Exhibit at Northwest Vista College

My solo show went up mid-January Northwest Vista College -- and finally the dates are set for a reception for my friends and family members, as well as a couple of "appearances" as a resident artist for the college. The exhibit, I'm honored to say, is the first in a new multipurpose room in the newest to open building on campus: Cypress Hall, where the bookstore, admin and cafeteria share space on the ground floor overlooking the lake at the heart of the campus.

The room is lovely; exhibits share space with beautiful views, and unlike most art galleries, it is truely a multipurpose room, hosting several faculty and student events each week. I've already received quite a number of kind comments about the show from faculty member friends of Linda's (she teaches Communications at NWV).

An artist talk and "guided tour" of my work, my working process and showing a slide show of processes, inspirations and my studio will be presented on February 11, with a lunch reception and the talk from 11:30 am -- 1:30 pm (the talk will be 12:15 - 1:15  more or less, and it is open to the public.) Then on March 5, March 18 I'm hosting a short reception in the room for friends and the general public, from 4 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. -- and I hope you can come! I plan to send out a few email invites and maybe some postcards, but if you're reading this, you are invited. I'd love to meet you and have you see some of my work in person.

On March 25, at 3:30, I'll be on a panel for Women's History Month, discussing with other artists the place and changing role of women as entrepreneurs in the arts, as artists, as well as comparing our personal histories as artist/business women. Again, the panel presentation, part I believe of a full day of events at the college, is open to the public.

All of these activities will be held in the multipurpose room off the cafeteria in Cypress Hall -- follow the signs to the closest parking lot when you get to the college. Parking can be a bit iffy, so if you attend, you might want to carpool and let the hardiest walker  in the group drop the rest of the attendees off at the entrance!

More Houston: Artist's Altar

Well. I didn't win the tiara parade. I don't think my garden glove, yarn, shredded fabic, needles and pins entry was quite tiaraesque enough. But I had a great time all day. I did a "Meet the Teachers" session early in the day -- 10:30 am and believe it or not, people, a few, showed up to hear me (or the person who was next on the list). So I continue to learn a lot. and continue to meet wonderful teachers, quilters, artists, all. Here's the basic outline of my presentation, I hope you can follow along:

An Art Quilt Artist’s Altar

By Susie Monday, artist, coach and teacher
3532 Timbercreek Rd.
El Cielo Studios, Pipe Creek, Texas
http://susiemonday.squarespace.com
www.susiemonday.com
210-643-2128

Making an artist’s altar is one of the creative exercises suggested by Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way. I’ve adapted her practice by combining it with the process of art quilt journaling. Art quilt Artist’s Altars start with an acknowledgement of our human heritage of creativity. Episcopal priest and radical theologian Matthew Fox has written, “We are creators at our very core. Only creating can make us happy, for in creating we tap into the deepest powers of self and universe and the Divine Self. We become co-creators, that is, we create with the other forces of society, universe and the God-self when we commit to creativity.” The act of creating an artist altar honors this deep connection to the Source.

Here are some prompts, suggestions and techniques that will help you make your own art quilt artist’s altar. First construct or purchase a simple box or altar shaped frame that will determine the size of your art quilt work. I build simple 1 by 3” frames in a “house” shape for the ones I make, but you can use a pre-made gallery canvas as the structure.

1. Start with your favorite colors. Pull fabrics from your stash that represent your most beloved hues and shades. You can use one or 50 different prints. No rules, here. Combine a rainbow or stick to the subtlest shades of white you can find.

2. What symbolizes creativity for you – is it a person, a goddess or mythological figure, a place, a shape, a sound, an image from nature or from art history? Is it all of the above. Collect, draw, cut, photo transfer or collage a central image for your art quilt artist altar by starting with what speaks the name of creativity the loudest.

3. Use your favorite quilting techniques to assemble the top of your art quilt. I use fusing, piecing, machine quilting and hand embroidery for the ones I make, but you should honor your own favorite techniques. Assemble with batting, but a back layer of fabric is usually not needed.

4. Make the top of your art quilt large enough to wrap completely around the frame, whatever its size. Wrap and staple the top around the frame, fitting and folding the corners neatly. If desired, stitch fabric to the back

Good news of the day: when I went to pick up my art materials for the demo, I found a note from Leslie Riley (she organized the mixed media classes). Pokey Bolten of Quilting Arts magazines. (Cloth, Paper, Scissors, etc.) wanted to talk to me about writing for the mags. That's incentive to get my proposals in to the editors. Hold me to it.

On other quilting fronts: check out Ragged Cloth Cafe's last month post by Kate Themal,  food for thought as we look at the amazing variety of quilts here in this venue: traditional, antique, contemporary, cutting edge, stange and digital.

Quiltmania 2 in Arlington

Susan Fuller-Sutherland put together a great powerpoint about the Quiltmania exhibit, Piece by Piece, at the Arlington Museum of Art. With her permission, here are a few shots of the installation (with my three pieces). An artist's reception is scheduled for November 15. If anyone reading is within a shout of Arlington, I hope you will attend at my invitation. I hope to make it, but that soon after Quilt Festival, it may be difficult for me to take the time away from the studio. I am not sure that I have a complete list of the other's whose work is in the show, curated by Mary Ruth Smith, but I know that these Texas artists have work included: Ann Adams, Pam Studstill, Liz Axford, Jack Brockette, Sylvia Weir, Julie Upshaw,

Fiber Arts Exhibit at Gallery Nord

This art cloth of mine received second place honors;

In the Midst, In Memory of Dr. Israel Cuellar

Fiber Artists of San Antonio opened its annual exhibition last night at Gallery Nord on N.W. Military Hwy. The space is really a wonderful venue and the work is up to the arena this year. I am amazed at the beauty and power of the show, and feel so blessed to be part of a group with so much creativity, skill and imagination. Linda Rael and Lisa Kerpoe were the co-chairs and worked with diligence to make the event run smoothly. Taking top honers: Mary Ann Johnson with a bearutiful surface designed and stitched wall piece. Sorry MA, I don't have a picture of it yet! Lisa Mittler, Laura Beehler, and Laurie Brainerd also won awards.

Janet and Linda Rael during the awards ceremony. Linda and Lisa, too.

Janet Lasher stepped in as juror after Kim Ritter had to bow out after suffering damage to her home and studio during Hurricane Ike. We were fortunate that Janet was in town and had all the credentials a group could desire in a judge. Her task was not an easy one, but the show she selected is quite a good representation of the breadth of work being done in the organization.

Rather than chatter on about the work, I'm just going to post some photos, and let you see for yourselves. I think I have all the names and some of the titles down, but even without that info, you'll see the breadth of work. Forgive me if I didn't get your work on the blog yet, I need to return to take some more photos when fewer people are in front of the work! 

Suzanne Cooke's The Girl in the Mirror

To the left, one of Linda Rael's art dolls and on the right, handbags by Diane Barney.

Two more of my pieces, Shaman/Crucifixion and She Steps.

Diane Sandlin's art quilt Sunset at Chaco Canyon

Sarah Burke's Jagged Edge Bowl (Sarah has been one of my students and this is the first show she entered!)

Dian Lamb's Heavenly Flashlight (sorry this one is a bit blurry --  I'll reshoot it)

Laurie Brainard's Dance, one of the award winners.

If you are anywhere near SA this month, take the time to see  the exhibition. You won't be sorry!

New Work -- Textile Art on the Coast

Here are just a few photos from the opening reception and Artist Talk -- taken by Linda, friends present and accounted for!

Textile Painting vs. Art Quilt

"Dreaming: The Beach" detail, 2008

We artists in this world of textiles, fiber art, quilting go round and round about terms. Is what I do textile painting, fiber art, art quilts, studio art quilts? Why is it important? For one thing, if we are to ever have a broader understanding (perhaps, demand or desire) for our chosen medium, we want that broader public to "get it." Some of us making what have become known as "art quilts" as opposed to "bed quilts" come from traditional quilting backgrounds. Others, like me, have never tried such a project, and, while respecting the tradition and while borrowing, stealing and emulating some of the technical aspects, feel that our work is more akin to a painting than a bed cover.

Then, when one adds the aspect of surface design -- actually "making" some or all of the fabrics used in the artwork -- things get even a bit more complicated.

I am taking a free internet marketing course - The Thirty Day Challenge -- that has presented a whole new set of information that relates to taking this work to the web and what words one uses to describe art. What do people "look for" and how many searches does a particular set of words engender in a day. I won't go into it indepth -- still too much to digest --but its interesting to hear how an outside perspective looks at this "content." In the rubric of this course, if one wants to actually sell something via internet, one is looking for search terms (keywords) that have at least 80 searches a day, and fewer than 30,000 competing sites that include those keywords, as well as a whole lot of other search engine criteria that put one at the top of a google page, since that is how most of the people "out there" are looking for items and topics on the web. What's really interesting is that there are a whole lot of people inventing sites for marketing purposes that have very little to do with the actual making of content or product. So how do these terms measure up? Art quilt has relatively more searches but way more competing sites. Textile painting has less competition, but not many searches either.

Meanwhile, I am thinking about the artist talk I will make tomorrow (Saturday at 4:30 p.m.) at my solo exhibit of new (and recent) work at the Rockport Center for the Arts. Here's a bit from the artist statement booklet I made for the show:

This work continues my lifelong exploration of fabric as an art medium, as I pursue a vision as expressive and personal as that of any artist who uses watercolor, oil paint, or acrylics, albeit informed by the traditional craft of the quilter. Some of the fabrics I use began as vintage table linens rescued from estate sales, or embroidered Mexican dresses that have seen one too many fiestas. I keep my eye, like the raven, attuned to things shiny and intricately patterned. The selection of ethnic textiles from Africa, Mexico, Guatemala honors the work of those anonymous hands, no doubt many of them women’s. When the fabrics come together on the design table, color and pattern are the voices that speak to me, with stories inspired by the icons, images and natural beauty of these South Texas Borderlands. Stitched lines add another visual element, tying together the tales and textures.

The techniques used to create the fabrics and the art work include hand-dyeing, screen-printing with dyes and textile paints, soy and traditional wax batik, foil and metal leaf embellishment, hand and machine embroidery and stitching. One of the appeals of this work for me is its variety of scope, scale, precision and improvisation, and its connection to both the past and the future through craft and skill.

Notice that I kind of sidestepped the terminology issue -- the mention of the "quilt" is a bit oblique. (ironically, the piece above  incorporates more machine stitching and a more regular "quilting" pattern than anything I've done before.) What's your take on this? While I don't really expect to sell large works from my website -- I think art of any kind is hard to fall in love with on a screen -- I am toying with making my altered jean jackets available, maybe doing some cards, and the idea of an online workshop or course is still floating around in my large scheme of trying to make a living as an artist.

P.S. There's a preview of 2009 dates and topics for El Cielo workshops on the Workshop page now.

Art Quilts by the Sea

Rockport, Texas is a bayside town with a reputation for artful activity -- lots of galleries, art events and an active community of local artists. Saturday at 4:30 pm I'll be presenting an artist's talk in the Garden Gallery of the Rockport Center for the Arts, that's where my small solo exhibit of (mostly) new work is on display through the end of August.

I'll also be teaching a Color Workshop in CalAllen -- another small town near Corpus Christi. With 22 registered, its one of the larger workshops I've taught! We'll be playing with the color wheel, dye, paper, paint and trying to find color palettes for each person to stretch their imaginations while holding personal meaning.

I'm behind on blog posts this week -- simply too much going on! But several folks have promised to send me photos of the New Braunfels exhibit, and, from all reports, the show there is getting good traffic and lots of buzz. People are still amazed to find out that many fiber and textile artist start out with white cloth and end up with incredible one-of-a-kind garments, quilts, wall art and applique work.

Texas Museum of Fiber Arts

 

The second annual Texas Museum of Fiber Arts exhibit at the State Capitol was this past Memorial Day weekend. Here are a few pics from the Preview Party, a grand and fun cocktail event in the Lt. Gov's reception room. My FASA colleagues Rachel Ridder Edwards (above with her first prize "Ode to the Majestic"  jacket) and Laura Beehler (below with detail of one of her amazing art cloth pieces) were among the award winners. I didn't get back to see the entire exhibit but hear it was well received. I guess you'll figure out by the pictures I took that I often have trouble feeling at ease at cocktail parties, no matter how good the food! Lots of floor pictures in other words! But what struck me most in this lovely room was the textural riches, the real materials and the kind of Texas pioneer honesty that the room and space embodied. I love that it is well-tended and true to its history, not all gussied up with a 2008 sense of luxury and glamour.

 

   

A Funny Thing about Inspiration

 

Where have I been? Wrestling with the muse in the studio, my friends. (And setting up newsletter templates for FASA.)

With the deadlines for two shows just over the horizon, I've been working diligently on the design table. Funny thing happens; for two days I cut and laid out fabrics working with the idea of making another medium sized Sirena (mermaid) piece, intended for my exhibit in Rockport. (Coastal town, right, makes sense?) Finally I realized she just was not swimming into the picture -- two small a background perhaps, too strident a color palette. So now what?

Looking around the studio, my eye fell on my "in table" and the bright Mexican embroidered  tablecloth so generously given to me by Donna LoMonoco. A couple of little voices spoke up: "You've been working on the wrong side of the beach. We creatures are ready to dive in." And so they did: two slightly  scary Sea Harpies and a Sun Dog. (I know sun dogs are the little circles of light that come through the tree leaves, but this one is winged and has a rather forked tail.)The piece came together pretty fast after that. And so I seem to have added a new category to the angels, saints and sinners who show up in my work. (They are definitely on the sinner side of things, not really evil, but ready to cause a bit of trouble.)

The lesson, for me, is to know when to quit. And to know where to go for inspiration when I need it. Mexican and other folk art always inspires my eye and my hand. These figures don't look like the animals on the tablecloth, but they share a their shapeliness and quirky form. They are members of the same family, I think.

Sewing is next -- I've this piece and a Stella Maris ready for stitching. I will post after pictures closer to the exhibit dates -- but meanwhile, if you live in the Corpus Christi or Rockport area, I hope you'll put the opening reception on your calendar: Saturday, August 9,  5-7 p.m. at the Rockport Center for the Arts. I'll also be teaching a half-day version of my Field Guide to Color workshop for the Fiber Artists Society of the Art Center of Corpus Christi in Calallen, another small coastal town close to Corpus. That one is 9-1 also on Saturday, and for registration info, call Paula Gron at 361-985-1137.

Round Up

 

A wide assortment of odds and ends have landed in my inbox the past couple of weeks -- worth sharing but without much of a common thread to tie the ends up neatly.

From Leslie Jennison:
"There is a great article in the Wall Street Journal weekend edition 
about the burgeoning quilt-making industry which features Caryl Bryer 
Fallert.  It is of interest because the article brings up the 
economic strength of the industry."

 From Martha Grant:
"I thought you'd like to see my finished altar from your workshop! I'm happy with the way it turned out. You can put it on your blog, if it'll fit. I'm benefitting from learning the assembly process for this, because it's factoring into my genealogy series for the New Braunfel's (Art League Gallery) show. (Which is taking on a life of its own.)"

 

Many of you have already seen this quilting video, sent to me by Diana Kellerman. The quilt world seems to be getting a great  deal of media attention right now!

 "If you missed the CBSNews program Sunday Morning  on March 16 we would like to share the 7 minute video with you here. The Sunday Morning  program highlighted the quilting industry and International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas with a spotlight on all time favorite quilter, Ricky Tims." (The annoying commercial at the start is pretty short.)

Since I've been working on my website, several people have sent me links to other artists who have their work on iweb created sites. Here's Alicia Merritt's, some incredibly beautiful work.

And, finally, although sans photos since once again I got too wrapped up to take any pictures, a short report from the weekend workshop. I really enjoyed the "words" part of the event, although I think we could have worked another hour -- hard to do though when you start after work! The eight women writers who attended were involved and inspiring in their work. Five of them came out to the studio on Saturday for the visual arts part of the workshop, learning techniques for adding words and images from the night before. Again, lack of time was the only challenge. If I try this one again, it probably needs at least another hour.
 
 
..

She Steps

 

A breakthrough in the studio yesterday -- that big blue quilt background that has been plaguing me finally had a visitor. I started my morning with dance as usual, and during the floor time and its final short meditation, I used Eric Maisel's 6 breath centering sequence (See Coaching the Artist Within for more information.):

"1.Come to a complete stop.

2. Empty yourself of expectations.

3. Name your work.

4. Trust your resources.

5. Embrace the present moment.

6. Return with strength."

This meditation, which one does with first person affirmations timed with in and out breaths "(I am completely) (stopping)" is becoming a practice for me. I haven't been successful at sticking with meditation techniques that ask for 20 or 30 minutes a day: I'd rather be dancing, which is for me a moving meditation about being present in my body. Maisel's 6-breath focusing technique, more cerebral and left-brained bridging) is do-able for me, and seems to be giving me what I need as I move through my day. I can call on this technique whenever -- not just at a specified "meditation" time, or when I have a spare 20 minutes (hah!).

Yesterday, I knew I needed something specific to work with when I finished the meditation, so I had Linda trace my body on some large brown paper to use for pattern cutting. Then I headed to the studio, spread out the pieced blue background, dumped out some fabrics I had already auditioned during a previous visit to this work, and started fusing and cutting.

The women who inhabit my art quilts don't come to me full blown; they really do appear in the making, somehow communicating their insights and stories as I move through the design process. I've never been one of those artists who had a preset mental image or a schematic or detailed sketch or the final project, though I do sometimes use sketching as one of the stops on the journey. My starting place is generally with color or a color scheme, and with shapes and iconic doodles that are part of my tool box, those things that have come to my work over and over and have become part of my "style."

 

By the time I left the studio last night (for a really fun evening watching a DVD of Fat Actress) this new woman had found her place, stepping from one reality into the Cosmic swirls, juggling stories and moon spheres, leaving her watery scales to become part of the stars. As I worked I realised that Jill Bolte Taylor's story had worked its way into the piece, and that this was about that step from left to right brain. I'm not going to include a photo yet, I may want to enter this in one of those prestigious exhibits that don't allow prepublication, but I'll stick in a detail to give you a taste.

New Web Site -- in Progress

 

Help! I earnestly request that my  subscribers and readers click this link

NEW GALLERY WEB SITE 

and give me feedback, suggestions, corrections, ideas for what's missing, and any other critique you'd like to contribute to my new gallery site-in-progress. Since I am designing the site with iweb and publishing it on .mac, I particularly want to know how it works on PC platforms and on browsers other than Firefox. I won't switch my public domain, www.susiemonday.com until I've done a bit more work, but it's ready for some outside eyes.

There is still an enormous amount to do to get the site where I want it to be, but with this much done and published, I feel like I have met my Artist Breakthrough Program goal of developing the site by April 1. With your help, I can take the next steps to  fatten it out with more content, better edited photos, and additional pages during the next 3 weeks leading up to my sale at Fiesta Arts Fair, April 19-20.

A few specific questions:

Do the live hyperLINKS need to be a more distinct color?

Is it too weird to have the tense go from third to first person (home page to gallery pages)? And if so, which should it be ?

Should I have a more formal bio/resume page?

Should I have more or fewer pictures on each of the galleries? Should I subdivide more or combine them? Do I include prices? Size? Media? More description for each photo on the gallery page and then NOT include it on the slideshow?

What other pages do you think I should include?

Does the design and format look enough like my blog to have a consistent style? Any suggestions on visual "branding"?

Any other ideas? Really, I need them. If you don't want to leave a personal comment, email me by sending a message to susiemonday@gmail.com (you do have my new email, right?). 

Accidental Hearts

Some recent work. Speaks for itself.

I am a sap for Valentine's Day, even though we don't go in big for any sentimental celebration. I just like the shape of hearts.  (OK, it's a trite image as a noted art instructor and juror once told me, but an image can still has power even if it's trite, I think,) This is me working from my heart, listening to every little creak that puts me on my path. Today, the heart said, "CLEAN UP THIS PIGSTY" so I have been undoing all the clutter and putting my tools where I can actually find them. And sitting doing a bit of stitching in front of Project Runway reruns.

These "accidental hearts" -- a series of 5 --  are small wall "altares" eaach about 15.5" by 11.5" by 1.5" or 2". The are pieced and machine quilted with machine and hand stitching, some with buttons and other embellishments. The fabrics are all dyed, printed and/or overdyed and the central heart images were made with handpainting and deconstructed screenprinting in the Kerr Grabowski workshop I took a couple of weeks ago. The hearts were actually the prints that appeared accidentally on the drop cloth under some scarves I was printing. Because the silk scarves were so thin the dye seeped through and added another layer to a complexly printed accidental piece of design -- actually on the back of a piece of commercial upholstery fabric. Thus the title of this little series.

PS. the colors are more like that in the detail. I need to tweak the saturation in the one's taken outdoors today.  

 

 

 

 

Here are some other valentine's sites I found while scrolling and stumbling along:

Video Valentine from PostSecret

Vintage valentine clip art --

 Anti-Valentines

Wild Heart Art -- painting/creativity workshops in Houston 

History according to Wikipedia 

Playing in Plano

 This art quilt was juried into the DAFA sponsored Federation of Fiber Artists exhibit in Plano -- with about 58 other works, it will be on display through the month at the Plano Art Center. The link will take you to a gallery of all the work in the show.

The title is "Floating Above It," and the work is inspired by the song by Talking Heads song "And She Was"
The lyrics:

“And She Was”

“And she was lying in the grass
And she could hear the highway breathing
And she could see a nearby factory
She's making sure she is not dreaming
See the lights of a neighbor's house
Now she's starting to rise
Take a minute to concentrate
And she opens up her eyes

 “The world was moving and she was right there with it (and she was)
The world was moving she was floating above it (and she was) and she was

“And she was drifting through the backyard
And she was taking off her dress
And she was moving very slowly
Rising up above the earth
Moving into the universe
Drifting this way and that
Not touching ground at all
Up above the yard

“She was glad about it... no doubt about it
She isn't sure where she's gone
No time to think about what to tell them
No time to think about what she's done”
 

 

Hard at play with a bunch of Babylocks. Theralyn Hughes, Pat Schulz in front, Jack Brockett and Ruthie Powers can be spotted in the back.  

 

Just like in the quilt, the wind is whirling up the ridge after a couple of wonderfully warm and sunny days.  Alas, I've been stuck deep inside the studio shuffling papers, filing forms, putting my month in order after playdays with the Federation of Fiber Artists (the Texas coalition of Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and now, Austin) fiber arts groups. The every-other-year conference, hosted by Dallas Association of Fiber Artists, was in Plano this past weekend. I took a couple of half-day workshops -- 3-d shibori techniques with Carol Lane Saber and needle felting with the Baby Lock embellisher with Sara Moe. What I learned: 1. instant set dyes work great for hotle room dye workshops, given the water, batching limitations and 2. I am not immune to the seductive appeal of the needle-felting embellisher.

But I resisted (for now) given that the winter's equipment budget went for a new laser printer and ink jet printer. I figure the Babylock will still be there when I get around to it. I certainly understand why its the toy of the moment for fiber artists. I had believed myself to be immune because I am not particularly interested in adding a lot of fuzzy texture and random frays and textural tornadoes or 3-dimensionality to my work. I like the flat plane of fabric and I prefer to develop a sense of visual  texture with patterned layers of imagery. BUT, when I found out I could actually create fabric out of little bits of other fabric, and that I could quite subtly add an element of pattern hither and yon, I was a goner. This is too much fun. Three hours barely gave us enough time to see Sara's examples and to put a few needles into action. The only downside I can see is that I will break way too many expensive needles figuring out what and how to use this machine, when I do  spring for one.

(Addendum: Deborah Boschert also posted some great photos and information about the Federation conference here.) 

On another front in Plano, we had the Federation exhibition at the Plano Art Center, a wonderful repurposed space with character, tall ceilings and a nice ambiance. Juror (and keynote speaker for the conference) Joan Schulze chose 6 awards of merit, among them Laura Jeanne Pitts, Leslie Jenison and Leslie Klein of FASA.  (Was there another San Antonian awarded an honor -- I can't remember!) Anyhow, I counted myself among good company.

Below: Leslie Klein, Leslie Klein and Martha Grant, Leslie Jenison, group shots of happy artists Rachel Edward, Yvette Little, Jean Peffers and my  art quilt amid a crowd.

 

MORE at the show: Pat Schulz's piece inspired by her travel in Guatemala, Pat, husband Gerald and Rachel; Laura Jeanne Pitt's stunning art cloth and Lisa Kerpoe's layered art cloth is peeking out behind the talkers.

 

StoneMetal Press Reception Tonight

 

Remember this soy-wax printed whole cloth little quilt?

The three pieces I featured recently on this blog will be on exhibit at StoneMetal Press in the San Antonio Blue Star Arts Complex for the next six weeks, through March 21. An artist's reception for "All in the FIbers" curated by Jane Bishop is tonight from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and I'll be there with some of my artist friends who also have work in the show. Tomorrow, First Friday, will also feature an opening event as part of the usual First Friday phenomenon -- I'll miss that since I will be in Plano (near Dallas) for the annual Federation of Fiber Artists conference. Stonemetal Press is a gallery/printmaking center with an emphasis (as you might surmise from its name) on printing, and this exhibit features printmaking on fiber surfaces.

For  more information contact the gallery at

StoneMetal Press

Printmaking Center

First Floor, Bldg B

Blue Star Art Complex

1420 South Alamo
San Antonio, TX 78210
210-227-0312

Deconstructed Screenprinting with Kerr Grabowski

 

One of Liz Napier's deconstructed pieces in progress-- stitch to be added! 

 

Kerr with a workshop participant Laura Jeanne Pitts' work behind her.

 

FASA sponsored an inspiring and energizing workshop this past weekend with Kerr Grabowski. Kerr is known for her lively and creative  art-to-wear, as well as her well-honed techniques -- in particular what she calls "deconstructed" screenprinting. Her methods for using a screen to transfer textural images are fun, freeing and allow for lots of personal expression. All of the participants made wonderful samples and yardage, and I won't be surprised to see how far each person takes the ideas. Kerr is a generous and supportive instructor, willing to share what she has learned from years of experimentation, so that we all benefit from her experience and expertise. Take one of her classes if it ever comes your way! All of us at this one (in the perfect venue at the Southwest School of Art and Craft) were clamoring for another next year -- and plans are already underway to make that happen.

Here are some additional pictures of the workshop and some of the work -- sorry if I get the artist name wrong, just send me an email for corrections. I don't have time to upload all 50 photos (and that might task your interest), but Kerr promised to publish others on her site as well. 

Mary Ann Johnson's exploration of texture and shape.

Diane Sandler's yummy piece of work using deconstructed screenprinting and drawing with dye. 

To all the makers

Praise the world to the angel, not the unutterable world;
you cannot astonish him with your glorious feelings;
in the universe, where he feels more sensitively,
you're just a beginner.

Therefore, show him the simple
thing that is shaped in passing from father to son,
that lives near our hands and eyes as our very own.
Tell him about the Things.

He'll stand amazed, as you stood
beside the rope-maker in Rome, or the potter on the Nile.
Show him how happy a thing can be, how blameless and ours;
how even the lamentation of sorrow purely decides
to take form, serves as a thing, or dies
in a thing, and blissfully in the beyond
escapes the violin.

And these things that live,
slipping away, understand that you praise them;
transitory themselves, they trust us for rescue,
us, the most transient of all. They wish us to transmute them
in our invisible heart--oh, infinitely into us! Whoever we are.
Earth, isn't this what you want: invisibly
to arise in us? Is it not your dream
to be some day invisible? Earth! Invisible!
What, if not transformation, is your insistent commission?
Earth, dear one, I will! Oh, believe it needs
not one more of your springtimes to win me over.
One, just one, is already too much for my blood.
From afar I'm utterly determined to be yours.
You were always right and your sacred revelation is the intimate
death.
Behold, I'm alive. On what? Neither childhood nor future
grows less...surplus of existence
is welling up in my heart.

This poem by Rilke was one of our Christmas meditations. Found, as these things often are, by chance in Earth Prayers from  Around the World: 365 Prayers, Poems and Invocations for Honoring the Earth. A little online research -- it's the last  half or so of Rainer Maria Rilke's Ninth Elegy. If you want to read the entire poem, click here.

Ritual for the Returning Light

 

On one of the lists that I subscribe to, one correspondent posted this ritual for the New Year. As we turn the sunlight into the next season, remembering that the days will lengthen, the dark will receed, the fields that are fallow will soon turn green with new growth...

I want to record this in order to make it part of our morning ritual during the Journal workshop in  January -- still dark enough to benefit, even though the Solistice is past. I hope she doesn't mind the quote.....

Gather together family and friends and give everyone a stick or twig, 5 or 6 inches long. At one end of the twig tie a red ribbon and at the other end, a green ribbon. You'll need a fire of some kind: this could be done in your fireplace or an outdoor firepit or just the grill on your deck. Toast to the sun or say a few words about the returning of the light, then everyone breaks their stick in two. As you toss the red-ribboned stick in the fire, think about the bad events and negative habits you're eager to lose in the flames. Save the green end as a souvenir, a token of hope, and think about new beginnings.
  
   
 

Catch Up

Say no more. See pictures. End of year acceleration is in effect. All these are gratitudes of the past week.

Drumming at Guadalupe State Park -- Do you wonder why we love this time of year?

 

Ray was one of the other drummers by the river. 

 

A magical fiber art exhibit at the Southwest School of Art and Craft: This piece by Piper Shepard

November 15th 2007 - January 13th 2008

Over, Under, Around, and Through

Linda Hutchins (Oregon), Tracy Krumm (North Carolina) and Piper Shepard (Maryland)

A piece of art cloth, finished up during the final Independent Study afternoon lab at the Southwest School. This is a soy wax batik, that also includes some printing with a soy wax screen.

Below, Tina faces the blank page at the Art Quilt Journey workshop at the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center last Friday. 

 

 

 Highway 16 between Bandera and Kerrville.  And you think Texas doesn't have fall color?

I'm sure something pithy and thoughtful will come soon to this cyberspace. But pictures seemed to say it all on a crisp day with a design table urging me on. Here's one of two small art quilt altars I completed today -- the other one is under wraps until it's owner sees it tomorrow. Then I'll post it, if she agrees. This is Christmas Virgin, 2007. 16" by 12" by 3.5". Just in time for Guadalupe's day, December 12.