Embroidered Collage

I would do it differently, if I could go again.  I would choose a class, not by how much it seemed like it would directly help my artwork, but by how much it looked like it would challenge me.  I would use the week as a time to deliberately step outside of what I know and do something else.  I wanted to stretch myself, and it just didn't really happen that way this time.  I learned a couple new things, of course, and am glad of them, but it wasn't quite what I was hoping for.

Another odd and disturbing thing was that I got tired of doing art.  I had NEVER just created all day and certainly not multiple days in a row.  I got restless and actually a little bored.  I wanted to get up and do something else.  I wanted to channel part of the energy I had into marketing or writing or some such.  If I'd been in a groove, it could have been different, but I have trouble imagining being one of the artists who barely took time to eat during the week, constantly returning to the studio areas at odd hours.

Was it worth it?  Definitely.  I enjoyed the entire experience, although parts of it more so looking back than I did at the time...  Talking with other artists and seeing their work develop in such different ways than mine is always something I enjoy and getting to see work presented in exhibits and slideshows was great.  QSDS was worth the money and vacation time and even the ten hour drive.  But I don't need to go again next year, although I would like to do something similar in another three or five.  What I need to do is create more.

I hope you've enjoyed this series of posts, both text and visual about the experience of attending QSDS and the art I made while I was there. 

Wendy definitely had a different perspective than other artists I'd talked to and while I didn't agree with all of it, it was very interesting to hear.  I took 5"x5" photographs of all my Footsteps with me to QSDS.  As she pointed out before she began, working off the photograph and not being able to see the texture in person could have influenced her opinion.

The key point that Wendy brought up was that she didn't feel that my focal points were integrated properly into the rest of the work.  For example, in First Shades of Autumn, the fabric trees were too bright for her and she felt they needed a film of color, which surprised me as I was always slightly annoyed by a bright spot in the background.  She felt that the issue stood out most sharply with Exhalation, the bright color of the pulled thread portion being too distinct from the background, which she really liked.  She also thought the background of City Garden Silence was intriguing, but that the counted thread portion was distracting and too fiddly in comparison.  She thought they might make great inspiration, but should not necessarily have been on the final piece.

I'm sitting here thinking - "But that was the POINT".  I created the rest of the artwork to feature and integrate with the embroidery.  But maybe the contrast is too great, and without knowledge of my intent the work is weaker.  Maybe a more gradual transition in scale and texture would have been more effective.  I did ask her why she didn't object to Kite-Flying in Zandvoort on the same grounds.  She said she thought it was because she knew how to interpret the painting, as it was representational.  On the other hand, she wasn't impressed with the figure or its presence, which was fine with me, because I knew it was a stretch for me putting it in.

We didn't talk about Migration since it didn't end up quite as I intended and she had a great idea for Summer Sunshine - if I'd just put one more square in the vaguely empty area then it might have pulled together more.  She didn't comment much on Kambaba Jasper, apparently because she like it the way it was.  Which is good, because it is my favorite of the work I've done so far.  I've decided I won't offer that one for sale anymore, but rather keep it for myself.

Give and Take at the Riffe Gallery was the first stop on the QSDS bus tour.  It was work of QSDS students and teachers hanging side by side, but I didn't really feel the discussion that the name implied.  It was simply a very good exhibit of a variety of art quilts.  Many caught my eye, but these three really spoke to me.

Arturo Alonzo Sandoval's Pattern Fusion #8 intrigued me at first because there was some complexity in the woven surface.  Then I stepped closer and could see the microfiche stitched to the metallic lurex bands.  When you got close enough you could almost see the headlines on some of the newspapers.  Then I stepped to the side and was able to really see the color variations as well.  I loved the way the use of these specific materials provided and inherent layering and depth of meaning.

Beth T. Kennedy's Legend of an Old Wall IV was an example of texture being the key element.  It was throroughly encrusted in bronzes and a bit of green with quilted people and a few squares and lines embedded within the texture.  Apparently much of the effect was achieved with Tyvek.  I want to be able to do work like this.

Niki Bonnett's The Sacred Within was more of an assemblage than anything else and difficult to describe.  There was a drape of surface designed cloth over top canvases secured to one another, with springs embedded inside of them and parts jutting out in other areas.  It reminded me of a clock somehow.

I didn't take any notes at one of our stops, and can't even recall the name, but it was half traditional quilts and half contemporary art quilts.  Nothing really struck me here, at least not in regards to relating it to my own art, except the chance to see more of Sue Benner's work in person, as she had two quilts up.

The third stop was the QSDS Invitational 2007 at the Cultural Arts Center.  I had seen multiple works by one artist in museums before, and I've certainly visited web sites, but this was a much more immediate experience for me.  Being there, where each of the artists had at least two pieces, often as many as five, helped me feel the concept of a body of work and how that definition could differ between artists.

One of my favorites was Catherine Kleeman's work.  They were very much color studies, but executed as many little squares quilted into large blocks of bigger squares, often with texture playing a strong role.  I could see how the depth changed and perhaps the intent in each quilt.

Another set that caught my eye was by Diane Herbert, primarily because she had found a way to use traditional laces as part of the lines in her works, without it being cloying.  I was delighted to discover, when one of the other members wanted a picture of her in front of her art, that she was the lady I'd talked to the previous day who had wanted to see my artwork and looked at my photos with me.

I was very glad I went on the bus tour, although I was very tired at the end, because when I see fiber art it just resonates with me.  I love visiting the museums, especially the contemporary sections, but the times I get to see the thread and fabric and such just stick in my memory.  I might someday do work for periods of time in which I don't use them, as exercises and development, but I can't imagine ever abandoning them. 

Wendy had left Friday morning for us to finish our narrative quilt piece.  As I was already done I dug around in my fabrics and played a bit.  I created another piece using fabric scraps trapped by net, this one with a little more planning.  I was going to turn it into a 6x6 but now I think I'll use it as a square in a modular piece later on.

And then I found this reddish piece of fabric with a bit of  design and a few highlights on it and was intrigued.  So I started pulling out a bit of this and a bit of that from my stash of fancy fabrics to go with it.  I decided on black and yellow to increase the value range.  The yellow also picked up a little of the color in the background and would go well with the gold accents I meant to use.  The pattern is entirely improvised.

I  had enough time Friday to attach all the fabrics and begin the embroidery.  I finished it at home, adding the beads as part of the process.  When I took it to the Fiber Alliance meeting Tina said it reminded her of a house, so I'm going to name it in that direction when I post it to Etsy.  I was very tempted to raise the price over the usual $40, because of all the hand-stitching, but decided to simply be consistent instead.

  As Wendy talked about different ways to tell a story in a quilt, I jotted down ideas.  As soon as I thought of this one I knew it was what I wanted to do.  When we brought our kitten home from the SPCA he spent the rest of the night running in circles around the family room, stopping only to be petted, and even then he'd vibrate.  We named him Whirlwind.

I sketched out my ideas, realizing that I would need to simplify the cat dramatically.  I wanted swooping lines for movement and a neutral background.  I couldn't think of how to develop the idea further, so I started to work on it.  Here was where I desperately wanted my paints and papers.  I would have loved to collage the background, only doing the furniture and cat in fabric.  But I didn't have them, so I started looking for the right fabrics for all the elements.  I ended up having to use the backside of a fabric I really liked in order to get the right light colored neutral.

I sewed the lightweight cotton to a canvas backing with a grid of white straight-stitch.  I knew I wanted to use the watercolor crayons on it next and didn't want the fabric to pucker too much.  I was successful.  After I fused on the furniture shapes and zig-zagged a bit around them I added a little color to make the piece more reminiscent of a room.

The ovals were next.  I put a cloth frame over the unstretched canvas and deliberately drew one oval within its limits.  I removed the frame and made sure the others ovals stretched beyond the first one's limits, overlapping in parts.  I used vivid colors, in contrast to the neutrals of the background.  Both these choices were made to emphasize movement.  The fabric scraps were cut in arcs from bright fabric and fused at various places for the same reason.  I secured them with free-motion machine embroidery.  I thought about adding hand-stitching as well, but decided the piece didn't need it.

I did use hand embroidery to construct and decorate the actual cat shape.  It was interesting trying to wrap fabric around a more complex Peltex shape.  I knew the cat had to be red for motion, which was also why I abstracted to eliminate the legs but was a bit disturbed by how much it looked like a fox!  So, I added some tabby markings with crayon and went to the vendor's mall to pick up two small green beads for eyes.  I constructed the tail from various fibers I had with me, deliberately leaving it long, and couched it down.  Then I was happier with the result.

I looked at the piece for awhile and decided I was done.  So, on Friday morning I stapled it to the canvas and displayed it.  This is my eighth Footstep.  In some ways it doesn't feel like mine, with the way the fabrics interact, but in other ways I can tell it is. 

I had fun picking up some new supplies at QSDS, both through the Vendor's Mall, stores set up in one row of hotel rooms, and the mini-Bazaar of stuff that teachers and students brought to sell.  The Mall was mostly high-end less common goodies, as you would expect at a seminar like this, with a local quilt shop added in for all the utilitarian bits and pieces.

I acquired one of the fancy Stef Francis inspiration packs I'd been seriously considering getting online for some time now.  This way I didn't have to pay shipping!  I also picked up some extra cocoons and such.  One bazaar table had some paper packs so I added a grab bag of Japanese papers, and then wasn't able to look at it until I got home because the bag was so full that I knew I'd never be able to get it all back in.

Mostly I bought fat-quarters of fabric, including a couple variegated hand-dyeds.  Primarily these are international imports from St. Theresa's Textiles.  I was most intrigued by the ones in the family of the the purple and peach piece to the right, because they are not entirely cottons.  Instead they are some sort of mixed thread brocade, with subtle patterns woven in, including small counted areas to fill with cross-stitch.  I indulged in a batik with cats, although I'm not sure I'll ever use it.  I agonized over stroking the marbled fabrics, which were $12 a fat quarter, but so beautiful, and finally decided to get a blue and purple one that I could pull many small jewels from.

My prize fabric purchase was a beautiful packet of surface designed fabrics by Els van Baarle being sold at the Contemporary Cloth booth.  The best part was that the owner let us look through the plastic bags holding these sample packets and pick which one we liked based on what was inside.  During most of my browsing I had a water themed one tucked under my arm but when I opened this packet up I switched immediately and handed over my $40.  Two of the fabrics are beautifully patterned sheers, then there's a large piece of a slightly nubbly purple done with patterns that I feel I can really use, and it is topped off with this wonderful textured pink silk that I just want to pet and never cut. 

I actually didn't spend all the money I had brought to purchase toys.  Because of the way I'm working right now, with the potential of paint and such going over the fabrics, it doesn't seem worth it to spend the extra money for the gorgeous stuff when I can have more freedom with the slightly cheaper stuff.  But I did have fun looking!