Restructured Circles #3

I finished this piece about a month ago and submitted it for a local show. No luck. It would have been nice to show it, but for some reason I'm not terribly disappointed that I don't have delivery, pickup, and reception on my to do list. Go figure. This is the 3rd completed piece in my "Restructured Circles" art quilt series. The marks are made entirely by discharge and I very happy with the results. The piecing is minimal, by which I mean it's 2 pieces. It doesn't get much more minimal.

When I finished the piece I stood back and said, "OMG it's a cairn." I've been taking pictures of rocks for years, and in the last few years have really become fascinated with stacked rocks. I think this might be the beginning of something. A new direction or a course refinement? To be determined.

All set for the Greenbelt Art+Craft fair

Sherill and I are all setup for the Greenbelt Festival of Lights Art + Craft Fair. For a first attempt booth I'm very pleased. As it worked out it's pretty much exactly a 50/50 mix of her work and mine. The framed work on the wall is Sherill's cut paper--just fantastic stuff. She's also got books and other paper work. She also make small purses and other things out of some my hand dyed and printed cloth from my scrap pile. I'll have to post some more detailed pictures of them. I wasn't sure what to expect, but they are terrific and absolutely cool. For my part is just miles of scarves--miles. I've very happy with the result of my recent work and I'm hoping for a good show.

Now I just need a drink, a little snack, and someplace to park my rear for a little while before bed. It'll be an early start tomorrow.

My new Etsy store is live

My new online store on Etsy went live quietly last week and I've been adding to it ever sense. I just announced it for the first time yesterday and I'm happy to say I've made my first sale. Frankly, this is way more effort that I expected it to be, but it's worth it because I didn't have to do any of the programming work. That's a fair trade, even with the listing costs.

Stop by and take a look at etsy.com/shop/russlittlefiberart.

Getting ready

I feel like I'm getting ready for so many things. That might or might not be a good thing. I think sometimes I use "getting ready"-- the act of collecting, gathering, studying -- as an excuse for not starting. Lately, however, I find myself getting ready for things that are going to happen no matter what. I spent 2 full days this weekend printing, dyeing, and discharging cloth because I'm getting ready for my first craft show, which is coming up in December. I'm also getting ready for the Art Cloth Network meeting later this week in St. Petersburg, FL. That means packing, but also finishing the Treasurer's report, collecting cloth to bring, and finishing my presentation. None of these things is truly monumental, but collectively...well let's just say that I've been busy.

No pictures of new art tonight, but there's plenty on the way and I hope to share some pictures of work in progress over the next several weeks.

On Point added to the "What Remains" show

We had a wonderful artists reception this past Sunday for "What Remains." The turnout was good and everyone seemed very interested in the work. It was also nice to get to talk to some of my fellow artists in residence for a little while. Even though we all have studios in the same general space, our schedules are different and, to be honest, when we're there we're working. Many of us hardly see each other. Because Sunday was originally supposed to be the end of the run for the show (before it got extended), a couple people had work that was already promised to buyers or other shows. That left us with a couple of holes. Lucky me. I was able to add my quilt "On Point" to the show. It's never been shown before and I'm very happy for it to get a wider public viewing.

I think it's particularly appropriate for this show because, in addition to my own hand dyed cloth, it includes "remains" of commercial cloth that I used to make things that I wore around the house while recovering from surgery a couple years ago.

Finally finished: Part 4

OK. This is the last of the series of finally completed work, but I promise that there's more to come. These two pieces are called, "Sedona #1" and "Sedona #2". They're the first installments in a little mini-series inspired by a few days spent hiking in Sedona, Arizona earlier this summer. They each measure 30" w X 72" h. They're art cloth (cotton broadcloth) with a rod pocket at the top. They incorporate painting with thickened dye, low water immersion dyeing, soy wax resist, bound and stitched resist, and discharge with both chlorine and thiox.

 

Finally finished: Part 3

But wait, there's more. This one is called "Restructured Circles #2," which of course means it's another member of my "Restructured Circles" series. I have to say that I really love this piece. It's not heavily pieces, but it didn't need to be. It started out, as all of the pieces in this series will, as a whole cloth. It was then cut up and reassembled. In this case nothing happened to it after the reassembly other than quilting. The quilting is closely spaced echos following the general shape of the circular forms.

I'm pleased with the line quality and the feeling of the brush strokes, some of which I applied directly to the cloth and others indirectly through a silk screen. I also got where I wanted to be in terms of value and balance.

Finally finished: Part 2

This is the next installment in the series of recently finished work. It's called "Restructured Circles #1." I'm not sure that's the most evocative name, but it's part of a series by that name. I'm happy with both the concept and the result, and I'm looking forward to continuing this series for awhile.

The quilting is equally spaced parallel lines with a few lines intersecting at obtuse angles in the lower left. I used a mixture of variegated and light solid colored thread to create a visual variation in the quilting.

Finally finished: Part 1

This is the first of several posts showing newly finished work. This one is called "Line and Rhythm." I finished the quilt top probably two years ago, but have only recently completed the quilting. Like several recent pieces, the quilting here is very dense, about 1/4" spacing. I love the texture it creates.

I like this piece very much and have yet to make anything quite like it. I hope to get back to this sometime to use it as a starting point for a series. Actually, I can say that about several of pieces. Getting them photographed and getting some distance is allowing me to to see better what's working and what's not and to think about how individual pieces can inspire future work. Yes, of course, I know that I'm supposed to do that along the way--and I do take photos of work in progress. But, sometimes it seems that only at the very end--and sometimes only ofter considerable time has past--can I see the connection between one piece and something to follow.

UPDATED 9/21: In response to Judy's request, here's a detail shot of as well. Forgive the color balance and quality. It's an iPhone quickie.

By the time that I quilted this piece I'd switched to Aurifil 50 weight Mako cotton thread for quilting and I just love it. I was using Gutermann before. It's not bad thread per se, but the Aurifil is just so very superior. It's wonderfully fine. It feeds beautifully through the machine and there's virtually no lint (except of course from the batting). There's no local source around here that I know of so I've been mail ordering from Red Rock Threads in Nevada (redrockrockthreads.com).

Home By Another Way

The biennial  Greenbelt Community Center Artists-in-Residence show, "What Remains" opened in the first floor gallery on Aug 26 and runs through Oct 2. If you're local to the the DC Metro area do try to see this show. I think the work is particularly strong. I'm grateful to Greenbelt for the support they provide to me and my fellow artists.

"Home By Another Way," which I've worked on for more of this year than I'm going to admit (too many distractions), is my interpretation of the show's theme, "What Remains." This piece literally grew from the remains of a failed composition. It taught me a lot and I'm happy with the final work.

The three panels of the triptych measure about 6 feet across in total.