Three projects...three different ways to work!

(Click on image to enlarge. Above and below: Flora. Unframed: 17 1/4" x 8". Framed: 22 1/4" x 13 1/4". Embellished and stitched background with wired greenery, dyed silk pods, and beading.)

Every evening I've been forcing myself to do traditional needlepoint. The kneeler for Blues Bible is almost finished. I'm determined to finish it tonight. I hate it...but I want it...so I'm stitching it. It is "project # 1". The work is slow, boring, and being utterly FORCED.

It was necessary, however, to do something FUN! Flora was exactly what I needed; a break...a little diversion in order that I could continue the kneeler. I made Flora to fit the green frame that was already made from leftover moulding. There's little crystals and seed beads inside each silk pod. It was "project # 2". The work was fast, fun, just a wonderful whimsy of play.

I've also been busy working on "project # 3", my Decision Portraits series. There will be lots of paperwork, emails, telephone calls, and in-depth conversations in order to line up the people whose images I want to use. This is "project # 3". The work is serious, long-term, and feels like an incredible journey already.

This week I shot my insurance agent....with my camera! His portrait will include stitched words: I Loved Her For 45 Years...The Last 15 With MS. The title will be: Husband. Yesterday I also went to the South Carolina State House. I'd arranged to meet three ladies right before 5:00. From 5 - 6 every Wednesday for the past five years or so, a group of individuals stands in silent protest. They are WOMEN IN BLACK. The stitched words will read: Standing in Silent Protest. The Title: Women in Black.

Some of the participants weren't wearing black this week. It was 100 degrees (that's 38 Celsius). Black just isn't a color for that sort of heat. I don't know how they do it. I was sweating from the moment I got out of my car. Standing there, week after week, is a real commitment...a personal decision. Please know, however, I'm also working on getting an image for Patriot. This project is not a religious, social, or political statement...it is about DECISIONS...any decision; good or bad; right or wrong; no value judgments attached...just a way to reflect on the choices we all make in life.

From the State House, I met Steve at the Liberty Tap Room. We were there for a charity event. Steve and I attend many such evenings for lots of good causes. I don't always blog about them...but, this one got me thinking about the different ways in which we work. The event benefited two organizations: Children's Miracle Network and Project Pets. Two different groups working together in a totally different setting. (Most charity auctions/fund raisers around here are held in rental halls, large private homes, etc....not in restaurants generally open to the public.) The food was incredible. I adored the ice sculpture. The crowd was great. There was a live band on the patio, raffle tickets, a silent auction, and more. They gave us T-shirts too. I'm sure lots of money was raised. It was nice to see a fund-raiser working in a new way.

Mathias is mentioned in DANCE EUROPE Magazine!

If you want to read about Mathias, here click here! Steve and I are thrilled....and we're going to go to England again...in July...to see him in Giselle and another Stravinsky triple bill!

Self Portrait and In Box with Peacock Feathers

(Click on image to enlarge. Above: Xylene transfer on tea-stained muslin with new and vintage buttons and embroidered words: I quit my job to pursue ART. Title: Self Portrait, Artist. 25" x 19".)

Over the weekend I finished the second piece in my new series inspired by Decisions, a recent installation. Because I don't really draw, I've never even thought about a self-portrait. Most artists I know have created at least one. Historically, self portraits have been used to study the inner soul of their makers. Self portraits are markers of the artist's development and signs of the time. They are often viewed as signatures left by an artist for posterity. Wow! That's a lot to live up to...a lot to think about.

Approaching this piece, my first self portrait, I had to decide how I'd like to stitch it. I got nervous, but the answer came to me as if on the wings of serendipity. An email from my good blogging friend Doreen G mentioned buttons...using buttons to sew together a quilt. The sentence wasn't a suggestion; Doreen knew nothing of my project at the time; but, the suddenly I had a vision and the project just came together from that point on. I truly like my self-portrait which is something I didn't think I'd be saying at the onset. Generally, I dislike images of me.

Okay, I didn't really "quit" my job....but I did. Seven years ago I ran a full-service custom picture framing shop on the first floor of my large, downtown historical home. Steve and I had fourteen on payroll, offered full health benefits, a retirement plan, paid vacations, and over-time. I was, unfortunately, the only one working over-time...like ALL THE TIME...twelve to eighteen hour days, seven days a week, fifty weeks a year. (Even I stopped between Christmas and News Years!)

Business was still growing. Many employees were truly nightmares. I had stopped sleeping, hated life, and was miserable. Finally, I had to admit to myself that I wanted to make art. Without training or experience, I finally fired my head mat cutter (for more reasons than are worth listing) and started a two year process to downsize Mouse House, my business. Steve and I helped other employees get new jobs. Now, the business is just Steve and me....happiness.

We still frame on a very limited basis...for people who trust me to make all the decisions in their absence! We are picky as to who we accept as clients. So, in a sense, I'm still a picture framer....but I did QUIT....I quit being the head designer who met with people all day, every day. I quit being the manager. I quit running the business. I quit how I spent all my time...in order to become an artist. It's been a wild ride. I don't know if all this is reflected in my portrait...but the buttons are both new and old...and I'm smiling!

(Click on image to enlarge. In Box with Peacock Feathers. 29 1/2" x 15 1/2".)

Also this weekend, I finished a new piece in my "In Box" series. I added peacock feathers at the suggestion of a potential client who is looking for a commission. I couldn't accept the commission immediately because I'd never tried adding peacock feathers in this manner. If the client likes it, there will be two more. If the client doesn't like it, there's still this piece! I'd call that a WIN-WIN situation.

A new series underway

(Click on image to enlarge)
Above: Xylene transfer on tea-stained muslin with running stitch and the embroidered words: ONE DAY AT A TIME. 25 1/2" x 19".
Title: Twenty-five Years Sober.)

Yesterday I put an old wooden accountant's stand onto a wrought iron sewing machine base in order to create a lectern or Bible stand for Blues Bible. It was as if these two unrelated pieces were made for one another...a perfect fit. I'm still, painstakingly needlepointing the kneeler. This is the last thing to be done before moving "Blues Chapel" from Edgefield to the more spacious installation in Pickens...except for all the paperwork (exhibition list, truck rental, statement signage, and my part of the mailing list.)

In the meantime, I've started a new series. Since completing Decisions, I've been thinking about work to relate to this "centerpiece"....in order to submit the whole thing as another solo show. I wracked my mind while in England...thinking about the Industrial Revolution and rust and more found objects. This just didn't pan out. Then I thought about the word "decisions" and landed upon the idea of portraits. People make decisions.

At first I thought I'd represent famous people who'd made difficult choices...like those senator's in John F. Kennedy's book Profiles in Courage. I loved that book...in middle school. The more I thought about this, however, the more I hated the idea. It sounded all too academic...like a good high school history project, not a work of art. Besides, I wasn't passionate about any of these people. Truth be told, I didn't care enough.

Still, portraits would bring about the missing human element found in the original installation. I also liked the idea of focusing on decisions that changed lives...bittersweet decisions....options that meant one thing is left as another is gained...forever changed.

Finally, I got it. I started last weekend with my sister Wanda. I'm currently working on my own self portrait. It will say: I quit my job to pursue my art. The title will be : Artist. I contacted my insurance agent. He's posing on Tuesday for a portrait that will say: I loved her for 45 years...the last 15 with MS. The title will be: Husband. I contacted my friend, associate English professor and published poet Ed Madden. He's posing after a research trip in Ireland. His portrait will read: I married Burt. The title will be: Poet. I want to contact the American Red Cross and find someone who's donated blood for years and years who will agree to pose with stitched words: I save lives one pint at a time. Title: Blood Donor. I wonder if MADD has a speaker who relates driving drunk for "I Made A Mistake"; Title: DUI. My friend Britta is sending pictures for "Twins at Age 42"; Title: Britta. The list goes on.

I'm most certainly willing to entertain other ideas. If you've got an idea, please let me know. This is a HUMAN project about the everyday/life altering decisions we all make.

Blue Bible

I made a video of Blues Bible. I just can't upload it. There's probably a way...but I don't know it. This is a rather LARGE altered/altared book. When shut, it measures 14 3/8" x 10 3/8" x 4 1/4". It weighs a lot too. There's over 230 pages. I didn't even try to include images of all the spreads; but most are now on two separate slide shows.

Part One is here.

Part Two is here.

To create this book, I completely took apart the original late 19th century Bible and watercolored dozens of pages. I strengthened the fold with fabric applied with WonderUnder and also zigzag stitching. I arranged the spreads into signatures and collaged. It took hours to bind and two days to glue back together, using Yes paste and weights.

It is headed to my exhibition at the Pickens County Museum which I install on Friday, June 13. I've still working on the kneeler and the stand for this book.

Vanishing Landscapes

Above is the view from Charleston's Waterfront Gallery taken on the opening day of the annual Spoleto and Piccolo Spoleto festival here in South Carolina. This year the juried art show had an eco-friendly theme and title: Vanishing Landscapes. I submitted three pieces and one was selected. If interested, here's an on-line article about the exhibit.

Above is the view of the reception in the lower gallery. Below is the photo of my piece, Earth Moods, an altered book. I created a video of it which is here. I did not create this piece specifically for this exhibition. It just fit beautifully and was on a nice white pedestal right in the middle of the lower gallery....in fact, right below the walkway on which I was standing when I took the photo above!

Below is another photo of this beautiful, well lit art venue.



Above is the photo of my piece....which is pictured in the very, very slick color catalog for this exhibition. I liked many pieces, including Margaret Petterson's monotype, Tuscan Palette and Anne Sbrocchi's Log Bridge Creek (no on-line reference). I also admired McLean Sheperd's Lake Jocassee. Both Sbrocchi and Sheperd used metallic materials to great effect. Foils and glitter can be so tacky and amateurish, but these two works used the reflective quality and shine to great advantage....in ways no other product could duplicate. Sheperd's piece won one of the awards.

One of the most compelling works, however, was by Paul Hitopoulos. I adored the "price" listed on the label, the lighting, the idea, and the feeling of a sacred circle.




So, what else have I been doing.....CYBER FYBER trading, of course. Yet, artistically I've been very, very busy. I know I should have blogged about this "in progress" but I'm about to finish a major piece. Blues Bible will be bound this weekend. I'm working on a stand for it....and a kneeler. I think the trips to England have influenced my vision of kneelers (which was already very traditional to begin with) to the point that I now see ALL kneelers as traditional needlepoint. Though I've sworn never to cross stitches again...I'm counting....even doing cross stitch in wool...a historic pattern from one of my books about Austrian embroidery. It's killing me....but I want this kneeler! I'm excited about the new altered/altared Blues Bible too!

Recent work and a wedding!

Last week I taught at Lander University. I finished a few of the simple demonstrations I did. Above is a xylene transfer on unbleached muslin on a dark tan piece of moire with previously painted WonderUnder (Bond-a-Web), chiffon, free motion machine embroidery, paint, and some metallic foiling.

Above is a color transfer of an African mask made with Sheer Heaven paper. Free motion machine embroidery attached it to a scrap of rust dyed vintage damask. I also applied some wool rovings, millinery net, and metallic foiling using fragments of Wonder Under.

Above is an arrangement of polyester velvet around a piece of embellished wool. It was covered with previously painted Wonder Under, metallic foil, silk fibers, chiffon, and free motion embroidery. The image isn't particularly good because I forgot to snap a photo before putting glass into the frame.

Later today Steve and I are headed to Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania in order to attend my sister Wanda's wedding to her first love! She met Reinhard when she was sixteen years old. He's never been married...waited for her! They live in Germany. It will be a sort of family reunion at my mother and dad's lakeside house....and I'm suppose to teach my mom how to use her blog!

I created her blog in order that she could trade with me at CYBER FYBER...which is now into it's second/final round of trading!

Helen Hill's exhibit and CYBER FYBER

Last Monday I went to McKissick museum to pick up one of two pieces that had been part of the museum's annual art auction. (The other sold!) I wandered into another exhibition, The Dresses of Florestine Kinchen: A Tribute to Helen Hill. I viewed the work alone and in silence.

I knew this exhibition was coming. I'd followed the story in the papers. I wasn't prepared, however, for the experience of seeing it. I was confronted by Florestine Kinchen's discarded life of handmade dresses salvaged by a talented, murdered young filmmaker.

The blurb on the back of the show announcement reads: "Although she was only 36 years old when she lost her life in January 2007, Columbia native Helen Hill spent a lifetime making films. Sadly, her murder cut short the production of her newest film based on the discovery of more than one hundred hand-sewn dresses made by Florestine Kinchen, a recently deceased seamstress in New Orleans. Join us Friday, May 9, 2008, from 5:30 - 7:00, on what would have been Helen Hill's 38th birthday, for a tea party in honor of the filmmaker and dressmaker Florestine Kinchen."

I probably wasn't suppose to take photos, but I did. Panels of text filled in Helen Hill's strong academic background and pioneering film projects. Other panels gave information about Florestine Kinchen and the garments that were constructed from recycled clothing. One dress had a big tag in Helen's handwriting to identify the damage that Hurricane Katrina caused to many of the dresses after their initial rescue. Here's a little more information and another photo.

Then, I saw a panel about Helen's widow and two year old son....with a photo that included her parents...who I realized I knew. Kevin and Becky Lewis, both faculty members at the University of South Carolina, brought framing to Mouse House for years. I'd just never made the connection.

So, on Friday night I went to the tea party. Below are the photos I took. Ordinarily, I'd only include one...but another nice lady's camera wasn't working. Her daughter attended high school with Helen. I gave her a card with this blog address and said I'd post in a day or so. Friday was also my Mathias' twentieth birthday. Today is Mother's Day. I haven't quite come to terms with all the emotions.

(Above and below: Drs. Kevin and Becky Lewis, Helen's parent. Becky is wearing one of Florestine's dresses.)



(Above: Helen's family with exhibition curator Jason Shaiman in the middle.)
Hopefully, Helen's husband, Dr. Paul Gailiunas, will be able to finish the film for a closing reception that includes a film premier. Hopefully, too, this exhibition will travel to other venues. If it does, it's powerful and definitely worth seeing. Each stitch. Here is a link to Helen Hill's memorial website.

NOW....to change the subject ENTIRELY:

CYBER FYBER's second (and absolutely FINAL) round of trading is now open. Blogger has identified the postcard section as a possible "spam" mechanism. I guess this is standard practice when one creates a blog and posts over 130 entries within 24 hours. It shouldn't effect viewing...just publishing. It should be resolved within 48 hours! I'm still hoping for more votes.
(CYBER FYBER is the last item on the list!) I have found a caterer and a writer for the exhibition. I met with the writer on Tuesday.

Workshop for MAT Program at Lander University

(Click on any image to enlarge. PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO VOTE IN THE NEW CAROLINA "idea" CONTEST. CLICK HERE and select the very last selection in the list....this is for possible funding for CYBER FYBER!)



I spent yesterday with a group of talented young art educators finishing the MAT (Master of Arts in Teaching) program at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. These six students graduate at the end of the summer and most already have contracts to enter the public school system as new "art teachers". Considering I don't have a single academic class in either "art" or "education", it is truly my honor to conduct a fiber workshop. This is the third time I've done so...and each visit renews my faith that South Carolina is producing wonderful art teachers.






The workshop introduced several fiber techniques and materials: using previously painted heat-activated adhesive (WonderUnder/Bond-a-Web); using heat activated metallic foil; melting synthetics with a soldering iron; free motion machine embroidery; using the embellisher; xylene transfers on fabric; color transfers using Sheer Heaven paper; hand stitching; and proper mounting and matting for fibers.







I had a great time too....and started three small pieces!

CYBER FYBER needs votes!

As most people reading this probably know, I've been pitching the CYBER FYBER to various groups, creating information packets for business leaders, and seeking funding for the exhibition. The Vista Guild awarded $1000. New Carolina had no money but an opportunity to submit the project into their "idea contest". They are giving away well over $8000 to various South Carolina ideas. Cyber Fyber has made it into the second of three rounds. To advance, votes are needed. Please click here and vote for the LAST IDEA LISTED! Thanks a million!

What I've Been Up To

(Above: Artista Vista visitor inspecting Decisions, my installation.)


(Above: Open Studio visitors in my studio. Click on image to enlarge.)

I've been busy...but not really posting anything new about the work I'm currently doing. I'm deep into collaging "Blues" imagery juxtaposed with religious icons and symbols onto the spread for The Blues Bible. It's a massive project. The spine of this book is about four inches thick. I'm on a deadline too....it WILL be finished and part of "Blue Chapel" at the Pickens County Museum of Art. I install this solo show on Friday, June 13th! Yikes!

In the meantime, I have been posting on the Gallery 80808/Vista Studios blog. These entries are primarily picture after picture...including my installation Decisions...all held in and around the gallery space that will host CYBER FYBER next January. We had the annual, downtown spring art reception a weekend ago. This past weekend was a second event...OPEN STUDIOS...two weekends in a row of "meet and greet" the general public. I'm sort of "talked out!"

I've also been writing on "My Family Blog"...long overdue posts from my trip to England. The first post is:
Going Without Embroidery and Swan Lake
The second one is:
Texere Mills...an absolutely fabulous place for fibers of all sorts...dozens of photos from this amazing experience!

I'll try to remember to shoot a few "works in progress" pictures of The Blues Bible!

AWARDS!

Today names were written on slices of mat board.

These were put into a plastic bag. Steve was blind-folded (and he complained that he hadn't shaved...but I didn't care!). He reached in....

...and drew out ART IS BLISS. Congratulations! Through CYBER FYBER, I have her name and address. Fairy of Gold will be mailed on Monday!

Now...for some more AWARDS!

Yesterday was the reception for the North Charleston Arts Festival. This event includes two juried show opportunities: Art (five categories: acrylics, oils, drawings/pastels, watercolor, and 2D Mixed Media), juried by Leo Twiggs) and "Palmetto Hands", juried by Kellie Scott of Red Sky Gallery in Charlotte, NC. This is South Carolina's fine craft juried exhibition (categories: Clay, fiber, wood, glass, metal, and 3D Mixed Media).

Above is a detail from In Box XXXVIII which took an honorable mention in Palmetto Hands in the category of fibers.

Above is Textile Landscape IV which took third place in the Art category for 2D Mixed Media.

Above is Book of Masks which earned an honorable mention in Palmetto Hands in the category of 3D Mixed Media. It was a REALLY GOOD night!

I really admired the outstanding craftsmanship and ingenious ideas found in the entries for Palmetto Hands...including (above) Mike Fowle's New Blue Shirt and (below) my friend Lee Sipe's incredible copper wire leaf. (Click on images to enlarge.)

Best of Show was Courtney Starrett's bracelet. While others didn't seem to approve of this piece; I found it absolutely delightful...creative and completely novel. I just wish the artist had been in attendance so that I might have had a photo of myself wearing it!

Collage Mania II

Virginia Spiegel is a fabulous fiber artist, blogger, and the organizer for an on-line "Fiberarts for a Cause" charity event, Collage Mania 2008. 100% of the funds benefit the American Cancer Society. I've donated four pieces found on page 18. Bidding starts Monday, May 5 at 9 AM CST. I have my favorite piece...but I'm not saying which one! I'll be bidding on it Monday. It was created by the mother of a grade school friend with whom I've recently connected through our now common interest in threads and over the Internet! My fingers are crossed...click on the link to find your favorite too!

PS Steve will be drawing the winner's name for my 2nd anniversary of blogging on Saturday...so leave a comment there! Scroll down to this next blog entry.