Innovations in Textiles 8

2009-09-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: St. Louis Artists' Guild

TITLE OF SHOW: Couture Threads of Democracy

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 20th, 2009- November 7th, 2009

CURATOR: Nina Ganci of SKIF International

SHOW DESCRIPTION:

The designers selected for the show have maintained a reverence to reality throughout their fashion career. Their personal work stretches the conceptual boundaries of beauty, culture... and politics.

I appreciate that each designer has remained true to their ideal style . All of them work here in the United States and have significantly contributed to the evolution of our artistic vision.

The pieces in the show reflect our culture, history and fashion. As a collection, it represents an expansion of our perception of fashion and opens up a space in the viewer's mind to see both - the style and the design's structure to fit the human form.

As designers, we're responsible for making our own choices and creating clothing for the people we know. With western wear, we've inherited our sense of dress - a grand responsibility for the way we look, work, and behave.

St. Louis Artists' Guild

Two Oak Knoll Park

St. Louis, Missouri 63105

314.727.6266

www.stlouisartistsguild.org

Submitted by Artist: Loretta Warner

First Inspiration:
As a child, growing up in a big family, we used to get hand me downs from a family, no kidding, with the name “the Bumbs”. They were richer than us. Also, on many occasions, my mother dressed my sister and I (who is my Irish twin) alike, which I disliked even at a young age. I wanted to be me! I remember my father giving me my first Vogue magazine. The magazines were so big and beautiful, back then. I soon discovered Vogue patterns and scotch tape and newspaper. My first pieces were rather funny looking, but shortly, I was copying the beautiful pictures in the magazines!

Cherished possession:
I suppose if I could be buried with one possession it would be my sewing machine. My great industrial Singer machine sits by the window and never fails me, in the beautiful sewing jobs it does for me. Please see self-portrait, in which I took “Photoshop license” of changing Singer’s name to “Killer.”

To keep creative:

I walk early morning and often. I have a great mountain hike about a mile from my live-work studio, called Claremont Canyon. I like to shake the rocks out of my head - meaning, too much thinking does me no good! I leave my thoughts there, on that good, well traveled, dirt path, and then, am clear to create. It is about a mile walk each way to and from, and then a good zigzag hike, up to the top. Many people do it. The truth is, it kicks me in the buttocks every time–and I have been walking it 3 to 4 times a week for years! Please see picture, which is a view from the little bench at the top. Sometimes you can see the whole Bay Area, not always!

Source of my creativity:
I think that the source of my creativity is those moments when I am truly present to what I am doing, there. I am no longer myself. I am One, meaning I am you and you are me. Time doesn’t exist. Work is not work. Life is being. I am always surprised, too, by the results!

Did you chose or were you chosen to create art?
I think that everybody in the universe is chosen to create. As Saint Paul wrote to the people of Corinth “There are different gifts, but the same spirit; there are different ministries but the same Lord; there are different works but the same God who accomplishes all of them in everyone….” One can substitute the word “dog” for God. It makes no difference. The point is that I am here to use my gifts, as are you.

Art St. Louis- Alice Zrebiec

2009-09-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

Joy Deeann Carson, Brentwood, TN. Holding it Together. 2008. Machine Embroidery, Acrylic on Panel, 36”x36”. $600.

EXHIBITING GALLERY: Art St. Louis

TITLE OF SHOW: Fiber Focus 2009

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 14th, 2009- October 15th, 2009
OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, September 25th 6:00pm to 9:00pm

CURATOR OR JUROR: Dr. Alice Zrebiec

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW: Fiber Focus 2009 is the 8^th biennial presentation of this nine-state regional juried exhibition focusing on fiber works by artists from MO, IL, KY, TN, AR, OK, NE, IA, KS. Art Saint Louis introduced Fiber Focus in 1995 as one of the many exhibition/venues in the inaugural Innovations in Textiles collaborative. Fiber Focus was and continues to be an opportunity for regional fiber artists to exhibit along side the national and international artists featured at other venues in the collaborative.

Art St. Louis

555 Washington Ave, Suite 150

St. Louis, Missouri 63101

314.241.4810

www.artstlouis.org

Submitted by Juror: Alice Zrebiec

Juror’s Statement

“On my first look at the entries for “Fiber Focus 2009,” I was struck by the incredible variety of the work submitted. Frequently a juror will encounter specific themes or techniques predominating in a competition. This field of entries was quite the opposite and demonstrates the wide range of innovation that exists in art in fiber today. In selecting objects for this exhibition, therefore, I thought the best service I could provide was to convey that bedazzling creative breadth.

Technically, the work includes tapestry and other weaving techniques: hand and machine embroidery; beading and quillwork; netting; felt; dyeing and printing; quilting that demonstrates a new take on traditional patterns, creates a new composition, or is used a part of a mixed media work. Extending the technical and material scope even further are works in handmade and cast paper, basketry, and the incorporation of photographic processes. Many of the works are mixed media and inventively combine different materials and techniques.

Conceptually, the work is equally varied and ranges from realistic representation to abstraction. Some artists take their primary inspiration from the natural world, while others explore color, form and texture or seek—and succeed—in conveying the intangible realm where emotions, memories and imagination live.

Further enriching the possibilities of artistic expression are the scale and dimensionality of the works. Ranging from miniature to massive, the chosen pieces are planar, multidimensional, wearable, or sculptural. Working with digital images, I considered all these aspects: concept, technique, scale and size. I looked for those examples that succeeded the most in combining these harmoniously. A good idea well executed becomes more than the sum of its parts as shown by the fifty-seven entries selected.

I would like to thank Dion Dion, Executive Director of Art Saint Louis, for inviting me to juror this exciting competition, and Robin Hirsch, Associate Director and Gallery Director, for her wonderful organization that made the jurying process so streamlined. And of course, I want to thank all the entrants: keep imagining, keep experimenting, and keep creating!”

Alice Zrebiec

August 2009

About the Juror

Serving as juror for “Fiber Focus 2009” is Dr. Alice Zrebiec. Dr. Zrebiec received her Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts–New York University. Her dissertation, American Tapestry Manufactures–1893-1933, examined the work of three prominent ateliers and the artistic and cultural milieu in which this work was produced. For sixteen years she was curator of textiles in the department of European Sculpture & Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she was responsible

for textiles, tapestries, carpets, ecclesiastical vestments, and fans from the Renaissance to the turn of the 20th century. Her own interests, however, have a wider scope and include ethnographic textiles and contemporary works of art in fiber. A recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, Dr. Zrebiec has lectured internationally and published widely on diverse aspects of textiles and tapestries. She is currently a curatorial consultant based in Santa Fe and consulting curator of Textile Art for the Denver Art Museum.

Nicole Ottwell, Columbia, MO. Definitions—Web. 2009. Jacquard Woven Cloth (Oriole Mill), 46”x38”. Not for Sale.

Shanna Burton, Belleville, IL. Shaman Rabbit. 2008. Wool Felt, Wooden Buttons, 9”. $60.

Artist's statement: “The rabbit metaphor has often been used in mythology, literature, and art to recall intuition, rebirth, and redemption. I am particularly interested in the use of rabbits in art. The shaman rabbit is inspired by Joseph Beuys' performance How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare and by vanitas (17th century Dutch genre paintings). This soft sculpture was made to be posed as animated or quite dead and fits nicely in one's hands.“

St. Louis Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art- Nino Hecht

2009-09-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: St. Louis Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art at Crossroads Gallery

TITLE OF SHOW: Made by Hand

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 8th, 2009 - October 8th, 2009

Opening Reception: Friday September 11th, 7-9pm

IT8 bus tour: Saturday, October 3

Felted Teka workshop with Nino Hecht: Sunday, October 4, 1-4pm

CURATOR OR JUROR: Jo Stealey

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW: A regional juried exhibition sponsored by the St. Louis Chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art. Juried by fiber artist Jo Stealey.Stealey is an art professor and head of the fiber department at the University of Missouri - Columbia. Featued in the exhibition into the exhibition: Roxanne Phillips, Pat Owoc, Jennifer Weigel, Virginia Dragshutz, Clairion Ferron, Nino Hecht, Lydia Brockman, Linda Elkow, Jean Mills, Janice Nesser, Kathy Weaver, Betsy Dollar, Christine Ilewski, Trish Williams, Lisa Becker, Marie Samuels, Evie Shucart and Leslie Hume

Crossroads Art Studios and Gallery

501 N. KingshighwaySt. Charles MO 63301

Gallery hours: Wed - Fri Noon-5pm; Sat by appointment

call 314 581-3748

www.wca-stl.org

Submitted by Artist: Nino Hecht

Questions:

Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…

I am a felt artist from the Eastern European country of Georgia currently living and working in St. Louis Missouri. I am a member of the Women’s Caucus for Art and my work is featured at the Art Glass Array on the second floor of the Crossroads Art Studios in St. Charles, MO. I mostly work in my basement and use my kitchen floor for wet felting. I have a husband and a 2 year old son who is usually asleep when I felt otherwise we end up with wool and silk fibers all around the house. Felting is very kid-friendly and makes art projects fun and exciting. I will be teaching introduction to felting class as part of Innovations in Textiles 2009 on October 4, 2009 at the Crossroads Art Studios. I also teach introductory felting, felting jewelry and nuno-scarf (felted scarf) class at the same location couple times a year and felted jewelry class at the Adult and community education of St. Charles.

What first inspired you to become an artist?

Wool fiber has been used for wearable items and home décor from ancient times. Wool fleece is a warm, dynamic and creative organic fiber from right off the sheep's back. My passion for organic fibers originated from a childhood encounter with nature and cultural harmony. Born and raised in beautiful mountainous country of Georgia, I was fascinated with rich cultural heritage and abundance of folk craft techniques. I was introduced to felting as a child and rediscovered it a few years ago when I started experimenting with natural and hand-dyed wool and silk fibers. I am fascinated with textures, shapes and blends achieved by wet and needle felting and I always look forward to unfolding my final product after rigorous process of wet felting and seeing how multicolor fibers emerge into one solid pieces of felt.

Please describe your creative process: how you create, when, where, with what materials…

I work with ECO-FRIENDLY wool and silk fibers including exotic fibers like Karakul wool and Tussash silk.

Thin multicolor fibers are built up in alternate directions and then wetted. The process involves rubbing, beating and rocking until the fibers mat together and fleece fabric emerges. Vigorous agitation and soap lubrication allows movement of fibers through organic fabric to create stunning hand-felted textiles. I use wet- and nuno- felting (laminate felt) techniques with subtle needle-felting touches to create two- and three- dimensional art. I also integrate various natural and artificial fibers and fabrics to diversify surface design.

What are your favorite materials to work with?

I like blending coarser wools with softer wools and silk fibers. Exotic Karakul (Mongolian sheep breed) wool creates very rustic surface and unique blends with other softer fibers like merino and mohair. I use Tussash silk because it is a ‘vegetarian silk’ or type of silk collected after silkworms live their full life and leave their cocoons

What is your next project?

My next project will continue ‘Housewife’ (piece selected for the WCA ‘Made by hand’ exhibit at the Crossroads Art Studios and Gallery ) series and will explore character and visual images of the early 20^th century Georgian female roles and personality.

St. Louis Artists' Guild- Nathalie Cortada

2009-08-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: St. Louis Artists' Guild

TITLE OF SHOW: Head to Toe: From the Funky to the Sublime

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 20th, 2009- November 7th, 2009

SHOW DESCRIPTION: A juried exhibition that will challenge the notion of functionality yet honor the tradition of wearable art. Work shown will range from head to toe, the Funky to the Sublime and the functional to the non-functional. All textile techniques are encouraged.

St. Louis Artists' Guild

Two Oak Knoll Park

St. Louis, Missouri 63105

314.727.6266

www.stlouisartistsguild.org

Submitted by Artist: Nathalie Cortada
Edinburgh, Scotland

www.atelierscortada.com

Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…
I am French, born and brought up in Lyon, silk capital of Europe and home of Jacquard and his famous loom. I can’t remember learning to knit, crochet, weave or embroider as a child, my mum does though! I do remember my little orange sewing machine and my brother and I hand-embroidering our own drawings on wee napkin pouches. These are still in use at my mum’s.
I now live in Edinburgh where I learnt feltmaking and where my textile work has become a lot more three-dimensional, less functional and a lot more surreal.
Apart from creating things, what do you do?
I teach textile techniques (crochet and knitting) and papier mâché and card-making at weekly adult education classes. I also run freelance workshops in various crochet techniques, knitting, textile jewellery making, feltmaking and papier mâché.
I occasionally work in a sewing and knitting shop and enjoy helping customers make the right choices for themselves. And I work for a mental health charity three days a week in an information management role.
What are your favorite materials to work with?
My all time favourite material is thick raw wool with the lanolin still in it. However I love experimenting with all sorts of materials and these vary depending on what I want to achieve and my mood at the time. Materials range from the traditional wool and cotton yarn to fancy yarns, via newspapers, network cables, video and audiotapes to fishermen’s warp and climbing ropes. I often have a minuscule project on the go alongside much larger work. I also like to mix materials, little and large, soft and rough, smooth and textured.
If you didn’t work with fiber, what media would you work with? Why?
I already work in mixed media and use a lot of recycled materials in my work, mainly plastics and paper. If I didn’t work with fibre and paper my main medium would be with clay for its versatility and malleability. My current textile work is very sculptural, so are my papier mâché creations and clay would allow me to develop the sculptural aspect of my work further. Clay is also a very tactile substance and a pleasure to work with. Firing the object can give unexpected results and the object is always a pleasure to handle.
What is your next project?
I always have multiple projects on the go, some have been ongoing for some time (my godson is 15 years old and never did get the cardigan, size 3 to 6 months, started when he was born…).
I am two thirds of the way through knitting and crocheting a piece for the stitches on the Skye bridge project.
I am a member of a group of Edinburgh textile artists with an exhibition inJanuary 2010 in Edinburgh. My contribution is based on an African legend my dad had translated from English into French when I was a little girl. The ancient theme is strangely enough very modern, about wasting natural resources for man’s selfish ends. I could easily have a whole exhibition to myself with such a theme!

St. Louis Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art- Christine Ilewski

2009-08-27T08:59:00.001-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: St. Louis Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art at Crossroads Gallery

TITLE OF SHOW: Made by Hand

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 8th, 2009 - October 8th, 2009

Opening Reception: Friday September 11th, 7-9pm

IT8 bus tour: Saturday, October 3

Felted Teka workshop with Nino Hecht: Sunday, October 4, 1-4pm

CURATOR OR JUROR: Jo Stealey

Crossroads Art Studios and Gallery

501 N. KingshighwaySt. Charles MO 63301

Gallery hours: Wed - Fri Noon-5pm; Sat by appointment

call 314 581-3748

www.wca-stl.org

Artist : Christine Ilewski

Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…

I am a mixed media artist living in Southern IL in a very old house on the edge of a bluff, 200ft above the Mississippi River. My studio is in the basement, though I tend to spread my work out throughout the house when I'm deep in it.

My work has been exhibited in the St. Louis Regional Arts Center, Quincy Art Center, Mt. Vernon Mitchell Museum, and St. Louis University’s Art Museum. She is represented by Brewington Fine Arts, Woman Made Gallery and the Il Artisan Shop, Chicago; B Studio, Three Oaks, MI; Swanson Reed, Louisville, KY; and The Contemporary Art Center in New Harmony, IN.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

Beyond my studio work, I am a visiting artist for Liquitex. I give acrylic material and method workshops to university students and professional art leagues. I mother three daughters, participate in a Community Supported Garden, take long hikes and follow local bands with my husband.

What first inspired you to become an artist?

The stuff of a woman’s life has a way of building up; laundry, bills, dryer sheets, memories, photos, dust, paperwork, sketches of her daughters, wounds, rewards, sickness and health. I have long been interested in the way a bit of our spirit on the things we touch and how these things tell our story long after we’re gone. .

Please describe your creative process: how you create, when, where, with what materials…

A particular vintage pillowcase, sheet or curtain often inspires a piece. In "Beach", the floral pattern of the vintage sheet was like feeling a summer breeze and I could almost smell the sand and sun.

Currently, I've started a portrait project on vintage handkerchiefs. I blog have started painting the portraits of children who have died as the result of hand gun violence.

What possession do you most cherish?

My family.

St. Louis Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art- Clairan Ferrono

2009-08-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: St. Louis Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art at Crossroads Gallery

TITLE OF SHOW: Made by Hand

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 8th, 2009 - October 8th, 2009

Opening Reception: Friday September 11th, 7-9pm

IT8 bus tour: Saturday, October 3

Felted Teka workshop with Nino Hecht: Sunday, October 4, 1-4pm

CURATOR OR JUROR: Jo Stealey

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW: A regional juried exhibition sponsored by the St. Louis Chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art. Juried by fiber artist Jo Stealey.

Stealey is an art professor and head of the fiber department at the University of Missouri - Columbia. Featued in the exhibition into the exhibition: Roxanne Phillips, Pat Owoc, Jennifer Weigel, Virginia Dragshutz, Clairion Ferron, Nino Hecht, Lydia Brockman, Linda Elkow, Jean Mills, Janice Nesser, Kathy Weaver, Betsy Dollar, Christine Ilewski, Trish Williams, Lisa Becker, Marie Samuels, Evie Shucart and Leslie Hume

Crossroads Art Studios and Gallery

501 N. Kingshighway

St. Charles MO 63301

Gallery hours: Wed - Fri Noon-5pm; Sat by appointment

call 314 581-3748

www.wca-stl.org

Submitted by Artist: Clairan Ferrono

Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…

I am a textile artist living in Chicago. For the past eight years my work has been extensively shown locally in Chicago, throughout the Midwest, nationally in the US and internationally. In 2004 I was awarded an exhibition grant by the Illinois chapter of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Currently three of my pieces hang in the American Embassy in Côte d’Ivoire. In 2009 my work was shown in an international invitational exhibit in Taiwan. I am a Professional Member of the Studio Art Quilters Association (SAQA), and am currently curating their international exhibit “Reflections” which just closed at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England. I am a founding member of Fiber Artists Coalition (FAC), an exhibiting group, and a member of the Surface Design Association (SDA) and The Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA) as well as the Chicago Artists Coalition (CAC).

Please describe your creative process: how you create, when, where, with what materials

I create fiber collages and drawings by piecing, fusing, stitching and quilting commercial fabrics and fabrics I have dyed, painted, mono- or screenprinted or shiboried; (shibori is a Japanese technique that is a very sophisticated tiedye).. Sometimes I begin with a piece of white cloth, paint or draw on it with thickened dyes or textile paint or Shiva oil sticks; then I stitch (by hand or machine) other fabrics on top. I use raw edge appliqué, fusing (which uses a paper backed glue web) or reverse appliqué. I may make just one or many layers. Then I add batting and a back and machine quilt to hold the layers together. The final step is to add a sleeve to the back so a rod or slat may be inserted to hold the piece up.

What first inspired you to become an artist? What possession do you most cherish?

I have loved needlework of all sorts all my life—I learned to knit and embroider before I was five. But my formal education has been in literature. I got a Masters and began but did not finish my Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at the University of Chicago. For many years I taught English, writing, and ESL (English as a Second Language) at Roosevelt University in Chicago, The University of New Orleans, and Isidore Newman School in New Orleans.

In 1989, when my daughter was two, I learned how to quilt. My mother’s family was from the hills of Kentucky, so I had heard stories of quilts and quilting all my life. I cherish the Double Wedding Ring quilt my great-grandmother made for her own bed. But I never knew these relatives, and my mother did not quilt. I had to find out on my own. I was quickly caught up in the quilt world, but discovered early on that I didn’t like to follow patterns, but enjoyed working spontaneously. In 1997 I attended the Quilt Surface Design Symposium in Columbus, Ohio. In my family we call it “Quilt Camp.” It changed my life. In 2000, I decided to stop teaching and become a full time studio artist.

What is a typical day for you?

I have both a wet studio (where I paint, print and dye) and a dry studio (for designing and sewing) in my house in Hyde Park. I try to work in one of the studios every day. Even when I don’t want to, I tell myself “Just 15 minutes.” Of course, this is what I really love to do.

St. Louis Artists' Guild- Ann-Maree Walker

2009-08-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: St. Louis Artists' Guild

TITLE OF SHOW: Head to Toe: From the Funky to the Sublime

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 20th, 2009- November 7th, 2009

CURATOR: Lindsay Obermeyer

St. Louis Artists' Guild

Two Oak Knoll Park

St. Louis, Missouri 63105

314.727.6266

www.stlouisartistsguild.org

Submitted by Artist: Ann-Maree Walker

Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…

I am an artist who lives in Saint Louis. I graduated in the Spring of ’08 with my MFA from Washington University. I currently teach in the Art departments of Washington U and Florissant Valley Community College and am the Research Assistant at the Saint Louis Art Museum for the Department of Prints, Drawings and Photographs.

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

I think this is the most complicated part of my work that I want to continually evolve. I think that audience is the most essential part of completing a piece. I use textiles and fibers because of the “functional” and “wearable” qualities of the work. I want the viewer to think through the use and function of the piece and in some cases participate in the act of wearing and using the work. I want the work to go beyond the qualities of an “art object” and become more about performance and transformation.

How does your process of creating an art object begin?

For better or worse my art practice always begins in my head. I am inspired by reading, movies, music and pop culture. I am not the type of artist who goes to the studio and explores and manipulates material until I feel like I have arrived at something (though I often wish I was free to be this way.) Through writing, sketches, calculations and a lot of cerebral manipulations I will finally commit to a nearly fully formed idea and begin the process of making the work. However, I prize the mystery and intuitive methods of some of my favorite artists and would like to move towards a more instinctive way of working.

Name your top five: musicians, books, movies, websites, artists… (provide a link to websites or artists websites if at all possible)

This is a list of artists who I think have used fibers and wearable art in the most interesting ways.

Annette Messager: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2009/mar/05/annette-messager-hayward-retrospective

Rebecca Horn: http://www.rebecca-horn.de/pages/biography.html

Louise Bourgeoise (Stitches in Time): http://www.recirca.com/reviews/louisebourgeois/index.shtml

Jana Sterbak: http://www.janasterbak.com/images.html

Nick Cave: http://www.jackshainman.com/dynamic/artist.asp?ArtistID=23

Lucy Orta: http://www.studio-orta.com/artwork_fiche.php?fk=&fs=1&fm=0&fd=0&of=4

Sara Lucas: http://www.tate.org.uk/tateetc/issue5/encounters5.htm

Ann Hamilton: http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/hamilton/#

Tracy Emin: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturereviews/3557865/Tracey-Emin---dirty-sheets-and-all.html

Ernesto Neto: http://www.armoryonpark.org/index.php/programs_events/detail/ernesto_neto_in_the_wade_thompson_drill_hall/

Mona Hatoum: http://www.whitecube.com/artists/hatoum/

Define fiber art through your lense as an artist or audience member.

Fiber art has a very specific history that, for better or worse, comes into play in the reading of an artwork. The history of women’s work, craft, fashion and industry all come together in the media of fiber art. I think the most successful artists are very cognizant of this tie to history and elaborate on or exploit these ideas. My interest in using the textile media stems from my interest in identity. Until recently, Western Philosophy considered our identities tied to our mind and souls. Current philosophers and theorists tie identity to the external. French Feminist, Judith Butler describes the body as a tablet where signification and identity are formed as external influences inscribe themselves into the flesh. I see the body as a canvas onto which we apply our identity, consciously and unconsciously. For this reason fashion, accessories and even technological devices become a vehicle for identity and the body a site for a variety of cultural power plays.

St. Louis Artists' Guild- Nina Ganci

2009-08-20T08:11:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: St. Louis Artists' Guild

TITLE OF SHOW: Couture Threads of Democracy

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 20th, 2009- November 7th, 2009

CURATOR: Nina Ganci of SKIF International

SHOW DESCRIPTION:

The designers selected for the show have maintained a reverence to reality throughout their fashion career. Their personal work stretches the conceptual boundaries of beauty, culture... and politics.

I appreciate that each designer has remained true to their ideal style . All of them work here in the United States and have significantly contributed to the evolution of our artistic vision.

St. Louis Artists' Guild

Two Oak Knoll Park

St. Louis, Missouri 63105

314.727.6266

www.stlouisartistsguild.org

Submitted by Curator: Nina Ganci

http://www.skifo.com/faskifo/Skif_International.html

If I didn't work in fiber...
I'd work in METAL, because it is indestructible.

What is my next project?
SPRING 2010, now
St. Louis Fashion WEEK, in OCTOBER

Apart from creating things, what do you do?
I create spaces for other ARTISTS to thrive.

What first inspired you to become an artist?
It's the only thing I could do.

nina's pick for cool videos:
Here is a link to the work of Robert Longyear- one of the designers presented in the exhibition Couture Threads of Democracy
http://www.youtube.com/user/flypigeoncamp1

top 5
http://www.corridor40.com/category/editorials
http://flypigeoncamp.blogspot.com
http://www.ted.com
www.woostercollective.com
http://www.global-mindshift.org/

St. Louis Artists' Guild- Chris Motley

2009-08-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: St. Louis Artists' Guild

TITLE OF SHOW: Head to Toe: From the Funky to the Sublime

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 20th, 2009- November 7th, 2009

St. Louis Artists' Guild

Two Oak Knoll Park

St. Louis, Missouri 63105

314.727.6266

www.stlouisartistsguild.org

Submitted by Artist: Chris Motley

www.motleyknits.com

Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…

I’m a late bloomer in the art field. After a 30 year career in a left-brain job, I am exploring my right brain and using my life-long avocation of knitting and felting as the medium for my entry into the art world. After initial explorations with yarn as more than garments, I received great affirmation that I wasn’t crazy to use knitting as a sculpture form when I attended workshops with Karen Searle and Adrian Sloan.

I’d been selling scarves through small boutiques even before I left the regular work world. In the last three years I’ve moved into knitting as a means of sculpture, making neckpieces and three-dimensional sculptures, one of which is the picture accompanying this blog entry. I love living in San Francisco with my husband. I have two grown children and I love that they’re a bit intrigued and proud of my new venture. Having known me as a lawyer as they grew up, I’m enjoying that they, and others, can see how one can venture into new territory.

What is your ideal day in the studio? What is your agenda? What music do you listen to?

I’ve made a studio from the front bedroom in our house. It has glass cube shelves to the ceiling on two walls which I got from a yarn store that was closing. The yarn is sorted by color and fiber. I have an armless chair with wonderful back support for hours of knitting. Many of my pieces use different yarns constantly and I can knit without bumping my elbows; I can sit for forever with a color scheme of yarn around me on the floor and reach whatever I need as I knit. I have no agenda, and always have more than one project going at a time so I can tap into the type of work that day that feels right. I often listen to books as I knit. My studio space is wonderful.

How does your process of creating an art object begin?

I have two creative processes (that I am conscious of) for which I have totally different modes of operation. One is more of a production mode, when I’ve settled on a design and have developed the basic design. Knitting is a slow process and from this process itself a design idea can emerge; I often grab an idea out of what I’m working on and explore that. (I keep a notebook, of course.) I’ve worked a lot on sculptural pieces of hands and arms and a sculptural piece that deals with arms led to my thinking of the design for the scarf in this show—that a scarf should have arms to hug around like a scarf naturally does. Alternatively I see something either real or in my head, unrelated to yarn at all, that triggers a curiosity of what it would be in yarn. I knit intuitively and make a new piece just by starting to knit without pre-planning.

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

Feedback on my art is a crucial part of my process. My participation is an art group has been vital to me as I evolve into being an artist. We meet once a month to share our work and their feedback has been instrumental in my artistic development. Feedback from the people who want to purchase or show my work is also a wonderful affirmation. I would be knitting in any case, but I could never say I don’t love hearing that people like what I create.

When do you feel you hit your stride as an artist?

I don’t think I’ll ever hit my stride as an artist. In fact, it’s interesting to that perhaps I hope I don’t ever hit my stride so there will always be a new exploration involved. That is one of the things I’m enjoying the most.

Florissant Valley Contemporary Art Gallery- Jessica Jones

2009-08-18T10:29:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: Florissant Valley Contemporary Art Gallery

TITLE OF SHOW: TEXTERE

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 8 - October 3, 2009

Reception: Thursday September 10, 6-8pm

IT8 bus tour: Saturday, October 3

CURATOR OR JUROR: Janice Nesser-Chu

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW: Fiber work from the Appalachian Center for Craft, Tenn. Featuring the work of Jeanne Whitfield Brady, head of the Fibers Department, Jessica Jones and Aaron McIntosh, artists-in-residence and students: Deborah Tuggle, Bethany Kolp, Laura McCormack, Paula Rodgers, Emma Judd, Kristy Sullins, Kendall White, Lindsay Dunn, Dana Decereaux and Emma Self.

Florissant Valley Contemporary Art Gallery

STLCC-Florissant Valley, IR111 3400

Pershall Rd, St. Louis MO 63135

Gallery hours: M-F 10-4pm, Sat 10-3pm

Submitted by Artist: Jessica Jones

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I live and work on the campus of the Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville, TN as the Artist in Residence for the Fibers Dept. The ACC is part of Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville and is on a satellite campus in a remote and exquisitely beautiful part of middle Tennessee on Center Hill Lake. My main responsibilities as an Artist in Residence include making a large body of work, managing the Fibers Studio (including purchasing and inventory), mentoring students, and generally providing support for the department. I spend a lot of time working for the Fibers Department and the Craft Center as a whole assisting during the regular semester of Tennessee Tech as well as participating in other programs such as Outreach with local schools, and Spring/ Summer/ Fall Workshops.

Please describe your creative process: how you create, when, where, with what materials…

Having been trained in painting, drawing, printmaking, fibers, bookbinding, and papermaking, I find that I am the most comfortable with Fibers because it is within that field that I can incorporate all of my interests. Fiber is open and broad and allows me to use mixed media, which I have recently been incorporating into my quilts. When I start a new project, I have a sense of direction and tend to visualize something that I want to make. It is inevitably the case that this idea fails in some way and I have to end up rethinking what I am making. I am forced to listen to the materials and pay attention to what they want to be, not what I intended to make out of them. I end up with a nonlinear process that is more like a dialog with the work. Having many different techniques/ tools at my disposal is an advantage in this process.

Name your top five: musicians, books, movies, websites, artists… (provide a link to websites or artists websites if at all possible)

I am very curious and passionate about learning new things, and I love new information that challenges and inspires me. I can easily edit down to a single item in each category that has influenced me the most –without a doubt- over the past few years.

1. Musicians: Adem (Love and Other Planets)

2. Books: Proust Was a Neuroscientist

3. Movie: How to Draw a Bunny

4. Website: Seed Magazine

5. Artist: Ray Johnson

I am going to add the category 6. Podcast: Radio Lab

I find that listening to Podcasts keeps my mind very active while I am working- and my interests lean towards the sciences.

What are your favorite materials to work with?

I have two very different answers to this. In my most recent work, I am rediscovering old materials I used when I was a painter and printmaker: pastels, paint, crayons, etc. I love how these things interact with quilting- for example, the way that pastel looks when used over stitching. I am also interested in found material- material that has been used and worn, and has a texture that cannot be achieved in any other way but through time.

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

I have an intense curiosity and need some idea to pursue to keep me driven to make art. I tend to obsessively research topics that interest me and this not only inspires me, but filters into my work in some way. I have always been very enamored with scientific research that attempts to explain some of the things that are part of my own experience. Sometimes I just have an idea like “what is time?” When I start to think about something—like how I experience and perceive time, I often research how people have constructed time differently in different cultures and how my brain understands the past, present and future, or what cosmologists think that time is. Then I start to see these ideas emerge in my work- and I start to think about how fibers can incorporate the idea of time. Essentially, my creative source is both inside influence (examining my own experience and staying curious) and outside influence (discovering new things when researching an idea).

St. Louis Artists' Guild- Giang Pham

2009-08-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: St. Louis Artists' Guild

TITLE OF SHOW: Head to Toe: From the Funky to the Sublime

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 20th, 2009- November 7th, 2009

St. Louis Artists' Guild

Two Oak Knoll Park

St. Louis, Missouri 63105

314.727.6266

www.stlouisartistsguild.org

Submitted by Artist: Giang Pham

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

Research is very important for my work. In that process of browsing through past and current issues, further studies on topics of interests, and seeking other’s reactions for comparison, I am charged with my own beliefs that would inspire my creativity. Looking at other’s work is also crucial. I may have an idea on how to approach a project, but looking at others as examples can push me in new directions.

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

Creativity always comes from within. My creativity is a reaction to the outside world. The outside world may inspire or questions my beliefs. But the act of creativity is a personal force; it is borne when one starts establishing a stance to an issue, and wishes to either explore it further or voice the stance through the physical process. I look to the outside world for inspirations, but I’m not creative until I act on my beliefs.

How does your process of creating an art object begin?

My process starts with a belief—an idea. That idea goes through a process of deep refinement in the sketching process. I think about the materials that would best communicate the idea, the aesthetic of the materials and the form visualized, and other pertinent issues that can be added to provoke further dialogues. I believe ambiguity and paralleling symbolisms are important, and I refine those as the physical process evolves. The physical process looks simple; collect the materials and combine their parts for a more unified whole. But within this meditative state, there is continual refinement—in idea, in approach, in details—even toward the last touch.

What are your favorite materials to work with?

In the current theme of my work—social commentaries through stuffed animals, fiber is a very attractive medium. I like combining fiber with other materials. As materials are very important in the communication of an idea, combining pertinent materials together will allow for a more diverse voice.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I like to watch science fiction such as Stargate SG-1 and children’s animation. They provide a good rest on the serious business of everyday life and that intense scrutiny and labor in the creative process.

Old Orchard Gallery- Pat Owoc

2009-08-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

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.

Submitted by Artist: Pat Owoc

Creative process –

Personal library – store of images, impressions, overheard conversations, pictures, junk collected from the street, memories – a bank from which to draw
Fallow time – thinking, or not thinking, but having connections made at some below-the-surface level
Catalyst – the “itch” to make something, a deadline, a challenge, the need to make a gift
Activity – putting the idea to cloth – buying stuff, dyeing stuff, cutting stuff, sewing stuff, and finishing

Often pieces are imagined in the finished form before any supplies are purchased or any dyeing or cutting is begun. Occasionally, especially when I haven’t fully thought-out a piece or when my skills aren’t what I’d like them to be, I have pieces that will never see the light of day.

Things done to keep creative –

Being alert to possibility – ideas and images that are available by paying attention to what’s out there – friends, current events, art museums and galleries, human nature, media
Making connections between things that may not have had any connection except the ones that I imagine or make up
Experimenting with pushing what I know already – without making purchases of new equipment. I tend to work with what has been working rather than to go off into a new field or exploring new technology. The work that I do now is a logical culmination of processes learned years ago and of ideas started years ago. Little steps leading to refinements and, I hope, more command of materials. That’s not to say that I won’t someday buy some new goodie or learn to use new media, it’s just that it’s not what is necessary now.
Frequent coffee dates with Paul, my husband.
Not taking things so seriously that I can’t abandon work for times with friends and family.

Suitable environment for work –

I have a dry studio for fabric and ephemera storage, for cutting, for sewing. Beans the cat has a cushion of her own and keeps me company.
A wet studio on the lower level houses dyes, paints, silk screen equipment, and is a place that I can be messy.
There’s always a ritual cleaning of the studio when one piece is finished – a good time, a fresh start, then a new piece.

Methods of visualization –

I take lots of photos – hard copy, old-fashioned, non-digital photos and have my own library of images. They provide a source for pattern, for botanical work, for silk screen work and for chronicling the passage of time.
I keep a scrap book of images from print sources – images of finished work of other artists, news events, color combinations, satisfying lines, etc.
A notebook of personal ideas and overheard conversations and lists of events and quotes reminds me of things I’ve deemed important at one time or another. And, sometimes I wonder why I’ve written some those things.
Although I’ve taken a couple of design and drawing courses, I rarely draw or doodle as a way of recording image or of working out designs.
Art work is usually worked out in my mind before any cutting or dyeing takes place. Only when I’m concerned about the specific placement of a design element do I cut out shapes and place them on the work in progress.
Recent work has been of two types: landscapes using disperse dyed fabric and botanical pieces reminiscent of Mexican paper cuts using Ultrasuede and disperse dyed fabric

A little about me –

“Who you are is what you were when – when you were 10 years old.” This line, from a film I used when teaching, seems appropriate when answering a question about myself. I grew up on a farm in western Kansas. My two favorite pictures from my infancy are (1) me in my Dad’s arms -- he had come in from the field and was black with dirt on his hands and face and I’m sitting in his lap as a very clean child against his dirty clothes and skin, and the dog is sitting next to us. And (2) me in my Mom’s arms -- she is sitting on the dirt of our driveway and there is a flock of Leghorn chickens scratching in the dirt around us. Important factors – Dad, Mom, baby, animals, and dirt. I have a younger sister. Judy was born when I was three and one-half years old. Judy and I had great fun when we were children – playing house and making mud pies and sewing for dolls and playing with the kittens that frequently “appeared” on the farm. Now Judy is my true friend, my confidant, and my woe-is-me I-can’t-make-any-progress-on-my-______ (fill in the blank) buddy. Farm life involved lots of work and rules about caring for the land and for the animals. We were active in 4-H, church, and farm organizations. Family activities included playing cards and board games -- I remember especially games that had to be played by the light of a kerosene lantern because the electric power had gone out during a snow storm.

Enough of early times – fast forward through marriage, the birth of a daughter, and 30 years in public education as a teacher and as a high school counselor followed by retirement in 1996. It’s wonderful, retirement, with the chance to make art and travel and go out for coffee anytime one takes a notion. I have time for friends and reading and cooking and taking a nap in the afternoon if I want to.

The Gallery at Innsbrook- Barb Zappulla

2009-08-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: The Gallery at Innsbrook

TITLE OF SHOW: INNOVATIONS IN TEXTILES 8 AT INNSBROOK: EIGHT ARTISTS INTERPRET NATURE IN TEXTILES AND FIBER

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 5th, from 10-12, closes on October 3rd

INVITATIONAL SHOW ORGANIZED BY: Marjorie Hoeltzel

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: Dawn Ottensmeier, Pat Owoc, Luanne Rimel, Barbara Simon, Sun Smith Foret, Alana Tibbets, Barb Zappulla and Marjorie Hoeltzel

The Gallery at Innsbrook

http://www.innsbrook-resort.com/arts.shtml#Innovations

(636)928-3366 ext. 214

For directions visit: http://www.innsbrook-resort.com/directions.shtml

Submitted by Artist: Barb Zappulla

As an Interior Designer for over 35 years, I have specified textiles and fiber art for commercial environments. Ten years ago I rediscovered weaving, joined the Saint Louis Weavers Guild and haven’t looked back. In addition to my Interior Design business, I’m an Adjunct Instructor at Maryville University, Interior Design Program where I teach various design studios, textiles and interior materials classes. Recently I joined MoFA, the Missouri Fiber Arts organization. MoFA is strengthening my fiber education and proves continuing inspiration for my fiber work.

My fiber work/weaving has varied over the years; from textile weaving on both a jack and tapestry loom, to knotted waxed linen vessels, deer antler basketry, bead weaving, pine needle basketry, batik/mud dyeing, and embroidery, knitting/crocheting. I seem to have the kind of artist spirit that likes to explore different mediums at different times. And while I haven’t settled on one fiber medium to work in, I am currently blending several learned skills into each piece.

I split my living and work time between the country, where my studio is located in the loft of my Innsbrook cabin and in the city where my front yard is the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Intentionally I surround myself with nature because my inspiration has been and continues to be nature, wildlife and Indian cultures. Whether Native American, Asian, African or others, they all ‘tell stories’. It is the telling of the story through cultural symbols and designs that are in my work. My pieces therefore tend to create symbolic interpretations with an emphasis on the telling of the story and its influence upon our current cultures.

I am very excited about the variety and number of the galleries that make up this years’ Innovations In Textiles 8. And because it is my intent to introduce fiber/textiles of local artists to these future Interior Designers their

class includes ‘extra/bonus’ points for visiting and providing feedback on Innovations 8 Galleries.

St. Louis Artists' Guild- Roxanne Phillips

2009-07-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: St. Louis Artists' Guild

TITLE OF SHOW: Blending Traditions

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 20th, 2009- November 7th, 2009

ARTIST: Roxanne Phillips

St. Louis Artists' Guild

Two Oak Knoll Park

St. Louis, Missouri 63105

314.727.6266

www.stlouisartistsguild.org

Submitted by Artist: Roxanne Phillips

Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…

My name is Roxanne Phillips, originally form Dallas, though I have lived in St. Louis for the last 8 years. I moved to St. Louis to attend Wash U. were I received my MFA in printmaking and drawing in 2003. While there I did a lot of papermaking.

I am Associate Instructor and Gallery Director and at Maryville University where I teach printmaking, design, fibers, and senior seminar. I am also an Instructor and Director of the Permanent Collection at Florissant Valley Community College. At Flo. Valley I teach printmaking, design, drawing, and painting.

I hold positions on the national and local board for Women’s Caucus for Art. Locally I am the Fundraising Chair and on the exhibition and nominating committees. Nationally I am a Chapters’ Council Director and on the committee for Young Women’s Caucus. I am also a member of College Arts Association, Southern Graphics Council, and Mid-America Print Council.

What is your ideal day in the studio? What is your agenda? What music do you listen to?

If I can get four productive hours in then it is a good day. I have a separate studio from my house because I find there are too many distractions at home (laundry, tv, computers…) On an ideal day I would walk in and be able to get right to work- no running around gathering materials or cleaning up messes that I had left out. I would be focused 100% on the art and not thinking about other things on my “to do list” I usually have 3-5 pieces going at once that way if I get to a point where the piece is no longer “speaking to me” I can give it a rest and move to the one that is “speaking”. In the studio NPR is usually on the radio- my studiomate and I both agree on it and I get to catch up on the news.

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

Often my art is an “inward” response to something “outside”. An example is a series I did “Boundaries” which began with my reaction to the US / Mexico boarder wall. It got me thinking about other boundaries that contain or block people. This led to me focusing more on personal boundaries, overcoming obsticales, emotional boundaries, etc. The thought process began “outside” of me but turned “within” most of my projects do this.

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

I love for my art to have an audience but it is not necessary. I have many series in my studio that have never had the opportunity to be exhibited. For me it is about getting the images in my head out only to make room for the next images. Feedback is great- I especially like it when someone interprets my art differently.

How does your process of creating an art object begin?

I am a list maker. I get an idea and start making list of different images I could use as symbols. Form that list ill choose a few words and make list of different ways those symbols could be interpreted. I research the historical or cultural meanings. I then start thinking about which process to use to create the art and how that will affect the “reading” of the piece. Then I start making the works every now and then making list of thoughts I have that could influence the next piece in the series.

to find more information and images of Roxanne's work, visit her website: www.roxannephillips.com

Missouri History Museum- Curator Shannon Berry

2009-07-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

photo credit: Crazy quilt with taxidermic chipmunks and birds
Patchwork, 1882

EXHIBITING GALLERY: Missouri History Museum

TITLE OF SHOW: Mary Lee Bendolph, Gee’s Bend Quilts, and Beyond and From a Common Cloth: Quilts from the Missouri History Museum Collection

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: Mary Lee Bendolph, Gee’s Bend Quilts, and Beyond Through September 13, 2009

From a Common Cloth: Quilts from the Missouri History Museum Collection Through December 31, 2009

CURATOR OR JUROR: Shannon Berry

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW:

Mary Lee Bendolph, Gee’s Bend Quilts, and Beyond: the first exhibition to highlight one of Gee's Bend's most original artists, Mary Lee Bendolph, her predecessors and progeny, and the artistic dialogue they share with artists beyond their quilting community.

From a Common Cloth: Quilts from the Missouri History Museum Collection: From elaborate to austere, quilts from the museum’s extensive textiles collection are varied in pattern and provenance. Discover some of the finest examples of decorative and utilitarian quilts from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Missouri History Museum

Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park

St. Louis, Missouri

314.746.4599

website: www.mohistory.org/home/

Submitted by Curator: Shannon Berry

Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff… My name is Shannon Berry, and I am the Senior Curator at the Missouri History Museum. I have worked as a curator here for 9 years. I have my undergraduate degree in Textile and Apparel Management with an emphasis in Marketing and Merchandising, and I have my Masters in the same field with an emphasis in Historic Clothing and Textiles and a minor in Museum Studies. I am on the regional board for the Costume Society of America.

What first inspired you to become a curator?

My original career plan was to work in retail, but I discovered quickly that wasn’t the right path for me. I always had an interest in history, and the historic costume classes were always my favorite, but I didn’t know you could make a job out of it. While interning at Sax Fifth Avenue in New York I went to the Metropolitan Museum and discovered the Costume Institute. It was here that I realized that someone had to have the job of collecting and displaying these beautiful garments, and I decided that person should be me. I went back to school to study historic clothing and museum studies, and now that is what I do.

What is a typical day for you?

There is no such thing as a typical day! On any given day I usually attend at least one meeting. These include things like team meetings for exhibits that I am working on, update meetings with other staff members, Curators Review – where we talk about new donations that have come in, and Production Meetings – where we talk about plans and schedules for installation, de-installations, rotations and exhibit maintenance. I also meet with donors regularly, which could be at work or in their home.

Another huge aspect of my job as a curator is research and writing. When I’m working on an upcoming exhibit I spend my days doing research, cataloging artifacts, writing condition reports, and writing labels.

How does your process of creating an exhibit begin?

I like to work with what I already have. I spend time in the storeroom learning my collection and looking for inspiration. When I was asked to come up with a variety of possible exhibit topics for the future I was able to say that we had 200 wedding gowns to choose from if we wanted to do a wedding dress exhibit (which lead to the UnCommon Threads exhibit), or that we have over 100 quilts if we want to do our own small quilt exhibit while the Gee’s Been quilts are here. When I was recently approached about doing an exhibit on The Little Black Dress, I knew that we probably didn’t have enough to support that idea on its own, but that if we approached it from a different direction and incorporated traditional 19^th century mourning clothing as well as 20^th century fashion, that we have enough artifacts to support an interesting exhibit.

What is your next project?

I am doing a small case of pink shoes that will go in the Grand Hall of the museum in September. It is actually being done to coincide with a fundraising event being held in the museum to raise money for mobile mammography units, but we are going to leave the case up for about a month so that the public can enjoy it too. On a larger scale, I am on the exhibit team for the local component of a traveling exhibit called Homelands: How Women Made the West, which we are getting from the Autry Museum in 2010. And soon I am hoping to start research on an exhibit called Little Black Dress: From Mourning to Evening, which is being proposed for 2011.

University City Public Library-Deann Rubin

2009-07-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: THE GALLERY at the University City Public Library

TITLE OF SHOW: “Face It”

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 4- September 29, 2009

EXHIBITING ARTIST: Deann Rubin- B.F.A. in Design from The University of Kansas, Lawrence

Two two-year certificates in Computer Graphics and Illustration

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW: Graphic images in contemporary handwoven tapestry

THE GALLERY at the University City Public Library
University City Public Library

6701 Delmar Bvld

University City, Missouri 63130

314.727.3150

http://www.ucpl.lib.mo.us/

Submitted by Artist: Deann Rubin
What is a typical day for you? What is your ideal day in the studio?
I am going to lump these two questions together because I do not have a typical day anymore.
I am finding out that the older I get, the less time I have and the greater demands on my time.

Both my typical and ideal day/night is getting up, taking a leisurely bath where I think about what
I plan to do that day, with my art, any other issues in my life. After my usual chores (emptying
waste cans, scooping the litter box, grooming my Persian cat Milo, putting away the dishes in the drainer),
I eat something while looking at the RFT, Time magazine, the newspaper or mail. Then I make any phone calls
that I need to. With my head clear of all that, I sit down to the loom to weave.

For the library show, I am weaving on my upright student tapestry loom which I often use for demonstrations.
I will weave all afternoon and all night. I get up every so often to stretch, go to the bathroom, get a drink,
get back and look at the piece from a distance. I take a break for dinner with my husband Michael. I weave
until 3, 5 or 6 in the morning.

What music do you listen to?
I wake up to NPR (90.7 radio) and have it on all morning. In the afternoon, I usually continue listening to NPR
but not always. In the evening, we have the television on. After, Mike goes to bed, I find movies I like or
a rerun of a favorite television show, such as: Mr. Brooks, CSI Miami, Cold Case, Die Hard,CNN. When I am on the
loom, I listen to the shows and occasionally look over to see the screen.

Please describe your creative process: how you create, when, where, with what materials…
My creative process varies but usually I find something, an image, that I respond to. I do many drawings/
sketches of the image with pen/pencil and paper or, I draw on the computer in Adobe Illustrator with the mouse.
I often refine the drawing improving lines or areas, illuminating what I do not like through the use of tracing paper
or new files. When I get a drawing I am satisfied with, I add color. On the computer, I might try many different
color ways. After I get exactly what works, I print. Then, I spend hours tuning the print color to match what I
had on the screen. On the computer, I do not use black to tone down a color, instead, I use the opposite color
on the color wheel.

Did you chose or were you chosen to create art?
I have always drawn and loved to draw. I do not remember not drawing. I have always been interested in design/style,
in clothing, cars, furniture, interiors, hair. I am constantly noticing texture, color, pattern and beautiful light
and shadows. And, I have always been drawn to textiles and responded to ceramics. I can not think of art in terms
of chosing or being chosen to create art. Art is just part of me, my essence. I think about art all the time. My ideas
are constant and lifetimes ahead of my actual produced works.

Studio Shots:

The Sheldon Art Galleries- Jo Stealey

2009-07-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: The Sheldon Art Galleries

TITLE OF SHOW: The Language of Objects

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 25, 2009 - January 16, 2010

The Sheldon Art Galleries

3648 Washington Bvld.

St. Louis, Missouri 63108

website: www.thesheldon.org/galleries.asp

Submitted by Artist: Jo Stealey

Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…

My husband and I live in a rural environment along the Missouri River in central Missouri. We built a straw bale home (appropriate for a fiber artist). The entire first floor is my studio and overlooks rolling hills and a small pond as well as a plethora of wildlife. This environment is my center and a primary influence for my work. Also I am a professor of art at MU and head of the fiber program. Recently I was given the dubious distinction of a “Nerd of Mizzou” http://mizzouwire.missouri.edu/stories/2009/nerds-of-mizzou-march/index.php

Apart from creating things, what do you do? What is a typical day for you?

As a professor of fibers I teach papermaking, bookbinding, weaving, surface design, basketry and many other textile related media, In a single day I may advise students, work in the studio on my own work, organize community exhibitions http://www.fatecolumbia.com/FATE/Welcome.html converse with artist friends throughout the country, read aloud with my husband whatever book we currently read together, garden, take a long walk, but seldom do I sit and do nothing.

Please describe your creative process: how you create, when, where, with what materials…

My creative process can begin with inspiration from just about anything, a conversation, a walk in the woods, a visit to a museum or a poem. The inspiration is worked out through thumbnail sketches and written notes in a journal. Often a gathering and processing of the materials is integral. Pulps for paper are made from plant materials such as flax, iris leaves, okra or cotton in a Hollander beater. Leaves are gathered and processed to become archival paper and armatures are made from river willow. My process is often inspired as well as tied directly to nature and the environment where I live.

How do you go about creating a piece of work and what goes through your mind from start to finish?

I think of my work as visual poetry or metaphor. For me the process, materials, formal qualities and techniques help to visually articulate the conceptual idea of the work and become the devices to manifest it. A dialogue develops with these components in the studio that informs how the piece develops. I am constantly considering how to subtly push these components to enhance the metaphorical aspects of the piece.

Is the face of fiber art changing? How so?

My work continually changes. It is influenced by both the lofty philosophical as well as the mundane. Nature and environmental concerns, personal relationships, what I read, music and generally the dualities of life are a few aspects of life that enter into my work. The body of work is always influenced by inspiration from one of these sources. Most recently I was asked to respond to a collection of Pre-Columbian Peruvian Textiles shown at the Museum of Art and Archeology on the MU campus. The development of the body of work for this exhibition (Response: Echoes and Reverberations shown at PS Gallery, Columbia, MO) let me

What first inspired you to become an artist?

Making art is not a matter of choice; it is a personal need, a response to life. It is the means to know the nature of self, spirit and the world. Making art provides the opportunity to answer philosophical, as well as mundane questions. Technical and conceptual influences range from a background in ceramics and weaving to first-hand experiences from a variety of cultures; five years of my life were spent living in Mexico and I've had the opportunity for extended travel to a variety of Central American, Asian and European countries.

For me, art is a meditation, a response, a question, but most of all it is a way of life. I regard the process itself as paramount to the outcome. It is the search for the best solution to visually represent an idea that informs my work - the act of pulling sheets of paper, figuring out how thick, how thin a layer of pulp should be, how to form it three-dimensionally, how to articulate a concept, et cetera. All these elements together lead me to new conceptual issues, new technical information, and maintain art making as an integral part of my life.

The Sheldon Art Galleries- Jane Birdsall-Lander

2009-07-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: The Sheldon Art Galleries

TITLE OF SHOW: The Language of Objects

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 25, 2009 - January 16, 2010

The Sheldon Art Galleries

3648 Washington Bvld.

St. Louis, Missouri 63108

website: www.thesheldon.org/galleries.asp

Submitted by Artist: Jane Birdsall-Lander

website: www.rootlanguage.com

Tell us a bit more about yourself; your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…

After enjoying the camaraderie of neighboring artists on Washington Avenue for many years, I now work at home. I thought I might not like this arrangement but timing is everything and the price is right. With my kids out of the house there’s plenty of room for me here. I have a studio on the third floor with a basement shop that I share with my husband. Since I also work in the non-profit community as an educational consultant and write interdisciplinary curricula (see www. stlpack.org and www.stlpack.org/ait) I have a second floor study filled with books where I have my computer. While my children were young I compartmentalized my art making so that I’d be available to the family when I was home. While I still seek balance… now my life is all of one piece

What is the source of your creativity?

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t making things and trying to make sense of the world. I spent a lot of time alone when I was a kid and I never got bored…sometimes I was lonely but then, for instance, I’d cut up the curtains in my room and make little flags out of them. Each flag had a personality all its own and would be there in the next morning when I woke up. This delighted me. I was lucky. In terms of art and intellect my parents believed in self-expression.

How much of your creativity comes from within and how much comes from outside sources?

The energy that drives my desire to make things is like breathing for me-that is it just is; I can’t really turn off the switch. I’m very much engaged with the physical world as well as with language and ideas, all of which informs my work. When something triggers an ah-ha feeling I follow the cue. Years ago I built a rock cairn in my backyard that I can see from my studio…it’s a touchstone for my mind’s eye.

Could you do art without an audience?

If I couldn’t make art without an audience I wouldn’t still be making it.

Did you chose or were you chosen to do art?

Neither. I’ve always colored outside the lines and/or drawn my own lines. This is literally true. My Dad wouldn’t allow coloring books in the house and instead I was given large rolls of shelf paper that I could do with as I pleased. At a very early age I was encouraged to take risks with whatever it was I thought to write, draw or to make with my hands.

Define fiber art through your lens as an artist or audience member.

I’m going to go out on a limb here. First of all, it seems to me that the term fiber art is an unfortunate word choice. It’s a term that at this point in time may be outdated and if a viewer, curator or artist insists upon labeling and categorizing in reference to materials then the term textile art is much more descriptive. Admittedly I’m sensitive to language but let’s face it in 2009 the word fiberis most commonly associated with dietary issues. Secondly, and more important, is the fact that in the contemporary art world there are no boundaries in terms of content, process or materials; pigeonholing artists and their artworks in terms of the materials chosen seems passé and perhaps not well considered.

Rather than confining themselves to one technique or material many artists move fluidly from one medium to another their work driven by concepts. Others stay with one material and/or technique but imbue their oeuvre with such internal originality that it redefines previously set limits for a particular medium. It doesn’t matter what materials or techniques an artist uses so much as it matters whether the work has the intrinsic qualities that make it art rather than non art. Period.

Sam Gilliam is an artist who manipulated canvas to reconceptualize the traditional format of a painting. The Geez Bend quilts are art. No one has ever considered Christo to be a textile artist but rather an artist pure and simple. What about Sheila Hicks, Harmony Hammond, Eva Hesse, Nick Cave, Robert Rauschenberg, Lee Bontecou, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Kiki Smith, Claes Oldenburg, Polly Apfelbaum, Lenore Tawney and Wendell Castle; all are artists who have incorporated fabric into their art.

The Gallery at Innsbrook- Marjorie Hoeltzel

2009-07-17T13:06:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: The Gallery at Innsbrook

TITLE OF SHOW: INNOVATIONS IN TEXTILES 8 AT INNSBROOK: EIGHT ARTISTS INTERPRET NATURE IN TEXTILES AND FIBER

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 5th, from 10-12, closes on October 3rd

INVITATIONAL SHOW ORGANIZED BY: Marjorie Hoeltzel

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS: Dawn Ottensmeier, Pat Owoc, Luanne Rimel, Barbara Simon, Sun Smith Foret, Alana Tibbets, Barb Zappulla and Marjorie Hoeltzel

The Gallery at Innsbrook

http://www.innsbrook-resort.com/arts.shtml#Innovations

(636)928-3366 ext. 214

For directions visit: http://www.innsbrook-resort.com/directions.shtml

Submitted by: Marjorie Hoeltzel

As the most senior member of the group of artists involved in INNOVATIONS IN TEXTILES 8 AT INNSBROOK: EIGHT ARTISTS INTERPRET NATURE IN TEXTILES AND FIBER, and having been a guest at Innsbrook many times, I was inspired to invite seven fine regional textile/fiber artists to exhibit in the beautiful Innsbrook Resort Conference Center Gallery. Some of these artists have been friends for decades, others I have been following more recently, but we have all witnessed the elevation of quilts, weaving, embroidery and other textiles from "handy crafts", to a recognized art form, as quilts became wall hangings, baskets and dolls became "sculpture" and collectors became aware of collecting this "new" art form.

I hoped to recognize myself as an artist when I was in my late fifties (three decades ago), having been recently widowed, with a burning desire to devote my time to following my passion for sewing and creating. Creating and sewing were nothing new, for this I had learned at my grandmother's knee, but with a new lifestyle confronting me, I went full steam ahead in the seventies and eighties, studying design independently with Leslie Laskey, Professor in Washington University School of Architecture, as well as many summer classes in Tennessee, North Carolina and Maine, refining my skills and broadening my knowledge.

But I feel I did not hit my stride as an artist until, in the early nineties, I was commissioned to do a huge commission (huge meaning 20' x 5') for a major corporation's headquarters. Also, in 1999, I was accepted in Quilt National, the quintessential biennial contemporary quilt show in Ohio. I can now call my self an ARTIST! Sharing studio space with Jane Sauer (a treasured friend from the 70's) for many years was also stimulating and encouraging.

For the past ten years, my favorite materials to work with have been recycled neckties. The source has become greater as men seem to be "dressing down", retiring or adopting new lifestyles, and my collection has increased so that I seem to have an unlimited supply to work with.

When an idea "strikes" my favorite environment for making art is too pull out the neckties from their baskets in colors relating to the image or pattern that is somehow magically surfacing, surrounding myself on the floor of my studio as if in a nest, and somehow, it's then the creative juices begin!

When you view the Innsbrook exhibit, you will see eight entirely different and personal interpretations of nature in fabric and fiber, and eight distinctly diverse techniques. I hope you enjoy it!

Third Degree Glass Factory- Jennifer Weigel

2009-07-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: Third Degree Glass Factory
TITLE OF SHOW: Common Threads: Fusion of Fiber and Glass
OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 18 - October 13, 2009
CURATOR OR JUROR: Anne Murphy
SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW: In a ground-breaking exhibit, glass artists Jessica Kopitske, Jeremy Lampe, Aaron Quigley, Libby Leuchtman, and Jim McKelvey and fiber artists Sandi Shapiro, Jennifer Weigel, and Denise Williams team up to create collaborative art works that bring glass and fiber together in innovative ways. Artists will create works together through conceptualization, process, and experimentation. Works will be installation, functional, and fine art with emphasis on texture and color.

Third Degree Glass Factory

5200 Delmar Bvld.

St. Louis, Missouri 63108

website: http://www.thirddegreeglassfactory.com/

Submitted by fiber artist: Jennifer Weigel

• Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…

I am a mixed media artist, living in Affton, Missouri with my husband, Charles Wilbur, and two cats, Samuel and Ginger. I graduated with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts - Studio Art in Alternative Media from Webster University in 2002. I am involved in a lot of art organizations and am especially active in the Women's Caucus for Art, although I have also been active in Art Saint Louis, the Columbia Art League in Columbia, MO, and Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, IL.

Website: http://jenniferweigelart.com/

Blog: http://chaoticblacksheep.blogspot.com/

• How do you go about creating a piece of work and what goes through your mind from start to finish?

Much of my work is conceptual in nature. I get an idea I want to convey and then choose materials to suit. As a result, I work in a wide variety of media including assemblage, drawing, fiber, jewelry, installation, painting, performance, video and more. The pieces that I have been working on for the collaborative show at Third Degree Glass Factory are different in that they are much more process-oriented and involve the creation of freeform copper wire mesh forms that are then incorporated into glasswork. I have especially enjoyed that my involvement ends only partly into the process; it has been exciting to see what Jes Kopitske has done with what I started.

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

I have never been at a loss for ideas. Those times when I am least productive are just those times when I am least self-confident, namely because I second-guess myself and don't think my ideas are worth pursuing. Much of my work is cathartic and allows me to vent my grievances and frustrations. I tend to absorb the everyday aspects of my life and then morph them into art, although much of my work is also informed by more formal research. Anything is fair game - something I read in the paper, something I saw in the road, a conversation I overheard (or even one I participated in)... My life is absorbed and then reformed into art. And my art and my life blur together - I don't make many distinctions between the two.

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

Much of my artwork is about communicating ideas, connecting with others and starting conversations, so it would be challenging to me not to show my work. I don't always need people to bear witness, though, and those works created to work through personal issues are generally not shown. However, some of my work, like the pieces I am creating for the show at Third Degree Glass, are meant to be more decorative and offer me a chance to focus on just making something beautiful.

• What is your next project?

I have been creating several very different fiber-based and wall-hung works for a solo show at the Green Center in University City entitled Relics and Reliquaries. This show will open Saturday, October 3 and runs through Oct. 31. It will feature assemblages of found objects and some of my embellishments in window forms, as pictured.

St. Louis Artists' Guild- Michael Aaron McAllister

2009-07-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: St. Louis Artists' Guild
TITLE OF SHOW: Presidents, Poets and Playwrights
OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 20th, 2009- November 7th, 2009
ARTIST: Michael Aaron McAllister
SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW:
“If one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time, insight into and understanding of many things.”-Vincent Van Gogh
Amassed in this group are men and women who are joined by the connective tissue of “vision.”
Whether behind a desk in the oval office, poised over parchment with a quill, or preparing situations for the stage, each of these visionaries depicted here through strong character and indomitable will achieved feats as luminous as the sun.
Some served their country, carving out a better life for future generations. Others wrote sonnets or dramas that would endure and enlighten for centuries. It is my mission to ensure all will live in the pantheon of our consciousness.
Here presented to you are Emily Dickinson, FDR, Jackie Kennedy, Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett, et al. Each portrait is completed in tens-of-thousands of hand-embroidered stitches, beads and silk ribbon.
Michael Aaron McAllister is a professional quilter and artist. He has won awards for his portraits and exhibits nationally in both the fine arts field and quilting shows. See more of his work at www.michaelaaronmcallister.com
St. Louis Artists' Guild

Two Oak Knoll Park

St. Louis, Missouri 63105

314.727.6266

www.stlouisartistsguild.org

Submitted by: Michael Aaron McAllister

Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional

affiliations, personal stuff…

I live and keep a small cramped studio over looking the Gateway Arch in Downtown St. Louis. By day I am a librarian for the Upper School of a prep school here in Saint Louis…in Ladue. I have been happily married to my husband Bill for almost 13 years. We share two pugs and a black lab. We also like to see cities of the world by ocean liner. Cruising for me is very romantic…very 1932…very David Niven.

What first inspired you to become an artist?

I have always considered myself an artist. My first works were in Sesame Street coloring books. From those beginnings, embroidery was born.

What possession do you most cherish?

My most cherished possession is the needle which I began my embroidery career with. I have stitched over 70 portraits with it. I have lost it dozens of times, have bent and re-straightened it, and have worn the chrome of its surface. When I give talks and demonstrations I take a “stunt needle”. THE needle never leaves my studio. I had a special velvet lined case created to house the needle, fitting some ancient holy relic.

What is a typical day for you?

My day begins at 3:30AM. I think it very important to give the best hours of the day to my portraiture than to someone else. I generally have three hours in the morning to work and two in the evening. I retire with the dogs around 7PM. The weekends afford me around 20-22 additional hours of uninterrupted, blissful work.

What music do you listen to?

I generally research other subjects while working in my studio. I devour audiobooks. Most of the books I read are history or biography. If not researching I will have a group of 3-5 movies that I watch over and over and over to foster a background white noise.

When do you feel you hit your stride as an artist?

Either when a portrait is finished and I know it’s a “special” one or

at the opening of an exhibition when a visitor speaks with me and conveys how one of my pieces recalls an event in their life.

What helps create a suitable environment for making art?

Absolute order. My studio must be in place and tidy. I also have to have the dogs. Edith Wharton wrote her novels with “her dog’s heartbeat at her feet” and I completely agree with that. Being in my clean studio is a calming act…having my pugs there only furthers that.

What are your favorite materials to work with?

I can’t and will not work without DMC 6-Strand Embroidery floss. Call me a “Brandist”…but I will not work without it. DMC floss and unlimited and varied fabric supply is very important.

Where do you find materials to create with? Names of shops or

internet sites…

The greatest place for me to buy fabric is www.hancocks-paducah.com I make a bi-yearly exodus to Paducah to replenish. I get my DMC floss at either Hobby Lobby or Michaels or in lots from eBay.

Name your top five: musicians, books, movies, websites, artists…

(provide a link to websites or artists websites if at all possible)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Music)

Ella Fitzgerld (Music)

Gone with the Wind-Margaret Mitchell (Book)

A Moveable Feast-Ernest Hemingway (Book)

Now, Voyager (Movie)

Out of Africa (Movie)

John Singer Sargent (Artist)

Ingres (Artist)

Andy Warhol (Artist)

Walt Disney (Artist)

What are materials that illicit the most response from you in viewing work?

Materials I don’t respond to as much as work having a “time-intensive quality”. That is something I ALWAYS respond to.

What is your next project?

I am currently finishing up work to mount a show at the Embroidery Guilds of America Museum in Louisville, KY. After that I plan to revisit the lives of British, French and Russian Royalty recreating their lives in millions of stitches and thousands of beads.

Studio Shots:

Main Street Gallery- Anita Bracalente

2009-07-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: Main Street Gallery

TITLE OF SHOW: Innovations 8

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 4th, 2009 – October 3rd, 2009

CURATOR OR JUROR: Kathryn Stullken Hopkins

Main Street Gallery

239 North Main Street

Edwardsville, Illinois 62025

618.655.9999

Submitted by: Anita Bracalente, Visual Artist

Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…

I am a visual artist living in Bloomington, Indiana. I call myself a visual artist as I work in many different mediums and cannot cast myself exclusively as a painter, textile artist, photographer or landscape designer. I formally trained as a painter, but I soon worked in other mediums including stained glass and then returned to painting for 25 years. Beading and specifically knitted beads came very much later. I also do landscape design nearly full-time but the beading fulfills another need of making things. At this time I do not paint, but I do a lot of photography. I am also a writer and lecturer on landscape design and gardening.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

There is not much I do that isn't creative, but I am a museum registrar, which gives me access to art all day long. When I am not working in the studio, I like to garden, swim, hike, and travel. My photography comes into play when I am gardening, hiking and traveling. I love to travel the world and I am usually visiting gardens and museums and other cultural events. Otherwise, I cook, but I think this is a very creative act. I love musical events and it is there that I am only an audience participant.

What first inspired you to become an artist?
I was 6 years old. I was always drawing and painting, but one day I had some free time (in the first grade classroom) and I was drawing a horse. In this drawing I added the horse's hock instead of drawing a straight leg with a hoof. This pleased me very much. When I came home that day I showed my mother my drawing and I announced that I was going to be an artist some day. That was it and I never turned back.

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

The core of my creativity has always come from natural forms found in nature and architectural structures. I particularly like the interaction between organic and geometric shapes played against each other added with contrasting colors, textures, patterns and the unraveling of patterns and structure.

The element of time in landscape design is considered the “fourth dimension” and I like to allow time to cast changes on my perspectives as I work through a piece, whether it is a painting, a beaded work or a landscape design. The important thing being that the final object must have a resonance of logic not generating from myself, but rather dictated from the internal logic of the piece. In that respect I learn something new visually from each piece. My creative ideas are generated from within as I internalize nature and architectural structures. The element of time becomes my external (re)source in the final resolution of a work.

What helps create a suitable environment for making art?

My total environment must suit me. Our studio is a separate building from our house surrounded by the garden and although my work is portable, it is important that I have this space to go to. This second story studio room is light filled. It is essential to me that I cultivate beauty and live with beauty every day of the year. We have a greenhouse which enables me to grow orchids and we have flowers 365 days of the year. The garden has an extended bloom period 9- 10 months of the year. The element of my personal environment is that I be surrounded by creative and intelligent people every day and that my life is filled with art and music daily.

Old Orchard Gallery- Becky Grass

2009-06-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

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

Fontbonne University- Erin Cork

2009-05-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: Fontbonne University Art Gallery

TITLE OF SHOW: Sift, Measure, Cultivate

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: August 28th, 2009 - September 27th, 2009

Opening Reception: August 28th, 2009 from 6 to 8 pm

Artist Talk: September 26th, 2009 at 4 pm in the gallery

Workshop: October 3rd, 2009 from 9 am to 3 pm

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW: three artists: Courtney Henson, Erin Cork and Gina Alvarez, will exhibit a collection of recent work

Fontbonne University Art Gallery
6800 Wydown Bvld.
St. Louis, Missouri 63105
314.889.1431
http://www.fontbonne.edu/academics/undergraduatedegreeprogram/finearts/galleryoffinearts.htm

Erin K. Cork

How do you go about creating a piece of work and what goes through your mind from start to finish?

When I begin a piece, it is begun as an impulse. I have an idea or a desire to create something and I begin working by doing. The initial idea and the process begin the piece. Once the piece has begun, I reevaluate. I take time to sketch, plan and determine the course of action that will come next. I think about what I desire for the piece to be about and move forward from there. In creating I enjoy a balance between control over the materials and the materials being in control. I think of it like cultivation. I am the caretaker, but I do not have ultimate control of the outcome. For a great deal of what I create there is not a point of finishing. Often times once a piece is completed and installed I see room for more or the potential for other possibilities. Often, pieces have their own lives and I am interested in reusing elements over again, changing them and letting them grow into something more than where they began.

What possession do you most cherish?

Some of my most cherished possessions were things that belonged to my grandmother. I remember these things when she owned them. I have a history with them as well. With these possessions, as well as any object that has been owned and used by someone else there is an element of that person on the object. For the things that I own of my grandmothers, I think about how she used/wore/displayed them. I feel closer to her because I have these objects, but I think in general owning/using objects from the past keep us conscious of a past time.

Where do you find materials to create with?

Many of my materials are found. I enjoy the hunt that is required to seek out materials – fabrics, furniture, fixtures and shelves. Places like St. Vincent DePaul Society and Salvation Army provide great materials and often serve as inspiration for my work. In terms of the yarns and wools that I use, I try to patronize locally owned establishments. Knitty Couture in University City and Knitorious in South City are where I frequent for wool and alpaca yarns. Most of the materials that I use to dye I purchase at the grocery store, except walnuts. I have a great friend Pat who is my walnut supplier. For the merino wool that I use for felting I usually purchase from Woodland Wool Works online – they have great customer service.

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

I derive a great deal of inspiration from everyday events. Domestic life and the natural world spur my ideas. The way that I manipulate real occurrences comes from within. Combining two things (nature and domestic culture) that aren’t integrated in reality is where my internal creativity comes into play. I use creative thinking exercises to exhaust all possible options for a piece. Then I have a long list of ideas to choose from.

Is the face of fiber art changing? How so?

Within the title of fiber art, I believe that there is room for many different types of work. Fiber art is also one of the most accepting media areas, where not only materials, but process can allow your work to fit into the category of fiber arts. There are a number of artist who have pushed fiber art into the fine art world and I see this continuing to happen. The idea of what fiber art is, is expanding and pushing and creating conversations with artists who identify themselves as fine artists. By rooting their work in ideas that engage fine art as well as rooting themselves in a process focused way of creating, fiber art and fine art come together. Historically, fiber arts have been integral to society as functional and have a long and fascinating history – to me this history is just as interesting and valid as the history of painting or sculpture. Coming out of a functional history creates a particular connotation with any work that engages fiber art ideals, but artists are using that to their advantage. Fiber art is becoming no longer just about how a piece is made in terms of technique and materials, but the technique and materials are becoming integrated into the idea as well. The use of terms connected to fiber art such as domestic were once thought of as low, but more and more these ideas connected to fiber art are becoming acceptable in fine art realms. The conversation that is occurring between fine art and fiber art is thrilling to me – someone who feels as if they have just begun their career as an artist. I’m enthusiastic to be apart of this conversation because there is room to chart a course that hasn’t been taken before.

Fontbonne University- Courtney Henson

2009-05-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: Fontbonne University Art Gallery

TITLE OF SHOW: Sift, Measure, Cultivate

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: August 28th, 2009 - September 27th, 2009

Opening Reception: August 28th, 2009 from 6 to 8 pm

Artist Talk: September 26th, 2009 at 4 pm in the gallery

Workshop: October 3rd, 2009 from 9 am to 3 pm

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW: three artists: Courtney Henson, Erin Cork and Gina Alvarez, will exhibit a collection of recent work

Fontbonne University Art Gallery
6800 Wydown Bvld.
St. Louis, Missouri 63105
314.889.1431
http://www.fontbonne.edu/academics/undergraduatedegreeprogram/finearts/galleryoffinearts.htm

Apart from creating things, what do you do?
I work at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts and have interest in being an all around cheerleader for the visual arts in St. Louis.

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

I get out to art openings and concerts- both visual and audio stimulations are neccessary for me to formulate new ideas. I require hearing wonderful lyrics to motivate my own poetry and quiet beats to keep my hands in rhythm.

Please describe your creative process: how you create, when, where, with what materials…

I am drawn to unusual materials to help my creative process. I enjoy things that look very out of control and organic. I also view my creative process as a series of experiments where I create, observe, and re-create in order to improve the original work.

Name your top five: musicians, books, movies, websites, artists… (provide a link to websites or artists websites if at all possible)
Currently Andrew Bird’s lyrics are a huge inspiration. I also enjoy reading books that deal with the historical relevance of museums and methods of displaying our visual culture. I have formed a new connection to the work of Marcel Duchamp upon a recent trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I have a love of all the movies created by Darren Aronofsky, most recently The Wrestler.

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

I require the viewer, often the work is participatory in nature. I have created works that needed the viewer’s observations of small growing experiments in order to produce later exhibitions- so on occasion there might be no work if it were not for the viewer and his or her feedback.

- Courtney Henson

Fontbonne University- Gina T. Alvarez

2009-05-29T08:38:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: Fontbonne University Art Gallery

TITLE OF SHOW: Sift, Measure, Cultivate

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: August 28th, 2009 - September 27th, 2009

Opening Reception: August 28th, 2009 from 6 to 8 pm

Artist Talk: September 26th, 2009 at 4 pm in the gallery

Workshop: October 3rd, 2009 from 9 am to 3 pm

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW: three artists: Courtney Henson, Erin Cork and Gina Alvarez, will exhibit a collection of recent work

Fontbonne University Art Gallery
6800 Wydown Bvld.
St. Louis, Missouri 63105
314.889.1431
http://www.fontbonne.edu/academics/undergraduatedegreeprogram/finearts/galleryoffinearts.htm

a little about me: Gina Alvarez

i was born in racine wisconsin in 1974. i have one younger brother - peter. we had an amazing childhood. we lived in a neighborhood that was safe and there were tons of kids. i literally was supposed to be home when the street lights came on. we had so much freedom. i was a gymnast and a diver. i considered applying to the naval academy (although i doubt i would have gotten in) because they had/have an amazing diving program. thank god that didn't happen. all throughout high school i took ceramic and jewelry making classes. i also took typing. for some reason this tid bit is a formative element in my life. i went to college for a couple years after high school and droped out for 5. worked in a plywood factory, grocery store, book store, peanut shop and did the obligatory babysitting gig here and there.

i lived in charleston sc and to this day miss it something terrible. i rode my bike everywhere. i miss living in a pedestrian culture. i spent time in italy - rode my bike everywhere there as well. in my mind charleston and florence are the same. my independance and love of place was born out of these two cities.

i have lived in st. louis, mo for 8 years. we came here for graduate school. i attended wash u and received a masters in printmaking/drawing. i can't believe we still live here. i live in dogtown and love it. i have a beautiful (small) home and love to garden. my husband is a high school spanish teacher. we have a 3yr old son named oscar and two cats - mo mo and ce ce (moses and seymour). i am thrilled that i am still making art. one of my biggest worries is that i will never live up to my true potential. i think i get closer every day - every project and every relationship.

here is a video of what i am up to in the studio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRH_UsswWEA

i also attached two images of the doillies (doillie+sky and doillie closeup)

two images of my favorite things:

one is a bird my grandfather started carving for me but didn't finished - that is okay, i like the roughness of it - his pencil marks are still where the feathers should be carved. i used to sit with him and whittle away at wood. he was a great craftsman.

the other my grandmother's sewing box. the two of us would spend hours at the sewing machine. my grandmother was an extremely talented lady.

websites i can't live with out:

http://www.designspongeonline.com/
http://camillaengman.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/
http://bookhouathome.blogspot.com/
http://alabamachanin.com/

new obsessions:

http://www.petermarigold.com/
http://karengelardi.com/
http://www.jarodcharzewski.com
http://www.mina-perhonen.jp/index_en.html

i am pretty fluid when it comes to working in the studio. i have to have a lot of "materials" at hand. i have an amazing tray full of discarded bits and pieces. a lot of it is hand printed materials that have been cut up and used in other works. i don't really throw anything away. i think that there is always a use. i adopt the same responsibility when it comes to previous projects, installations or works on paper. all of it is fair game so to speak. i enjoy the recycling of ideas and materials.

when it comes to generating images or ideas it is just that - generating. i generate through working. often i don't have a set idea when i begin any one thing. the idea/project is born out of the process of creating. in most cases it is like a puzzle. i create the pieces and then i put them together. the information that is solid in my mind from the get go is often the size of the space that i would like to fill or the size of the installation/work on paper that i would like to create. then i dive in. i work with repetition quite often so a number usually stands out. i like to trick myself into thinking i need to create way more than i actually do. this is to prevent self editing to set in early on. there is no bad idea - all roads lead to something worth exploring.

having exciting materials at hand helps make this possible. it is important to me to use materials that offer the chance to transcend their original purpose. if i see the potential in a material to offer something that is unexpected then i know i have something to work with. i love materials - soap, latex, paper, handmade paper, fabric, horse hair, clay and lights. i think that working heavily (for me) with materials is a strategy that i have created for myself that allows me to make mistakes. drawing seems really precious to me and i can get really nervous if i have to put pencil to paper but if i sew into the paper, which functions exactly like a drawn mark, then i feel more at ease. so i draw with materials, i draw 3 dimensionally. i love it.

okay, i am going on and on. this is really enlightening to me. i am going to stop here. i am super thrilled to be a part of innovations. i am excited to work with courtney henson and erin cork. i think that they are super talented ladies and i a look forward to our exhibition.

that is how i function!

- gina t alvarez

www.ginatalvarez.com

RAC- Lindsay Obermeyer

2009-05-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: RAC- Regional Arts Commission

TITLE OF SHOW: Sing the Body Electric

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 11 - October 11 2009

CURATOR OR JUROR: Sarah Colby

SHORT BYLINE/ DESCRIPTION OF SHOW:

Three artists

Lindsay Obermeyer, Julia Karll, Jennifer Wilkey

RAC- Regional Arts Commission

6128 Delmar Bvld.

St. Louis, Missouri 63112

314.863.5811

RAC Website: http://www.art-stl.com/

ArtsZipper Calendar- for everything cool in St. Louis: http://www.art-stl.com/ArtsZipper/

Lindsay Obermeyer, artist

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

In the past few years I’ve become an Internet junky. I admit to my geekhood! I write a blog called Serendipity (http://loops.typepad.com) and have since started a blog for my local community garden. Teaching and the sharing of information is an integral part of my part of my art practice. These days I teach outreach for several art centers and am the current visual arts researcher for the Chicago Artists Resource website which is affiliated with City of Chicago’s Dept. of Cultural Affairs.

What possession do you most cherish?

I’d be completely lost without my needlework case. It holds the basic tools of my trade – scissors, tape measure, various needles, a thimble, stitch markers, etc. The case itself is made of Cambodian silk, hand dyed and woven by landmine victims. It reminds me of how fortunate I am. The case and tools are all gifts from family and friends. Each object contains a meaningful memory for me.

What is your ideal day in the studio? What is your agenda? What music do you listen to?

An ideal day in the studio is one without interruption. It begins with a review of my email, blog, Etsy and Facebook accounts. I will spend an hour or two on correspondence and then head to my studio. The center of my studio is in the basement of my home though I tend to knit in my living room and do dye work in the garden. It’s convenient. I can work in my pajamas if I want. I don’t have a set agenda for working. It depends on my exhibition schedule.

As for music, well that’s easy, the blues! Okay, I also listen to funk, acid jazz, big band jazz, old school rap, French bistro music, and yes, even disco - anything with a good beat. When knitting, I will more often switch to audiobooks. There is something about knitting and story telling that goes hand in hand.

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

The personal is political. My life is the starting point. I always do research. The research can take several months before I hit saturation level, which is fine as I work on one series while researching the next.

I also find my design work launches new ideas. I’m a project designer for Lark Books and have an Etsy shop. I’m constantly experimenting with different materials.

What are your favorite materials to work with?

When knitting I prefer to work with wool or mohair. I love the spring of wool and how it can be felted. Mohair has a lovely “halo” effect when lit under gallery lights. As for my beadwork, I prefer to use Czech seed beads, though I will use beads from Japan and other countries. They are slightly quirkier than the precision perfection of the Japanese beads. Any and all light- reflective materials entrance me, so I tend to use silk or silk velvet for the background of my bead embroideries.

Visit Lindsay's website at: http://www.lbostudio.com

Or her website on her community based work, The Red Thread Project- which will be performed at the St. Louis Artists' Guild on September 27th, 2009 at 1:00 pm: http://www.theredthreadproject.com/

Craft Alliance- Luanne Rimel

2009-05-27T07:53:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: Craft Alliance- Delmar Loop Gallery

TITLE OF SHOW: Elements: The Art of Textile Collage

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 11th - October 25th, 2009

CURATOR OR JUROR: Barbara Simon

ARTIST: Luanne Rimel

Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…

I am both an artist and an educator as well an administrator at Craft Alliance in St. Louis, Missouri. I work full time as the Director of Education and Exhibition Programs at this 45 year old non-profit art center. But I am committed to making work and manage to find the time to create and exhibit. I have had studios both out of the house and in the basement and finally I took over my daughter’s second floor bedroom and sunroom when she moved to her own apartment two years ago. I can easily work in the evenings and on weekends when the time fits. I even use my “vacation days” to stay home and work in the studio. I have always been interested in textiles and remember early sewing projects for my Barbie Doll when I was 10 years old. I am drawn to the tactile quality of cloth and the history and significance of cloth throughout the world.

Please describe your creative process: how you create, when, where, with what materials… How do you go about creating a piece of work and what goes through your mind from start to finish?

For the last 10 years I have been inspired by the passage of time as it relates to the lingering memory of the present. I attempt to capture these ideas on cloth through abstract portraits of a moment. I take photos of these “moments” and print them onto cloth with a wide format inkjet printer, then layer, sometimes dye and paint, stitch descriptive poetry and collage to achieve the desired results. I have photographed ocean waves, elusive shadows, expressive hands and most recently, flowers from my garden. I love to garden and see this activity as another mode of artistic expression for me. For many years I always took the month of May to work in my yard and felt a bit guilty that I did not do any artwork during this time. But then one day I realized that what I was doing in the garden was very similar to how I worked in the studio: The larger activity of digging the ground corresponds to the activity of dyeing cloth. Then the selection of seeds and plants for their colors and textures relates to the studio process of selecting the parts that will combine to make the final piece. The careful planting and tending corresponds to the labor intensive final stitching and collage work on the cloth. My garden is an artwork in progress, colors and textures ever changing throughout the season.

In my current work, my garden is also my inspiration. The beauty of the slowly drying Calla Lily from my garden began my journey. I carefully stitched the flower to tea-dyed linen and let it continue to age - then photographed it. The photograph was printed onto the prepared flour-sack-cloth fabric through a wide format ink-jet printer. Detailed sections of the print were created and layered, collaged and stitched onto the cloth along with images of roots and bulbs. And more followed. Each botanical image is titled for one of the historical meanings of each flower – the Rose becomes “Passion”, the Tulip “Declaration” and so on. Now I view my emerging spring garden as not only its own art form, but also as possibilities for future textile pieces. And time is still the main concept – if I miss the blooming iris, I have to wait until next year.

What is your next project?

I an excited about this years Innovations in Textiles 8 because of the diverse processes, concepts, materials and techniques that will be on exhibit throughout the area and the dialogs that emerge from this kind of concentration. And my next project is a solo exhibit of over 20 pieces at the Missouri Botanical Gardens next March. My garden is full of ideas right now.

You can see more of my work at www.luannerimel.com

2009-05-20T09:01:00.000-07:00

Barbara Lee Smith- Red Right Return #2 detail

Barbara Lee Smith- Red Right Return #2

Craft Alliance- Barbara Simon

2009-05-19T13:25:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY: Craft Alliance

TITLE OF SHOW: Elements: The Art of Textile Collage

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 11th, 2009- October 25th, 2009

CURATOR: Barbara Simon

Craft Alliance

6640 Delmar Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63130

www.craftalliance.org

TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT YOURSELF; YOUR LOCATION, PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS, PERSONAL STUFF…..

I live in the NW corner of the USA on a small island - about a mile and a half around - in the southern part of Puget Sound. We're a couple of hours from the Pacific Ocean, but we still have 13-foot tides twice a day, the air smells of tides and cedars, and eagles have a nest just behind our house. This island location is a major inspiration for my work.

Last year we tore down the 1968 A-frame that was our home, and built ourselves a new place to live. For the year of tearing down and rebuilding, we lived in the space below my studio, otherwise known as the garage.

I'm a member of the NW Designer Craftsmen, an organization with a grand history. We live near Tacoma, which has some excellent museums. Two galleries represent my work on a continuing basis: Snyderman/Works in Philadelphia, and Jane Sauer Gallery in Santa Fe. I also welcome call-ahead visitors to my studio on Raft Island, Gig Harbor, Washington.

PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS: HOW YOU CREATE, WHEN, WHERE, WITH WHAT MATERIALS……

WHAT IS A TYPICAL DAY FOR YOU? WHAT IS YOUR IDEAL DAY IN THE STUDIO? WHAT IS YOUR AGENDA? WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?

(I'm answering two or three questions here.)

I'll start with the Where and When part of your questions. The studio is built over our garage behind the house. I have a commute of about 20 steps up the hill. My studio has great windows that look both onto Puget Sound and the woods next door. One wall is all pin-up space and works perfectly for all the collage elements that become part of the work.

I work all day, every day that I'm at home, including at least one weekend day, I'm embarrassed to admit. My day in the studio starts somewhere between 7 and 8 and goes to between 4 and 5PM. I love to work. While I realize that it's not the most efficient thing to do, I generally start with a quick perusal of email. This is often done before breakfast and the time after breakfast then begins the making part of the day. If I have to do some serious thinking and/or writing, however, it comes first while I'm fresh and not distracted by email, music or the phone.

Once I begin to work and enjoy a little distraction, then I listen to all sorts of music: jazz, gospel, R and B, classical, and while I'm at the sewing machine, books on CD on my iPod and with noise-canceling headphones. (My industrial sewing machine is very loud and I found I became tired just from the sound.)

I try to time the painting portion of the work - the first step - for a good day when I can keep the garage door open. That means that I try to do a lot of painting in the months when it's not raining! Once the painting is made, it goes up on the studio wall where I stare at it a lot, trying to decide if I'll use all or a portion of it as the background layer. Once that decision is made, I begin to collage small elements of the same painted material on that layer. Once the composition satisfies me - and that may take days - the collage elements are heat-fused onto the painting, more layers of the same non-woven material are fused together to make it rather stiff.

Sewing comes last. It literally and figuratively ties the work together with lines of machine stitching that form a topological map on the surface. I can only let myself sew for an hour or so at a time, because my back refuses to cooperate otherwise. Consequently, I usually have two or three pieces going at a time. This allows me to change positions frequently, but also allows time for the work to gestate a bit while I focus on another piece.

The work has Velcro on the back layer that is caught in with the machine stitching. The Velcro matches up to its partner on a hidden frame, thus floating the work off the surface of the wall for its final presentation.

WHAT IS YOUR NEXT PROJECT?

I am working with the Gregg Museum at North Carolina State University in Raleigh on a project for 2011. I am the guest curator for an exhibition that will have about a dozen artists working with the theme, "Traces". The artists have been chosen, the grants are in the requesting process now, and we're beginning the plans for a major symposium to be held in March of 2011 in connection with the exhibition. We're presently working on ideas for the catalogue. It's a delightful, engaging project and I'm reading all sorts of materials that I wouldn't have had the excuse to do without this great invitation.

The other part of the invitation was to have a solo show of my work in the smaller gallery at the Gregg for the time span - spring semester. So I'm just beginning to do some serious thinking about the kinds of works I want to display. It gives me a good reason - in case I need one - to return to the studio every day!

Barbara Lee Smith- Exhibiting Artist in Elements: The Art of Textile Collage

Craft Alliance- Joan Schultz

2009-05-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

Joan Schultz- exhibiting in Elements: The Art of Textile Collage

Craft Alliance- Barbara Simon

2009-05-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

EXHIBITING GALLERY:

Craft Alliance

6640 Delmar Bvld.

St. Louis, Missouri 63130

http://www.craftalliance.org

TITLE OF SHOW: Elements: The Art of Textile Collage

OPENING DATE AND CLOSING DATE: September 11th, 2009- October 25th, 2009

CURATOR: Barbara Simon

I am a textile artist,lecturer and curator of textile exhibits After many years of working within the structured grid of the loom, I have found new freedom in the intuitive possibilities of textile & paper collage.

My inspiration comes from places and experiences that have touched me deeply and left an incredible mark. I am attracted to the beauty of patterns found in nature, as well as the words and rhythms of poets. I use collage to express my respect for the natural world and my interest in preservation.

I work in my studio on Sidney Street. Sometime I begin a new piece with a preconceived idea, from a photo or remembered experience. Often I start by making stacks of fabrics selected from my shelves by color and pattern, decide on the best combination and alter many of the pieces with surface design techniques.

To sir my creativity I take walks in places where there is a natural environment , visit museums and galleries and read poetry. Another source of inspiration is my collection of landscape photographs that I often print on or transfer to fabric. Music provides a satisfying background .

Barbara Simon- Curator and exhibiting artist -Elements,The Art of Textile Collage

IT8 Blog Questions

2009-05-19T12:42:00.000-07:00

These following questions are the list of questions given to gallery directors, curators, exhibiting artists and workshop leaders. Those people were asked to pick any five of the questions below and respond to them with a paragraph. The responses are proving to be as diverse as the questions.

Tell us a bit more about yourself: your location, professional affiliations, personal stuff…
Apart from creating things, what do you do?
What first inspired you to become an artist?
Please describe your creative process: how you create, when, where, with what materials…
What possession do you most cherish?
How do you go about creating a piece of work and what goes through your mind from start to finish?
What is a typical day for you?
What is your ideal day in the studio? What is your agenda? What music do you listen to?
What are some of the things you do to keep yourself creative?
When do you feel you hit your stride as an artist?
What is the source of your creativity? How much is from within? How much comes from outside sources?
Could you do your art without an audience? How important is feedback?
Did you chose or were you chosen to create art?
What are your methods of visualization?
How does your process of creating an art object begin?
What helps create a suitable environment for making art?
What are your favorite materials to work with?
Where do you find materials to create with? Names of shops or internet sites…
Name your top five: musicians, books, movies, websites, artists… (provide a link to websites or artists websites if at all possible)
What are materials that illicit the most response from you in viewing work?
Define fiber art through your lense as an artist or audience member.
What most excites you about this year’s Innovations in Textile 8 collaboration?
If you didn’t work with fiber, what media would you work with? Why?
Is the face of fiber art changing? How so?
What is your next project?

IT8 Blog Introduction

2009-05-19T12:09:00.000-07:00

This is the first post of the Innovations in Textiles 8 Blog. Innovations in Textiles 8 (IT8) is a consortium of galleries and art venues in St. Louis and the surrounding area who are all exhibiting work focused on the theme of innovations in textile art. There are nearly 20 participating venues and galleries showing a wide variety of fiber based art work starting now through the end of November. The blog is aimed to create a center of information regarding the shows. We have asked the gallery directors of the different venues to have participating artists, curators, workshop leaders and exhibition organizers to respond to five questions concerning how they work, where they gain inspiration and their ideas about the state of contemporary fiber art. The responses are listed below. We will be posting responses on a regular basis so please visit the blog often and share with friends. You can find out more information on this series of exhibits by visiting the Craft Alliance website. It will have links to many of the participating galleries.

http://www.craftalliance.org/exhibits/it/it8.htm