Lighting the World with Comfort and Joy During a Pandemic

http://www.highinfiberart.com/

As the sun shone brightly on the sand, patterns emerged inspiring me to create GLOBAL GUARDIAN ANGEL to light the world with comfort and joy during the pandemic. I digitally developed the photo and scanned fabrics and created a file to commercially print on silk charmeuse. This piece is traveling in a SAQA global exhibition entitled “Light the World” and will be in St. Marie Aux-Mines, France, September 2021.

Judy Langille is "Boxed In"

Boxed In by Judy Langille

From Art Cloth Network member 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 3-D work.
 

Jeanne Sisson's Subtle Layering Process on 'Carried'

 

Jeanne Sisson, www.jeannesisson.com

To start I ironed fabric onto freezer paper to stabilize it before drawing or painting. Then I used this Arabic calligraphy pen and India ink to draw the figure onto the linen.

The textures above and behind the figure are multiple layers of monotype printing with acrylic medium that will act as a resist when a wash of acrylic paint is applied later. The background was masked with freezer paper and textures were monotype printed onto the figure and foreground with paint.

Lastly, I applied a couple of layers of acrylic paint in washes to create depth.

Carried, 12 x 14”, mixed media on linen

Walking in Wonder

 

Enjoy ACN Member Barbara J. Schneider's Latest Solo Exhibition

 I was delighted to be invited into the Spotlight on Create Whimsy. Here is  a link to their post. 

https://createwhimsy.com/projects/spotlight-dianne-koppisch-hricko-fiber-artist/

 You can see ACN member Yolanda Sanchez's work in Miami this month.  Congratulations, Yolanda!

KIRIGAMI

     Paper holds the folds well.   This is just one piece of paper.  Trompe l'oiel??? 

MINIMS!!

 During the pandemic I obsessively hand stitched.    Here are some of the MINIMS I made, each is 6" square, banded by needle lace which separates them but allows them to speak to each other.

A Big Finish for Little Stitches - Mary Ann Nailos

Like many of you, I started the new year cleaning and organizing my studio. In the process I found things that have been overlooked or forgotten. On one shelf, collecting dust, I found 7 ceramic raku picture frames that I made 5-6 years ago. 

The frames are small - about 5 1/2 " square with an opening only 2 1/2 " square. What to put in an opening so small? I had the perfect answer - stitch meditations. 

I was inspired to make these little compositions after watching a video by textile artist Liz Kettle. Each piece is a 4" x 4" composition backed with flannel. Making these little pieces was a way of warming up, got me into the studio and working on larger pieces. 

In order to make the pieces stiffer for mounting to the frames I used a sandwich of the stitch meditation, Pellon Peltex 72F double sided fusible ultra firm stabilizer and a piece of black Kona cotton for the backing. The piece was then cut down to 3 1/4". I went around the outside edges with black paint.

Finally I put a bead of glue around the inside edge of the opening and attached the completed piece to the back of the frame and added picture hanging wire. 

Voila! A big finish for a small piece!

 I am very pleased to have made use of these frames and small compositions. Here are a couple other pieces in black and blue frames. I can see these hanging as a grouping.

A San Francisco museum honors local artists

 

In early 2020, after the advent of the Corona Virus pandemic, art museums, music venues, and most public institutions closed their doors for public safety.  With this impetus, San Francisco’s de Young Museum initiated an ambitious local project.  Seasoned and emerging Bay Area artists were invited to enter a salon-style 9-gallery juried exhibition called “The de Young Open”.  Out of more than 11,000 entries, 877 pieces by 763 artists had been chosen.  I was honored to be one of those, with my piece “Heated Boundaries.”  In spite of virus case surges and a planned 15 week show open for only 7 weeks, the show did open with mask and distancing protocols in place.

A salon style show is meant to be eye-popping and overwhelming.  It invites you to return because you can’t possibly take in the scale and “wallop” in one viewing.  The sensitivity and subtlety of subject matter also bring you back for exploration.  You can see the show on line (and my piece) until January 31, 2021 at: https://deyoungopenexhibition.artcall.org/pages/web-gallery?keyword=Ileana+Soto

My piece “Heated Boundaries” refers to that zone in which populated areas and “the wild” come into close contact.  It is here that we experience one of the many dangerous effects of the warming of our climate.  Extreme fires have devastated communities in California and throughout the world.

The show is wide-ranging, including potent and relevant themes of Black Lives Matter, social justice, the pandemic, Bay Area views and scenes, representation, abstraction, and portraiture.  All media were included.  In viewing the show, I was thrilled to be in the midst of the diversity, artistry, and depth of expression that distinguishes our area’s artists. 

The museum world is changing.  De Young Museum Executive Director Thomas Campbell acknowledges that “looking locally and relying less on traveling exhibitions of internationally famous artists may be a key part of how Fine Art Museum San Francisco (FAMSF) will move forward.”  Timothy Anglin Burgard, FAMSF curator-in-charge of American art, states that “museums have been dependent on the blockbuster exhibition schedule.  Here, we are relinquishing that role for a more populist model that engages community.”