25 YEARS and COUNTING!!

 ACN 25th Anniversary - Part 1: 2000-2010

2025 is a very exciting year for the Art Cloth Network (ArtClothNetwork.com).   Way back at the turn of the millennium, attendees at a Jane Dunnewold Complex Cloth workshop in Texas realized that the bond that had formed between them was too strong to walk away from.  Out of their shared love of fiber, and what they hoped to gain from deepening their supportive connection, ACN was born.  To this day, we can see the influence of Dunnewold’s forward-looking experimentation and her skill at building community.   There are still 4 of the original members active in the Art Cloth Network!

The first decade is the toughest to encapsulate.  Early pieces the group created were often directly influenced by Dunnewold’s work with Complex Cloth - multiple processes applied to one length of fabric: dyeing, printing, and gilding, for example. The work went from panels - one  long piece of fabric (usually silk) and a few garments, to multiple layers and new creative techniques.  Over time, the popularity of art quilting and new surface design techniques and materials started to impact the output of ACN artists.  

Some original members left, new ones joined.  The group of inspired friends shifted to a highly organized, internationally recognized organization.  This was due to professional level organizational skills in addition to the evolving art making.  By-laws, juried membership, and exhibitions with a full catalog and an accomplished juror are some of the innovations which were put in place during that first decade.  A public face was added with a blog (artclothnetwork.blogspot.com) , website (ArtClothNetwork.com)  Facebook page (facebook.com/artclothnetwork) and Instagram account (instagram.com/artclothnetwork).  Articles were written and photos were taken.  Well… some photos were taken.  No one carried a quality camera in their pocket during this period, and it was expensive to hire a professional photographer.  Photoshop was just creeping into the skill set of the art world!

 

As a result, the quality of the photos in the ACN archives from the first decade vary greatly.  Here you can see work by several current members who joined ACN during the first 10 years.   Dates and attributions might be a bit foggy (we can be sure that members will note corrections and/or additional info they may have).  Dive in and enjoy  a fewimages from the first decade of the Art Cloth Network!!

C. Tiegel

The Sound of Trees

W. Slocum

Lichen 2

D. Koppisch Hricko

BePop

M-E Latino

Quake (detail)

D. Weir

Harem

J. Langille

Scroll

R. Little

Nature

ReVision Artists Reception at Bloomingdale Park District Museum, Bloomingdale IL

Please join us at the Museum, 108 South Bloomingdale Rd.,
Bloomingdale, IL on Sunday, June 29 from 2-4 pm.  

Mary Tyler at Quilt National by Dianne Hricko

 I was so pleased to learn that our former member Mary Taylor has a piece in this years Quilt National. The glow and inner beauty of this piece led me to want to learn more about it so I've written to Mary. 

    One Drop 

This piece continues her interest in fractals as a source for her imagery. 

She told me that typically “First I set the parameters for a computer app, to generate fractal images. Then I select a suitable image, correct it and render it into a jpeg, this usually takes 2 to 3 hours. The next step is to take the jpeg into an Photoshop, where it will be turned into the final image . Then this image is sent to be digitally printed on cotton or other fabrics. Finally it is stitched and finished.” 

Music of the Universe 

Mary also says that “Fractals are complex geometric formulae. Mathematicians have speculated about them for a very long time but until computers became widespread they lacked the tools to visualize the formulae. I am not a mathematician but I find the patterns fascinating. They can be found throughout nature, in fern fronds, lightning, tree branches, the shoreline of England, snail shells. Fractals are called

 fractured geometry or the geometry of nature. The Wikipedia explanation takes 18 pages.”

Welcome to Gold Mountain 

I loved seeing this piece and was prompted to think of the beautiful symbolic works of Hilma af Klimpt https://hilmaafklint.se/selected-works/ whose works I enjoyed at the Guggenhiem show 20198-19. The symmetry, delicacy of color and transparent illusion of depth  prompted my memory of the show.