voyage @ the schmidt art center

June 4 - July 30, 2015

Schmidt Art Center
Southwestern Illinois College
2500 Carlyle Ave.
Belleview, IL  (618) 222-5ART

Schmidt Art Center

ROW, ROW, ROW, an installation of 260 paper boats.

ARTIFACTS from the Seven Seas

material pleasures preview

It is with great pleasure that I present ... drumroll ... MATERIAL PLEASURES.  This is a sneak peek. The opening reception is Friday, August 15 from 6-8 pm at Orr Street Studio, 106 Orr Street, Columbia, MO.  Hope to see you.

L to R: Bonnie Ahrens, Carol Ann Parker, Amy Schomaker, Laurie Harper,
Ruth Walker (dimensional wet felting); Janet Ghio (embroidery)

L to R: Carol Zeman, Leandra Spangler, Barbara Overby, Victoria Weaver,
 Rebecca Douglas, Amy Schomaker, Barbara Overby, Jo Stealey,
 Ann McGinity, Jennifer Wax.

L to R:  Vicki Smith, Jennifer Wax, Ann McGinity, Jo Stealey, Amy Schomaker,
Barbara Overby, Carol Zeman, Ann McGinity, Debbie Prost, Victoria Weaver

Top:  Rebecca Douglas
Bottom: Ann McGinity

L to R:  Victoria Weaver, Vicki Smith

L to R:  Carol Zeman, Ann McGinity, Debbie Prost

Leandra Spangler

L to R:  Barbara Overby, Jennifer Wax, Debbie Prost,
Carol Zeman, Victoria Weaver

what have I been doing?

I make regular informative, insightful and often clever contributions to this blog.  The disparity is between thinking about and actually writing them down.

It has been over six months since my last actual post.  During that time I have traveled, made proposals for exhibitions (been accepted and rejected), attended art receptions (mine and others), installed and deinstalled exhibitions, entered juried exhibitions (been accepted and rejected), attended the Missouri Fiber Artists conference (and two board meetings), taken a workshop and curated an exhibition.

MATERIAL PLEASURES is an exhibition of contemporary fiber art hosted by Orr Street Studios gallery space at 106 Orr Street, in Columbia, MO.  

photo from February after initial meeting to discuss the exhibition

Orr Street Studio Gallery Hours:

THURSDAY 12-3 PM

FRIDAY 12-3 PM

SATURDAY 12-3 PM

SUNDAY 10 AM -1 PM 

teapots 7 catalog

Teapots 7 an invitational exhibition at the Morgan Glass Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA.  Two of my pieces, ANTIQUI-T and ZIGGI-T are included in the show.  This is a mixed media show and several of the teapots are "fiber related". 

You can access the catalog online at: http://morganglassgallery.com/shows/teapots7_13.htm  The download button is halfway down the page.

I'm honored to have been invited to participate in this exhibition.  I wish I could see all of these wonderful forms in person, but time and distance ... sigh --- I'll enjoy it through the catalog.

wowza

Wowza, look what I just found:http://www.theyeiser.org/exhibits/fantastic-fibers-2013

Fantastic Fibers 2013

Now an American Quilter's Society sanctioned event, FANTASTIC FIBERS is an international competitive exhibition that seeks to showcase a wide range of outstanding works related to the fiber medium. In five years Fantastic Fibers has grown to a truly international competition/exhibition.

Last year’s Fantastic Fibers 2012 Exhibit had nearly 400 entries submitted by 159 fiber artists from 10 different countries. 53 works by 43 fiber artists were chosen for the exhibit.

Fantastic Fibers 2013 is hosted by the Yeiser Art Center, Paducah’s Gateway to the Arts. Located in downtown Paducah, the Yeiser Art Center is a non-profit visual arts organization celebrating more than fifty years of serving the community through exhibitions and education throughout the Tri-State Region.

I was packaging UNFOLDING for shipping today and checked the Yeiser Art Center webpage for the address. I'm thrilled to see my piece included on the Yeiser Art Center's Fantastic Fibers 2013 web page!  Yahoo!

spotting the show

Fiber artists and friends, Pat Owoc, Jackie Weatherly, Jennifer Wax and I met on a recent Sunday afternoon with gallery director, Robert Friedman, at the Davis Art Gallery on the Stephens College campus in Columbia, MO.  

Our purpose was to deliver the silk paintings, stitchings, art quilts, bojagi and sculptural vessels for the BIENNIAL FIBER ARTS & QUILT SHOW.  

After unpacking, unrolling and unwrapping we arranged, moved, squinted and imagined how everything would look up off the floor.

Satisfied and trusting Robert's vision, we left him to hang the show.

fantastic fibers

UNFOLDING was juried into Fantastic Fibers 2013 at the Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, KY.  I'm thrilled. 

The Yeiser Art Center received more than 700 entries from around the world for the 2013 Fantastic Fibers competition and exhibition.  Of those 700, juror Rusty Freeman, Director of Visual Arts at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mt. Vernon, Ill., selected 54 works for this year’s exhibition. Artists were accepted from Canada, Egypt, France, Israel, South Korea, Taiwan, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and 20 states from the United States.

When I first became interested in entering juried exhibitions, over twenty years ago, Fantastic Fibers at the Yeiser Art Center was one of the few fiber specific exhibitions.  I entered a number of times and was rejected.  

Last year, SERENI_T was accepted for exhibition in Fantastic Fibers 2012.

This sculptural form brings to mind the moment of release, unfurling or bursting open.  The twined reed and wire armature is covered with highly textured paper and many layers of paint.

Fantastic Fibers 2013

April 6 - May 4, 2013

Yeiser Art Center

Paducah, KY 

shipped to the foundry art centre

Today I shipped two pieces to the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles, MO.  PIQUANT and BLUESTAR 0110 were juried into "PaperWork In, On, and Of Paper VI."  I'm thrilled and honored to be part of this exhibition.

PaperWork In, On, and Of Paper VI is a juried art exhibition featuring two-dimensional and three-dimensional artworks that use paper as the main component of expression. The exhibition runs Friday, February 8 – Friday, March 22, 2013 and is free to the public and open for viewing during regular FAC hours. St. Louis paper artist Betty Shew has selected an excellent collection of paper pieces for PaperWork VI and the exhibition’s award winners will be announced at the opening reception. The opening reception is Friday, February 8, 2013 from 6-8pm. The public can enjoy free food & drink along with artful conversation and observation. The artist studios on the second level of the Foundry will also be open to the public for visiting. Admission, as always, is free. For more information, please call 636-255-0270 or visit foundryartcentre.org.

PIQUANT

BLUESTAR 0110

timless fiber @ third degree glass in st. louis

TRUSSWORTHY (left) and RUBESCENT (right) have been juried into Timeless Fiber 2012 @  Third Degree Glass Gallery in St. Louis.  The Weavers Guild of St. Louis and Third Degree Glass are collaborating for the second year to present a juried exhibition of contemporary fiber art.

From my artist statement:

TRUSSWORTHY is a columnar form of twined reed covered with highly textured cotton handmade paper.  Connecting with the past, the surface is embellished with “women’s” stuff, which I found in my grandmother’s sewing machine drawers.  Many of these things are now, thankfully, considered “vintage”.

RUBESCENT is a columnar form of twined reed covered with highly textured cotton handmade paper.   The surface is “expanded” by cutting through the woven reed wall “exposing” an interior of glass beads.  While stitching the beads, I was reminded of pomegranates and corn, both symbols of prosperity and fruitfulness.

succulent from timeless fiber 2011

I was reviewing/revising my artist statement for the upcoming TIMELESS FIBER 2012 exhibition and ran across my statement from last year.  Since I didn't post about it then, here it is.  

SUCCULENT

       

         I am intrigued by the way light falls on a surface creating highlights and shadow.  My earliest artwork using handmade paper explored textured papers and their edges; investigating the way light and shadow identifies the raised, indented and wrinkled surface.  Twenty plus years later, I am still creating complex surfaces, which reflect light, in rich variations of tone and value.

        When challenged to create work for an invitational exhibition titled, “Xtreme Baskets,” I recognized a subtle shift in my thinking -- from “sculptural basketry” to “sculptural forms with openings”.  This change in approach opened new opportunities, as the forms were no longer “required” to have an opening at the top or to stand up straight. 

        SUCCULENT is a result of this less restrained attitude.  Conceived as a spiral rather than a sphere, the armature began with wire and reed was used to add volume, instead of beginning as a woven reed form.  Heavily textured handmade paper of black denim spans the structure enclosing space.  Many layers of paint embellish the surface.  A second sculptural form of randomly woven reed nests within, acknowledging the intermutual relationships in our lives.