(Above: Drew Baron, multimedia coordinator at the Columbia Museum of Art, filming detail images for six or seven segments to be included in the upcoming CUT! Costume and the Cinema exhibition. Click on any image in this post for an enlargement.)
Since coming home from Montana, I've been busy with my solo show at the University of South Carolina-Beaufort's Sea Islands Center Gallery and with the pieces for the upcoming Marked By the Water invitational exhibit slated to open on October 4th ... but that's not all I've been doing! I have two important opportunities in November. Both require lots and lots of work from my Stained Glass and In Box series. A day doesn't go by when I haven't put a hot iron to polyester stretch velvet. I need this art! I love making it but sometimes I get a little overwhelmed to blog it in a more timely manner.
I meant to blog my new work earlier ... but another exciting thing happened. Drew Baron, the multimedia coordinator at the Columbia Museum of Art, came to Mouse House to film several, brief segments to accompany the upcoming CUT! Costumes and the Cinema exhibit. I've seen the PDF of the object list. It is going to be an amazing show ... including historic designs seen on the likes of Angelica Huston, Maggie Smith, Kate Winslet, Natalie Portman, Heath Ledger, Renee Zellweger, Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Uma Thurman, Robert Downey Jr, Sandra Bullock, Vanessa Redgrave, Colin Farrel, and Johnny Depp.
My part was simple. I showed a selection of buttons (tiny, gigantic, fabric covered, crocheted, mother-of-pearl, bone, etc.) and demonstrated the button hole stitch. I also covered trapunto, couching, faggotting stitch, draping, ruching, and beading. During these short (as in two-minute) videos, I was able to show my Grandmother Lenz's household linens. After all, if Grandma Lenz wanted a buttonhole, she had to stitch! Back in rural Hungary, her treadle machine didn't have a zigzag stitch. The local weaver's loom wasn't wide enough to make a tablecloth. If Grandma Lenz wanted two lengths to lay perfectly flat, she plied her needle using the faggotting stitch to connect them. It felt wonderful to share her precious dowry. I also got to show a few of my pieces. I can't wait to see the results because Drew Baron is a real pro! He created a video of my grave rubbing techniques and inspiration. CHECK IT OUT!
Filming with Drew was fun and easy. For me, however, it was also the "warm up" to another opportunity. Tomorrow I head north to Solon, Ohio to be filmed for three segments of the PBS Quilting Arts show. I'll be showing my Peacock Feathers, fiber vessels, and how I use buttons and the blanket stitch instead of traditional binding on my art quilts. I'm nervous but excited. Last Friday I got an email. I'm supposed to have my nails manicured and my cuticles smooth ... seriously! My hands generally look like those that belong to a working, professional artist ... which isn't the condition described. Today I went to Seasons Nail Salon and now I have tidy cuticles next to trimmed and polished nails!
So ... in the meantime, I've been working. The pieces shared here at headed to the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show and to my solo show at City Art ... both in November. I can honestly say that these deadlines are really pushing me to explore new avenues, new designs, and to simply concentrate on the process.
(Above: In Box CLXI. Framed: 33 3/4" x 21 3/4". $550 plus tax and shipping.)
So ... I've finished three, large "In Box" series pieces. I only took photos of one of them before they got into their frames.
Yet ... I took a detail shot of the one I remembered to photograph! Below are other new pieces.
(Above: Lancet Window LXXXIII. Framed: 31" x 11". $395 plus tax and shipping.)
(Above: Window CXXIX. Framed: 17" x 15". $265 plus tax and shipping.)
I'm linking this blog post to Nina-Marie's "Off the Wall Fridays", a site for sharing fiber arts!
I am not one to say that you never sleep because I know you do. But wow...you don't slow down much these days! Wonderful work! I'm excited about the TV shows and am looking forward to seeing them. It does sound like you are on schedule...an incredibly intense schedule but a schedule. I know that you aren't sitting still and off again pretty soon. I think of you so often and wish you happy, productive days and safe travels for the rest of the year!
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