I’m not sure when the notion struck me, but I decided to try my hand at wire armature. I had previously taken a sculpting class with Marianne Reitsma so had a basic understanding of the construction process. I made Edgar first, and then quickly added Percy and Oliver. (See top photo of the three.) Armatures are something else! They can bend and twist and do amazing things. I really enjoyed the detour with them and working with wools and coarser more textured fabrics.
A writer's look at the quilting and quilt art community and anything else fabric.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Renegades Flourish in a Doll's World!
I’m not sure when the notion struck me, but I decided to try my hand at wire armature. I had previously taken a sculpting class with Marianne Reitsma so had a basic understanding of the construction process. I made Edgar first, and then quickly added Percy and Oliver. (See top photo of the three.) Armatures are something else! They can bend and twist and do amazing things. I really enjoyed the detour with them and working with wools and coarser more textured fabrics.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Some Eye Candy
I wish, I wish.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Recycled Memories and Materials make fine art
Here's Edna's Story in her Own Words:
For me, art is like an old friend. It is always there during my trials and tribulations, during my good times. I honor it and nourish it and give thanks for it. I am truly blessed.
When recently, I was presented with Grand Center Visionary Arts award for ‘successful working artist’ and then the very next day I found out that I had been nominated by my peers for another award in the arts -- it was blessing heaped atop blessing. To receive recognition for doing something that I am truly passionate about and to know what my purpose in life is. Who could ask for more? Regardless of what life throws my way, I have been able to make a living doing something I love.
Neither of my parents were artistic, so I am not sure how far back in my gene pool my creative sparks began sprouting. I went from the first grade all the way through high school without any teacher, or students for that matter encouraging me as an artist. Now believe me, I didn’t know what an artist was and didn't until much later in my life.
I am the oldest of seven children, yet I never felt that I belonged. I enjoyed creating, I saw designs in the clouds and fascinating images in the trees. I found beauty in things that were not so beautiful. My siblings, two sisters, and three brothers’, enjoyed the typical things kids love, I guess. I do know that they all thought I was weird. I was a very quiet child; I kept to myself on most occasions. I did play with them and had fun doing so, but when the creative urge visited me, I would become lost in doodling. As I grew older I began writing poetry.
What I did as a child was soothing, it was my way of escaping into another world.
My love for working with fabric came very early in life. I assisted my mom to recycle our old clothing in preparation for her making quilts to keep us warm in the winter. I was in elementary school at the time. My job was to rip the worn garments apart, the zippers were placed in a large plastic bag and the buttons were placed in a large pickle jar.
I did not learn how to sew until I entered high school and that is where I learned to make my own clothing. My mom sewed by hand, she did not own or know how to use a sewing machine. Once I learned to sew by machine, I was able to teach her. Many years, and 4 children later, I attended college for the first time as an art major, and when I began in my fibers class the flood of memories returned of those early days of ripping apart old clothing and watching my mom create bed quilts.
I learned so many wonder things such as hand painting, vat dying, weaving, etc. I was in heaven. Having to do numerous fabric samples in class, I knew that I did not want to waste the fabric. That is when I started to re-assemble the fabric scraps into a ‘whole’ thing of wonder. Many of my much younger classmates would throw their samples away, and I would wait until everyone left class and returned later to forage through the trash to gather the tossed scraps. That was the beginning of my fabric art, and I still to this day recycle. Here are images of a few art quilts where I recycled old clothing.
I was born and raised in East St. Louis, IL. and still live and love here. It is an impoverished city, but it wasn’t always this way. Many people look at only the negative things about the city, and over look the good. My city is very rich in talent: people such as Ambassador McHenry; Jackie Joyner-Kersee, sports icon; Lorna Polk, at one time was appointed by Pres. Johnson over education. The first African American FBI agent is also from my city. My husband, a former Peace Corp Director of 4 countries in Africa, also added to the city's rich history. Yet few see the core of strength, only our demise.
My love of helping people led me also into a career in Art Therapy. I completed a double Masters’ degree while in college. Art therapy is counseling using the arts. Over the years I have combined the skills of my fine arts training, my art therapy skills, my mother wit, and intuitiveness and genuine care for people in to a unique way of doing creative workshops. I also apply those skills into my fabric art. I have constructed many memory/commemorative quilts to tell other peoples stories.
Last year I received a NAACP award for the Arts and have received many accolades for my involvement in the arts over the years. Such great blessings, and I don't take any thing for granted. But being asked to create a quilt for the Presidential Inauguration was the icing on the cake. I am still very excited about that.
To see more of Edna's stunning fabric art and learn more about her successes, visit her website and flicker photos. And there are a few surprises of non-fabric art to enjoy.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Guest View: Mixed-Media One Page Book
“Mixed-media One-page Book” with Jane Davila (Quilting Arts Workshop) 51 minutes.
This DVD in the Quilting Arts Workshop series shows techniques for making a small book using one piece of fabric and a variety of mixed media techniques. A list of materials is available on the back of the DVD case, which is good as there is little mention of needed materials at the beginning of the show.
The dimensions of this book creates a front cover, back cover and six pages that are 2.5 inches x 3.5 inches –the size of an artist trading card.
One point Davila stresses over and over is that perfection is not the object of this project nor is it desired. When she stamps a homemade stamp on fabric, she stamps a little off kilter.
When she uses the distress ink pads to alter the brightness of a stamped piece, she is not concerned that the color does not go on evenly. Davila emphasizes that the result of this project should be an object that appears hand crafted.
Davila utilizes a variety of surface design techniques on her eight pages: she carves her own stamps out of fun foam and foam marshmallows. She also uses a hand carved stamp block and stamps directly on the fabric. She uses water-soluble wax pastels to draw pictures on fabric scraps and paper. She has elements that are pre-printed on fabric with an inkjet printer.
She also demonstrates little tricks of crafting: protecting your work surface with palette paper, getting ink on an over-sized stamp by applying the ink pad to the stamp upside down to the way you’d think, She is good about reminding about simple tips: stamping with the lightest color first and having a damp paper towel handy to clean the stamps between inks.
As Davila puts the book together, she notes that one could plan ahead and back the elements with 'wunder under,' one can also work more casually and use a glue stick to hold the elements in place until time to sew. Some pieces need to have the de-fusible web.
When she has all the elements in place in the little book, she brings it to her sewing machine to sew the pieces down. Using a walking foot, to accept the variety of textured materials, she sews around the pieces to imitate sketching. Emphasizing again that perfection is not the goal, Davila uses a marker to color over white threads that show. She uses a variety of machine stitches: regular straight line stitching, free hand stitching and buttonhole stitches.
She suggests using a combination of variety and repetition to give the finished book unity.
In a short amount of time, Davila demonstrates a charming, very achievable project, revealing tips about the composition and the various supplies and a refreshing lack of concern for flawlessness.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Oh say can you see?
Patriotism is in style regardless of the date. Yet particularly this time of year I yearn for some red, white and blue -- or some turquoise and gold as in Judy Niemeyer's starburst quilt.
Have you seen the beautiful patriotic fabrics for sale in every shop? I can't resist them and have used several in fabric bowls and a delightful Ohio Star quilt that is progressing VERY slowly.
It was the Ohio Stars included in this 36x54-inch Colonial Flag Quilt that drew me to it. Perhaps this reflects my country roots. I can see this displayed on the porch of my childhood home.
And I can see Mom making a redwork quilt featuring patriotic themes stitched together with star spangled borders.
Memorial Day is a big deal in the little town of LaFayette, Ohio and that's probably where my heart will be on that date. A parade, flags everywhere, fire engines, marching band, antique cars, chicken barbecue served by the volunteer firemen, and most of all the reunion -- people return to LaFayette and reconnect with friends and family they may not have seen for years. So mixed in with my concept of patriotism and honoring those who sacrificed for my freedom, are all the familiar faces I've seen gather along the streets of my little home town.
And there is that element that I can't shake even though I've been out of high school for wayyyy too many years. Memorial Day and the first days of summer vacation. What could be a more perfect combination?
This cool patriotic plaid pattern, free from Moon Over Mountain, looks like the flags that line the parade route. The curves simulate movement and the fabric combinations look so rich.
If you need patriotic inspiration, take a look at Karey Bresenhan's book "America From the Heart" that includes images of 270 quilts "made in response to the events of September 11, 2001. It shared a message of sorrow, unity, and hope from quilts all over the world. These quilts are truly works from the heart, created in the six weeks following the terrorist attacks as an expression of the artist' immediate, agonized feelings."
Or maybe this Salute to the Troops 24x24-inch quilt will fit your needs, made by Janet Foggy-Befort."
Then of course there is no shortage of quilts that incorporate more opinion and history as with this Faith Ringgold's expressive controversial art quilt.
But I admit when Memorial Day arrives, I feel like waving the flag, not discussing it and its checkered past.
I enjoy this Obama era and don't want anything to spoil it, so I'm looking for a positive statement in a patriotic flag, it could even have a presidential figure with it -- like any of the Obama quilts.
This quilt reminds me of fireworks and celebration. I think of the beauty and patriotic music of those displays.
A patriotic quilt can be such an easy project -- as long as you combine red, white and blue, does the pattern really matter? And if you doubt you can make it before Memorial Day -- check out Eleanor Burn's Star Spangled Favorites. Yes, a 'quilt in a day' project.
Anyone who wants to share their star-spangled, patriotic quilts with us? I'll be glad to add them to this blog. Just add a comment and let me know where to get the photo.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
WHAT IF?!
By Sue Bleiweiss
“What if:” Two words. Six letters. Gives wing to a whole lot of possibilities.
Those two little words when spoken together are probably among the most powerful tools you have in your studio. They have the power to take your artwork in a new direction. They invite you to step off the paved sidewalk and venture into new and unexplored territories.
Those two words can help during those times when you’re feeling blocked or unmotivated. The next time this happens ask yourself,
- “What if” I tried working with a material I’ve not used before such as metal sheets, fine wire, knitted mesh, or paper?
- What if I tried using paper towels, coffee filters or dryer sheets in place of fabric?
- What if I painted them and then sewed them to something and treated them just like I would a piece of fabric?
(In the photo: Painted paper towel vase painted with Jacquard Dye-na-flow paint and fused with Mistyfuse to Timtex )
Or, what if I sewed them to a base fabric and then added paint, foiling from Laura Murray
Designs, hand stitching and beading? What if I took a soft metal and sewed it to a piece of paper
or fabric and then used ink to color it?
Or maybe you’ve been working on a piece and it just doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Ask yourself, what if I cut it up and sewed it back together again? What if I sewed the pieces back together again randomly, or used wire to sew them together instead of thread? What if I added eyelets or buttonholes?
Like a lot of fiber artists I like to paint and dye my own fabrics, and just like many of you I sometimes get less than stellar results. Recently I painted a large piece of fabric with colors that I don’t usually work with and the resulting fabric seemed flat and boring.
And then I thought, what if I added some scribbled text and squiggly lines using a craft syringe. Which then led to, what if I cut the fabric into smaller pieces and made postcards from it?
And then I thought, what if I used this same technique on a boring denim jacket?
Some of my most unexpected and wonderful discoveries have come from asking myself “what if”.
Next time you’re tossing something in the recycle bin ask yourself, what if I used this in my studio? What if I painted this paper bag with acrylic paint and treated it like fabric?
What if I saved tea bag wrappers and used them like little pieces of fabric by fusing them along with some painted cheesecloth to Timtex using Mistyfuse?
What if I fused that old pattern tissue to a base fabric and then used it to create a box?
“What if” has the power to turn boring into interesting.
For instance, recently I held one of my books in my hand:
It’s a beautiful book but, what if I added a different stitch pattern along the spine?
Much more interesting don’t you think?
Of all the tools I have at my disposal in my studio, it’s the question "what if" that motivates me the most. It's the exploration of finding and discovering new ways to manipulate and embellish paper and fabric that drive me into the studio and inspire me every day and it’s the power of the words “what if” that push me to look beyond the expected results.
My goal is not to create a perfect and flawless item. It is to create a piece that excites the viewers eyes when they look at it, makes them wonder when they hold it in their hands and inspires their own imagination when they consider how it was created.
What better way to achieve that goal than to ask myself “what if”?
Sue Bleiweiss is a mixed media fiber artist with a passion for surface design and book making. She lives in