Valentine's Day Inspirations

Valentine's day cards are always a great excuse to dive into creative endeavors.  I love experimenting with a variety of materials and exploring new ideas.  To create cards with a traditional heart theme printed canvas, tin, and stitch were used.  In addition to making cards, a small art piece was made for SAQA's annual Spotlight Auction. The Spotlight Auction is an opportunity for all SAQA members to have their work showcased at the 2019 SAQA Conference in San Jose, California.  It will be shipping out this week.

Artist Statement for "My Heart's Desire:
Constructed using mono printed canvas and wine tin materials. The piece was machine and hand stitched.  My Heart's Desire is the joy I have in creating art, no matter how small or how large.  The delight is in the process.  May your heart's desire be a soul source of inspiration.

Valentine's Day Card #1

Valentine's Day Card #2

SAQA Spotlight Donation, 6 by 8 inches

2019 A New with Some Old

Welcome to the New Year.  Hopes and reflections and revelations fill the air. Having spent the summer and fall of 2018 restoring our home in Sonoma county I realized new skill sets and greater confidence in my abilities.  I learned how to work with concrete, a rotating hand sander, acrylic house paint, wire screens, and a hand saw. The community of family and friends encouraged and supported the efforts.  The house and yard are now back to their original luster.

In retrospect the year of 2018 held many creative gems.  Manipulating fabric is always brings me joy.  I am inspired by process and find that experimentation of materials is very satisfying. Failures are equally valued as are successes; each add to a base of knowledge.  It's kind of like having source code, a basis from which to work.

Print class at our community college allowed for experimenting with traditional printing processes onto different fabrics. Silk organza took the ink well. It's sheerness allowed for layering other fabrics behind the printed image.  I loved most how the pressure of the printing press created clean and crisp prints on fiber.  I tested different fibers with ink and press.  I also continued to hone oil painting skills.

A survey of 2018 creative processes in pictures:

Organza over Canvas

Print on Cotton

Oil Still Life on Canvas

Photoshop composition printed on eco dyed paper

Dyed and Stitched Cotton

"Bring on the Night" ~ Photoshop print on fabric, stitched and painted

Detail of "Bring on the Night"

Eco dye on paper experiment

Eco dye on paper

Eco dye process

Ceramic Tile with Printed Fabric

Ceramic Tile / Two tiles combined

Ceramic tile experimentations ... liking the technique results. Needing more thought into the conception of a finished piece.

Desert Quilter's 2018 Annual Quilt Show

Our local guild, the Desert Quilter's of Nevada hosted their annual quilt show in Henderson, NV on March 29, 20, and 31, 2018.  Lots of work goes into the show. The annual event is an opportunity to join friends and meet other volunteers helping to bring the show together.  This year I was late in finishing my pieces and had the quick hand and eye of a new friend, Amy, help at the very last minute, last day of entry.  She expertly removed the black basting stitches as I secured the binding onto "Sargasso Sea 2".  The third prize ribbon belongs to the joint effort.  Thank you Amy!

I had two pieces in this year's show, "Madonna" and "Sargasso Sea 2".

Madonna is a piece inspired by two photos.  The first photo was taken of a weather statue and the second photo was taken of graffiti  (2017).  Combining the photos provided a juxtaposition between the two subject matters.  I really liked the result created by the color and value contrasts.

Madonna - 25 by 30 inches

Madonna Boarder Detail - Free motion machine stitched

Blocks printed on Gesso Fabric with a Epson printer

Sargasso Sea combines the use of hand dyed fabrics (silk, cotton and canvas) and hand stitch.  The back of the piece uses silk organza as a third layer in order for viewer to see the process of the work.

Sargasso Sea 2

Back of Sargasso Sea 2

Detail of Sargasso Sea 2

While both pieces utilized entirely different techniques and construction methods, I enjoyed the process of creating both.  As with all my art, the joy is in the creation.

Thanks for visiting!

Digital Printing on Fabric with Jeana Eve Klein

A shout out and many thanks to the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment of the Arts for hosting a two day workshop with Jeana Klein.  The artist taught digital printing on recycled fabrics.  Her work was also on display at the Charleston Heights Gallery in Las Vegas, NV. 

The mediums used to prepare the fabric surfaces for printing were Golden Regular Gel Matte, Golden Gesso, and Ink Aid.   The printer used was Epson Stylus C88, an economical printer that uses archival inks.

Photoshop software processed selected images to print.  Jeana demonstrated a fool proof method for breaking down larger images into printable blocks.

The results were fun and the process leaves me with more ideas for experimentation.  The process gives a painterly effect to the fabric which I love, speaking to my current exploration of paint and hand stitch on textiles.

I love the results !!! Take and look below for details and the final pieced piece.

Jeana Eve Klein - Artist, Instructor

Printed pieces on prepared cotton

Sample, 5 x 5 inches printed cotton block

Pieced Back - Fabrics used

Pieced Front - Fabric Print

Happy 2018 ... A Year in Prospective for 2017

In 2017 four of my pieces were shown in galleries across the west coast.  I am blessed in the recognition and happy to share what I love with the world.  A year in review follows ...

Detail

Oysterville, Then and Now joined a group of quilts displayed at various venues in the Long Beach, Washington area.  The grouping was sponsored by the Peninsula Quilt Guild.

Bard-Heim Barn

The piece was created using raw edge applique which was machine and hand stitched and painted.

Detail of layered process

Enso 2 was shown at the Harrington Gallery in Pleasanton, CA in a juried group exhibition for the SAQA Northern California and Nevada Region. Enso 2 is a piece that evolved through the processes of painting of chemically dyed and eco printed fabrics. 

36 by 38 inches

Detail

Saragossa Sea was on exhibit in the Chandler Arts Gallery in the juried group show, As Near to the Edge as I Can Go, Art Quilts XXII.  This was the third year that my work has been shown.  I am as always thankful for the opportunity.

Sargasso Sea

At the Show

Detail

Colors showing panels of 12 by 12 inch individual pieces which were created by members of the local Art Quilts group was displayed at the Sahara Library in Las Vegas, NV.  Two of my pieces were included in the panels.My favorite is Called "My Day in the Sun."

Day in the Sun is Top left

In addition to fiber work, I usually take an art class each semester at the community college.  The results are always rewarding.  No matter what the medium, the process of creating and learning how to manipulate new mediums transfers to all things fiber.  I took an oil painting class and was challenged by new techniques and inspired by my peers.  I also jumped into a bit of encaustic work.  This is definitely a process I want to pursue.  It is just way too much fun!

Community College Campus ~ Oil

Mountain Scape ~ Encaustic

2017 was a great year.  Looking back, what is consistent in the textile work is the use of hand stitch.   Hand stitching is a labor of love as I appreciate the textures, colors and the mark of the artist that the stitch creates. While hand stitching is not new to me, I feel more and more confident in it's application.  I am looking forward to see what 2018 brings.