Thursday, May 20, 2010

LESLIE AVON MILLER artist

I find myself returning again and again to the work of Leslie Avon Miller. Her work and the reflections in her blog bring me back- especially when I don't get to the studio. She takes me to a serene place where I remember I am a artist. Her art is zen, centering, calming- a meditation. Links to her blogs at the bottom of this post. I invite you to stop in and relax into her amazing work.


"Do you remember the very first time you purchased an original work of art? It’s 1981. My Mom and I are spending a day together including shopping at a mall in a larger town than ours. Artists of all kinds have set up displays up and down the corridors of the mall. Mom and I look at all the art, occasionally engaging in short conversations with the artists who are all there showing their work. I’m still in my 20’s and I don’t have money for art. Mom values art, she knows about design and she has a good eye. We stroll, and look and talk about the art we are seeing. Mom points out work that really grabs her eye. Eventually we circle back to the booth of j.krogh colwell. She is small, has long dark hair and is a quiet kind of person. She doesn’t use capital letters when she writes, which is kind of arty in itself. The three of us talk about art. She tells us about her art including where she gets her inspiration and about her medium. It’s an easy kind of conversation, relaxed and comfortable. My Mom offers to purchase a painting of my choice as a gift to me. Exciting! I walk around the entire display and choose “thru the dunes.” It’s a very soft water color of some dunes, grasses, the ocean and a bird in flight. The painting is serene. I love the subject matter of an ocean beach. I love the painting for its subdued blues, creams and sandy colors. I love it for its shapes, the sense of flow, and the way it is tastefully matted and framed. I love it for the way I see it adding beauty into my life. I don’t remember anything else from that day. I don’t remember what car we drove, or where we had lunch, or any other purchases that may have occurred. That painting has become part of my life and I have displayed it in seven homes. It’s part of my life story, of a day with my Mom and a generous gift of art. We can’t know how our art becomes part of someone’s life story, but it does. We can’t know how someone may remember an interaction with us. If the artist in my story had been focused on negative feelings about “marketing” her art, the exchange might have been much different, and perhaps the purchase would have been else where."

from LESLIE AVON MILLER's blog
"I am a mixed media artist and a life coach working with creative people. I create with a variety of water media and collage." blogs here and here.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Digital Collage Printing

I use a lot of ink jet prepared fabrics for my work. I purchase this in large rolls from inkjet fabrics.com (here). This way, I can cut the yardage to the desired size to print. This works out very economically and is less expensive than buying sheets. I do end up with a variety of different size scraps though. I have figured out a couple ways of using these bits.






You can fuse them to paper or cloth and print this as a collage that is ready to work on.







Or you can temporarily tape bits to a carrier sheet, remove and fuse these to a work in progress.




Carrier sheets can be as simple as a sheet of paper, freezer paper or even a flexible cutting board.

Try different things to see what you and your printer like best.
I like the effect of combining the different fabric textures in a single work.

I used this technique on Coming Back, now at the PSAQA's ARTQUILTS Illuminations exhibit in Durham, NC. It can be found on my website in the Digital Fiber Art Gallery.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Open Studios

Please join with me for the annual OPEN STUDIOS!
May 8th 2010 Studio #336
SATURDAY 11-5
Southern NH and ME- for directions WWW.millartists.com
Also- This was just included with the latest email from Quilting Arts Magazine. Pokey's favorite issue is the issue I published my article!- Holographic Memories, May 2007!
You can get a CD of my technique- here- item# DVD Item Number: 08QM18
Thank YOU Pokey!!
click here
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