new work

Administrator — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:20:05 +0000

“transition”

36″ x 24″ hand painted silk

mounted on stretcher bars

empty spaces…

Administrator — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:55:34 +0000

I’ve started working on my “empty spaces” piece for the 8 That Create online group exhibition that will debut in March of this year…

More details on the 8 That Create blog here…

Product review – Inka Gold & Artist Cellar Stencils

Administrator — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:10:37 +0000

Two new products have recently made their way into my studio and I thought I’d share a review of them here on my blog:

First up is Inka Gold.

I am in love with this product! I came across it a couple of months ago when I was browsing the shelves at Ink About It. The metallic sheen of the product got my heart racing so I asked them to order me a pot of each color. This stuff now has a permanent place in my studio. The product is beeswax based so it’s a thick paste like product that you can apply with a variety of tools such as stencil brushes, sponges, wadded up plastic wrap, plastic scraper etc. My preferred way of using it is to just dip my finger into it (wearing gloves of course) and use my hands to apply it to the surface I’m working with. Using my hands gives me a lot of control with the product and it allows me to brush it across a surface which highlights the textures of the piece and I most recently used InkaGold on the piece I blogged about here.

I bought my Inka Gold at Ink About It but I’m sure you can find some online suppliers if you do a google search for it.

Of course you can also use it with paper too which brings me to the other new product in my studio:

Artist Cellar recently released a new line of stencils that I’ve been playing with and you can see the one that’s quickly become my favorite in this next photo:

Here I’m using the stencil with Inka Gold on black paper. I just rubbed a bit of the Inka Gold through the stencil opening with my finger and lifted off the stencil…

I love how these two products work together! These new stencils from Artist Cellar are nice and sturdy and the designs are all laser cut so there are no rough edges or nicks to get in the way of a nice clean print. You’ll find the entire line of stencils here on the Artist Cellar website. Artist Cellar also stocks some Inka Gold as well and you’ll find that here. If you want some of the colors she doesn’t stock just email Artist Cellar and let Lisa know what colors you’re interested in and she can order them for you.

photo fiber bonus sneak peek

Administrator — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:30:06 +0000

I talked about Virginia Spiegel’s Photo/Fiber fund raiser in this post and today I wanted to give you a sneak peek of one of the three fiber packages that I donated to this very worthy fund raising cause:

Fiber bonus package includes: hand dyed sandwashed cotton squares in a rainbow of colors, hand dyed cheesecloth sushi roll, hand dyed lace and a few other surprises!

I’m the featured artist on Virginia’s blog here today so pop over there and check it out!

coptic stitch foil book

Administrator — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:48:07 +0000

I had a great time this past weekend teaching my coptic stitch foil book at Ink About It in Westford Ma:

I kept the class size relatively small at 10 people because I wanted to make sure that I would be able to give each student the support they’d need when it came time to stitch their books together. Here’s just a few of the gorgeous books they made:

It was a six hour class and everybody left with two finished foil books. One small one (6″ x 4″) and one large one (8″x6″) and it was so much fun to see how each student put their own style and personality into their books. My next bookmaking class at Ink About It is scheduled for 2/25 and we’ll be making the paper bag leather journal:

Spaces are filling fast and you can find more information about the class and how to register here on the Ink About It website.

Foto Fiber event!

Administrator — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:17:57 +0000

I’m thrilled to be a part of Virginia Spiegel’s newest fund raiser for the American Cancer Society. Read on for the details about this very exciting event happening in February:

Our goal – Raise $7,000 for the American Cancer Society

Foto/Fiber 2012
90 Photos AND 90 Fiber BONUSES

Gold Donor Day – February 15, 2012
Make a minimum donation of $100, choose a photo by
Virginia A. Spiegel, Karen Stiehl Osborn, or Cynthia Wenslow
and choose a Fiber BONUS by a specific artist
from the following list of fiber artists.

Regular Foto/Fiber – February 16, 2012
Make a minimum donation of $50 and choose a photo by
Virginia A. Spiegel, Karen Stiehl Osborn, or Cynthia Wenslow.
Your Fiber BONUS will be chosen at random for you
from the following list of generous fiber artists.

Artists donating Fiber BONUS include:

Natalya Aikens, Frances Holliday Alford, Pamela Allen, Liz Berg, Sue Bleiweiss, Nancy G. Cook, Jane Davila, Vivika DeNegre, Diane Rusin Doran, Jane Dunnewold, Jamie Fingal, Leonie Hartley Hoover, Leslie Tucker Jenison, Lyric Kinard, Susan Brubaker Knapp, Lynn Krawzcyk, Jane LaFazio, Susan Lenz, Jeanelle McCall Linda Teddlie Minton, Karen Musgrave, Gail Myrhorodsky, Karen Stiehl Osborn, BJ Parady, Cate Coulacos Prato, Yvonne Porcella, Wen Redmond, Sue Reno, Lesley Riley, Cynthia St. Charles, Susan Schrott, Suzanne Silk, Lura Schwarz Smith (with Kerby C. Smith), Sarah Ann Smith, and Terri Stegmiller

Drawings for Fiber Art throughout the event.
All patrons of Foto/Fiber 2012 will also have multiple chances throughout Foto/Fiber to win fiber art donated by:

Leonie Hartley Hoover
Lyric Kinard
Lynn Krawczyk
Yvonne Porcella
Susan Schrott
Mary Ann Van Soest

More information on how Foto/Fiber 2012 works here.

Fiberart For A Cause has already donated over $215,000 to the American Cancer Society through the generosity of fiber artists and their patrons.

8 That Create

Administrator — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:59:39 +0000

One of my primary goals for 2011 was to work on continuing to explore and develop the techniques I use to create textured silk surfaces as well as to continue to build a body of work with it and to start to exhibiting my work. I had my work accepted into a couple of shows in 2011 and of course was thrilled when I was notified that I was a 2012 Niche award finalist in the Fiber Decorative category. I got sidetracked from working on my primary goals last year though by the opportunity to write the Sketchbook Challenge book. It was too good an opportunity to turn down so I put my original 2011 goals aside to focus on that. I’m glad I did because writing the book was a great learning experience and one I’m grateful to have had.

And now here we are in 2012 and so my goals for this year are pretty much the same as last. To continue to explore, develop and push the surface design techniques that I’ve been using on silk as well as to continue to look for opportunities to exhibit and begin to sell some of my work. And to help realize and nurture those goals I am very excited about being a part of this new group 8 That Create:

For a while now I have been searching for a group of artists to team up with who are interested in seeking out, organizing and creating venues for group exhibits both in person and online. And so towards the end of last year, Jane Davila, Jamie Fingal, Gloria Hansen, Leslie Tucker Jenison, Liz Kettle, Carol Sloan, Kathyanne White and I teamed up to form 8 That Create. Our mission is to support each other in our individual artistic journeys and to provide inspiration to others through our group exhibitions, publications, website and blog. We’re already starting to prepare for our first live group exhibition for later this year (details on that later) and we’re working on an online exhibition of work around the theme “empty spaces” which will debut in March. We’ll be blogging about our 8 That Create initiatives on our group blog here. We’re all very excited about our group and we’re looking forward to sharing our journey with everyone.

The sketchbook challenge turns 1…

Administrator — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:55:30 +0000

It’s hard to believe that the Sketchbook Challenge is a year old already! Diana Trout is kicking off our second year with a really fun theme for January:

Doodling

“Non Threatening Drawing for Anyone At All”

Get all the details and some tips on getting started on the Sketchbook Challenge here.

echo triptych

Administrator — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:35:48 +0000

“echo of my soul”

hand painted silk triptych – each 12″ x 30″ x 1″

(please click the image for a larger view)

handwoven journals

Administrator — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:01:31 +0000

I finally got around to turning some of the fabric I wove using cotton strips that I blogged about here into some new journals:

The one on the right has a combination of paper and hand dyed linen fabric pages that have envelopes and tags stitched right to them on the inside:

And both are in my etsy shop here.