Tuesday, October 21, 2014

FOR THE BLOG HOP

hophophop hophophophop hophophophophop hophophop hophop hop

                 Whoa, that sure puts me in a hoppin' mood!  Gotta love this bunn!

I have been asked to be part of the Around the World Blog Hop by Lee Anna Paylor, creator of the blog NOT AFRAID OF COLOR.  And believe me, she isn't.  The idea is to have a never ending blog hop all over the world.  So, here is South Florida chiming in!  I really enjoyed Lee Anna's blog because she also talks about her life experiences and things that make her happy as well as annoyances.  Her life experiences turn into blog fodder, so much fun to find myself nodding my head in agreement!  I have never been a fan of deadly serious art blogs talking about professionalism and the business of art.  This is all stuff each person has to find out for themselves because everybody has different life plans, different energy, and different self-esteem!  Some of the biggest blow-hards manage to produce the worst art.  You'll have a good time over there with Lee Anna!


1. What am I working on?

Right now I am trying to clear the decks in my house because we are trying to sell it-  all the 'chowder' has arrived in my studio which means I've had to move stuff around to make room.  My husband just now brought over another pick-up truck full right after I snapped this mess.  I know the disco ball isn't going to make it...  I'm very lucky to have the space to move junk to while the house is on the market to fool then lookers that I live a neat and tidy life-  wish I could leave the dogs here too!  It all makes accessing things in my shelves a bit difficult.

what a mess

But that isn't what the question asked, so here is a little detail of what I'm wrestling with now- Kantha stitching:
This is taking way too long, don't know why I started it other than I had made a woven landscape piece I was pretty unhappy with.  Stay tuned to see if I can pull it out of it's hole!  The IDEA is that I am trying to modify colors and soften edges with the stitching.  What is happening in REAL LIFE is that I'm in over my head and tolerance levels, 
and kinda bored with this whole thing, especially threading that thick thread through a tiny needle over and over and over.  Frankly this was started as a sort of 'placeholder' to work on while the rest of my life was upside down.  Trouble is that things are getting right side up again and I have this self imposed rule that I have to finish a thing before I start a New Thing.  'Finishing' on this might simply be me declaring,
"ENOUGH SANDY, LET''S MOVE IT ONWARD!"  (and folding it up)


2. How does my work differ from others in its genre?

I don't think anything I do resembles anything else in any genre  (three 'anys' in one sentence!)  Basically I don't repeat pieces, prefer to explore and try new things with every piece.  If you go up to the '
QUILTISH' tab in the menu bar you can check a few of the more recent pieces I've finished.  Some things do repeat, like my complete obsession of twins, but each twin piece is different, different techniques, different materials even though all come from vintage photographs I find and use my unending stash of vintage fabrics.  All my textile work is basically collage.  So's my encaustic work, and also the books.


3. Why do I create what I do?

I only do what I want to do any more, never play to a show theme-  if I have something that fits I send it along.  I'm in the end part of 40+ years doing work with fabric so making stuff is just an ingrained part of my life.  I simply can't NOT do it.  I can't stand to do blocks in a piece, I am bored at the second one!  My side passion is artists' books.  It transitions nicely from my collaged fabric and collaged and encaustic papers, plus I can actually print the story alongside my work!  I've taken a couple of basic classes to learn the forms but now, like quilting, I prefer to explore and re-invent the wheel again and again!  Now go to the 'Collages, Encaustics, Artists Books' page up there in the menu bar.
4. How does my creative process work?

I'll talk about the process for the 'Twins' series here-  first I find a compelling photograph-  usually it very tiny because snapshots from the early part of the century weren't big.  I actually like that I can't see details because it allows me freedom to make changes, modify, add or leave out details.  For instance, the two middle aged women dressed in bathing suits and Cuban heels was taken in front of a garage door-  I felt they needed to be on a beach so I added that to the full sized drawing I make as a template.  If I need to make a pattern for a part of it, say the shape of a bathing suit, I trace it off onto tracing paper and use that as my pattern-  I don't make patterns for the whole piece.  I wing it.  Then I do the background first and sew it to a backing fabric before I add the women.  Sometimes I appliqué by hand, sometimes I raw edge machine stitch, and sometimes I just fuse pieces down.  OK, I admit sometimes I glue too.  I don't see the 'Twins' as finished, there are 6 now in the series and I don't currently have a compelling photograph to work from-  but I know one will appear when I'm ready to start something new.  Maybe boy twins next.  



The final cool part of the blog hop is to pick two other quilters-

and of course I can't do that-  so instead I have picked FIVE OTHER ARTISTS, all of them somewhat connected to quilting, but like me, off on their own 'thing'.  

I want you to go visit Terry Grant over at And Sew it Goes.  Terry is an amazing graphic designer who just returned from a fabulous trip to Spain, so her blog is full of her photography.  I've been watching her for a long time and I can guarantee these photographs are going to reappear as her meticulous quilts.  She overdyes commercial fabrics to be used in her work. Terry draws digitally every day and it's fun to see that work develop too.
 
Next, I want to refer you to Ragged Cloth Cafe, a blog written by a group of quilters about art in all varieties.  This has been around for a long time, with contributors cycling in and out and back again so viewpoints and information is always changing and interesting.  For instance, the current article by Olga Norris is about endpapers in books, fascinating! 
To see some embroidery work by Susan Lenz, try her main blog or go poke around at one of her other blogs like THIS-  I just realized that all my suggestions are for artists who work with discarded and recycled fabrics, and Susan is no exception-  I guess that's what initially attracted me to her gigantic tablecloth installation and her massive thread collection hanging in baskets from the ceiling!  Be prepared to spend lots of time here.  There is a great process series on that second link I sent. 
One more MUST SEE, is Teddy Pruett's blog.  Teddy also uses 'found' materials to make her story quilts and when you study them for a few minutes your sides will split from the humor included.  Teddy is also a certified quilt appraiser so she has a very scholarly side she saves for that work.  
And finally, for a completely different take on quilting arts, you must see Deb Lacativa's blog, More Whiffs, Glimmers, and Left Oeuvres.  Deb dyes and discharges fabric she finds and uses her pieces to build up layers and layers of fabrics as you would add paint to an abstract painting.  Her work is nonobjective, but it always has meanings and secrets she works in to surprise.  She sells both her dyed fabric and her completed works off her site.
                                                  Tell 'em all I sent you! 

now I have to go find a squirrel for tomorrow's post...

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