Old Orchard Gallery- Becky Grass

Exhibiting Gallery: The Old Orchard Gallery
Title of Show: Fibra Vive
Opening and Closing Date: Sept 18th, 2009 - October 9th, 2009
Juror: Becky Grass
Show Description: Fibra Vive celebrates today's artist's personal interpretation of their "magical journey" through Latin America in their own work.  

The Old Orchard Gallery

39 S Old Orchard

Webster Groves, MO 63119

314.961.4433

http://www.theoldorchardgallery.com/

http://www.missourifiberartists.com/

Artist and Juror: Becky Grass

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

 

I am a new mother of twin boys, which is absorbing nearly all of my time and energy these days.  It is an exhilarating experience and is more satisfying than I could ever have imagined.  They have already completely changed my perspectives on so many levels.  I see the human experience through new eyes as I embark on this journey of motherhood and relive all of the simple wonders of the world.  My focus has changed as I learn to re-examine familiar things as a new experience and this really makes the subtle details of daily life beautiful and inspiring.

 

What is the source of your creativity? How much is from within? How much comes from outside sources?

 

I would have to say there is an even balance of sources that inspire me to create, from both within and outside sources. Daily life and routine have always been of great interest to me and now more than ever, home life.  Examining routines and patterns can be very inspiring for me as a weaver.  I am always trying to relate the patterns found in our modern world to the ancient traditions and thoughts of our ancestors.  The processes of weaving and creating cloth help me reach a place of mind that I feel keeps me in touch and in tune with this universal consciousness.

 

What are some of the things you do to keep yourself creative?

 

I am an avid music lover.  I play piano and guitar and find that sitting down and playing some music always gets those creative juices going for me.  Playing and listening to music always puts me in a new mindset and is a great mental warm up for getting to work in the studio.

 

Could you do your art without an audience? How important is feedback?

 

Although feedback can be a very important aspect of art making and many times integral to developing ideas and skills, I could most certainly make art without an audience.  In fact, I feel that my best work comes when I am relaxed and making work purely for my own enjoyment.  Not that it is always easy, but I feel that my ideas and voice are most clear when I am not concerned about how an audience will be interpreting the piece. 

 

What are your favorite materials to work with?

 

I love fine threads. They can be delicate, yet have the potential to become a robust fabric.  I also prefer to work with natural fibers.  Cotton and silk are most prevalent in my work.

Duane Reed Gallery- Sun Smith Floret

EXHIBITING GALLERY: Duane Reed Gallery

TITLE OF SHOW: Silver Screen Quilts: Art about Movies

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 11th, 2009 - October 14th, 2009

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW: Silver Screen Quilts are works of cloth, paint and mixed media referencing film and cinema.

Duane Reed Gallery
4729 McPherson 
St.  Louis, Missouri 63108
314.361.4100
http://www.rduanereedgallery.com

My art life started with knitting, dressing paper dolls, scarf dancing with my younger sister and playing outside in a mud hole with sister and brothers  when I was  about seven and lived in a suburb of New York City. My mother took me to pick out wallpaper at least twice a year. My grandfather was a professional millinary designer who painted in oils and cooked as his hobbies. He loved children, was the most joyful member of my family and had great influence on many aspects of my life. He would deeply appreciate the aesthetics of how I work and live now. My home overlooks the Mississippi River in Elsah, Illinois where I am currently collaborating with an artist friend, Eric Gray, on rock wall  sculptures for a large and just manageable flower and vegetable garden that is my main hobby. That and cooking for family and friends. I share a studio upstairs over the Sidney Street Cafe in Benton Park with Barbara Simon, an artist friend of thirty five+ years.

My professional life is made up of both art making and a private practice as a Psychotherapist. The two intertwine and reinforce each other. All of my current art is about movies and the people who create them. Movies are about behavior and how we interpret the world,  ourselves and others, cultures, politics, love, death, money, history, the future, etc.

The desire to enhance my home with self created objects inspired me to study art and design. Independent work for several years with Leslie Lasky led to a BFA in Art History and an MFA from Washington University.

All of my waking hours have to do with what ever finally ends up on a given piece. Relationships with other people and one's own thoughts can be visually depicted, every nuance of the changing hues of river and sky expand the pallet. Every object, be it sky scraper or chicken's egg, has  balance between form and function. Anything well made is inspiration. Working with textiles has much to do with time, hand stitches being tiny markers. Great films are constructed from a vast complexity of ideas and concrete actions. The subjectivity of film and its collaborative nature challenge me to feel aspects of the film in a new way that is yet recognizable to other viewers.

Is the body an object?  I think so. Aging as mine is, I cherish it and live to honor it and the mind and heart it contains. I respect it's exquisite complexity and vulnerability, it's mortality, it's containment of the myriad emotions that define us as humans. My body is very much an agent of my art making process and I am often literally covered up or surrounded by a work in process.

Sun Smith Floret

http://www.rduanereedgallery.com/Artists%20Pages/smithforet/SmithForet.html