WIP: "Creating Fabric Landscapes" at Artsjunktion with Heidi "runs with scissors" Hunter

I've been following Heidi Hunter's work for a few years. I just recently learned of Artsjunktion Manitoba. Last week, the two intersected: Heidi led a workshop at Artsjunktion. 

http://artsjunktion.mb.ca/

Heidi is a textile artist with an intriguing story. I encourage you to read about her at: http://www.runswithscissors.ca/bio.html. Heidi's studio is just north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Getting to it includes a nice drive in the country toward our HUGE Lake Winnipeg.

The workshop was wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed Heidi's presentation style (she is so energetic and enthusiastic) and organization of the full day workshop. We did a relatively simple exercise first, and then built upon the concepts we learned. By the end of the day we had each created three (or more) pieces to take home.

What I learned from the first exercise is it to play with the composition of my fabric landscape. Using a little "view finder" we experimented with a paper photo, moving the viewfinder to various parts of the photo and pausing to consider the horizon and what elements are contained in the viewfinder square.

I must make myself a view finder (the one in the below photo is a mat; like those used for picture framing). 

Within the first 30 minutes of the workshop, under Heidi's watchful eyes, we were creating original pieces of art. This was my first piece.

When I first presented my "finished piece" it to Heidi, I wasn't comfortable with what I had created.

Heidi was able to resolve my discomfort immediately. She turned my composition upside down/right side up (depending upon one's perspective). Her well-trained eye caught my misstep so quickly! 

I was thrilled.

By the end of the workshop, I had created a large image using a variety of fabrics. Most of what I used were upholstery fabrics.

I am not pleased with my composition. I am, though, very happy with different parts of it. I love the movement in the "sky". I like the round shapes in the lower right-had corner (I call them "round bales").

Most of all, I am completely satisfied with the workshop and look forward to learning more from Heidi. I am able to use everything she taught me, right away, in a special quilt in my growing WIP pile.

Using the same "view finder" trick I learned at the beginning of the class, I focused on different parts of my composition. The result can be seen in these last photos.

WIP: "Sparkling Gemstones" part 4 - a discovery with a little help from my friends

I began my "Sparkling Gemstones" quilt in June 2015. I AM making progress, in fact, I have only one more step.

This project has been especially challenging because it was a lesson in crafting my processes to become a better quilter. I have a long way to go before I can think about consider myself an artist in this field.

It was also a lesson in seeking others for help... in order to create a better end product. As usual, Mom and I traded lots of photos by text. Mom ALWAYS has great suggestions and ALWAYS encourages me to try something that isn't always first nature to me. She has been a fibre artist for a long time; why wouldn't I take advantage of her advice?

I also sought-out the opinions of my honey and some of my friends. One of the best decisions I made was to follow Judy's (Judy's Quilting Studio) recommendation to have this flimsy professionally quilted by Donna at Inthreadiblequilting.com.

I hope to have the binding on this quilt by the end of the week. My next (last?) post for this quilt will happen on my Completed Projects page.

WIP: inspiration from "The Big Read"

A couple of weeks ago, I took a mini-sabbatical, a long "artist's date", a retreat... what ever one might call it... to the St. Croix Valley for "The Big Read". Each year, several communities located along the gorgeous river valley participate in lectures, classes, plays, exhibitions, sing-ins, workshops, and the like, all inspired by a particular novel.

This post captures some of the textile art that most inspired me. (Verbal permission was given (by galleries) to photograph and post photos of the pieces.)

ArtReach St. Croix in beautiful Stillwater Minnesota

This year's novel was John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath". At the "From a Cloud of Dust" exhibition, was an intriguing piece of textile art by Minneapolis artist Deborah Foutch. It is quite a large piece.

"Soil Horizon" by Deborah Foutch

Jo Hinchcliff's felted roof for the Birdhouse Auction

 

"String of Fish" by Barbara Riegel Bend

Although not an official part of The Big Read events, "String of Fish" (at The Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, Wisconsin) really caught my attention. What an imagination Barbara Riegel Bend has.




The card next to "String of Fish" read: "This Sting of Fish is about experimenting with repetition, broken zippers sewn together by one long gray invisible zipper, and following the shape that zipper make (sic) when coiled. All of that then comes together to make a cohesive recognizable outcome of a classic Wisconsin sport... fishing.



I also saw the works of many other artists that will inspire me to make changes and take risks in my own work. It was a lovely break.