The opening reception is tomorrow, Thursday, from 5-7.
Mitchell Giddings Fine Art
183 Main Street, Brattleboro Vermont
I’ll be there! All that’s left for me to do is decide what to wear…
Seed Dreaming V will be there,too!
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“Hidden Agenda” opens tomorrow
August 17, 2016“Hidden Agenda”
July 20, 2016I’m excited to announce that my solo show with the catchy title above (courtesy of my son) opens at Mitchell Giddings Fine Art gallery in Brattleboro Vermont on August 18th ! It will be up until September 18th. I will be giving an artist talk (along with my friend and basketmaker extrordinaire, Jackie Abrams, on Saturday, September 17th 5-7.
I spent yesterday morning getting new work photographed by my wonderful new photographer, Al. I was impressed with the results! Here’s one of the new pieces that will be hanging in the show.
Seed Dreaming VI
If you can, please come see the show and to my talk and let me know what you think!
A Deadline Motivates!
July 4, 2016The opening of my solo show at Mitchell Giddings Fine Art gallery is 6 weeks away. Despite trying to balance my day job and my elderly Mom here for the summer, I find I’m being much more productive during the precious minutes of studio time I can carve out.
detail-in progress
No dilly-dallying! No endless indecisiveness and tortured second guessing! It all feels a bit scary but so satisfying!
The first two large convex seeds are mounted (with rigid rug padding inside) and the third one is mostly finished. I’ve also simultaneously begun working on several smaller pieces for the show. This is all such a revolution in my usual only-work-on-one-piece-at-a-time style.
Once the show is hung and my mom has left, I wonder if I can somehow keep myself creating in this way…
Shfaqja II in Albania!
May 25, 2016Or..Emergence II in English.
Emergence II
As I’ve written before, this piece was selected by the US State Department’s Art in Embassies progam to hang in Tirana, Albania. What an honor! I forgot that they also publish a small beautiful booklet for each exhibit and I got my copies yesterday complete with English/Albanian translation. A bonus was the cover image by amazing fiber artist and painter Deidre Adams.
Deidre Adams cover
Tirana artist statement
Shafaqja II
Taking shape-literally
May 13, 2016
I’ve decided that these new seed creations would each have a gentle convex shape that would emphasis it’s design and structure.
I toyed with the idea of using wire mesh underneath to create the form but I felt I wanted to keep things soft. So using wool batt, a form was made. Then came the (for me) tough problem of how to insure this form would push out the front and not the back! I mickey moused a solution. I’m sure there’s some professional way to do this (if you know please clue me in!).
I’m in the process of dyeing a piece of background charmeuse silk for each seed. A color is auditioning to the left. I’m planning on heavily stitching each background piece and then hand sewing the seed on.
And I have sketches for the third seed shape.
On a roll!
Construction Zone
April 21, 2016
big seed 2 detail
I’m on to working on the second large “dreaming seed” and really enjoying the process. I’m hoping to have at least three ready for my upcoming solo show at Mitchell-Giddings Fine Arts (in August-stay tuned for details!).
Each seed has a unique interior dream going on but they will all share a similar color pallette. I’ve never before attempted to create individual pieces that also have a close connection with each other and that will (hopefully) together have a larger visual impact.
Lots of decisions looming, though, about how to mount and hang these. So I’m completing each seed first.
Will I mount each one on stitched fabric or on rigid frames or plexiglass or perhaps bowed out on mesh armatures or…lots of ideas! The brilliant folks in my Art Crit group and in my Fiber Crit group (yes, I’m blessed with two!) all have showered me with a dazzling amount of wild ideas! It’s all percolating and I find myself trying out ideas in my head at odd times during my days-my usual laboriously slow decision process.
The latest Seed Dreaming
February 21, 2016I’m working on a continuation of my Seed Dreaming series with some new twists. These will be large stand alone seeds which will then be mounted (somehow…working on lots of options at the moment) on a fixed silk covered frame for hanging. I’m hoping to have at least 3 or 4 done for my upcoming solo show at Mitchell Giddings Fine Art in August.
Here’s a detail of the first completed seed:
new seed- detail
Group Show opening
February 6, 2016…at the beautiful Mitchell Giddings gallery in Brattleboro, VT on February 11th. I will have work up alongside creations from many amazing artists. I’ll be at the opening! Details below.
The Spaces Between VI will be there!
Under Construction
January 19, 2016It seems I often grumble about how difficult it is for me to gather enough clarity and confidence to actually jump in and start a new piece. So for a change, I thought I’d focus on the sweet place of being in the middle.
seed construction zone
Lots of ideas a poppin’. Every time I walk past my design wall (which is in my bedroom!), I want to try a new placement or color or fabric or juxtaposition. Nothing linear here… Just lovely chaos!
And though I will still have moments of doubt, the general feeling is one of excited possibility.
This is why I keep at this art thing.
Regrets…I’ve Had a Few…
December 27, 2015…but unlike Frank, I have way too many to mention!
Sometimes, when looking at a stunning work of art, I am amazed at the sureness of hand and clarity of vision of the artist. My (hopefully wrong) assumption is that she or he moved forward step by step in an enviably linear fashion to arrive at this balance of line, color and composition in front of me.
My process is messy. Full of confident, full of beans decisions that result, days later, in ripped out stitches and frayed fabric (and confidence). These false starts often do result in new ideas that I’m happier with but I rarely remember that as I’m ripping those stitches out. Years later, I can look at one of my pieces and still see places where I should have headed in some other direction.
A highly valued tool!
Scott Adams (of Dilbert) said:
“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
That second part’s a bear sometimes. Am I right?
