Intermission: Altar Show Opens

The Celebration Circle silent auction of altars created by local artists goes up today at Bijou Theatre at Crossroads Mall, 4522 Fredericksburg Rd.. "The Sacred Art of Altars; One People, Many Paths" is the sixth annual such fundraiser for Celebration Circle, an organization near to my heart. When we lived in the city, we were weekly circling on Sunday morning with a wonderful spiritual/artistic community. Now I continue to participate as I can, and that includes contributing to this event.

Welcome to the Celebration Circle!

"We are an open, inclusive, inter-faith community with a creative approach to spirituality. We learn from many faith traditions as we celebrate the sacred together through uplifting music, meditation, movement, discussion, art, poetry and laughter."

Silent auction bidding is open all month with the exhibit on display free inside the lobby during theater hours, Sept. 1- Sept. 30. A closing reception and auction closing, with a special screenin gof "Happy-Go-Lucky," Mike Leigh's film will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 6 pm. the closing reception and film costs $15 in advance (see the CC website for details) or $20 at the door that evening.

Here's a link to last year's Sacred Altar exhibit, beautifully photographed by Gary O. Smith. This year's postcard above features several of those altars -- (l to r, top to bottom) Jane Appleby,M.D., Joan Frederick, Sheila Fitzpatrick, Laurie Brainerd, Susie Monday, Edward Sagebiel, Miriam Moor, and Cindy Palmer.

Just a few artists who are participating this year: Pam Ameduri. Bernice Appelin-Williams, Sue Cooke, Alejandra Diaz-Berrios, Lisa Kerpoe, Jai Medina, Zet Baer, Alice Fermin, Martha Prentiss, Regina Sanders, Thom Ricks, Sharon Shelton-Colangelo, Sarah Burke, Laurel Gibson, Martha Grant and many more -- 55 in all.

Speaking of Celebration Circle and like events, our Spiritual Director Rudolf Harst will be among those performing at a special memorial concert on Sept. 11 at the Mennonite Church.

RUBY SINGS RUMI
A 13TH CENTURY SUFI MYSTIC FINDS EXPRESSION
THROUGH CONTEMPORARY SONG  

September 11, 2009, 7:30 p.m. (doors open 7 p.m.)
“An Evening of Remembrance, Transformation and Beauty”at
peaceCenter at the Mennonite Church of San Antonio
1443 S. St. Mary's Street
San Antonio, TX  78210

This evening is a remembrance of the events of 9/11 and acknowledgement of the Obama Administration’s launch of National Day of Service.  Ruby (Erika Luckett and Lisa Ferraro) is the featured artist; they will be joined by Rudolf Harst, singer and Spiritual Director of the Celebration Circle of San Antonio.  This event is co-sponsored by Celebration Circle, peaceCENTER and Urban Campfires.

For information/reservations: (210) 533-6767 or  circle@celebrationcircle.org  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Suggested donation: $15

Art Calendar, Alyson & Me

Advice to artists: When Alyson B. Stanfield puts out a call for photographs, answer the call. If you're lucky and have the right work to share, you may find yourself featured in a magazine article, such as this one in June's issue of Art Calendar!

This is the second time an article by Alyson has used one of my photos to illustrate her advice, and, I assure you, the exposure is welcome. And of course, as a fan and occassional student in Art Biz Coach workshops, the advice is always worth reading. This article about public speaking for artists includes the following tip (buy the magazine to read more and to catch the rest of the details!) Alyson writes:

"Provide a call to action.

When you conclude, don't forget why you're there....Suggesting a next step to your audience provides both closure and a transition for continuingyour relationship with them."

Believe me, I learned several good new approaches to include in my next artist's talk from the article, and I suspect you will as well!

More Ties that Bind

Escape Velocity, 2009.

19" by 26.5" by 2.5' Textile on wooden frame

$400

Here's a preview of some of my new work that will be shown at FiberArt Space though June 15, with the artists' reception tonight starting at 5:30. The 8" by 8" by 1.5" pieces are a new format for me, inspired by a desire to make some smaller work that relate to larger pieces. These little satellites are $85 -- I hope they'll find good homes! If you are interested in any of the pieces in this preview (just a few of the 24 pieces I have on display), please contact the gallery.

Fiber Artspace
1414 S. Alamo St. # 103
San Antonio, TX 78210

210-633-6959

Located in the Blue Star Art Complex
In the Armon Art Suite of Galleries

They will be happy to arrange shipping. If you want to see more, email me and I'll try to have an album link up on my website by early next week.

Above top: Letting Go 2, Letting Go 1, each 8" by 8" by 1.5"

Above, lower: Dream Tree with Spines, 8" by 8" by 1.5"

(I think) Please describe these if you wish to purchase one of these, I realize now I didn't put the numbers on the photo titles!

Dream house with Spines, 2009 SOLD

8" by 8" by 1.5"

$85

Pomegranate, 2009 SOLD

8"by 8" by 1.5"

$85

This last piece has an unusual history and technique in its making: I love pomegranates and often feature them in my work. They have both real and symbolic beauty and are, to me, a symbol of the fertility of creativity. This was a photoshopped image of a pomegranate that I photographed in Monte Vista, an area near my old university (Trinity University in San Antonio) when I walked there last fall. The tree was a full bushy shrub with many fruit and it was just luscious. When I worked on the photo, I enhanced and saturated the colors to make the image move from real to magical. I printed the image on several materials, including this plastic packing material -- (perhaps its Tyvak, but I am not sure as it was a recycled bit found on the run). Then, last fall when teaching at the International Quilt Festival in Houston (where I'll be teaching and lecturing this fall, too) I had used all the fabric I brought for demonstrating a polychrome method of screenprinting with water-soluble crayons -- This scrap of an image fell out of the box of supplies (I'd actually taken it for a different demo) and the rest is history -- that's the swirly designs. 'Course, in making this piece, I added more fabric, screenprinted the squiggles and the wheel symbol and did some machine and hand stitching to finish the embellished image, floating there in its magical mystical presence!

If you'd like to know the checkered past for any of these other pieces, or any of the art on my website or blog elsewhere, please leave a question in the comments. Everything has a story.

P.S. Here's a complete list of my work that's in the exhibit. Any questions, send me an email with the contact box in the sidebar,.

a) Title: Escape Velocity
Size: 19” by 26.5” by 2.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price: $400

b) Title:Escape Velocity, 2
Size: 12” by 12” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price: $115

c) Title:Dream Tree with Spines
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

d) Title: Dream House with Spines
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

e) Title:Escape
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

f Title: Dream House with Spines, 2
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

g) Title: ”I’m Out of Here”
Size: 19” by 26.5” by 2.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price: $400

h) Title:Escape
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

i) Title:Dream House with Spines, 3
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

j) Title: Pomegranate: Fertile Earth
Size: 19” by 26.5” by 2.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price: $350

k) Title: Earth Niche, 1
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

l) Title:Earth Niche, 2
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

m) Title: Pomegranate 1
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

n) Title: Pomegranate 2
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

o) Title:Fig Leaf
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

p) Title: Rose Grotto
Size: 12” by 16” by 3.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$200

q) Title: El Cielo Dream, 2
Size: 19” by 17.5” by 2.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price: $350

r) Title: El Cielo Dream, 3
Size: 12” by 12” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$110

s) Title:Letting Go, 1
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

t) Title: Letting Go, 2
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

u) Title:Letting Go, 3
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

v) Title:Letting Go, 4
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile on wooden frame
Retail Price:$85

W) Title:Michael of a Thousand Eyes
Size: 8” by 8” by 1.5”
Media: Textile , art quilt
Retail Price $750

The Ties that Bind

I've spent most of the past two weeks in a storm of productivity -- and I'm quite happy with all the work I've gotten done, if not a bit chagrined that it seems to take deadlines to get me into this heat of energy in the studio. The show is a three-person show at the newly relocated FiberArt Space and Suchil Coffman organized the theme and put all of us in action.

I've a whole slew of new work -- but it's also old. The theme called me to revisit some small paintings that I had made sometime, I think, in the 1980s. The pieces were made from dreams and some untangling personal work that I did in the 1980s, reclaiming some old stories and rewriting my own past and some painful memories with compassion.  I made new textile pieces from a couple of these paintings, and made some photo copier prints from them, then reshaped them into some new small 8" by 8" by 1.5" pieces.

I also made some small new pieces from photo prints made of details from earlier work -- hands that were part of larger pieces,  turning them into a small series called "Letting Go." And also made some small companion "satellite" works to accompany a larger altar piece now retitled and reworked, "Pomegranate: Fertile Earth."

I won't post the new work (other than these little teaser details) until the show opens, but once the reception is over, I'll put some of these new pieces here on the blog and on the website. If you can't make it to the exhibit, maybe you'll find a piece that needs to be in your collection here on the web. I will, of course, pay FiberArt Space their commission for any work sold as a result of this exhibition!

Reverse Auction Starts Today!

I'm one of the honored invitees to participate in the 2009 FIber Arts for a Cause Reverse Auction.

My donation is the Pomegranate Cross shown above, one of a series that celebrates the abundance in our lives, the fertility of ideas and imagination and hope. This piece is pieced, machine quilted from original dyed and screen-printed fabrics that surround a small original photographic print on cotton. All the leaves and the pomegranate images are from the native plants and familiar vegetation of our Texas Hill Country.

The Fifth and Final Reverse Auction opens today, March 24, at 10 a.m. CST
with 100% of the proceeds donated directly to the American Cancer Society:

The minimum donation will drop each day through Thursday, March 26. Today is
Gold Donor Day for those who wish to acquire an artwork at a premium
donation before the regular Reverse Auction opens.

The generous artists who have donated their fiber artwork include:

Natalya Aikens
Gerrie Congdon
Marjorie DeQuincy
Rayna Gillman
Carol Larson
Linda Teddlie Minton
Susie Monday
Judy Coates Perez
Leandra Spangler
Roxane Stoner

For several days, Virginia Speigel has been featuring the guest artists on her blog and on the Auction Site -- today Gerrie Congdon is the featured artist -- her story is an inspiration to us all! Read more about Gerrie’s artwork on her website and blog.

Here's how it works:

The Invitational Reverse Auction of Fabulous Fiberart opens today at 10 a.m. CST.

Virginia explains:

Gold Donor Day
Opens 10 a.m. CST Tuesday, March 24
Closes 9:59 a.m. CST Wednesday, March 25
Artwork offered for a premium donation.

Regular Reverse Auction
Opens 10 a.m. CST Wednesday, March 25
Closes 5 p.m. CST Thurday, March 26

How does a reverse auction work?
All artwork will begin at a fixed minimum donation. This minimum donation is reduced by a fixed (and very generous) percentage of the original minimum donation each day until the artwork is chosen by a generous patron. The minimum donation required for each day of the auction is shown beneath each artwork. The minimum donation for the current day will be highlighted in red, beginning March 24.

But if you wait too long, your favorite artwork will be gone.

What is Gold Donor Day?
Artwork is available for a premium donation one day before the regular Reverse Auction opens.

How does the American Cancer Society receive the money?
E-mail me at Virginia(at)VirginiaSpiegel.com during the Reverse Auction that you wish to choose an artwork for at least the minimum donation listed for that day.

And the winner is...

From New World Kids, The Parents' Guide to Creative Thinking.

I had a drawing for a copy of New World Kids from those who had commented on my blog posts or guest blog posts during the last two weeks of February. The winner is Laura Ann, who commented on the quilting blog, www.quiltinggallery.com on a post I wrote about my process and influences as an art quilt maker. The book will go out to Laura Ann as soon as she sends me her snail mail info. Keep an eye on the blog to join in for future book drawings! And keep those comments coming. I love to have feedback from those who peruse these posts -- and I know from my site stats that more than 1500 hundred "unique" readers check in regularly! That's not a lot by web standards, but it makes me happy!

If you're a parent or grandparent or teacher, you might also want to check in with my recent posts on the New World Kids blog (I've started writing there regularly about kid-creativity issues at the advice of our new publicists, Austin-based Phenix & Phenix). I've found some great links to information about recent research on the effects of digital media on children's and young peoples' cognitive development.

And while I'm doing this little back-story business, remember my artist's reception in San Antonio at Northwest Vista College on Wednesday, March 18 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Come by to see my solo show,  a short artist's talk, the beautiful new buildings on campus (so many San Antonians don't even know this vibrant campus exists!) and have a little nosh. The exhibit is in the Lago Vista room of the Cypress Campus Center -- it's next to the big (empty for now) lake in the center of the campus, head east or ask a student where the cafeteria is!

Change of Date

In case you've been reading last month's posts, I've had a change of plans for my artist's reception (and a short artist talk) at my exhibit at Northwest Vista College. It's now March 18  4 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (And, it no longer causes a conflict for all of my friends who also want to attend the grand reopening of the larger new FiberArts Space at Blue Star with an inaugeral exhibit by Houston artist Liz Axford.)

Northwest Vista College is located near Sea World in San Antonio, North Ellison Drive at 1604 on the city's far northwest side. The reception and the exhibit are in the Lago Vista Room in the Cypress Campus Center which is on the east campus side of the little lake in the center of the campus. You can find a map of the campus and other directions on the college website here.

Don't worry! I probably remind you again!

FIberart for A Cause Reverse Auction

Pomegranate Cross will be on the auction block for the American Cancer Society--

I'm one of the invited artists this year, and I'm so happy to be in the company of these fabulous artists. (Click here for photos of the donated work, and for more info see Virginia Spiegel's auction preview. Spiegel has the site up and running (while she's in Texas on retreat at Karey Bresenhahn's).

Invited Artists:
Natalya Aikens
Gerrie Congdon
Marjorie DeQuincy
Rayna Gillman
Carol Larson
Linda Teddlie Minton
Susie Monday
Judy Coates Perez
Leandra Spangler
Roxane Stoner

FFAC Reverse Auction - Press Release

Fiberart For A Cause Reverse Auction Set to Raise Funds for the American Cancer Society

Byron, Illinois, December 12, 2008-
Fiberart For A Cause will hold its fifth Invitational Reverse Auction from March 24-26, 2009. Natalya Aikens, Gerrie Congdon, Marjorie DeQuincy, Rayna Gillman, Carol Larson, Linda Teddlie Minton, Susie Monday, Judy Coates Perez, Leandra Spangler and Roxane Stoner have all donated their artwork. All proceeds from the sales go directly to the American Cancer Society.

A preview of all artwork will be posted at least one week prior to March 24. All artwork will begin at a fixed minimum donation. This minimum donation is reduced by a fixed (and very generous) percentage of the original minimum donation each day until the artwork is chosen by a generous patron. Each artwork will show the minimum donation required for each day of the auction. The preview and actual auction will be linked from http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACSFundraiser.html

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!

Houston, Houston

Here I am in the heart of the big time quilter's world, feeling, occasionally, like I'm in junior high on the first day and everyone else knows everyone else, except me. Silly. And then the next moment I'm meeting and actually talking to someone who has just been a name on the quiltarts list or in a magazine byline and having a ball. With my tribe, as Seth Godin's new book puts it. And this tribe gathers at the International Quilt Festival.

I'm taking baby steps with teaching here, and learning what and how to teach in such a setting. Then, I'm taking some classes with some of the artists whose work I have long admired: Hollis Chatelain and Libby Lehman, for example. My intent was to post daily with all the news, awards and photos, but here I am, three days later and finally having internet connection (paid for extra) at the hotel. So, no doubt if you care about such things, you already know that Sharon Schamber won the big $10,000 prize for Best of Show with an ornate, patterned and quite breathtaking quilt.

I don't even aim at this kind of quilting, in fact, I suspect that many of the quilters here would not even consider me a quilter. And I'm not, but my work, like that of many fiber artists, still connects my heartstrings to the traditional work of women quilters through time. I suspect we have been piecing small scraps together for much of our human history. And, with the notion of adding personal meaning and style, the art quilt came along and added an entire other dimension to the field.

This afternoon, the art quilt tribe will be at the SAQA booth to meet the "Masters," artists whose work has just been published in a beautiful collection of quilts published by the Studio Art Quilt Association. Many of the artists will be on hand to sign the book, and I want my copy -- and to meet more of these amazing artists.

Earlier, 2:00 to 4:00, I'll be demonstating making an inspiration deck in the mixed media sampler. This is less a technique than an approach, and just so you don't feel like you're missing this little piece of Festival, here's my handout:

Mixed Media Sampler
International Quilt Festival 2008
Instructor: Susie Monday
El Cielo Studio, Pipe Creek, Texas
susiemonday@gmail.com http://susiemonday.squarespace.com

A Personal Inspiration Deck
One suggestion: Make a card a day until your personal deck is complete. 52 is the traditional number for a deck of cards (13 cards in 4 suits) but you can make a deck as large or as small as you wish.

1. Make your own version of the Tarot deck, with your take on each of the archetypes in the major arcana and suits that refer to cups, swords, rods and coins (hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades).

2. Invent your own set with your own categories (think AIR,FIRE, EARTH, WATER or MIND, BODY, SPIRIT,) and personal archetypes (see Caroline Myss book, THE SACRED CONTRACT, for ideas)

3. Simply make cards with images, quotes, colors, etc that are meaningful to you.

4. Make a deck picturing
13 people/ roles/archetypes (judge, seamstress, lover, etc)
13 actions (dance, sing, jump,etc)
13 mental approaches (brainstorm, make a list, blow up the idea, etc)
13 emotions (calm, enegetic, dreamy, determined)

5. Make a deck picturing
13 verbs
13 adjectives, adverbs
13 nouns
13 preposistions,conjunctions

6. Make a deck with mixed media techniques on paper or use an actual deck of cards as the base for each collage.

7. Make a deck of micro art quilts, using interfacing or Tivek as the base for fused and/or sewn cards.

Use your cards for:
Finding a focus or direction when you begin creative work.
To suggest a direction when you feel stuck
As a reminder to include personal meaning and imagery in your work
To add a thoughful or emotional dimension to the work at hand
As the subject for journaling and self-discovery

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!

Fall Newsletter is "in the mail"

I hope. I seemed to have spent an inordinate amount of time NOT sending my newsletter -- making stupid technology errors. Every time I do this I swear I'm going to get a service that handles it -- and then another quarter rolls around and I haven't made the transition. I know that keeping my email list up to date and clean is an essential part of doing business these days, but it sure is boring.

Anyhow, that's the back story whine (whoops, switch that bracelet around) and here's the link to the newsletter up in cyberspace. If you'd like a subscription all your own (and didn't already get the mailing), just send me an email with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. susiemonday@gmail.com.

P.S. I am taking Lily Kern's Quilt University on-line course on Digital Photos on Fabric, in preparation for some workshops and to experience the online teaching and learning environment. I'm learning a lot, and mostly, having fun playing in Photoshop with some of the images I've collected over the years. The pomegranate images in this blog are the results of a few hours of fiddling around with different effects. I've been printing them out on fabric, so don't be surprised to see them on one of my textile paintings in the future. I'll be sharing some of Lily's tips (as well as a lot more garnered in other research) at my Southwest School of Art course next weekend -- Photos to Fabric, October 11-12, from 10-4 daily. There's still room for a few more participants if you are interested in learning more about using photos in your fiber art. Go to the SWSchool website to register online. We'll be preparing fabric with Bubble Jetset, using various transfer methods, playing with software (bring a laptop if you have one), trying out repeat designs and tiling photos to poster size images, and turning a photo into a good image for thermofax printing. Email me if you have questions.

And, don't forget about the El Cielo workshop on Oct. 17-19: Altares, Dias de los Muertos.

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.

Changing the Channel

 

Destination: Fulton Beach Road, Lamar, Austwell and Aransas Pass National Wildlife Refuge. Accomplishment: Changing the channel, celebrating my 60th, breathing in and breathing out.

 

I'll post details later when I have more time, but for now, here's a little picture tour of the tour (and a shocking picture of me with red hair.) This little trip to the coast was part biz, part party, mostly just r & r of the best kind -- agenda-proof, timeless wandering, emersion into the natural world from early morning storms to sunsets reflected in the choppy bay waves.

The cabins where we stayed were perfect: The Habitat Bed and Breakfast,  rather rustic, but wonderfully situated about a i/2 mile from the bay and sitting next to a small fresh water lake.