't want in our lives. We give it strength with our thoughts. The burning bowl ceremony is a great way to focus our energy on a more positive plane.

We are a little late in doing our ritual this year, because I've been sick since Christmas and wasn't really in the right frame of mind. We participated in a burning bowl ceremony on New Year's Eve, but we haven't yet done the second part of the ritual. Usually, on New Year's Day, we write our intentions and put them into our elephant jar (pictured above.) A year later, after we've written our intentions for the new year, we burn the papers from the previous year. So, tonight is the night. A whole new year, a wealth of possibilities. I seem to be better at manifesting material things than changes to my personal characteristics. Old habits die hard, I guess. But, I'm putting one of last year's intentions on my list again this year. Little by little, I'll get there.

What do you wish to release from your life? What do you wish to bring into your life?