Reaching

This piece evolved from a old piece of canvas I painted on a lark. The acrylic already present on the canvas  worked as a resist. ( 0r was it gel medium ?) I printed a image of a swamp tree, at an upward angle, onto silk organza. This was adhered with medium. I added highlights of oil stick to the raised textured area and finished it with stretcher bar mounting. 

This is a simpler piece yet one gets a sense of composition.

Let me know what you think.

September 2009 News

It was a busy summer. Preparing and showing at the League of New Hampshire’s Sunapee Fair, Newberry NH in August, can be a lot of work. The Fair was up in attendance and sales this year. Always a good thing for an artist. Winter Tree and Rooted in Matter will be in New Bridge on the Charles Hebrew Senior Life Center, Dedham, MA as part of their permanent collection.

Ripples Triptych, a commission by Dana Farber Institute, Boston MA was finally completed for their new building. I’m waiting to hear when the opening will be!

A October Event coming up fairly soon is the Paradise City Exhibit 10/10-12 Northampton MA  http://www.paradisecityarts.com/october/homeoct.html

I am working hard to finish several new pieces for this popular show. A couple pieces are the result of experimentation. Coming from the inspirations of summer.

Upcoming is a new workshop concept called Studio Pops. It is an open studio workshop where students spontaneously decide the topic. Please contact me if you are interested and we can coordinate a time. Cost $30.00- 10-1 and 2-5

As always I am available for regular workshops, which you can find on my website, or email me -wenreddy@yahoo.com

I just joined a professional artists online network and they featured my work! Take a peek-   http://professionalfineartnetwork.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html

 I spent some time painting fabric and reviewing my artist journal. I have some great ideas for new work. Continuing to post inspirations and work progress on my blog.

Nest exhibited at 2009 National Small ART Works, Groton, NY, received Honorable Mention and sold!

Studio Art Quilt Association’s exhibits

Blurred Boundaries Closer, 3 Weird Sisters, Ocean Roar

Trees Seen, Forest Remembered, SAQA’s 2009 exhibit SAQA@20: Art and Excellence. Multiple Venues until 2010

Bubble of Time, ARTQUILTS transitions, Semans Galleries at the Durham Arts Council, Durham, NC

Angels Do Listen, SAQA Auction/ sold

Surface Design Association’s news

A Thousand Wishes, Surface Design Association’s Members Show

Perception Published, Surface Design Association’s Journal, Exposure

 All the Best 

 

Breaking Free

Breaking Free

‘The Day is yours.” My husband quips.

I am unburdened at the moment from worrying thoughts, loved one’s dilemma’s, even my usual mad dog push, push, push.

“Relax, I say. “ How is it I feel like I’m sitting upon a rockin

g lid under which boils my tempestuous creative drive.

Sometimes I feel like a spinning top with an arm extending out every so often to tweak an art piece, paint fabric, create a digital collage, and come up with yet another way to display fiber art to a curious public.

Ideas whirl though my head.

“Focus.” Says one of my mentors, “Only this moooment”.

“This Moment- and this and this!” I respond!

This day, a bubble in the weeks of planned activities. This day, a day of my own, without focus, direction, or plans. A chasm to be filled at my discretion. What joy!

I walk though my studio gathering items intuitively. My art jour

nal, a pile of snipped out images of art and other stuff from magazines I buy to expose my yearning for beauty. My glue stick and pen.

These journals mirror to me what I like, what inspires me, provide a directional compass.

Outside into the glorious sun coolly lit in the first hints of Autumn. I sit and begin to turn pages. I see notes from years past, re-pasted in each new journal. Journals handmade, sewn with curses and love. I just turn the rich pages- absorbing, reminding, revisiting.

 And the magic happens. 

In Company of the Muses

I can get thrilled to bits on viewing arrangements of objects in an artful way. On a recent trip to Japan to visit one son, Patrick,  whilst (don't you love that word) with my eldest son, Jon-  I saw beauty everywhere. Japan, being a relatively small country, treasures the space it has. I will share a few images here and later on in the year as well. These will perhaps spark a new viewpoint. 

I hope you enjoy them as I have!

Time for SAQA's Auction

SAQA 2009 Benefit Auction 
This year's Benefit Auction will start Thursday, September 10th at 2:00 Eastern.  SAQA has already received 214 donated artworks and more are on the way.  All the artwork is 12" x 12".  You can see them on the SAQA website.

http://www.saqa.com/newsebulletins/Squares09_1.aspx  
Mine is on the first page. It's called Angels will Listen.

Fall Workshop and Events in NH, ME & MA areas

Would love to meet you at 

September

As part of Wen’s Fabric Transformations Workshop Series, she will offer the ever-popular Fabric Painting and Innovative Stamping Workshops at Exeter Fine Crafts on September 18 and 19.

AND

Thermal Facts Workshop

Thermal Fax screens are detailed silk screens made form B&W photographs, or drawings. Any image you can think of! Your own photographs can be converted into silk screens!

An artistic compliment to your photographic fiber art.

Suggestions of Communication

In Boats They Fled 2007 full & detailI enjoy adding text to my work. I have quilted an entire poem on the front of a piece. It's not meant to be read. It becomes texture, something to be felt. Sometimes I use photo transfers, or thermal fax silkscreens of interesting writing or symbols to add metallic letters. I developed an automatic writing I dubbed 'wenscript' for lack of a better name. It involves writing with acrylic ink, paint or just stitching. I simply just start to write and keep going, without making any effort to make 'words', making a suggestion of communication.

Conception 2007

for examples, also see posts on March 30, April 21, October 1. 2008, March 5,7 2009

My Window

 

I love using my photographs in my fiber work.  I print them on a variety of surfaces and fabric, make them into Thermal fax silkscreens ( see posts Jan 12 09, Dec 10 08 for details ) or work them into new images in photoshop. Inspiration can be generated by walks at the beach or in my woods, travels, driving in the car, just about anywhere.

My bedroom window faces east, waking me with wonderful surprises. I have used images taken there in a number of pieces and will continue. I thought I would share, from time to time, some of the photographs that inspire me, whether or not they end up in work. 

My Window, a silk organza piece. Sunrise and Raindrops.

Piecing in the Flow

For many years I taught an intuitive piecing workshop. The focus of the workshop was to teach direct cutting into fabric without prior thought, ruler or pattern. Piecing was taught using a really simple curved piecing method. Assembling fabrics that worked together with a few for contast was a key design clue.  Once you got into the act of cutting and piecing, you begin to loose your 'decider' self and proceed from your basic instincts of color and design, thus creating flow. When I first started this, curved piecing was a relatively new idea. 

Postings showing more of this work from 2/15/09, Blast from the Past, 4/20/09, Batting Average- a short history of batting, 12/4/08 Colors on the Brain  and Piecing in the Flow Workshop At Portsmouth Fabric Co. 3/9/08 which describes the workshop.                                 

Poem below from the early 80's.                                                                   

Tree (2003)

IN THE FLOW                   

I go to my table
Filled with my thoughts and my cloth palette.

Cutting through the fabric,
layers in my mind. 

Opening me,

possibilities,

Spirit finds me! Flow!
Standing back,
I see a new thing.
Collaboration!                                                                  

               

Moon Fog

I just finished mounting a piece, an off spring of my Pages collage series. I really enjoy using my photography in my work viva printing, transfers or silkscreens. This is a really old photo from the 70's that I scanned and printed onto silk organza. It was fused with more dyed organza, painted stabilizer and scrim. I stitched into it and highlighted sections with copper paint stick. I decided black stitching would be too distracting to the dreamy mood. Any comments?

Pages, a new Collage Series

I just finished a new series of surface designed fabric collages. They are fused and stitched, then mounted to 6x6 artist canvas. The backs are covered and fitted with wire- ready for hanging. The stitching motif is a variation on a circle, so when purchased as a group or for display, they present as unified.

I am really seriously happy with the results and will probably continue.

I will place them on my Etsy shop very soon. 

I hope you like them too!

Defining Style

Before I Knew You 2008

I think artists find their style by following their heart or muse. Trying different medias may lead to a style or a style could be a combination of different medias with subject or color schemes as the unifying factor. I use lots of fabric painting and surface design in my pieces, including intuitive stitching.

I Came Singing   2008

 I also enjoy working with imagery in photoshop and printing on fabrics. I think when viewing my work that they come from one vision.

Its not the style that matters, it's the tapping into flow that takes you to your style.

Art from the heart.

Driving Force

"Passion will make it happen."  Those of us old enough will perhaps recognize the words from FlashDance- one of my favorite movies. An untraditional dancer braves a traditional audition, with encouragement from an attractive admirer. Ah. Kinda of like the Modern Art Quilt/Textile Movement in the world today. We have struggled and gotten all kinds of things accepted that were forbidden just 25 years ago, machine quilting ( a biggie), free or unbound collage, painting on fabric, surface design of all varieties and my favorite, digital fabric printing. We are a moving and shaking force and expanding. "May the force be with you!" (another movie quote- guess?)

                 A new piece called A Thousand Wishes, recently exhibited at SDA Conference. Painted cotton duck and printed manipulated photo. The photo was reprinted on silk organza and sliced after sewing on top of piece. Not sure I'll repeat this, but it was fun to experiment!

Can't Resist? Leaves, feathers and String, Oh My!

Recently I held a Resists Workshop that is part of my Fabric Transformations  Series. 

We had a blast. We started with resists you apply and wash out, then moved on to removable masks and finished with discharge.   Pictured here, from top, is a fleather resist with discharge, leaf resist with spray paint and string and glue.

Sketching with Thread

Last month,  my daughter and I went to view the Fairey Exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. She bought along a artist's pad and sketched some fairly fast drawings. I have always admired people who can render likeness in this manner. This morning, I realized I sketch with my sewing machine. Years ago I would painstakingly draw designs on work with a 'removable' pen and sew along these lines. Then spend a good deal of time erasing them. Gradually I stopped, not even sure when. Now I just place my piece at needles point and start to quilt. This process is very intuitive. Sometimes I'm not crazy about what happens but more often then not, I have a sewn drawing that totally fits the piece. It is about trusting my experience and allowing that 'flow' to happen. Try it, sit down at your machine with a small piece and quilt. Watch out for wide smiles!

Collages on the Go

More! more! MORE! Eh-ha-ha-ha! Here's a few more tiny tid-bits. Collages on the go. Enjoy!

Pause- a new work

Working for the first time in awhile, I feel like an exploding volcano! I want to push my boundaries with my photography.  I worked this piece up in Photoshop using layers. Then, I divided it into 6 printable sizes. Very patchwork, eh! It was fused to a very stiff interfacing and stitched into it. I'm exploring printing on a created substrate, so this work is firm. The process requires working with a new product called ink aid. So far it is very permanent. I will apply medium after I'm finished.  Let me know what you think.

Top is detail, bottom Full View- I'd switch them if I could.

Finding, Watching and New Wonders

Off I go wondering on the web again. Never know what you'll find- lovely to find your work in unexpected places- like this photo at Exeter Fine Crafts Gallery. It's a web announcement they sent out with my work on the mannikin left front and on the wall behind the floral arrangement.

Googling Your Name

Ah, Whatz in a name! 

Last night I was trying to find something about a exhibit and couldn't remember, 

(CMS- Crumbling Mind Syndrome), 

AND so I googled my name. WOW I am on and out 22 pages longs. I found things I didn't know about much less remember. I found my piece done for President Obama's special inauguration exhibit at Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center, Silver Spring, Maryland,on Quilt Visions Newsletter! 

Try it sometime. It was verrry Interesting!

Batting Average- a short history of batting

The choices of what to put between the layers of our creative textile creations, can be confusing. Way back in the 'day', when I first started quilting- I would pretty much use whatever I could find, like old blankets or felt. Being self taught, I just did the natural thing. Historically, blankets covered in tied patchwork were called Haps. One day I decided to wet a finished piece and throw it into the dryer to 'pouf' it up so the stitching would stand out. I liked this so much I continued until I forgot to pre-wash a piece of old red blanket. Well, I had a result I really didn't appreciate much.  I was still hand quilting and appliqueing then and disasters like this were not worth the risk anymore!  So the search was on for a 'new' batting. In 1980, I was introduced to a 

new quilting guild. They used polyester batting and I gave it a whirl. I didn't like it at all. It stuck to my fingers, was difficult to hand quilt and the finished quilt seemed stiff and decidedly un-blanket like. SO, I moved on to try cotton. This batting needed to be quilted every 2 inches or it would shift. Thats when I decided to learn to machine quilt, which was not accepted then. It was untraditional. BUT, I figured, if the ladies hand stitching quilts had machines to quilt with, they would have. So, off I went, hunching over the machine, learning to quilt. BUT cotton was limp and unattractive for wall-hanging quilt batting. SO, I tried wool, which stitched well, smelled wonderful and had good body but was ex-pen-sive! Then, cotton natural, a needled cotton batt was introduced. It was firmer and didn't need lots of intensive stitching. I used this for many years and still have some I pull out for certain projects. I've also tried fusible battings which are quick and easy but seem to work best for small projects. I even made a transparent organza pieced quilt with organza inside to meet the 3 layers criteria of some exhibits. That was fun as it was an interior collage of sorts. My current favorites are stabilizers. They come in a variety of thickness and I like choosing just the right one for the project at hand. It is amusing for this old batt to review the progression of all the different kinds of battings I've used. I guess you could say I'm batting a thousand!

Check out Fog Rising on the Textile Source Blog: Celebrating Textile Design and Innovation! Too very cool!

Best Thinking

Following a thought...

Where do you do your best thinking? Where do those ideas, inspirations and sudden flashes of creativity come from?

 I get some of my best ideas on walks. I can jog out of the house in a burst of frustration and churn up the tunes until I get to a very steady incline near a heavily wooded part of the road. Then, slowing down, I take in the scene- the birds, deer sign, trees, the way the sky looks, you know.  I just melt into the surroundings. It calms my mind and then the magic happens. A idea will pop up or a solution to a piece I am working on.  This peace and excitement are part of my art. Those feelings from that place becomes the energy I use to work. It propels me forward. It is an essential part of my art.