More Keys!

(Above:  The Key to Travel.  Framed:  8" x 6".  Rusted and patinaed antique scrap on needle-felted background with beading and a tagged luggage key.  Click on any image in this blog post to enlarge.)

Last Friday afternoon I cleaned up my studio.  I found the floor ... and it was "on the bottom" of the incredible mess I made while creating framed keys.  Most of the framed keys are already posted on this blog.  (HERE ... or scroll down!)  But ... I finished these three pieces since posting and before cleaning.  One is above, The Key to Travel.


(Above:  Fragment LX.  Framed:  14" x 10 1/2".  Needle-felted scrap of silk embroidery from a fabric-covered, antique Chinese screen with beading.)

I also made this piece ... but I liked it better without adding a key.  Thus, it became part of an on-going series called "Fragments".


(Above:  Key to Luxury.  Framed:  12" x 10".  Needle-felted background with beading, an embellishment from Twiddleybitz, and a tagged key.)

The final piece is The Key to Luxury.  It was entirely inspired by a little gift inside my order from The Thread Studios.  Before opening my package, I'd never heard of Twiddleybitz or even knew that scrapbookers used hard paper, stencil cut-outs.  If this "freebie" wasn't used immediately, it would get lost in my studio ... never to be used. 


(Above:  My gift from Dale Rollerson of The Thread Studio.)

I did go to the Twiddleybitz website and saw their ideas ... most of which showed the things painted and glued to other things (a little bit too "DIY"/crafty for my tastes).  Since I have no plans to ever use such a thing again, I decided just to stitch them in place as they were.  It was fun to work them into a pleasing design with a tagged key and I like how the piece turned out.  Thank you, Dale, for sending a unique challenge!


(Above:  My order from The Thread Studio ... sheets of heat-activated metallic foil, chiffon scarves, and a few hand-dyed chiffon scarves tied with ribbon ... the on-line catalog page for the chiffon scarves is HERE.)

I always LOVE opening my package from the Thread Studio.  It comes all the way from Perth, Australia ... filled with essential supplies for my faux-stained glass and "In Box" series work.  I couldn't make them without the heat-activated metallic foils and assorted colors of sheer chiffon scarves.  This time I also purchased a few hand-dyed scarves.  So ... now I'm ready to make a few more pieces to take to the Buyers Market of American Craft wholesale trade show in February.  I'm also ready to teach my "HOT" workshop in both Pittsburgh (at the Society for Contemporary Crafts) and at The Studios of Key West!

So ... a week of making new, framed keys is done.  My husband Steve was in charge of hanging them on the two sculptural door units here at Mouse House, Inc.  After he got them up, he took the video above.


(Above:  The reception for the 13th Annual Chesley/Williams/Wimberly/Yaghjian art)

So ... for the weekend, my studio remained tidy.  I finished stitching a piece to enter into the upcoming SAQA Text Message traveling show and started another.  (Post coming soon!)  It was nice it clean.  Lots of people did wander in and out while attending the 13th annual Winter Exhibition of work by Mike Williams, Ed Wimberly, David Yaghjian and my mentor, Stephen Chesley.  Art conversations floated in the air.  Sales were made.  Friends met and Steve and I went with our friend Dolly for a late dinner after the reception ... eating outside because the weather this past weekend broke high temperature records.  It was delightful.  Now, I'll turn my attention to new faux-stained glass pieces!

(Above:  Steve, my friend Dolly, and me eating outside on January 11th!)

Video from UNEARTH, a celebration of naturally inspired art

Since its inception, I've been part of UNEARTH, a celebration of naturally inspired art, at Saluda Shoals Park.  This past fall a video was shot.  Shorter parts of it were aired on television the evening of the event but this longer one was also created.  I'm honored to be part of it!

New Year ... new keys ... and cut down work!

(Above:  The Key to Imagination.  4" x 3".  Dry felted and stitched background with key and a handmade tag and cord.  Click on any image in this blog post to enlarge.)


(Above:  Doors with Keys at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios ... as seen during Artista Vista 2008.)

Once upon a time I had a foggy vision of an artwork I wanted to create.  My mind's eye saw old wooden doors with peeling paint completely covered with keys.  The keys were to represent some of the abstract qualities people look for in life ... The Key to Happiness, The Key to Knowledge, The Key to Success, fame, fortune, the American Dream, a fast Internet connection, a successful diet, the future, the past, and every other seemingly impossible, intangible.  I went to work and created the sculpture piece shown above.  I called it Decisions and blogged about it here.

The work was part of Artista Vista 2008, an annual spring art crawl in downtown Columbia.  Gallery 80808/Vista Studios is always an anchor arts location for this event and the companion art crawl Vista Lights each autumn.  My studio is located there ... so, yes, basically, I have two art shows in which to show new work every year.  It is wonderful and keeps me on my toes.

Well, in 2008, the artists with studio space at Gallery 80808/Vista Studio were looking for a title for our group exhibit.  I suggested "Personal Grounds".  They liked it and selected it.  My statement for this sculptural unit of doors and keys was:  Personal Grounds is a location in life. It is the place in which one exists as a result of doors opened, keys turned, and decisions made.  I was very pleased with my work, the show, and the statement.  Yet, something was missing.  I realized that I needed "people" to surround the doors.  This is how my Decision Portrait Series started.  I kept Personal Grounds as my solo shows title and I retained the same, simple statement.  Soon, the portraits took over my artistic direction ... all 108 of them.  Yet, the doors were still around ... and they aren't the easiest things in the world to move!


(Above:  One of the sculptural door units at City Gallery at Waterfront Park, Fall 2010.)

But, move they did!  They went to City Gallery at Waterfront Park for Personal Grounds, fall 2010.  For this exhibition, I also created my first "Wall of Keys".  From Charleston, the doors came back to the Tapps Arts Center and became Keys to the City, a corner window installation.

(Above:  Keys to the City, November 2010.)  The doors remained at Tapps Center until Personal Grounds went to Waterworks Visual Arts Center in Salisbury, North Carolina for several spring months in 2011.

(Above:  Personal Grounds at Waterworks Visual Arts Center in Salisbury, NC. Spring 2011.)

Well after that, Steve and I were tired of moving these large, heavy pieces around.  We finally just took them back to Mouse House, our business.  We live upstairs.

 

(Above:  The doors with keys at Mouse House.  The photo was taken last week.)

They've been here for a little more than a year-and-a-half.  Amazingly, people have purchased some of the keys.  The panels were looking rather empty ... not at all like my original vision.  It was high time to do something about that!

(Above:  The doors with keys at Mouse House.)

It was time to make new, framed keys.  After all, this is the start of a new year.  It was time to replenish the keys and time to fill up a pile of frames Steve had made for this purpose.  Framed keys are an excellent way to use up little pieces of scrap picture framing moulding.  For the past week, I've been doing just that.  Here are some of the new pieces I've made:

(Above:  The Key to Chance.  Framed:  8" x 6".  Click on any key to enlarge.)


(Above:  Key to Peace.  Framed:  11" x 8".)

Each piece includes a dry felted background with embroidery and a tagged key.  The cords are all made by zigzag stitching over scrap yarn.  Most of the pieces also have beading.  They are stitched onto a piece of mat board and framed with spaces and glass.  I took most of the photos before putting the glass into the frames.  This avoids reflection and glare.


(Above:  The Key to Power.  Framed 8" x 5".)

Some of the frames are cut "on the side" which allows me to install Plexiglas on the top rim.  I drill holes in the Plexiglas and use decorative tacks or nails to adhere it in place.


(Above:  The Key to Respect.  Framed 9 1/2" x 5 1/2".)

I found a tiny sample I made while demonstrating my Babylock embellisher.  It became the background for this key.


(Above:  The Key to Sanity.  Framed:  9" x 6".)

(Above:  The Key to the Love of Beauty.  Framed:  11" x 9".)

I also found scraps of embellishment I made while in a workshop with my Swedish embroidery friends under Sara Lechner in Austria, fall 2009.  They worked up beautifully for the keys.  I love using up little trinkets and seemingly neglected or random bits of fabric.


(Above:  The Wall of Keys as seen at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios for Artista Vista 2011.  Click on image to enlarge.)

This past week I've been focusing on the backgrounds and trying to make the keys work with the frames.  I haven't, however, been making any of the tagged keys.  I've still got well over 1200 of them.  The photo above was taken when they were hanging outside my studio.  Now, they are all inside my studio ... close at hand.  Some times I get sucked into the wall just trying to figure out which one I want to use inside a frame!


(Above:  The Key to Utopia.  Framed:  10" x 7".)

Some of the new, framed keys have tags made with printed letters clipped from vintage sheet music and 19th century books.  Some have tags with free motion machine embroidered letters on light tan ultra-suede.

(Above:  The Key to Youth.  Framed: 8" x 6 1/2".)


(Above:  The Key to the Cure.  Framed:  11" x 8".)


(Above:  The Key to Knowledge.  Framed:  13 1/2" x 11 1/2".)

I used a scrap of late 18th century fabric on this one.


(Above:  The Key to Optimism.  Framed:  10" x 7 1/2".)


(Above:  The Key to the Journey.  Framed:  8 1/2" x 6 1/2".)

Last year I had Steve (who does our laundry!) save dryer lint for me.  After about a half a year he quit because I hadn't used any of it.  For the life of me, I can't remember why I wanted it ... but I've now used some of what was saved in the background for this key.  Maybe I should simply "dry felt" it all into a piece of unique fabric?  Maybe I should do something with the drawer of Shadow's cat hair too?  That's another thing I'm saving without a plan!


(Above:  The Key to Your Life.  Framed:  12" x 10".)

This key is another one in a frame with the Plexiglas fitted to the front.  I used my favorite copper brads.

(Above:  The Keys to the Stars and to the Moon.  Framed:  9" x 11".)

These two keys just had to go together!


 
(Above:  Key West Ocean.  Framed:  51" x 34 1/2".)

In the spirit of replenishing my small, affordable artwork available here at Mouse House, I decided to cut up the largest piece I made for last August's Sun and Sand show at Frame of Mind, an alternative art space on Columbia's Main Street.  (We also needed the picture frame moulding for a client's order!)
 

(Above:  Another "Drop in the Ocean", a series of small pieces made with pieces of acrylic painted canvas stitched onto one another.)

I filled six little frames and numbered them in a series called "A Drop in the Ocean".  I also matted some of the pieces of canvas and installed them in frames that once housed Decision Portraits but were cut down for my eerie photos of antique dolls.  Now, for their third incarnation, these frames are for the "Key West Series".  I ended up with nine of them!


(Above:  One of the "Key West Series" pieces created after cutting down a large work.)


(Above:  The Key to Smooth Sailing and Tranquil Seas.  Framed:  11 1/2" x 6 1/2".)

Of course there were narrow strips of the large canvas piece remaining after all these frames were filled.  I used one of the pieces for the back of this frame and made a special key to dangle inside.  One side of the tag reads:  Smooth Sailing.  The other side reads:  Tranquil Seas.

(Above:  Another large bucket of picture frame moulding scraps.)

No matter what, I'm quitting this "replenish project" by tomorrow afternoon.  I'll be tidying up my studio ... which is now a utter mess.  (I've pulled out all my embellisher ... THANKS MOM for buying this cool "toy" for me, all my embellishing supplies, my beads, assorted hand threads, and several containers full of interesting old garments and materials.  It looks like a bomb went off.)  Tomorrow is an annual art event at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios.  My mentor Stephen Chesley and three wildly talented friends (Mike Williams, Ed Wimberly, and David Yaghjian) are opening their annual show.  It is always a highlight of every year, well attended, and worth cleaning my studio for the overflowing crowd to have somewhere else to hang out!

UPDATE:  I have finished a few more framed keys. They will be shown in a later blog post.  I'm linking this one to Nina-Marie's "Off the Wall Friday", a site sharing fiber "works-in-progress".

Lift and Tuck

(Above:  Lift and Tuck, detail.  Vintage table runners, bra and girdle; recycled acrylic felt; mat board with collage; wool yarn and sewing thread.  Click on any image in this post to enlarge.)

Just after Thanksgiving Carole Mullis donated a pile of vintage clothing to my "stash".  Her generosity included a large bag of intimate apparel ... otherwise known as "bras and girdles".  Some must date to the 1960s as their labels declare spandex in the content.  Spandex, an anagram of "expands", came on the market in 1959, the year Mattel's Barbie and I were born.  Some of the girdles and bras are older, likely from the early 1950s or even the late 1940s. 


(Above:  Lift and Tuck.  44" x 20".  Click on image to enlarge.)

To be totally honest, I wasn't sure exactly what I might do with these pieces of old underwear ... but ... an idea appeared.  It was one of those thoughts that just wouldn't leave me alone.  The inspiration came from a call-for-entry for a SAQA traveling exhibition called Metaphors on Aging.  (SAQA stands for Studio Art Quilt Associates and the call-for-entry is HERE.)  I decided to stitch a piece called Menopause for this art opportunity.  On the reverse, I used one of the girdles as a "label".  Stitching the girdle in place got me thinking about aging, the quest for a youthful appearance, and the pains most women go through in attempts to fool the ravages of time.  I thought about my great grandmother, my grandmother, my mother, my sisters and myself.  I thought about today's girls and tomorrow's girls.  Beauty and aging, the fight against oncoming years ... well, it's been going on forever and likely always will.  To me, these relics are iconic symbols for women and aging.  Lift and Tuck just had to be made ... whether for a specific call-for-entry or not! 


(Above:  Lift and Tuck, in progress.)

I started by simply throwing a vintage table runner with lovely crocheted ends and edging onto a piece of black, recycled acrylic felt.  (The felt once protected a kayak or canoe being shipped from a North Carolina manufacturer to a local outdoor shop.  It is the same material I use for my faux-stained glass fiber works.)  I selected the bra and girdle that seemed the best size on the available space.  Next, I pinned everything in place and basted a line around the garments.  I removed the bra and girdle at this point.  About a million running stitches quilted the felt and runner together.  Wool tapestry yarn and sewing thread were used.  Inside the basted line are longer and fewer stitches.  After the entire surface was covered, the bra and girdle were stitched in place.  The excess felt was cut away.


(Above:  Lift and Tuck, in progress.  This shows the reverse of the work after all the running stitches were plied and the bra and girdle were stitched down.  Click on image to enlarge.)

For a finishing touch, I added vintage buttons to both sides.  Then, it was time to tackle the reverse and determine exactly how this artwork would best hang.


(Above:  Lift and Tuck, detail.)

Because the top of the piece is rounded, a standard 4" hanging sleeve became problematic.  If I applied a short sleeve at the top, the sides might flop inward.  If I applied a longer sleeve below the rounded area, the top might flop down.  What to do?


(Above:  Lift and Tuck, reverse/hanging device, in progress.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Other, more seasoned art quilters ... especially those with a more traditional background ... might have better ways of tackling this problem.  My background, however, is in custom picture framing; so, naturally, I turned to the materials that are familiar ... like mat board.  Mat board is stiff.  If stitched to the reverse of the rounded top, a standard 4" hanging sleeve could be applied in a lower position without causing any problem.  So, I cut mat board for the back of the top ... and collaged it with antique images from mid-19th century Godey's Fashion Magazines along with an old, anonymous bridal photograph which likely dates to the late 1940s or early 1950s.


(Above:  Lift and Tuck, reverse/hanging device, in progress.)

Using button hole thread, the rounded mat board was stitched to the reverse of the art quilt ... both around the edge and in several places within the space.  I used thread matching the front ... hiding the stitches in the dense rows of running stitch.


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

A second table runner was used to cover the back.  One crocheted end was folded over and made into the 4" hanging sleeve.  This, too, was stitched through the mat board at the top.  As a result, the piece hangs perfectly flat again any wall.  A slat or rod, which is generally used to hang art quilts, slides right into the sleeve, midway down the mat board.  Perfect!


(Above:  Lift and Tuck, reverse, detail of bottom.)

One of the challenges of using vintage household linens is the fact that the sizes needed don't always match up with the linens available.  The runner used on the back was a perfect width but it was too short.  I used a cotton doily at the bottom ... which needed a center seam to adjust its width!  This area became a great place for some free-motion machine embroidery ... the title, my name, and the date.  This is the last piece I finished in 2012.  I shot the photos just yesterday, New Year's Eve!


(Above:  Lift and Tuck, reverse, detail of top.)

Today is New Year Day.  It is also the first day for submissions into Metaphors on Aging.  After posting this blog entry, I'll be visiting the SAQA website and uploading my images, applying for consideration.  I have no idea how my entries will fair.  It doesn't really matter.  I feel very good about my selections.  My mentor Stephen Chesley has always advised me to enter work which honestly reflects the work I feel strongest about in relationship to an exhibition theme.  So ... Menopause, Lift and Tuck, and Forever will be entered.  (Yes, I will be entering one grave rubbing art quilt after all!)

I enter many juried exhibitions but generally don't announce them on my blog.  I guess this one is different because I actually MADE work specifically for this chance.  I'll blog about my acceptance/rejection when it happens!  The SAQA prospectus indicates that I'll have a chance to submit a 50 word or less statement.  I don't really know if this statement is "in general" or specific for each entry.  If needed, here's my individual statement for Lift and Tuck:

Whether viewed as a distance memory, an ageless quest for a youthful shape, or a continuing attempt to ward off physical signs of advancing years, this intimate work strikes a chord in the melody of feminine life.

I am linking this post to Nina-Marie's "Off the Walls Friday" blog featuring fiber art works in progress ... where she is also requesting an inclusion of participant's "word of the year".  (Sort of like a New Year's Resolution but wrapped up in a single word.)  Last year my "word" was CHANGE and a wrote about this new attitude HERE.  Though I didn't elaborate on exactly the changes I wanted to make, I knew I wanted to experiment with painting canvas, cutting it, and stitching the pieces back together as a unique painting/art quilt and I wanted to pour epoxy over stitched textiles.  To this end, I booked a solo show at an alternative art space, Frame of Mind, for August 2012 featuring this "yet to be created, new, changed artwork".  This created a deadline and a way to be held accountable to the resolution.  The experiments were done and the show was a success!  I blogged about some of the work HERE.  So ... this year, my word is EXPAND.  I will be continuing my experiments by adhering vintage garments and/or textiles to large stretched canvases/cradled board with paint and other mixed media.  I will continue pouting epoxy ... in larger sizes.  I will bring a new series out of my "hunter/gatherer" phase and into physical stitches.  This new work explores the shocked view of finding myself OLD ... well, middle aged ... closer to death, nearer to earth, oddly invisible in a male dominated art world full of interest in youth, the future, and an academic bend rather than the wisdom of experience, the richness of the past, and a lifetime of hands-on education.  Lift and Tuck and Menopause were created in the spirit of this new body of work which will be shown as a solo exhibition at the Tapps Arts Center, November 2013 with an opening reception during the monthly "First Thursday" on Main Street art crawl, November 7th.  This show was booked a couple days ago ... another way of assuring accountability to my resolution and my new word!  I even added the show to this blog's sidebar and my website!

Menopause ... and Christmas week

 

(Above:  Menopause, art quilt.  21" x 18".  Maxi-pads, tampons, recycled felt embellished with cheesecloth, cotton batting, and bridal tulle, thread.  Hand stitched.  Click on image to enlarge.)

I actively look for calls-for-entry, chances to submit my work for consideration in juried shows.  I don't generally MAKE WORK to suit any particular "call"; I'm generally looking for upcoming shows into which my existing work might stand a chance.  One of the places I regularly look for "calls" is SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association).  I'm a PAM (Professional Art Member) of SAQA.  The organization's mission to promote art quilts is one I whole-heartedly support.  I was thrilled that an upcoming call-for entry was for a show called Metaphors on Aging.  To me, almost all my Grave Rubbing Art Quilts could qualify.  It wouldn't be much of a stretch to write a brief statement linking "aging" with "death".  The end of "aging" is "death".  No problem. 


(Above:  Menopause, detail.  Click on image to enlarge.)

But ... I had a problem!

My gut reaction to the exhibition title Metaphors on Aging isn't death or dying or a grave rubbing art quilt.  My true response is much more immediate, personal, and the artwork was already in existence.  I couldn't shake the idea of using it ... of using Menopause.  The stitched words are still appropriate to my ideas about aging:  I never thought I'd miss that time of month.  Aging is bittersweet.  These tampons really were the ones still under my bathroom sink after they were no longer needed.  This piece was PERFECT!

Problem:  It wasn't an art quilt.

SAQA's new definition of an art quilt is:  The art quilt is a creative visual work that is layered and stitched or that references this form of stitched layered structure.  I like this new definition but I also know that more people understand "layers" as a quilt top, batting, and a backing material ... that's THREE layers held together with stitch.  My original Menopause was really just ONE layer with tampon embellishments.  It was stitched onto a piece of mat board and framed.  By adding the layer of Maxipads and a felt backing, the work became a legitimate art quilt.  The piece also increased in size and is unframed.  Frankly, it is much better now that ever before.

(Above:  Menopause, reverse.  Click on image to enlarge.)

While making the recycled felt sleeve for a hanging rod, I decided to add my "label" in a unique fashion ... using an old girdle.  It, too, just seemed PERFECT!

 
(Above:  Carole Mullis donating vintage fashions, including an old flapper styled dress, to my "stash".  The blue holiday bag on the counter is full of old bras and girdles, probably from the 1960s because "spandex" is listed on some of the labels.  "Spandex", an anagram of "expands", was invented in 1959 ... the year I was born and Mattel's Barbie was first on the market.)

I don't think I would have added the girdle to the reverse had it not recently come into my "stash".  Carol Mullis recently donated a pile vintage garments, including several old bras and girdles.  I thought about these uncomfortable undergarments while stitching Menopause.  I thought about the horrible sanitary napkin belts I've been given in my youth.  Although getting older is bittersweet, there are definitely many things about younger years that I'll never miss.  Thus, the girdle on the reverse was free motion stitched with my name, date and the following sentence:  There are some things about aging and youth that I'll never miss.

I don't know if this piece will be accepted or not, but it is ready to be entered.  It also inspired me to use one of the girdles.  That action was the catalyst for yet another piece, Lift and Tuck ... which I started immediately after Menopause and stitched while riding in the car to Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania for a holiday visit to my parents' log home.  It will be finished later this week and posted.  It will be entered into the same Metaphors on Aging exhibition.  I almost can't believe that I've made two pieces specifically for one call-for-entry! 

 (Above:  My neighbor's upside down Christmas tree ... best decorations in Columbia!)

To end this blog post, I'd like to share a few thoughts about this year's holiday week.  Steve and I went to more parties than ever and enjoyed each one immensely!   One was held by the Elmwood Park Neighborhood Association.  This is our neighborhood, a place where the most unusual Christmas tree is on display!

 
(Above:  Chuck and Jeremy with their upside down Christmas tree.)

Chuck and Jeremy live a block down Park Street from us.  Their hand prints are on my recent Til Death Do Us Part art quilt.  When purchasing a live Christmas tree after Thanksgiving, the tree dealer was throwing out a tree that was deemed "too dry".  They "recycled" it into a giant ornament, complete with lights ... an upside-down Christmas tree and quite beautiful!  Our neighborhood rocks!

 
(Above:  Steve shoveling snow at Lenzelhof, my parent's log home outside Slippery Rock, PA.)

On Christmas Day Steve and I traveled to Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania ... in time for dinner and before the big winter storm Euclid dropped nine inches of snow.  We went for a walk around part of the frozen lake and took photos which I posted on a Flickr! set.  Later, more snow fell.  We almost got stuck in the accumulation that now measures fourteen inches!


(Above:  My Dad and his "gator" ... shoveling the driveway.)

Thankfully, my Dad and Steve worked hard to keep the long driveway passable.


(Above:  Clearing the driveway!)

Snow is lots of hard work!  Steve enjoyed helping but we're happy that we just "visit" snow!  I am linking this post to Nina-Marie's "Off the Wall Fridays", a blog featuring fiber works in progress and thankfully a place that extended the submissions through today, Sunday!