The Moth's Journey
When moths ate holes in my favourite garments, I got my revenge -- not
just by giving the garments new life in this quilted piece, but also
by making a "moth", in fabric, for each of the holes in the piece. They
have flown into the flame and met their end. |
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The Whole World is a Narrow Bridge
This piece was inspired by a famous Hebrew quote attributed to Rabbi
Nachman of Bratslav, which states: "The whole world is a narrow bridge,
but the main thing is not to fear." The planks of my bridge, therefore,
are made up of map fabric and quilted to resemble wood grain. The fringes
that hang from the four corners are tied in the same way as the tzitzit
which hang from the four corners of a tallit (traditional Jewish prayer
shawl). These tzitzit are a reminder of God's presence in our lives
and our commitment to God's commandments. When one is constantly mindful
of God's presence, the narrow bridge of life becomes far less frightening.
(Each plank of the bridge is approx 1" x 5") |
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7 Little Pears
Recently I saw and held some wonderful and inspiring artist's books,
so as part of this challenge I thought I'd make one of my own. I also
took the opportunity to explore the use of straight stitch as a drawing
tool. The pear shape has been a recurrent theme for me since I started
on my artistic path late last year and the quilt units were intended
to be a warm up prior to starting on the real work. However, I found
the little pears to be charming in their own right, so I couldn't resist
using them in my very own artist's book. |
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Life is What Happens When You're Planning Other Things
The fabric is polychomatic screened and hand dyed pongee silk using Procion
H Fiber Reactive Dyes. I chose to make a Moebius Strip which begins as
a long rectangle given 1/2 twist and joined together on the ends. When
the Moebius Strip is cut in half though the middle of the strip, is does
not become 2 separate circles but rather a longer Moebius Strip. M. C.
Escher frequently uses Moebius Strips in his work because of the illusion
that you can't explain which side is the front or back. |
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Garrowby’s Hearth
I designed Garrowby's Hearth to hang in the long, narrow space between
the top of our fireplace and the bottom of the mantel. Above our mantel
hangs a print of David Hockney's Garrowby's Hill. I really enjoyed the
process of creating a "companion piece." The shapes of the trees, the
undulating hills and the road leading off into the distance are common
to both pieces. This project inspired me to continue to look at other
artists' work as a spring board for my own ideas and designs. |
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Without title
My idea was to break this shape into two focal points, one primary and
one secondary. I aimed also to keep the eye moving by the distribution
of these focal points the placement of the different fabrics. I filled
in the rest of the space with "straight and narrow" strips. |
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Color Dance
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Karst Fall
This is another piece in a series I've been working on involving Karst
rock formations that are local to this region of the US. The Ozark Mountains
consist of layers of limestone created when this area was an ancient
sea. Years of water wearing the layers away create caves and weathering
of exposed rocks. Water continues to effect the natural landscape, shaping
and molding it into interesting formations. I attempt to create this
natural effect by curving piecing and added embellishments of specialty
yarns and fibers. I created an effect of the water spilling off the quilt
by the use of beads. |
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Gossip Time 5
Lately I've been drawn to congregations of birds, hanging around a feeder
or the shoreline. They appear to be catching up on the latest avian news.
Through drawing them, I've learned to be looser in my rendition, capturing
their spirit if not their details. The background is antique silk moiré.
The tree is made of pieces of composted cottons. The birds are hand dyed
silk. All stitching was done by machine. |
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Silk Sculpture I
I had these silks and had wanted to use them in a piece. I also had been
playing with putting mirrors in a quilt. The smallest squares are mirror
tiles set in silk. The piece just evolved from those three elements.
Silk with cotton batting and backing; machine pieced; hand quilted. |
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How tall am I?
Children who come to my home want to be measured, and I put the measurements
on a tape on the side of my refrigerator, with the names and dates. Not
enough room on my refrigerator! So I devised this measuring quilt, which
is 60 inches - one foot wide and five feet tall. It will hang in my studio
with a chart showing each child's growth. The detail photo is the quilt
backing. |
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Precipitation
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Mobius Interrupted
This quilt is a narrow patchwork of silks, velvets and other fabrics,
each of which has been partially veiled with another transporent or translucent
raw-edged fabric. Foiled shards, hand stitching and beads wind their
way down the length of the quilt. |
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Repitoire in Blue
This center was to evoke the illusion of water. The choice of materials
were picked before the piece was executed. I think choice of material
first helps me invision a design. I tend to create on thego. I decided
to do something of dimensional design because of the freedom it gives
me. Plus the fact the out come of mixing these materials had a storng
appeal to me. I like the dance of the beads and the jewel like illusion
it goves plus the color blue adds a bit of royalty. |
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Striae
Made up of my own hand-dyed cotton muslin and some sheer metallic synthetic
fiber, it is all hand-sewn and quilted although you have to lift the
layers to see the stitching. |
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Ghost Gums
In Australia ghost gum trees rise above the forest canopy, white and
smooth. In California they are grown as landscape trees which, unfortunately,
come down in wet, windy weather. |
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Flowery language - AKA "Up the wall and down the garden path"
The handwriting on the predominant sheer fabric is in French, and it
describes "le jardin," the garden. Half-hidden flowers are sprinkled
along the irregular path, causing the visitor to pause on each stepping
stone to see the layered details more clearly. Originally, these were
individual, hand-stitched collages (without the frames). They didn't
work individually, but they did when grouped. The added hand-stitched
frames keep them visually separated but still connected, much like an
irregular path keeps us connected to the our surroundings. |
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I AM the Vine
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Straight and Narrow Page 1-=-to Page 2
