Thursday, April 8, 2010

Threads of Mine


Threads of Mine is a abstract textile interpretation of underground mining. In March my friend Gary and I displayed this exhibit at Governor French Gallery in Belleville, IL.

Fugitive Dust is a term companies use to describe mine dust that escapes the mine. Coal mining towns used to get a grimy appearance. This piece of discharged cloth was perfect for making this piece.Mining companies have gone to great lengths to clean up this type of pollution in the mining process.


Fugitive Dust
21 x 20
350.00


Stand Alone ( right hand column) was inspired by the writings of miners who described taking off their protective outer clothing at the end of a shift, so many of them wrote "My pants were so grimy they would stand alone" This was such a great image I had to create my own stand alone pants. Using a product called STIFFY to wet the pants. Geez ... this is starting to sound a bit weird! I put the folds of the cloth where I wanted them and let them harden and then painted them to get he grimy coal dust appearance.
Stand Alone
33W 32 L
100.00

Mining is dangerous work and we all owe so much to miners who are willing to work so that we might have comfortable homes. The latest tragedy in West Virginia is one of many mining disasters throughout history and my heart goes out to the families and miners living in this community. I wish them comfort today and the days ahead.



Friday, January 29, 2010

Dance Like Leona's Watching


Leona my puppy loves to watch me dance in the mornings. I think she would like to join me. How to teach a dog to dance? This is a good question. I am back to morning pages a habit I have done on and off for 12 years thanks to Julia Cameron's , The Artist's Way. I am using dance and the pages to clear the emotional and physical clutter left over from the hectic pace of the last 3 seasons. Now if dancing and writing would do something to clear the clutter in my house. I have not seen my camera since Christmas, my IPOD since November.

Spring,Summer, and Fall are when I design discharged tee shirts, dye scarves and cloth to sell at local boutiques and Holiday markets. These pictures were taken at Peace by Piece in Belleville, Illinois. The peace sign was a big hit this year.

These rayon burn-out scarves take the dye beautifully and make great gifts.

Meet the " Quilt Chicks"...

These ladies Carol ( holding Leona) ,Lisa, Kim a.k.a. ....mom, sister ,sister. We met once a week for several months to sew and have lunch while we made 2 bed sized quilts for Lisa'a daughters for Christmas. We used the fabric from a lifetime of homemade flannel nightgowns made for Lisa by her grandmother a.k.a..... Carole's mother! So as you can see this was a family project. I feel grateful to be included! We had quite a bit of fun... I gained a pound or two as well. These ladies can cook! They also were able to help me enjoy the first days of having a puppy in the house... can you say " potty outside?" As you can see Leona was one of the quilt helpers.

Meanwhile....
My daughter Savannah left for Europe for 3 weeks, Montana for 2 weeks, and college for now.

We left her here... a smile on her face... The flowers were blooming ... Summer... August 18... also our wedding anniversary I was experiencing the epitome of mixed feelings! From this day on.. I will think of college drop off when I see sunflowers.

This is where I run out of current pictures.. no worries I am certain my camera is buried somewhere in cloth.

January has me working deep.... in the mines. My friend Gary, a weaver, and I are working on pieces for a combined titled " Threads of Mine" that opens in March 2010. Our inspiration is underground mining. We both come from mining families and wanted to do some focused work on mines. I have read about mines, miners, and mining disasters, looked at pictures of mine shafts and now ... I dream about them.

This is challenging ...my goal is to create 9 new pieces of work for it. I am working with lots of black and very symmetrical work far from my bright , more fluid work, using rusted and discharged fabrics and raw edged applique. Rusting black fabric gave me some beautiful cloth to work with. If I could just find my camera....okay when I find my camera I will post some pictures.

So now back to the mines with me... I leave you with this link to ...

The Great Bell Chant
http://vimeo.com/6518109

Let it buffer completely before viewing.

In the meanwhile...don't forget to dance ... finger tapping, hip shaking, head nodding it all counts.

Remember ...these are the Sweet Years !

Sunday, January 3, 2010

2010




Hello it has been a long time since I have posted... so long that it took me a week to track down my login name and password. Note to self keep this information in a file.

So happy new year to all who show up here.