Carol R. Eaton Designs

Carol R. Eaton Designs

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Showing posts with label Lin-Hsin Chen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lin-Hsin Chen. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Fiberlandia in a Nutshell!

I am just getting back to my typical routines after a wonderful whirlwind trip to the annual SAQA conference in Portland, Oregon - appropriately titled Fiberlandia! The SAQA organization puts on a fabulous conference with workshops, speakers and hands on activities to satisfy our need to play and work with textiles while away from our studios! 

You know when you see the iconic Mt. Hood out of the plane's window it's time to get excited!

Coming from early spring in CT to this luscious green flying into Portland made my heart sing! 

I was excited for the vendor market. Here we are getting set up - yes all of this fabric traveled across the country! Marianne Williamson is getting a head start picking out some choice fabrics for one of her future designs!

I had 5 fun giveaways from products donated by some very exceptional artists: Lynn Krawczyk, Julie B. Booth, Lesley Riley, Terri Stegmiller and Deborah Boschert

Margaret Phillips from the CT. Chapter was on hand to help get the vendors set up!  

Portland artist Wendy Mamattah stopped by to say hello! Wendy and I connected over Facebook and have been cyber buddies for a while now. It was a delight to meet face to face! Please visit Wendy's Etsy shop to view her beautiful fabrics, patterns and other fun products! 

Here I am with the lovely Carole Staples who I had the pleasure of meeting at the 2014 conference in VA. Carole is not only a talented artist she is the SAQA rep for the Ohio chapter. I wanted to give Carole a shout out because she was dedicated enough to hit the gym while at the conference - very impressive!

OK - it's let loose time! 

Thursday evening Lyric Kinard hosted an ice breaker. She had us going around the room and eventually settling next to someone we didn't know who we had to create a self portrait of in about 10 minutes. It lead to some hilarious portraits... as you can see. The exercise allowed me to meet the wonderful Erika Close who will forever make me smile when I look at my blue faced, green haired portrait! Of course I will hang it in my studio! Sorry Erika but I am seriously the worst selfie taker of all times! 

Friday evening was the first ever MAKER SPACE event for SAQA. This was the brain child of Kate Themel and Martha Wolfe. I know it was a lot of coordination and planning leading up to the event and boy was it ever a great success! At this table we have Carol Ziogas owner of Kimonomomo Inc. who showed folks how to stitch in the traditional Sashiko manner. 

Betty Busby shared her approach to designing with paint sticks! Seeing artists use tools and techniques in a way most of use never thought to do was such an eye opener and a treat!  

President Kris Sazaki is sharing a laugh with Georgia French. Georgia brought multiple felting machines for folks to try. For those of use who hand felt seeing the machines quickly felting the roving was a bit mind boggling - it's kind of like seeing spray adhesive for the first time after hand basting a queen size quilt!  

Laura Jaszkowski shared her approach to creating miniature landscapes. Who knew what beautiful creations could be made using small scraps of fabric and limited time.

Nancy Turbitt put her own spin on using fabric markers. She had baskets of markers to share, a light box and lots of energy to help people get started on making beautiful art! 

Reconnecting with peeps met at last years conference was a highlight for me! Lottie Smith was one such friend who I can now reach out to the next time I'm in Oregon! 

Maria Shell came down from Alaska to be the keynote speaker on Saturday morning! Maria kept everyone engaged and motivated by her openness to share her experiences and her ability to connect with the group. I first "meet" Maria when her work was accepted into the Color Wheel of Emotions exhibition that I curated. Being able to meet Maria face to face at the conference was a bonus! 

Gerrie Congdon and I became acquainted when we were invited to join The Printed Fabric Bee group. We are a group of 12 professional fiber artists who create custom fabric collections each month for one chosen "Queen". In addition to creating a collection for the Queen we also include a piece the Queen gives away to some lucky person. This happens each month so follow along and enter to win your own fabric pack by visiting our blog

Lastly it was a treat to meet Hsin-Chen Lin face to face. Just like Maria I first "meet" Hsin-Chen through the Color Wheel of Emotions exhibition. In addition to being an internationally renowned fiber artist Hsin-Chen also founded the 
Taiwan Art Quilt Society.
At the conference Hsin-Chen participated on the International Panel. It was a delight hearing from artists around the globe discussing influences and trends of fiber art in their cultures. 
Thank you for taking the time to get to the end of this very long blog! I tired to self edit but truly the whole conference experience was such a great adventure I didn't want to leave anything out!
I look forward to 2016 when SAQA hosts in Philadelphia! 

Monday, October 20, 2014

Around the World Blog Hop - Round Two!



Although I posted an Around the World Blog Hop a few weeks ago I have more great artists that I simply must share with you! Highlighted today is the fabulous Kate Themel. I met Kate at one of the first CT SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) meetings that I attended where she presented a topography series... it was crazy good! She had developed a unique layering technique to get the end results she was looking for and I became an instant fan!  


Kate's created custom fiber art for individuals and corporate clients and her unique fiber pieces have been exhibited in art galleries and museums from Boston to Botswana. Her work has been juried into international fiber art exhibitions such as Quilt National, Art Quilt Elements and the Kagoshima Quilt Show in Japan. Kate recently earned the Young Emerging Artist Award and the People's Choice Award for her work in Quilt National '11.

Kate enjoys sharing ideas with other artists and encouraging people to develop their own creative instincts. Kate offers a variety of classes and lectures ranging from one hour to full day workshops. She and I collaborate on her Magnolia Workshop by using my ice dyed fabrics for the projects she teaches. For more information about Kate's workshops, exhibition schedule and artwork please click here... enjoy! 

I have two other talented artists to share today... Lin-Hsin Chen and Terry Waldron. I became acquainted with both women when I curated The Color Wheel of Emotions exhibition through SAQA which traveled around the US for more than a year. After working on the exhibtion for so long it was kind of sad to let it go... I was delighted with this opportunity to continue to share the artists with all of you! Lin-Hsin's piece titled, "Warm Love" was an expression of a mother's enduring love and support. Terry was the exhibitions juror and I can attest to the hours she poured over all the submitted artwork to create a fabulous cohesive exhibition that shared my vision as curator. She was great to partner with! 


Lin-Hsin Chen was born and raised in Taiwan. She has been organizing exhibitions and teaching for 20 years. Lin-Hsin supports students or groups to collaborate together on large-sized collective works. Lin-Hsin states, "Needles and threads are like my mentors; they lead me to absorb and mature. My thoughts and feelings are well-expressed in various forms and beyond boundaries through the narrative talents of works". She finds endless inspiration in nature and loves to play with various kinds of fabric prints by exploring the combination of possibilities for a new vision. Global environmental issues are close to her heart and reflected in her work. Lin-Hsin is the President of Taiwan Art Quilt Society (TAQS). For a prospectus on the upcoming exhibit, Protect the Earth's Environment, click here.  Lin-Hsin is a SAQA Juried Artist member and the SAQA Regional Representative of Taiwan. Have fun exploring Lin-Hsin's artwork - you will become a raving fan! Please click here for more information.


Terry Waldron is an award-winning fiber artist whose work hangs in art museums, galleries, and in patrons' homes, too.  She is a quilter, teacher and author with work published in several books and magazines. In addition to being a juror Terry has curated and judged fiber art exhibitions and had the unique expereince of having Simply Quilts with Alex Andersen shoot a segment in her homeTerry holds degrees in both art and English Literature and is a Fellow in the UCI Writing Project.  As a life-long high school teacher and now a busy fiber art teacher traveling all around the country, Terry loves to show others that they, too, are born artists! Her inspiration comes from taking notice of details in her surroundings. Terry encourages people to not just look straight ahead but to look UP and DOWN... way down to notice the smaller treasures not normally observed. Terry is a SAQA Professional Member and affiliated with Quilt Visions, California Fiber Artists and Quilts on the Wall. For more information on Terry and to view her exquisite art click here

As you most likely know already the spirit of the Around the World Blog Hop is to answer some questions to share who I am as an artist. Since I posted a few weeks ago I will provide an abridged version and hope that you will click back a few posts for a more complete picture of my work and what makes me tick! 

What am I working on?
The answer to this question changes almost daily. It's not that I'm scattered it's just that inspiration hits me and I act on it or make notes until I have the time to explore the idea. I just completed a series of shawls and scarves for an upcoming exhibition/sale on November 15th at the Mark Twain Library in Redding, CT being organized by SDA (Surface Design Association). Also, I recently went deep into an Indigo frenzy and everything got dipped in the vat and lately I've asked fiber artist Terri Stegmiller to create custom Thermofax Screens for my designs. A shout out to Terri - she is not only an incredible fiber artist but through her Etsy shop she'll create custom screens for you in addition to offering her own collection of screen and stencils



How does my work differ from others of its genre?
My work comes directly from my head and heart. I'm influenced by the natural world and love understanding techniques and processes so I can take my work to the next level. I sincerely believe that following this individual path differentiates my work from other fiber artists. 

Why do I write/work what I do?
I'm wired this way... for me being an artist is part of my personality and seeps into all other areas of my life and decision making. 

How does my working process work?
At the risk of sounding over simplistic an idea comes to me either by thinking through a topic or by having something in nature catch my eye. I roll that thought around in my head sorting through how to achieve the end result and once I have a path I get to work in the studio. The path is never straight and zigs and zags while keeping the vision for the end result in my mind's eye. 

Please check out my work on FaceBook at Carol R. Eaton Designs and Pinterest I'm a member of The Printed Fabric Bee which is a collection of professional surface design artists. The group hosts a monthly giveaway and for a chance to win your own custom fabric collection follow The Printed Fabric Bee Blog!

Check out a sampling of the other artists participating in the Around the World Blog Hop!