ACN member Priscilla Smith is gaining recognition for her inspired social justice textile art. Artful Journeys recently profiled Priscilla and several of her most evocative works. You can read the entire profile by clicking here:
Link to Artful Journeys' profile of Priscilla Smith.
Here is the link to Priscilla's website: https://www.priscillasmithartist.com/
Congratulations, Priscilla!
I recently took an on-line class from an Australian artist, Lorna Crane, called “Perfectly Imperfect, Discovering Your Visual Language.” The structure of the class encouraged me to move my hand more freely on paper and cloth to produce and discover my own characteristic ‘marks’.
Fibre Arts Take Two created a gorgeous ezine catalog called “Delving Deeper into Your Visual Language.” Click here for the link: https://online.fliphtml5.com/vpxnw/yrzp/?fbclid=IwAR0QpNC6WXx9l6OPKM3jY6SbOIuZK6cLOs2FlDeFpVdoMqK7ljnboXTrBkg#p=2 .
Two of my art friends, ACN member Deborah Weir and Joanne Weis, are also in this
catalog.
---Ileana Soto
On the
website of the Textile Study Group of New York, you will find a new ‘profile’
of my work, complete with written text and photos. Here is the link: https://www.tsgny.org/ileana-soto-profile .
A lot of work went into this profile. I have a new appreciation of the
connections between my former work life as a family therapist and my present-day
art life. Thank you to my two editors! Please have a look and let
me know what you think.
---Ileana Soto
Line Dance, Tree Ring Patterns, var. 26 is 57" x 43". It is an art quilt. It is created from a photo of a tree stump I took while walking in one of the local conservation areas. I loved the look of the "feathers" in the wood caused by some unknown issue in the tree's past. These old tree stumps are evocative, for me, of time passing. I wonder at all that has happened in that forest - what has come and gone, what the tree has survived and been used for. Some of the story gets told in the stump by the markings. As part of my interest in Wabi-Sabi, the Japanese concept of finding beauty in the imperfect, the old, the decaying, the moment, I find this beautiful.
I manipulated the image in Photoshop Elements to heighten color and contrast, printed it out and then thread painted all the black line area to add dense texture and contrast to all the other patterning. I find the back of the piece quite intriguing as you see the map of that stitching. It tells you even more about the interior life of the tree.
See this piece and more in the Line Dance series on my website:
www.barbaraschneider-artist.
---Barbara Schneider
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| Line Dance, Tree Ring Patterns, var. 26, reverse |
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| Line Dance, Tree Ring Patterns, var. 26, detail |
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| Line Dance, Tree Ring Patterns, var. 26 |
I was lucky enough to participate in the Sister Artist project out of Kenya. I was given the embroidery of the ostrich done by Catherine Akyini. She has been developing her stitching skills through a program supported by the Advocacy Project, an international aid agency. These are marketable skills and she is getting education on how to do so through the program. Once I received the piece I put into an art quilt I designed around it.
Here's the latest piece from FiberFly Studios. I'm so into 3D work now. It's more challenging for me as there are so many different and more complex issues. Balance (literal and visual) was the primary one with this guy.
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| Leaves, Desert Variations, by Barbara Schneider, 30''h x 54''w |
My recent work is created from a variety of hand colored fabrics.
“Inside Out 2” was created during time of pandemic isolation. The labor intensive construction of these pieces was a perfect way for me to pass time in lock down, while exploring a new three-dimensional way to express how architecture influences my work.
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| Inside Out by Judy Langille |
I visited an Italian palace built in the 15th century. It was constructed using 8,500 white marble tetrahedrons. Their carving and positioning created the light and shadows reflected on this building that I was so taken with. My immediate fascination with the stories within these stones allowed me to look closely and inspired this piece of work.
Judy Langille
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| 'Facade 5' by Judy Langille |
Enjoy 4 new pieces from FiberFly Studios. All the wrapping and binding I've been doing over the last couple of years has moved into a more open form. Additional, and LARGER work, to come!
