Decision Portraits at Vision Gallery, Chandler, Arizona

(Above:  Decision Portraits at Vision Gallery, Chandler, Arizona.  Click on any image in this post to enlarge.)

Steve and I returned last Tuesday afternoon from a long weekend in Arizona where we attended the opening reception of my Decision Portraits at Vision Gallery in Chandler.  We arrived early in order to get photos of the show ... especially since many of the series' participants aren't able to come to any of the exhibits.  The people who shared their very private choices live all over the world.  Thus, I wanted to snap as many shots as I could to share the experience of being in a space facing all these very real decisions.  It is truly an honor to have my work in this prestigious space.  


(Above:  Some of the Vision Gallery staff before the reception.)

I am totally in Eric Faulhaber's debt. (Standing on left.)  His trust in my work made this exhibition possible.  He's been with Vision Gallery for over twenty-four years.  He's absolutely wonderful ... as is the new member of the Vision Gallery group, Justin Sanchez, (standing on right) who handled much of the email correspondence leading up to the show.


(Above:  Youngest Child, Decision Portrait Series.)

Although I did not have any family members physically present, it felt like several were watching ... like both my youngest sister Sonya and my Dad!


(Above:  Volunteer, Cheater, On Fighting Cancer I, and Unplugged.)

My first cousin, Monika, is on the far right in the photo above as Unplugged.  She lives almost close enough for us to have visited this past weekend ... just a bit farther than we really wanted to drive ... but she was there in Vision Gallery.



(Above:  Cheater, On Fighting Cancer I, and Unplugged.  Please note:  The easels on the counter are the "stories" behind each piece.  These stories are all on the Decision Portrait blog ... a blog that really does read like a book!)

I'm providing some of the links to the various pages on the Decision Portrait blog that relate the "behind the scenes" story for each portrait.  As this exhibit, however, no Internet connection is needed.  The Vision Gallery staff selected to professionally print, mount, and display all these narratives beside or under each piece.  I was simply amazed by all the help they opted to do.  In all the other shows featuring this work, none of this detail appeared.  Each show has been wonderful and different ... but this one is especially strong on the conceptual reason for the series.  I really appreciate that!




(Above:  Recycler, Self Portrait, Expatriate, Immigrants, and Psychic.)

Right inside the main gallery door is my Self Portrait ... around the corner from my elder son, Mathias, as Expatriate.  I don't know how I missed snapping a photo of my sister Wanda's portrait, Twenty-Five Year Sober.  It was the first in the entire series which now numbers 108 pieces!



(Above:  Aylah and I Buckled Up.)

The most recently completed portrait, Aylah, was hanging beside I Buckled Up ... and this is exactly how I hoped to see these two portraits ... a powerful reminder, a really good and often daily decision to make.  Side by side, these people confront the realities of the choices we make and the potential consequences.


(Above:  Atheist, Creationist, Buddhist on wall on left.  Center:  Knight Riders. Gift of Life, Mackenzie at 15, Educating at Home, Making a Difference, Poet, and Soul Mates.)

This was the first time Aylah's portrait was hung in a Decision Portrait exhibit.  It was seen in public ... by lots and lots of people ... because I stitched it while sitting with a curated selection of the portraits last November at the International Quilt Festival in Houston.

Yet, it wasn't the only portrait to have its first occasion on a gallery wall.  Knight Riders has never been selected by a curator for one of the smaller shows and it was censored by the gallery director during the big show in 2010 at City Gallery at Waterfront Park in Charleston, South Carolina.  I know it is controversial.  It is a shocking way to personally examine the decisions one makes that other people might really, really hate.  Thankfully, Vision Gallery appreciates the edgy, thought-provoking, and conceptual nature of this series.  I hope these portraits make people THINK!


(Above:  Me and Rita Blockson, the Decision Portrait Series participant for the portrait For Science which is behind us on the wall.)

The highlight of the reception had to be meeting Rita Blockson who posed for a significant decision ... the choice to donate her body to science.  Her story is an amazing one and I was thrilled to chat with this talented art quilter and her husband.

Not all the Decision Portraits are at Vision Gallery.  A few generous people have already purchased their portrait ... which gave me the funds to go to Houston last November.  Fortunately, the Vision Gallery helped get me to Arizona for this show.  Plus, some of the portraits will be hanging in the Chandler Center for the Arts, a performing arts venue about a half mile up the street from Vision Gallery.  This is a BIG PLUS for my work and for me.  The exposure to people who wouldn't generally visit an art gallery but attend live theater, dance, drama, and musical events is wonderful.  About twenty of the portraits will open there later this month!  (So ... if you are a participant in this series and don't see your photo in the images further below, please know that you'll be in the Chandler Center for the Arts' lobby all summer!)  Scroll down for more images from Decision Portraits at Vision Gallery!

After Steve and I got home on Tuesday night, we installed The Canopy at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios for a show called Artfields Extended.  It went up like a charm ... which was a good thing because its placement probably needed to be done before the rest of the artwork could most appropriately be situated.


(Above:  Artist Richard Morgan and my husband Steve on Tuesday night after hanging The Canopy.)

By the next day, the show was in place and I think Alexander Wild's two partially nude, female sculptures are exactly PERFECT under my piece.  Together our work suggests everything beautiful, flawed, and ethereal about the fleeting sense of memory, the truths about fairy-tales, and the way cherished people and things become part of the past.  Unfortunately, I will not be at the opening reception tomorrow night.  Fortunately, I'll be in Athens, Ohio at the opening of Quilt National ... which I'll blog about soon ... finally sharing my art quilt accepted into this international show!

 

(Above:  The Canopy at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios with Alexander Wild's sculptures underneath it.)

(Above and below:  More photos from Decision Portraits at Vision Gallery!  Click on any image to enlarge.)

ARIZONA ... Here we come!

(Above:  Epitaph Banner Installation as seen in Rocky Mount's Imperial Center, January 2012.  This installation is now headed to to an invitational fiber show called Shifting Threads at Artlink's Auer Center for Arts and Culture in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Later this afternoon Steve and I are flying to Phoenix in order to attend the reception for my solo show, Decision Portraits, at Vision Gallery in Chandler.  I'm very excited.  This will be the first time almost all the work will be displayed out of the frames with signage that includes the entire "behind-the-scene" story for each one.  I will take lots of photos for this blog!  Vision Gallery has also installed an iSnap.

What's an iSnap?  Well ... from their website:  iSnap is a social network of people sharing and viewing photos snapped at events and venues all over the world. iSnap connects people to the things they like to do and places they love to visit. Photos are shared from iSnap photo stations installed in interesting places by people who want to share the moment! 


(Above:  An iSnap station.)

From what I understand, people coming to see the Decision Portrait exhibit will have the opportunity to sign one of my model's releases and have this iSnap take their photo ... sending it directly to me along with their email address and a brief statement about their personal decision.  If this works out, I'm planning to create a unique book called Vision Decisions.  Now, how cool is that? !!!


(Above:  Dropping off boxes of artwork headed to exhibits!  Thumbs up FedEx Ground!)

Before leaving, I had to package a lot of artwork up and mail it out.  My recently finished piece, An Artful Journey, went via the USPS and is on its way to Dale Rollerson in Perth, Australia.  The big Penske box in the photo above contains my Epitaph Banner Installation, I Do / I Don't Installation, and Ancestors.  It is headed to an invitational fiber show called Shifting Threads in Artlink's Auer Center for Art and Culture in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  I'm really excited about this opportunity ... especially since the director found my work via my website and blog!  I love the Internet!  (I also love the guys at FedEx office who always help and ask about my artwork!)


(Above:  I Do / I Don't Installation as seen during Install-It 2011 in Columbia, South Carolina. Click on image to enlarge.)

Believe it or not, all these wedding veils, the "tie-the-knot" ribbons ...

(Above:  Epitaph Banner Installation in Rocky Mount, 2012.  Click on image to enlarge.)

... all these chiffon banners and their 19" dowels ...

(Above:  Ancestors, wrapped and embellished wooden spools with thumbnail reproduction family photos on the ends.  Click on image to enlarge.)

... and two fiber vessels full of wrapped and stitched wooden spools ....

ALL FIT INTO THAT ONE BOX and it only weighed twenty pounds!


(Above:  The reverse of Texting From the Grave.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Two of the other boxes are headed to the same place, the SAQA exhibition shipping center in Solon, Ohio.  Since they are headed to two different SAQA exhibitions, they had to travel separately.  The piece above is Texting From the Grave.  It was accepted into the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) traveling show called Text Messages. After it was accepted, emails were sent requesting artists NOT to show "full frontal images" on their blogs and/or website.  Of course, I already had done this ... so I had to alter that blog post.  It is HERE.  All images showing the full, front were replaced with a cool photo from a cemetery and the promise that the blog post will be resurrected when permitted.   Of course, there is nothing in such a rule that says I can't show the back of the work!


(Above:  Lift and Tuck.  Click on image to enlarge.)

In the other box headed to Solon, Ohio is Lift and Tuck.  I'll see it next at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England this August.  I'm quite excited to be going to this event.  (By the way, there was no request asking that the work NOT be on a blog or website.  I don't know why one has such an issue and the other exhibition doesn't.)

I have two links to share!  CLICK HERE to read an article about The Decision Portraits in the Arizona Central newspaper.  Also ... I had no idea that Two Hours at the Beach was selected for an on-line SAQA virtual show curated by Cynthia Wenslow called Tesserae.  I found this when visiting the SAQA website confirming the shipping center's address!  The photo of my work is HERE ... it is sideways, but it is there nonetheless!  (It isn't sideways in the slideshow ... but a "good composition" should look good from every angle!)

An Artful Journey

(Above:  An Artful Journey, Grave Rubbing Art Quilt.  13" x 13".  Antique crazy quilt block and Victorian lace with vintage crochet, recycled felt, and crayon grave rubbing on silk combined with hand embroidery and free motion machine stitching.  Vintage buttons from the Czech Republic.  Beads and sequins.  Click on image to enlarge.)

A couple of months ago I got the nicest message from Dale Rollerson of The Thread Studio in Perth, Australia.  She asked if I would send a small work for an upcoming exhibit she was mounting called An Artful Journey.  This show will be held during the Western Australian Craft Show at the Claremont Fairgrounds, August 2 - 4, 2013.  One of the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association) trunk shows will be at this event as well as workshops and "open studios" for local artists.  Dale wrote:  "...I want to hang an exhibition of one of my pieces of work, together with work of artists whose work I admire. I am hopefully looking to hang 20 pieces of work. I have titled it ‘My Artful Journey’ because that is what my work is about and I suspect for most of you – yours too." 

I've been purchasing fiber art supplies from The Thread Studios for years.  I don't know what I'd do without their wide selection of chiffon scarves, metallic foil, and other incredible items.  My "In Box" and "Faux-Stained Glass" series depend on these supplies!  When conducting a workshop, I distribute a "resource and bibliography" list ... which includes the contact information and website for The Thread Studio.  I really admire ... and NEED ... Dale Rollerson.  Thus, OF COURSE, I was flattered and accepted her invitation to send a small piece that is indicative of my "artful journey".  


(Above:  An Artful Journey, detail.  Click on image to enlarge.)

At first I thought I'd simply send a small art quilt ... any small art quilt.  But ... that didn't seem quite right.  Next, I thought I'd simply send one of my "Window" series pieces ... but these are generally framed ... which would make it expensive to ship and difficult to hang in a pipe-and-drape convention hall setting.  Also, this didn't seem quite right either.  Something was missing, but what?

Finally, I knew I had to make something special ... something through which my story, my ARTFUL JOURNEY, could be told.  Something that would link my work to others ... just as Dale was doing by asking artists she admired to participate.  Something that traces my inspirations to a life in stitches.  This is the result.  Here is the narrative:

My "artful journey" into contemporary quilting started accidentally during a 2008, six-week art residency at the MacNamara Foundation on the remote Westport Island in Maine.  I was at the beginning of my Decision Portrait Series ... working on Blood Donor and Tattoo Artist.  Duncan Slade, the studio manager, pointed out that these pieces were, in fact, art quilts.  They possessed three distinct layers and were held together by stitch.  I failed to notice this because 1) the the bottom layer is actually a heavy, decorative paper, 2) I intended to frame the work, and 3) there is no "binding" or even a common edge.  Yet, Duncan Slade knows art quilts.  He and his collaborative wife, Gail Fraas, had three pieces selected for Robert Shaw's definitive tome on the subject, The Art Quilt, published in 1997.  I was shocked.  Me?  An art quilter?  Really?  Well, in my confusion, I picked up a copy of Jeanne Williamson's  The Uncommon Quilter.  I read to page 85.  That page changed my life.  It suggested taking an ordinary crayon and a piece of fabric ... and making a grave rubbing.

I made a grave rubbing ... and then a second one ... and then a third one ... and then I lost track.  It quickly became an obsession.  Within a year, one of my Grave Rubbing Art Quilts was accepted into ArtQuilt Elements.  Soon, the grave rubbings led to other, related work ... collected epitaphs stitched with water soluble stabilizer on the sheerest chiffon banners, artificial flowers amassed from cemetery dumpsters, xylene photo transfers of graveyard sculptures on paper.  Multiple juried exhibition acceptances and awards resulted.  My solo show, Last Words, took form.  I am still very much obsessed.

This journey helped me define the creative concepts that truly resonate with me.  I am passionate about repurposing textiles from the past, the suggestion of passing time, and the ethereal nature of memory.  The theme of universal mortality is with me always.  Along the way, the Grave Rubbing Art Quilt series and my association with the Internet connected world of textile artists have introduced me to some marvelous people ... like Julie Mackinder who took me to my all time favorite cemetery in Nottingham, UK; like Annica Lindsten in Stockholm who let me tag along on a trip with Pian Bates to visit Sara Lechner in Austria ... where we all went to the Czech Republic and I bought the beautiful, antique glass buttons that edge this little art quilt; like Arlee Barr, Maggie Grey, and Lynda Monk who are also showing work in Dale's upcoming show but were invited to share work in Cyber Fyber, a show I mounted in 2009 here in Columbia; like so many other, international fiber enthusiasts that leave comments on my blog and Facebook page.  I am grateful to many, many more ... especially to Dale for having my work in her exhibition.  My "artful journey" is alive and well in the face of impending mortality ... just like the journey of life.  I'd want it no other way. 

 

(Above:  An Artful Journey, reverse.  Click on image to enlarge.)

I am linking this post to Nina-Marie's "Off the Wall Fridays", a site to share fiber artworks.  

Decision Portraits at Vision Gallery!

(Above:  Front of the exhibition postcard.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Steve and I are quite excited that the coming weekend will find us in Chandler, Arizona at Vision Gallery with the opening reception for my solo show, The Decision Portraits.  We are flying out on Friday, attending the opening on Saturday from 4 - 6 and driving to Organ Cactus Cactus National Monument ... visiting ghost towns ... and the the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park. 


(Above:  Reverse of the exhibition postcard.  Click on image to enlarge.)

This will be the first time that the portraits will be displayed with full statements ... basically, the behind-the-scene story on each work.  These narratives are all on-line, on my Decision Portrait Series blog (which does read like a book!)  I can't wait to see people's reactions when confronted by both the stitched portrait and the full explanation.  I'm also excited because publicity is happening ... as in this article in the Central Arizona!  I'll be blogging about this trip and show in the coming week!  Can't wait!

Sunday a week ago and through this last weekend ... or ... FINALLY CAUGHT UP!

(Above:  Randomly selected "anonymous" vintage photos mounted on fabric.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

I've been behind in my blogging ... almost exactly a week ... for at least a week ... until now!  This post begins eight days ago on the Sunday before Mother's Day with an experiment that has been tumbling around in my mind for months, maybe a year.  I've been thinking about all the vintage family snapshots I've collected from Bill Mishoe's Tuesday night walk-around auctions of used household goods.  Who are all these people?  Why did their keepsakes end up in a "box lot" or on a "table lot" sold for a few dollars?  What do these pictures mean to me?  How should I use them in my art?

In addition to the photos, I have old letters, military discharge papers, tax records, receipts, ticket stubs, a baby book, hand written recipes, and all sorts of other ephemera from families I don't know.  They peak my curiosity.  They are steeped with stories I can't quite hear.  They have all the ethereal qualities of ordinary memories from the past, ever changing and fading into the distance.  I find all these things wonderful and sad ... bittersweet ... indicative of life.  How can I, as an artist, use these things to communicate my feelings and the sense of half-hidden history they seem to represent?  Well, I had a "foggy vision" of these photos ... stitched into a grid, suspended about six inches in front of a gallery wall, casting their shadow on the white surface behind them.  So ... how to achieve this?  EXPERIMENT!

I randomly selected several images ... the top ones stacked inside a fairly large box.  I used Fusion 4000, a clear heat-activated film used in the custom picture framing industry, to mount the images in my heat-press onto an off-white piece of fabric.  (No ... I don't know what kind of fabric.  It really doesn't matter.  Like almost all my material, it came from Bill Mishoe's auction!  It was simply in some, anonymous woman's stash sold by the box or table!)      


Then, I cut the photo out.  Basically, all these photos are now permanently backed with fabric.



Next, I used a dab of gel medium on the center, back of each photo ... and placed them onto a piece of Pellon's Stitch and Tear.  I allowed this to dry ... adhering the photos to the Stitch-n-Tear.



Setting my Bernina to free motion and using a variegated off-white to sage green cotton thread, I stitched the photos together. 



The process of stitching is exactly the same as I generally use to construct my In Box Series pieces ... outlining the edge of the photo and creating stitched "bridges" to link each one in all directions.



Finally, I turned the work over and tore away all the Stitch-n-Tear from between the images.

 

This was the result of my experiment.  SUCCESS!  Although the "experiment" is not "suspended" approximately six inches from the wall behind it, I know how I want to construct a wooden ledge from which to hang the actual work (yet to be made).  I envision this future piece being at least 5' in height and 10' in length.  The large size will create a sense of impact, a subtle suggestion of all the many people whose images are unknown.  The space between the future piece and the wall is important.  It will allow the grid of photos to physically occupy an area "in front of" the wall ... as opposed to the area "on the wall".  The grid of photos will be like a transparent curtain, something between the present and the past ... casting a shadow.  It is going to be GREAT!  (Okay ... very labor intensive but GREAT!  At least in my mind!) 

Since the experiment revealed a process of working and indicated that the attempt to create a larger work would be successful.  I spent most of last week using my tacking iron to position hundreds and hundreds of anonymous photos on more material ... then mount them in my heat press.



I'm been cutting out the photos ever since!  This is going to take a while but I think I'm going to love the results!  There will likely be more blogging as the weeks progress.  This piece (God willing that it is achieved!) will be part of my November solo show at the Tapps Art Center in Columbia.  I'm calling the exhibit, I Am Not Invisible.  I don't yet have a name for this piece but I'm sure that all the cutting, stitching, and tearing away the Stitch-n-Tear will suggest an appropriate title!

 
(Above:  View from Liberty Bridge, Greenville, SC.)

For Mother's Day, Steve and I drove to Greenville, South Carolina in order to attend Artisphere, a weekend outdoor arts festival that enjoys a great reputation as one of the nation's top shows.  I can see why!  We had a blast.  The artwork was outstanding.  The attendance was amazing.  Okay ... the weather couldn't have been better!  Steve and I spent quite a lot of time looking at the plastic canopies that protected the various artists' booths.  We will be purchasing one in the coming year ... and I will apply to this festival next year!  It is hard to get accepted ...

 
(Above:  Liberty Bridge, Greenville, SC.)

... because this festival is so great.  All the artists complimented the organization, said they were selling well, and had outstanding traffic.  Yet, I'm happy to report that I did get accepted into the 37th Annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show.  This event, like Artisphere, has the reputation of being "so good that it is hard to get in"!

Book marks, tags, and framed keys ... or what I did last Friday and Saturday!

(Above:  Book marks made this past weekend.  Click on any image in this post to enlarge.)

Try as I might, I'm still behind in my blogging despite entries on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  I'm determined to catch up.  I just don't know when!  This post shows how I spent my studio time last Friday and Saturday ... making book marks.  Here's a step-by-step tutorial of the process that I repeated over 195 times!


(Above:  Various decorative threads and sock yarn ... rolling around on the floor with the ends through the braiding/cording foot of my Bernina.)

First, I scramble around in the large plastic containers in which I keep (in total disorder) random yarns and decorative threads.  My sister Wanda would be appalled.  She's a talented counted thread embroiderer with all her floss organized and listed on her computer kept inventory.  I, on the other hand, am a mess.  I love my mess and love selecting seven or eight threads/yarns/ribbon to shove through the # 21 braiding/cording foot of my Bernina.  This is exactly how I start my fiber vessels which I wrote about last week ... HERE.    


(Above:  Unstitched book marks waiting for fiber embellishments.  I included an ordinary writing pen just for size!)

Of course, I've already prepared about two hundred paper book marks.  These are just two decorative papers that I dry mounted together.  (Okay ... I own a frame shop.  A heavy watercolor paper works just as well ... and would be a great way to use less successful paintings for those who attempt such artwork.  There are other heavy weight papers available in many craft and art supply stores that would work too.)



I set the machine on a rather wide zigzag ... and the stitch length is fairly long as well.  I start in the middle of the book mark's end and zigzag in a curving manner up one side of the paper bookmark.  Don't stitch too close to the edges ... just a nice, gently meandering path. 



At the other end, I stop, raise the foot, flip the book mark to the opposite side, and position the lengths of decorative thread nicely on the other side. 



Stitch back down that side ... following the bobbin thread of zigzag stitches.



When you approach the end ...



... grab the decorative threads from both sides in your left hand ... stitch to the end .  Then, right at the book mark's bottom edge, hold the threads tight and prevent the dog feet from moving forward.  This forces the machine to zigzag over itself ... in place ... making the threads into a "tassel". 




Stop stitching.  Pull the book mark to the side.  Cut the threads/yarn/tassel ... leaving about three inches on the book mark and three or so inches through the #21 foot that will start the next book mark.  Repeat. 



For me, the motions of this stitching start a repetitive rhythm.  It doesn't take long before there are plenty of half-finished book marks beside my machine ... my 1008 Bernina. 


(Above:  My two Berninas ... both set up for making book marks.)

As much as I enjoy the recurring cycle of stitching these book marks, I can't seem to continue for more than an hour or two at the same task.  No problem!  I have two Berninas!  My 1630 is at the ready for the second step!



I set the Bernina 1630 to one of my favorite stitch patterns.  I start at the same place ... the bottom end ... and stitch up one side of the book mark ... stitching the pattern along the edge of the zigzagged yarns/threads.



At the opposite end, I perform the same movement .... stop, raise the foot, flip the book mark to the reverse, center the needle, lower the foot, and stitch back down the opposite side of the book mark.  I always start and end in the same basic place ... at the bottom edge, in the middle.  Thus, when I cut the sewing thread, the excess just joins the yarn/thread/tassel.



Of course, there is a slight problem with stitching through paper.  The underneath side isn't as "flat" and nice as the "top" side of the stitching.  A bone burnisher takes care of the issue ... smoothing the paper holes out!  Generally, I stitch the thread/yarn in the meandering path for about an hour ... then I transfer over to the other machine and stitch the decorative stitching for about an hour.  At the end of two days ...

 

...I've got nearly 200 book marks.  These are sold at the South Carolina Artisan Center in Walterboro and here at Mouse House.  The reason I decided to make them last weekend was because the SC Artisan Center called requesting more.  They'd sold out.  Seventy-five were mailed off on Monday.  The other 100 or so are now at Mouse House (first photo in this blog post).

(Above:  Strips of watercolor paper, painted ... waiting to be made into tagged keys like those hanging on the wall behind them.)

Another thing I was "out of" was paper tags for keys.  So, I took a break from the book marks and painted a large piece of heavy watercolor paper, tore it into strips, and used one to make the tags for the three ocean related keys below.   Steve had already made the frames using scrap moulding for the slivers of painted and stitched canvas I'd cut up earlier in the year.
   

(Above:  The Key to Fair Weather and A Safe Harbor; The Key to Smooth Seas and Tranquil Waters; and  The Key to Gentle Breezes and Calm Currents.)

Each tag is two sided ... but now, I'm ready to make more keys for my Wall of Keys.  It's an on-going project ... sort of like my book marks.  Make a hundred or so ... but you will always need more!

I am linking this blog post to Nina-Marie's "Off the Wall Fridays", a site for sharing fiber artworks.