Easy Peasy Confetti Art

Photo: Silent Sentinels by Noriko Endo

--By Dawn Goldsmith

Virginia Spiegel inspired me to use the itty bitty pieces of fabric that I would normally discard. Her blog on this subject reads like poetry. Beautifully written.

The idea is to save all of your scraps -- fabric, thread, whatever. Virginia tosses them into big multi-gallon containers. She calls these leftovers: schnibbles (love that word). She said she picked up the term from the Quilting Arts group.

Recently she pulled out those overflowing containers, filled with snippets of her hand painted or hand dyed fabrics. She sorted through them separating by color and texture and need, then incorporated some of them into art quilts. Her technique requires no organza.

"I just sew and sew. I have used a layer of MistyFuse and then a vintage poly scarf when I'm working with mini/mini/mini pieces, but that is a whole different look than what I am currently doing," Virginia explained.

She generously lent me a couple photos from her blog that captures unused schnibbles in their natural habitat and schnibbles in captivity under the needle on the front of her imaginative and colorful art quilt .

Confetti techniques really reflect the artist and can look startlingly different.

For example, Japanese fabric artist Noriko Endo advocates confetti art but strives for a more impressionist look with the project she chose for an HGTV broadcast. At their website she provides a step by step approach . Her autumn trees quilt in the photo below has a Van-Gogh colors meets Monet's dots kind of quality to it.

She lays all of the pieces out, covers them with organza then stitches across heavily to hold everything in place. The first thought I had when seeing this approach was, "Don't sneeze!"

I can see one ill-placed sneeze deforesting a whole woodland scene.

This technique was made for thread painting as demonstrated by this quilt of an old gnarled, wind carved "Canyon Tree," by Jennifer. She made this particular quilt in a class with Noriko.

And, the confetti technique can take on as many shapes and styles as the artist can imagine. Compare Noriko's naturescape used on HGTV and the first photo of the blog. Her inspiring quilt Silent Sentinels pictured above and at SAQA's site. Silent Sentinels shows a much different woodland view. It feels like a cathedral and reminds me of a favorite old song:

"I know a green cathedral,
a hallowed forest shrine.
Where leaves in love join hands above
to arch your prayers and mine."

Another way to make confetti cloth involves "schnibbles" adhered to dissolvable stabilizer. More often threads and yarns make up most of the schnibbles. This tends to make a more loosely woven finished product. Once again it is closely stitched. This holds the pieces in place once the stabilizer dissolves. Here are step by step directions. Don't confuse confetti art with confetti fabric designs by RJR Fabrics. Or with Confetti Quilts which offers a host of more traditional patterns.

On a personal level, using up all of those snips and castoffs gives me a sense of 'doing the right thing.' I can recycle, reuse and create. When given the option, gee, do I want to adhere them to a wall hanging or do I want to throw them into a landfill? Seems like an easy choice and a fun project. The only downside is convincing my husband that all of those bits of fabric, thread and yarns that I am hoarding will eventually get used and not just take up more space in his sacred garage. So I suppose the first step in confetti art is to DO IT!

Call for SAQA Artists: "Sense of Direction: Sightlines"

Multi-media artist Virginia Spiegel provides information about an upcoming SAQA invitational that she will curate, with entry deadline: August 15, 2009.

It’s always an honor to be asked to jury or curate an exhibit. I am particularly excited to curate Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) new invitational, Sense of Direction: Sightlines.

Sightlines is an opportunity for fourteen invited artists to create a suite of artwork, on a schedule and within the specifications, that is (pick your own adjectives): groundbreaking, challenging, exciting, stunning, unusual, dynamic, provocative, meaningful . . ..

It is safe to say, in case you hadn't guessed, that I am looking for artists who are able to create artwork that will stop viewers in their tracks. Sightlines' unique format is a golden opportunity to take risks and I hope the chosen artists will do just that.

It is my hope that not only will the individual artist's artwork be compelling, but that the exhibit as a whole will become an organic/ synergistic system compelling viewers to move through the exhibit.

Each artist will create from one to four major artworks with a line, literal or implied, beginning and ending at the edges of the piece(s), but meandering at will through the piece(s). On each side of the major artwork(s) will be two 8x8" square artworks with the sightline through the center of the squares. These square artworks will help create a continuous line and visual connection throughout the entire exhibit. Each artist will have a 10’ wide space to fulfill her/his vision through five to eight artworks.

This concept is somewhat difficult to visualize, but visiting this exhibition by tACTile, an Australian group of textile artists, should give an idea of the inspiration for and concept of Sightlines. The format allows artists to pursue their own themes while presenting intriguing connections among all the artworks.

Photo:
Jenny Bowker walks us through her series that was part of the Eyeline exhibit. "This is a series of quilts based on events in my life. I wanted them to feel thoughtful and autobiographical. I was staying in a hospital hostel at the time the quilts had to be made, and in a way this affected several factors. My daughter had been badly burned and everything narrowed so that everything was black or white - important, or it did not matter at all! The quilts had to be small so that they could be worked on in any location. I needed to carry minimal fabric and the limited palette helped to hold very different elements together and carry through a story line as well as an 'Eyeline'.

Shimmer - the first seven years
Flowering - puberty and partners - flowering times
My Cup Runneth Over - my four beautiful children
Long Cold Winter - the difficult years - divorce and financial stress.
Patterns Sliding through My Fingers - the making of work and creativity
The Perfect Pattern - I have always loved this pattern. I am aware it looks like a memorial but I have always loved the way the crosses fit together like jigsaw pieces so perfectly, complex, but simple at the same time. I had had good and bad times, times which are mundane and times which are spectacular. All of them lock together to make me what I am, and there is not one thing that I would change.

I truly have no preconceived roster of artists in mind for this exhibition and hope a wide and diverse pool of artists (who must be SAQA members) will submit a Request for Consideration. There is no charge to be considered for this exhibit and the Request format is quite informal.

The prospectus for Sightline is online in the Members’ Home section of the SAQA website. The deadline for sending a Request for Consideration is August 15, 2009.

The exhibition premiers at International Quilt Festival in Houston in 2011 and travels to the International Quilt Festivals in Chicago and Long Beach. A Sense of Direction: Sightlines will also be available for travel. Inquires may be made here.

Please feel free to contact me at Virginia(at)VirginiaSpiegel.com with any questions.

PHOTOS: Road to Lancefield by Beth and Trevor Reid. Two of the three of this series are shown here, not doing the trio proper justice. Please view them here. They were part of the "Eyeline" exhibit. "They are hand and commercial dyed cotton fabric, hand painted, wool polyester batting, machine pieced and quilted, machine embroidered, fusible applique. The background is free motion machine quilting. The Eyeline of trees and grass is free machine embroidered and the rocks are applied using fusible applique and hand painted for depth."

Bio: Virginia A. Spiegel creates art for the wall from her own hand-painted fabrics, as well as mixed-media collages. Her artwork is known for its evocative use of color and its focus on the beauty of everyday nature. She also frequently comments upon the complexity of human nature. In part, she hopes to inspire others to notice and take action against the current devaluation of the natural world. The thirteen trips Spiegel has taken with her sister in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness have greatly influenced the subject and direction of her artwork in recent years.
Website: http://www.virginiaspiegel.com
Blog: http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/blog/
Tweets: http://twitter.com/vspiegel

Blurred Boundaries Exhibit clearly envisions mixed media fiber art

Lynn Krawczyk is a tough lady to pin down. She's zipping from one project to the next with a determination to fill every moment of every day with art and promotion of art and her own creativity. Thankfully she took a few minutes from her overwhelming schedule to guest blog for Subversive Stitchers and tell us about her art as well as the upcoming exhibit she's curating. Listen up mixed media artists -- this exhibit is for you!

Now, here's Lynn! -- Dawn

I am incapable of creating flat fiber art.

It’s a rare occasion when a work of mine has just fiber and thread on it. I understand that the roots of fiber art come from bed quilts and I admire the artistry of those who paint a spectacular portrait with nothing more then moving thread around on the surface of fabric, but I crave dimension. [Note the photo, Natures Couture Spring by Lynn Krawczyk]

One of the easiest ways I have found to do this is to pull in other elements such as found objects. Many times my entire design process begins there with that single object and the rest of the work is built up around that. I find it exciting to allow something to lead me and to combine seemingly opposite elements into the same piece of art.

My love of fiber art grew into a small business called Lost Arts Stitchery that thrived for three years and focused on art quilting and crazy quilting. After the doors to that venture were closed, I moved on to organizing art quilt exhibits. I found I enjoyed it as much as creating art and have taken as many opportunities as I can.

I have organized exhibits for the American Sewing Expo in Novi, Michigan (most notably my Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit which is now in its fourth year) as well as for the
Studio Art Quilt Associates. I’ve loved every second of working with the venues and the
artists. Its extremely satisfying to hold another artist’s work in my hand and place it into
an environment that honors it for everyone to see.

Photos in order: Plastic Fusion by Sidney Savage; Eye-land by Susan Sorrell; Human Nature 7 by Virginia Spiegel.

So when Cathy Arnett presented me with the opportunity to curate an exhibit for her retreat, Fabrications in Kalamazoo, Michigan, I jumped at it. Her desired theme? Mixed media fiber art – exactly the style so near and dear to my heart!

And not only 2D work, but 3D work is to be included in the exhibit. It couldn’t be better! I quickly contacted Virginia Spiegel to see if she was interested in being the juror and she agreed. I envision an extremely exciting exhibit showing just how far past the boundaries of mainstream fiber art some artists are going. It made the title come easily – Blurred Boundaries.

This week long exhibit will be one of the main attractions of the retreat. It will be in the
centralized meeting area, giving it a constant flow of visitors and making it accessible to people outside the retreat as well. It will not only be viewed by the attendees and instructors, but it will be open to the public. Kalamazoo has a thriving arts community focusing on visual arts, music and cultural arts. It is the perfect fit for this exhibit.

Blurred Boundaries asks artists to submit up to three artworks for consideration. They may be either 2D (ranging in size from 48” max to 12” min) or 3D (ranging from 12” max to 6”min).

The defining requirement for artwork to be considered for the exhibit is that it must contain a minimum of 25% fiber. This opens up a wide door for a variety of materials and techniques that are being left at the sole discretion of the artist!

The deadline for submission has been extended to June 28!

And the process couldn’t be easier. Images may be submitted online, the entry form is filled out online and the $25 entry fee and return shipping may be paid with paypal or personal check. The exhibit is making an effort to eliminate some waste by taking out the requirement to send CDs and print out paper for entry forms. All the information on how to prepare your images for submissions can be found in the exhibit’s prospectus here (Links to the online entry form and the service to submit your images can also be found there.)

And this is not only an excellent show opportunity but it also a sales opportunity as well as a chance to win a $100 prize. A low 15% commission for sold work provides a wonderful chance to sell some of your work.

Exhibit attendees will be able to vote on the artwork that they like best and the one with the most votes will receive the $100 People’s Choice Award. All exhibit participants will receive a small package of mixed media supplies to be used in future projects. I am incredibly thrilled and honored to curate this exhibit and to be able to work with Cathy Arnett and Virginia Spiegel on the project. But more then that, I am so excited to work with like minded artists who love to marry fabric with other mediums and materials!

I hope you will join us for this very exciting show!