Wednesday, April 2, 2025
"Make a Way", a collaborative exhibit by Ileana Soto
Saturday, March 22, 2025
My trip to the Osa Penisula, Costa Rica: Dyeing Tree Fibre and The Boruca by Sharon Grosh
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica: March, 2025
One interesting aspect of traveling to a more remote place is the surprise. We were traveling to a famous place which holds the last low lying, triple canopy rain forest in North America. Fifty years ago an effort to preserve this area from clearing this diminishing slice of life, represent thousands of species of animals and plants. This preserve is called Corcovado National Park. Many people were displaced and told leave the area to protect the preserve with a promise of compensation, including the Indigenous tribes.
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica, is a small town close to the Corcovado National Park and has not changed in 20 years. Our small group went there to print and dye from plants we found near us. We ventured to a Saturday Flea Market and found a market, organized by two women who are working with the Boruca people, Artesanos Naturales, to sell a wide range of artwork.
What did we find? A new fibre!
The Boruca people traditionally make fabric from tree bark using a process similar to bark cloth-making found in other cultures. The bark they use does not come from the outside , rough surface of the tree but comes from what they call, "inner bark." They select trees for this use that are softwood like, Ficus-Wild fig trees. I believe this not only provides them with a more malleable fiber but the tree can easily be regrown. I believe there is a lot more to know about this and I hope that more information can be collected.
The Process:
The Boruca also have a long tradition of hand-dying threads from naturally found colors from sources including leaves of the sangrilla tree, bark of the carbonero tree, clay, indigo plants, and occasionally the ink of a mollusk.
My traditions run deep as well. I like to dip almost anything in an indigo vat. So I dipped this sweet miniature pocket book in my indigo vat. Letting the bark fibers soak for hours with the following result.
Like everything else that is new, you want more. I hope to return and learn more next year about this tribe, about the women who founded the Flea Market and the great potential for plant prints and natural fabric dyes. Click here for Sharon's website.
by Sharon Grosh
Celebrating Spring by Dianne Koppisch Hricko
Its Spring and time to celebrate with a new silk scarf.
I am working on a lovely crinkled silk crepe that feels great against your skin and holds color like crazy.
Saturday, March 1, 2025
Where Do We Go From Here? Paducah! by Mary Vaneecke
I am thrilled to announce that Where Do We Go From Here? III is traveling to Paducah for the Yeiser Art Center's Fantastic Fibers exhibition, from March 18 - May 3. The Yeiser is located at 200 Broadway St. in Paducah, Kentucky.
The Where Do We Go From Here? series explores way-finding in a chaotic world. The piece is inspired by a Wari textile in the collection of the Tucson Museum of Art. Using the Japanese itajime method of dyeing fabric, I created this very contemporary version of a flying geese quilt.
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Where Do We Go From Here? III |
Friday, February 21, 2025
FiberFly to Hawaii!
Aloha Kakou,
Deborah Weir of LA based Fiberfly Studios https://fiberfly.blogspot.com/ will do a free, open to the public slide show lecture on Saturday March 15 at Kaimuki Library. In the afternoon she will do a silk dyeing workshop which you can sign up for https://www.hawaiihandweavers.org/event-6002082
Should be a great learning experience and a lot of fun!
Learn Fiber Arts with Us!
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Collage to Quilt
Recently, I was invited by Quilts on the Wall to give a talk and show some examples of one of the ways I create a quilt. I collect interesting and colorful paper images from magazines, junk mail and other cool pictures that come my way. I have files sorted more or less by color as I often start a piece with a color concept in mind.
I lay out a piece of strong paper, 24" x 32", and build the arrangement over several days. I rip for raggedly edges which I generally prefer. Then I go back and forth between a glue stick and white school glue to adhere the bits and pieces. Playing with glue and paper is worry free since I just cover over areas that don't please me!
Once I'm happy, I take photos. This is a bit dicey as there is quite a bit of shiny paper which annoyingly reflects my light sources right back to me! I often end up taking the best pictures in an almost dark hallway. I take them in RAW and then add the light back in using Photoshop. Then, once I've selected the image I like the best, I spend a lot of time adding and subtract imagery, adding more small details that will be great when stitched, and I generally try to imagine it as a full sized fabric and thread creation with balance and a nice path for the eye. Then off it goes to Spoonflower to be printed on cotton sateen. I always make sure to include a 4" wide black border so I don't have to use part of the image when completing the quilt. Since I use a lot of bright colors I don't want there to be any white peeking around the edges on the finished piece!
After I receive the fabric I add a very thin batting and begin stitching. My stitches vary but are basically running of all sorts and French knots, some quite dense 3D and then sometimes I feel the need to go all in with 19th century fancies. I use DMC 6 strand cotton floss and occasionally a little of this and that as the image leads me. Once done, I put on what is sometimes referred to as a "false back" so that my very messy real back is hidden safely away from view and from snagging. The label and pocket for hanging go on with the back. That black border folds over the newly applied back which is almost always black as well.
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Art Movements in Fiber
Four ACN members are participating in SAQA’s regional show Art Movements in Fiber.
Left: Mary-Ellen Latino with Line Study, var. 3 (Jackson Pollock)
Left: Sherri with Transform 2 (Abstract Expressionism)
For those who are interested: The paper catalog costs $28+shipping on MagCloud; the digital PDF is currently free.
Additionally, there is a little YouTube video of the opening reception in Folsom, CA .
Saturday, January 11, 2025
One Long Earth Song Now Available Online
Saturday, December 14, 2024
"High in Fiber" at the Abington Art Center by Dianne Hricko
I really enjoyed visiting High in Fiber curated by THECOLORG.
The exhibition presents works that span a variety of mediums, all using fiber in innovative ways. Whether through the delicate use of thread, the manipulation of fabric, or the sculptural possibilities of the materials, the artists push the boundaries of what fiber art can be.
Liz Quay |
The exhibition runs until [Jan 6 2025]. Admission is [free/price], and The Abington Art Center, with its beautiful grounds is well worth a visit. You can get a preview here https://abingtonartcenter.org/high-in-fiber-2/ I've included a few of my favorites .
Valarie Goodman |
Margery Amdur |
Well worth the visit.
Saturday, November 23, 2024
A long time in the making - by Regina Marzlin
One of my favourite surface design techniques is printing with a gel plate on fabric. In 2019, I got a large 16"x20" printing plate and worked with it for the first time at a group retreat in June 2019. I made some really exciting prints that I loved and wanted to use in my art pieces.
Alas, the fabric was too precious and also difficult to combine with anything else that I had in mind. Off it went into the pile of printed fabrics, not to be seen again for a while.
I tried to make a composition in March of 2022, here is the picture.
The fabrics were mostly not sewn together yet, and I couldn't get a good composition on my design wall. I tried more unsuccessful combinations, over the span of a year or so, and just couldn't get it right. Back onto the pile with the fabrics!
The Art Cloth Network call for entry for our 2024 exhibition "ReVision" finally gave me the push I needed. I was going to make those fabrics work. I didn't change the colour scheme, as I loved that, but rather introduced new elements, like cyanotype prints and transparent overlays, and really worked hard to achieve a good composition. In the end, I created two artworks I was happy with, and both got accepted into our exhibition. Sometimes, the waiting is as important as the making.
Here are the two pieces.