#4 in my Family Series is Complete!

I have a slowly evolving family series in fabric wall art that I've been working on over the past few years. They are personal and meant to evoke a memory or capture something I've been thinking about. 

Friday Nights with Nana

Every Friday night my family would drive from CT to NH for a weekend of skiing. We would stop at my Nana's house along the way to sleep over before heading to the slopes Saturday morning. My Nana was a fun loving and intriguing person. Her lifestyle was very different from what I knew in my young life so it always felt like an adventure being with her. She had a rocking chair that terrified me! It was made of some type of plastic that felt icky against my skin and it was a high backed chair which didn't seem to balance properly. It always felt like I was a half second from going over backwards! But of course as a kid I continued to rock! Friday night was also Lawrence Welk night on TV... an a one an a two! Nana typically had a knitting or crochet project going and she smoked... and smoked! Eventually she got emphysema but back then the tobacco companies were selling their story that cigarettes were safe. 

This piece is whimsical and meant to be light hearted. Nana was a giggler and happy to play with a little girl. Her unconditional love helped shape my character and she will always be tucked away in my heart.

I hope you have someone whose memory makes you smile! 

Custom Fabric for Fairwinds Hotel!

I was contacted by James Risinger who is an Architect and Interior Designer in Miami, Florida. He had seen images of my fabric online and thought they would be a good option for art work in the newly renovated Fairwind Hotel project he was working on. His vision was to frame ten, 18" x 22" pieces to hang throughout the hotel. James was great to work with and as an artist himself he left free creative discretion to me for whatever I felt would work in South Beach! 

Below are the unframed pieces ready for shipping. 

I look forward to installation photos so I can live vicariously through my artwork... I've only been to South Beach briefly years ago. This may be the closest I get for a very long time! 

Using Unique Fabrics!

I'm having a burst of creative energy and actually creating some of my own fiber art pieces. Typically I create fabric for other artists to use but in reorganizing my inventory I've been setting aside fabrics that "speak" to me. I admit to having a wee bit of trouble focusing on completing a piece once I work through the design process but I'm committed to creating new works and will keep going!  

Here's a piece waiting for quilting. I took some black & white confetti dyed fabric and sliced it up. Next I layered it over a hand painted landscape fabric. I think I'm going to continue with the KISS method, Keep it Simple Stupid and only add a tight machine zigzag along the edges of the trees... does anyone else have another suggestion?

Look what Diane Cadrain Created!

Diane Cadrain is a fellow Connecticut Fiber Arts Collective member. She is one of the most prolific artists that I know producing new creations weekly. According to Diane, "the voices in her head" keep giving her ideas! As you can see she is also a lot of fun.

I've asked Diane to share some of her work that incorporates my hand crafted fabric. This piece is titled, "Cape Cod Pitch Pine". Diane first printed a photo onto fabric. Next she stuffed the images of the cones and used trapunto to get dimensionality for the needles. Then she surrounded the photo transfer with a border of my ice dyed fabric. Isn't it a great piece?!

Cape Cod Pitch Pine
by
Diane Cadrain

Cape Cod Pitch Pine - detail
Diane free-motion quilted the border for that lovely meandering look. 

Fiber Art - From Conception to Completion!

People often look at art quilts and say, "wow, how long did that take to make?" It's a well meaning question but typically difficult to answer. Taking a design from conception to completion can take many paths. In my case an idea will pop into my head where it will roll around as I try to work out the construction and design details. Once I formulate a plan I start to sketch, next comes auditioning of fabrics and sometimes the creation of fabrics specifically for the piece. Then the construction of the work begins, the quilting gives it life and perhaps some embellishments and finally the binding and sleeve. So you see it's difficult to say how long an individual piece takes to create but the journey is well worth the effort!

I do my best to stay connected to my buddy Sharon as our busy lives take us in many directions during the week. We've been fairly consistent over the past 7 years in meeting each week for our "weekend walk". We catch up, swap stories and enjoy being on a woodland trail. During our walks I try to keep an eye on our surroundings looking for inspiration for new work. As my passion for surface design continues to grow I would come home from our walks and create a "weekend walk" inspired piece of fabric. For example I'd collect pine needles and stamp them onto fabric or perhaps the color combinations I saw would go into an ice dye bath. The below piece was designed and created from fabrics that resulted from my experiences on my walks with Sharon. It was fun to create and filled with happy memories!

Weekend Walks With Sharon

36" X 29.5"



The techniques used when creating the fabrics are confetti dyeing, iced dyeing,
discharge, stamping, stenciling and silk screening



Detail of silk screened and quilted leaves

Seasons

This is my second attempt to create a piece focusing on Connecticut's four seasons. The first is destined to become a UFO! I was just not "feelin' it" after completing the top. Sometimes when you try too hard the design process gets frozen and doesn't go anywhere.

For my second attempt I drew a sketch of geometric shapes. My thought was to create seasonal "chunks". I used only fabrics I created including the background piece. It was fun to create with no forced tension so the design flowed easily.

 

Below is the final piece:

Seasons
3' X 3'

Seasons - detail

Facescapes: Connecticut's People

Last week I posted the beginnings of a wool roving project and I'm finally done! The piece is for Connecticut Fiber Arts Collective's upcoming show, Connecticut Landscapes. Although my faces aren't a physical landscape I believe they represent the landscape of the community and culture that makes Connecticut such a unique and diverse state.

Facescapes: Connecticut's People
24" X 16.5"
The wooden slat across the top and the beads in-between the faces
were made from an old map of Connecticut!

Each face was stitched using free motion quilting so no two are alike
and many are just silly!

This was the pile of wool roving I started with when creating the faces.
So much fun with so little time!

Please stop by Prospect's Public Library to view the complete collection with all members art work on display during the month of December! 

Iced Dying: How to Use the Fabric!

At this point I have an enormous stash of Iced Dyed fabrics! Many of the fabrics are bold and wild so using them in a piece of art takes a little thought.... how to highlight the fabrics without being overpowering?!

I came up with the below idea as a very simple way to showcase some of my favorite Ice Dyed fabrics. I have another design in mind for my next piece and can't wait to get started!

"Iced Delight"
4' X 4'
mounted on stretchers

How have you incorporated your Ice Dyed fabrics into a design?

Framed Fiber Art

I just got two pieces of my felted art work back from the framer. I'm always thrilled to see how the act of framing changes the feel of a fiber piece. I've been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the framing department in JoAnn's stores. The below two pieces will be displayed at an upcoming solo exhibit at the Kent Memorial Library this November and December.

Basket of Poesies

Basket of Poesies was created by felting wool roving.
I added machine quilting and embroidery for added interest.

Felted Fall

Felted Fall has a number of fabrics and fibers included.
The leaf was created by felting wool roving, the leaf is attached to a piece of silk
and the background is on textured linen.
The mat is also textured tying the elements together.

Fiber Art - Finding Balance

I've had a love for stone carins ever since I started hiking in the White Mountains as a child. When you're up above the treeline the stone carins are placed like sentinels guiding the way when visibility is poor. It's customary to add a stone to each carin as you hike by and I've taken that custom to heart. I built a good size carin in my garden with friends and family bringing stones from their adventures to add to the carin.

I recently started adding smaller stone sculptures to my gardens creating little whimsical structures all predicated on the natural balance of stacking stones. There is something about the smooth stones balancing on top of each other with no additional support that I find peaceful and orderly. I'm planning a series of fiber wall hangings using the idea of balance as the subject.

 Below is my first completed piece titled

 Finding Balance

24" X 20"

The piece is created using my own line of fabrics including
a hand painted piece with ferns stamped on it.

Purple Stone Sculpture  - Detail

Sisters: finding inspiration in a photograph

"Sisters" was inspired by a photograph I took of Hannah and her sister Lindsey while on vacation in Maui. We were on the back side of Mt. Haleakala when we came across a beautiful stone church. The setting was so simple and peaceful we stopped to enjoy the serenity. Once I took the photo I knew I wanted to include the sisters in a design because it was such a caring scene. I live in New England and wanted the sisters to be in a more familiar setting so I decided they would equally enjoy picking apples... that's the beauty of the inspiration; you can take it in any direction you'd like!

Sisters
Hand painted background with varies dying techniques for the other fabrics.
27.5" X 12.5"

The design on the back of the jacket was created by felting wool roving.

The sisters hair was made from confetti dyed fabric.

The original photo of Hannah and Lindsey!

Felting - Red Roadeshia!

I have a friend who owns a nursery in Vermont. For as long as I can remember she's been interested in landscape design and has a great eye for combing a variety of flowers to create magnificent bouquets. When it comes to finding that unique combination Trish was known for picking wildflowers from the side of the road. If she was unsure of the name of a plant she would call it a "roadeshia". The freedom to make up names inspired me to create "Red Roadeshia" which is a completely made up flower!

Using red wool roving I created the flowers with the felting technique. Each center was filled with silk gauze and quilted. The stems are hand dyed fabric with a commercial backing. It's a simple but fun design... do you have your own version of a roadeshia?

Neddle Felting + Confetti Dying = A Water Lily Tablerunner

One of my favorite places to kayak is in a lagoon area off Silver lake. I call it "dragonfly world" because there are more dragonflies in that one area than you could ever imagine - it's amazing! You can even hear their wings vibrating; they sound like paper tearing. There are also a ton of beautiful water lilies and I really wanted to recreate the feel of the lagoon and turn it into a table runner.

The first task was to create the lily's and leaves. I used the needle felting technique which is demonstrated in the photos below...

Here are the finished lily's and leaves. I added a few beads to the center of each flower.

I used a piece of confetti dyed fabric as the base with avocado green for the sashing. It was fun to do and I really enjoy combining different techniques into each piece.

What are your favorite techniques to combine?