Celebrating Normalcy

For several years I have been fascinated with what is happening on the horizon opposite where the big show is going on. At sunrise I like to look west and at sunset I like to look east. The way the light acts, the way the existing part of the day is dissolving just makes me grin. I was especially taken by an exhibition I saw years ago in Memphis by artist Burton Callicott. This piece of his is entitled Moonrise Naucet Beach. I always liked that image but only recently realized it was exactly the kind of image I was loving. The moon is a full moon rising just after sunset. The day is still receeding and the colorations above the horizon are slowly changing to darkness. The only reason we are looking that direction is that the moon is on the rise. But the quietness, the stillness and the subtleness prevail. So I have been wanting to do a piece that captures that feel.

Introducing Magic Time for "Celebrating Normalcy". For those of you who haven't been following me for long-- Magic Time is the point at which I first put a quilt up on the design wall. To me this is where it breathes its first breath of life and "becomes"a piece of art. Until this point it exists only in my mind. As you can see, the blocks are not yet assembled nor joined- they are simply stuck to the flannel design wall in the expected final layout.

Today I managed to get the top half pieced into rows. I am not trying to copy Callicott's piece but am using his coloration of strata as a reference. I want this piece to be VERY peaceful. Like looking over the ocean on a very cloudy day, where you can't quite tell where the water ends and the sky begins. This won't be QUITE that subtle. I opted to keep the line of land that separates the sky from the water.

I can tell that I have matured somewhat as an artist in that, although at this point the piece isn't going exactly the direction I originally envisioned, I am comfortable enough with my technical skills and vision to have a reasonable expectation that I'll be able to draw it closer to my vision in the remaining steps. This could be the stitching, possible layering, surface design options--who knows?

Celebrating Normalcy--What's with the name? As anyone who has been through a major event can tell you-- whether a medical crisis or a major weather event, a terrorist bombing, an earthquake or similar-- that when life begins to have a few elements of normalcy once again, hope can blossom and be very exciting. We can find that our attention can once again be distracted from the "EVENT" and we can look around and see beauty again. For me, that is symbolized by being able to see the opposite horizon following a sunset or sunrise.

Last year's ice storm, Mom's periodic medical crises, this year's heavy snow-- all qualify as times to recover from.

Since I am not sure where this piece will be taking me, I invite you along to discover it with me.
So you can be oriented- each bull's eye block (4 pieces that comprise a circle) is 8 inches across before assembling. The finished piece will approximate 56" tall and 63" wide.

This is the first piece in over a year where I have dyed fabrics specific to the piece and each block is built for it. Last year each piece I worked on( except one) was made up of leftovers from previous work. While my income has been sucking air thus far this year, I am hopeful that it will be a more prosperous year. That calls for creation!!!!

Let's enjoy the view.

Solo Exhibition part II

We are taking up where we left off on the previous post. If you want to see it from the beginning see previous post first. As you come around the corner from the long wall you will see "Yikes! Stripes" and "Spots, Dots, Speckles & Freckles". Take note of the purple columns that bring out an amazing amount of purple in my work.

Bypassing the doors that lead to the art department, the next piece is "Sky West".

Then my absolute favorite "Listening for the Silence"-- which we are doing right now-- awaiting the beginning of the snowfall and the cessation of sleet and ice.

Turn the corner again, going clockwise On the left is "Fowl Fantasy III", a runner, then "Neon Cha Cha" and another runner. "Neon Cha Cha" is placed in front of a window and the back can be viewed from the atrium. As with many of my pieces-- the backs have a lot going on.

Which now brings us "Reconcilable Differences."

You have now taken the tour. Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. Please feel free to leave your comments.

Driscoll Gallery solo exhibition

My most recent solo exhibition has opened at the Driscoll Gallery at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO. This is the first view as you enter the double doors. Shown are "Shadow Pool" and "35 Years-- Still Turns Me On". Moving clockwise around the room...

Shown here are "Black Leaf Runner", "Energy of Hope" and "Anhinga". And then...

The big reddish one is "Bass Ackwards--Bee Balm", then Monumetals: Silver, Gold and Copper" then "Luck Sonata in Scarlet Major". Then...

At the end is "Moon Over Marshall Ford", "Slipstream Adventure", "Live Water" and
"Sweeping Changes".

The next issue will follow around the rest of the room.

My warmest thanks to Dianna Callahan who made this exhibition happen. It'll hang through mid February.

Nekkid yoga part 2

There was some clamouring going on for detail shots of my gals. So here you go. Sadly, I shot them in a hurry and they don't all look squared up or flat. They are. I didn't measure yet but I think they are about 9" x 12".

If you click on each image I think you can blow them up so you can see the stitching around the bodies. I wish I had a good visual reference to be able to name these poses.

When I redrew these poses from Aubrey Beardsley's versions I plumped them up about 30 pounds, removed the high heels, pearls and earrings.

Don't know what that dark cloud is in the lower left corner- photographer error-- not the work.

I am looking for pricing feedback as well as any critiqueing you wish.

This is the back printed with my silkscreen. I haven't signed them yet. Not sure where would be best-- back, front, on a label?

Nekkid yoga

This is a series I started based on Aubrey Beardsley's 1920s drawings. His yoga girls were all very very slender, often wearing high heels, pearls and earrings while posing. Sheesh! I have redrawn them much plumper and, hopefully, more realistic of today's female yoga participant.

Regarding their creation: the flesh tone fabric is hand-dyed silk. The major background fabric is a black linen to which I applied paint using a silk screen I created that is simply the text of many different yoga poses plus their Indian names. The polka dot fabric was purchased. The black edging is black linen. Actually the backs have been silk screened as well with a simple texture and the edges wrapped around to the front. Before the final wrap and application of fusible I trimmed the fabric using a wavy rotary tool. Then I went back and couched down a gray yarn to finish it. I am doing this in several color ways. I did hte black first simply because I used pigment instead of thicked dyes to print and it was therefore faster to get to a proto-type stage.

I am looking for feedback and pricing suggestions. They are each about 9" x 12".

I know that the detail is hard to see-- but each figure is outline stitched plus contour stitched to show som eof the plumpness. I'll shoot a detail shot later.

Botanicals

For the lst week I have been playing in the arena of Botanicals. Next month I have the pleasure of accepting an invitation to have a booth at the Best of Missouri Market at the Shaw Botanical Gardens. When I was doing shows regularly I would have given my eye teeth to get this invite.

I've been trying to develop a new series based on four trees that grow in our region--Post Oak, Southern Magnolia, Osage Orange ( Bois D'arc), and Dogwood. My concept-- should this prove marketable, is to choose four species every year and feature them for the year-- exploring their elements-- leaves, silhouette, wood grain, seed pods, flowers, medicinal, culinary and industrial uses and even unusal history that involves that tree.



The first tree I began with is the Post oak- because we lost our 200 yr old post oak that shaded our entire backyard in 2007. What you see here is a very simple wreath made from block prints created with meat packing trays. I then went back and free motion stitched to highlight the vein structure. I think you can click each image and it'll blow up larger so you can see better. I'm starting with wreaths because they can be something of a smapler for the variosu stamps I am creating.

This next grouping is on black linen. You can see the various elements-- oak leaves, oak acorns, osage orange fruit, dogwood leaf and dogwood berries, magnolia seed pod. It looks very flat, I know. But my plan is to outline stitch to bring out details. The white lines are just chalk to make sure I keep it even-ish.

The same bunch of elements on dyed silk noil. I added some smaller dogwood leaves.

This piece is probably the closest to completion- all the elements are there and I've included more of the dogwood berries.

This one you can see the two tones of the magnolia seed pod.

Where am I going with this? not sure. I'm sure they'll look quite different once I quilt them. But I could sure use some feedback. I don't wish to do boring, trite or cute.

Federal Marbles

Another piece that had been hanging unfinished on the wall for quite some time. Kitty Chrysalis and I were experimenting with marbling about 4 years ago. We came up with enough small pieces to make the 6" circles for this piece. In a time when it seems that all sorts of distortion of the facts are happening in the federal debate over healthcare reform.. perhaps it should be "Federal Lost-its Marbles". The quilting originates on the back where I had printed some large stars and strips of marks that resemble stripes... could have named it stars and stripes, also... but boring and cliche'. I'm just pleased to finally have this piece done as it has been hanging on the design wall for over a year awaiting quilting and finishing.

This piece is mostly silk.