Fiber Freaks

Well, I finally got up and managed to do something in this heat.
My fiber art group, Fiber Junkies (more commonly known around my house as the "Fiber Freaks"), got together at Val McGaughy's house for some Deconstructive Screenprinting. I love doing that but it's a lot of work, especially in the heat. It was cooler in Asheville though.
Judy Simmons and Val McGaughy did the prep work for us, mixing dyes, setting up the space...all that "pre-work".
All we had to do was show up with the rest of our supplies and get to work.
I didn't take any pictures (bad Carol) but I'll be willing to bet that if you go to Mary Stori or Judy Simmons blog, you'll find some in a day or two!
I've got two screens here at home that I am going to print. I'll post some pics of that.
And I also have several pieces of fabric that I am batching. When I finish them, I'll try to post some photos.

So - there you go.
I FINALLY got up and did something!

Great link

My friend, Judy Simmons, has done an awesome blog post
on our get together this week.
Run on over and read it!

Surface Design 2

I was so busy oohing and aahing over Judy Simmons surface design samples that I didn't get any pictures! But those of you that know Judy and have seen her work, know exactly what I mean!
I love the way that she manipulates the photos in Photoshop and then prints them on different fabrics.
And organized? Is that lady organized!
You should see her notebooks that are full of samples, all logged in with the particular fabric and what she did to it.
The sheer bird that I used on the collage in my header was printed under Judy's direction and help.
I've ask her about getting photos so I can post them and hopefully some time next week I'll be able to (computer problems prevent that right now).
Anyway, that ends a week long posting spree about the little group that met at the Arboretum this week.
Oh, I did do a "doodle drawing demo" (say that fast three times) and had everyone drawing up a storm by the end of the day.
Even when they all said they couldn't draw a stick man...

You should all get to the NC Arboretum if you can - I want to go back and see what the walking trail has to offer. It looked like it would be an awesome walk through the woods - I'm sure I might be able to find some goodies there.

More studio work

Like I said in my last post, I am really loving the project that Kristi and Susan
came up with for this years retreat.
I am continuing to enjoy working on it - it actually has taken on a life of its own...
dictating what I do, where I put things...
how I spend me time...
Isn't that just awesome when it happens?

when your art work leads you.

Here is a collage that I did.
I used an ink jet print (that I did at my buddy Judy's house) of a chickadee that I painted.
Throw in a corner of a page from a book that I'm tearing up - I mean utilizing- in my work.
Mix in a few tiny little buttons from my mom's immense collection... a few twigs from Sally's collection, a scrap of brown bag, a lil' bitty safety pin, vintage paper and a lot of time moving it all around and around on a piece of dupioni silk...

I love the sheer fabric and how it looks on this collage.

Here's a picture of the two pages that I have secured in the book. I'm still working on the other two.

I have a favorite quote that I use from time to time in my art work.

Do you?

I layered the quote, some scrim and a fern frond on a hand made tag (oh and a few teeny tiny crystals).

Jeez - I forgot that I also added some beads that were given to me from a friend that lives in Hawaii. They're made from shells!

The quote is partially covered up but I really wanted everyone to be able to read it in its entirety.

So I added the entire quote on the back of the tag.

I love using all the tiny charms and beads that I have. I suppose that I should confess here that I collect them...

Along with a bunch of other stuff too...

It's a curse but also a blessing.

A curse because I can't seem to throw away much of anything.

A blessing because I see the beauty and potential in each and every thing that I see in this world.

Do you?

Do you really appreciate the things around you?

That feather dropped by a bird,

the little rock that could hold a special place in your art work?

What about your tea bags? The cute little tags they have on them?

Or the buckles on old shoes or handbags?

Have you considered what you can do with items from your junk drawer?

Ha - I know that you have one...

But seriously, try looking at each and every item in a different way -

look at it from a "repurposing" stand point.

You may actually be surprised at what The Universe hands you...

A Busy Week

Last week was so busy for the Sloan household!
We were finishing up the Big League World Series obligation,
continuing to rush about getting my son ready for art school this fall. He was accepted into Winthrop Art School- but we only have 2 weeks left to get EVERYTHING ready to go...wow- it pays to check all of your paperwork early and not wait until the last minute!
In my own defence, I have been so crazy busy dealing with my mom's estate and family members that refuse to cooperate with "due process"...
some people just do not understand that there are certain things that have to be done.
And it's not about what they want or I want - it's about what HAS to be done...
I had two demo's last week in Asheville. One on Tuesday at the Fiber Art Alliance that I am a member of.
It went very well! I think that it can be an eye opener for people to watch the mixed media background demo as they begin to look at their supplies a bit differently...
I did the same demo at the Asheville Quilt Show.
Did any of you go to the Show?
My. Oh. My.
Julie Simpson and all the other ladies did an awesome job! What a fabulous show it was! And so many great demonstrations! I was honored to be a part of the event also.
Such great talents right here in our back yards.
I was so busy looking and then teaching that I didn't take pictures. I'll bet if you go over to Judy Simmons or Mary Stori's blog they will have pictures.
Then yesterday, I sent in two project proposal's for a book that is being written.
Keep all your fingers crossed (and maybe your toes too!) that at least one of my project's will be accepted. I think they will be notifying people around the end of this month - maybe next month.

I'll try to do a better post a bit later on.
I'm going to my studio now to begin work on two small (short not small) books to send in for possible publication.
I'm real excited about this project - scared but excited!
I'll let you all know what happens with it all - one is for a magazine and the other is for a publisher (book).
I've released my dream to the Universe - let's see if it's meant to be.

Yoshiko Wada

This is what Yoshiko's web site says about her -
"Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada is an artist, author, curator, textile researcher and has long been an exponent of traditional and sustainable practices in fashion and textile production."

I would simply say that she is a beautiful woman...inside and out.
I had the pleasure of spending the day with Yoshiko (and about 25 or 30 other lucky women) in Asheville, NC yesterday. We were at an all day workshop at the Asheville Arts Council on Biltmore Avenue (part of the Hatch festival in town). Boro Transformed. I wish it had of been a week long workshop. I could go on and on about it but just lack the time right now. I have to get packed for a weekend trip. I'll try to add more later.
I sat with my buddy Judy Simmons and we were just in awe of our speaker! So very intelligent and interesting. We spent the morning listening, looking at awesome textile samples from far and wide. Then in the afternoon we were "set loose" with a bag of samples, directions and orders to "have at it"! We had sheets of water soluble vinylon that were supplied to us so we could create our own piece of fabric. I laid mine out in the workshop but didn't sew it until I got home.

I really enjoyed the process and know that I'll be doing more of it. I choose to use some of my rusted fabric, wool that was supplied in our sample packet (the loose weave black fabric), rusted cheese cloth and black batting. Oh, and some beautiful hand dyed wool thread from Nancy Bruce. I like the way it turned out and will probably use it on a book cover or similar project.

Then we hit the indigo dye vat. Wow! Loved, loved, loved it! This is one of my most favorite colors! I'll post a couple of pictures of everyone else's work (even though some had already been removed). They were wonderful! Judy shared her beads with us so we did some shibori with them. I also just tied up other areas on a piece of PFD fabric. I would have loved to dyed much more but due to time, space and a hip that refused to cooperate I was limited to what I could do. I may just have to add indigo dyeing to the rust dyeing mess, I mean area that we have now. It's just so beautiful!
The gallery of the Arts Council building was a veritable feast for the senses. The "Slow Design" exhibit was being shown there. I've a few photos of it, not very good ones, as the new camera seems to have a mind of its own (and a very stubborn one at that!). You simply MUST go there and have a look at all that they offer. Talented, fresh designers that all are trying to create their work involving local and/or regional technologies and materials. They were featuring work and works curated by the HATCH Fashion mentors, Elisa Jimenez, Yoshiko Wada, and Mary Gehlhar on the theme of 'Slow Design'. I also recognised the work of Natalie "Alabama" Chanin. I have her book and adore it! The pictures below of reverse applique pieces belong to the "Alabama Chanin" line.

Fabrics To Dye For

On Wednesday, August 20 (last week) I had the immense pleasure of participating in an Awesome Workshop by

Judy Simmons.

We met in Asheville, NC for a fun & color filled day.

Have you ever taken a class or workshop that Judy teaches?

No?

Wow! You should!

She is one of the most organized teachers that I had taken a class from!

She gave us a prepared packet of info with everything that we would need to begin dyeing our own fabric.

And copies to take to our tables to work with!

I will include pictures of all the beautiful fabric that I dyed...

including this one...

Dyed? Did I say that I dyed the above piece?

Yep...I just forgot to add the Soda Ash...

She warned us about that...

The ones that follow obviously had their soda ash...

I wanted some pieces of pastel colors,

so here are a few of those that I managed to dye.





These next few pictures were of microwave dyeing.

Judy taught us an extremely easy way to dye background fabric.

Isn't this Chocolate beautiful?

It looks like it has a pink tint to it...

This is another section of the Chocolate piece.

Look at the pink undertones...

This is one of my favorites (Judy's too!).

Havana Brown.

Look at the blue undertones...

only one color of dye used as well.

Here are more of the low immersion dyeing fabrics.

Don't you love this piece? It looks wonderful in person. I plan on using it in the 3 commissioned pieces that I have coming up.

I can just see all the different areas in a forest/landscape piece...

I had a great time that day and learned so much!

Thanks Asheville Quilt Guild for offering this class

and thanks to Judy for teaching such a fun filled yet educational class!

You wouldn't believe how much fun we had...

Hot Flashes and all...

Fiber Art Alliance

Last month I joined a wonderful & talented group of fiber artists in NC. Collectively they call themselves the Fiber Art Alliance Group (http://www.ashevillequiltguild.org/FAA.html) but separately the names that they are known by may be quite well known to you. I must say I am in awe of the talent, vision and focus all of these women have. The small sampling of work that I have seen in the meetings is nothing less than breath taking.

The speaker this month was Judy Simmons (http://www.focusfabricart.com/). Her topic was Ink jet Printing on Fabric.

What an awesome teacher she is! If you ever have the opportunity to go to a lecture or a workshop with this talented lady, please do so.

She was so organized and the material was so concise and understandable. And the samples that she brought! Wow! They were all organized in notebooks with the type of fabric, backing info, all the necessary info to reproduce the results right there at your fingertips.

I have asked Judy if she would mind if I posted pics on this blog and she has kindly allowed me to do so. Have a look at the quilt with the roses on it. It is named "Memory Collage I- Japanese Beetles". There is a cute story that goes along with it that I believe is on the back of the quilt. We all need to take a clue from Judy here and be sure to document all those precious memories and the details about our art. Imagine how you would feel if you had a piece of art work or a quilt from your ancestors that had all those details on them. That would be priceless.

Look closely at the beautiful background fabric.

It is all hand dyed by Judy. She told me that the background was dyed in the microwave. It was then dyed again in a different color. Also areas are over dyed and then fused to the background. She has several overlays of photos, old recipes (handwritten) on muslin and organza. She used various painting techniques, sponging included along with metallic Jacquard paint as well. All combined it tuned in to a fabulous piece of background fabric.

When I first saw it and heard the story, what came to mind was that the quilt actually looked like what a fading memory would appear in your mind. Does that make sense? Anyway, it's beautiful and has so much dimension. If you look closely at the above photo you will see the Beetles eating away at the leaves of her Grandmother's roses...those petals are sure to be next...

The next quilts is one where Judy was encouraging us to use non copyrighted images for our fiber art...like her fingerprints to be exact! This was for a challenge , involving glass I believe but she used her fingerprints for some of the images here. Isn't that the most creative thing you've heard of?

Speaking of creative, look back up at Judy's shirt. She not only made the shirt, she colored the fabric! I can't remember all the techniques but discharging and dyeing were two of them. It is so beautiful and looked to be so cool and comfortable as well.

She is teaching a workshop in August that I hope to attend. You can check out the details at the Asheville Quilt Guild web site. (http://www.http//www.ashevillequiltguild.org/). Go to the Workshop page and scroll down to August. Here is the description from the newsletter sent to me by a dear friend.

Fabric To Dye For
Students will learn the basics of low water immersion
dyeing and microwave dyeing. Using Procion MX
fiber reactive dyes and low water immersion techniques,
students will create beautiful yardage to use in
quilts and wearables. Students will also experiment
with microwave dyeing, which creates a pale mottled
fabric wonderful for backgrounds. Both techniques
are fun and easy and students will go home with beautiful
fabrics (10-15 yards) to add to their stash. Many
visuals for inspiration and many handouts given. Supply
fee ($20) includes dyes, activator, urea and synthrapol
– payable to instructor. WEAR OLD
CLOTHES. Cost: $35.

Now, for non members, it's an additional $15. But what a deal! To borrow a catch phrase from the younger generation...I am so on that list!

Now, I've included some "candid" shots of the crowd...some names are included.

This is my buddy Patsy Thompson, with the blue shirt on. Perhaps you've heard of her or seen her awesome machine quilting? You should go to her web site and check it out. (http://www.patsythompsondesigns.com/)

There's Mary Stori and Gen Grundy oohing and aahing over the notebooks of Judy's samples.

If I have time later, I'll add more. I'm so behind in things now that I probably won't though...

Have an awesome day!