Shibori!

I've been playing with silk and dyes for the past few days. Inspired by Jen Beauchamp's wonderful tutorial on shibori  (http://tomoebookarts.blogspot.com), I have been reliving my textile and fiber arts days at Scripps with the wonderful Neda Al-Hilali. She was such a great teacher and her work so strong.  The following is my 2nd try:

I started this process to make book cloth  but I don't think I can bear to cut this up -- I wore it today as a shawl/scarf! But I need to figure out how to incorporate shibori into the exhibition. I'm really loving the process...

Alphabetica of Angst

Earlier this year, I created a book titled Alphabetica of Angst or How I Purged My Fears.  

It is an ABC book that lists, alphabetically, some of my fears and anxieties.  The process of creating the book was freeing and fun --  I think it is a healthy thing to take a look at the things that cause us to feel queasy! I entered the book in a nationally juried exhibition of contemporary artist books, Secrets and Lies at the Sandy 23 Gallery in Portland and was happy that it was accepted. This is a link to the online catalogue for the exhibition.  I realize that I need to enter my work into more exhibitions -- put myself out there. Funnily enough, this is one of the things that causes me anxiety!  Hmmm....

Flight

This is a flag book that I started a few months ago and finally finished today.  I realize that I have quite a few pieces that are in varying stages of completion and I decided that at this point it's a good idea to finish what is in process before I start any new work. I've titled the book Flight and have incorporated words from a poem titled Time and Memory by Dag Hammarskjold. The flag elements I painted in watercolor and the end papers I found at Kate's Paperie in New York (love that store). I attached the words as flowing lines from the tips of the flags.  

Pollination Series... new work

I'm working on a new series titled Pollination.  They are watercolor and mixed media mounted on board and are fairly large -- each one is 17 x 48".  I'm having fun playing with the circular form as well as experimenting with some acrylic pigments with iridescent effects (especially love Golden Fluid Acrylics' Iridescent Pearl).  People see different things in my work -- underwater vistas or forms floating through space.  I  enjoy keeping things ambiguous! These will be wall pieces for my exhibition -- some of the "unbound." 

Earth's Adventures -- a book project in progress

I began working on a new book project in North Carolina and it has been sitting since I got home --  there hasn't been too much time in the studio since arriving back in Miami.  This is my constant challenge -- to find time to create, keep current with all of my freelance projects and maintain some kind of balance (hence a day of sorting Lego). 

The process of creating this book was quite different from my usual method. In this project, I used an existing binding -- the cloth covered boards of a  text book, Earth's Adventures, that I found in a thrift shop.  A children's book on geology published in 1942,  I liked the title and the faded color of the cover boards. I removed the text block, gutting the book.  I then made paste papers on very heavy watercolor paper and began painting with Golden fluid acrylics and drawing with graphite and opaque silver and white pens.  

Once I am happy with the pages, I will integrate pop-ups for several of the pages (the two forms to the right of the book will be pop-ups, floating over the pages.) I've been thinking that I need to incorporate some text but have yet to find the right match. Any ideas out there?

What I Did Today (Not Art)...

Embracing well-honed avoidance strategies, I spent a good part of the day disinfecting and sorting the motherlode of Lego, acquired this morning for my nephew Peter at a garage sale.  I had fully intended to spend the day in the studio, organizing and getting my Miami space in order. Didn't happen. 

But I had fun, sitting in the sun, splashing in the water.  Did I waste the day?  I don't think so!  Peter is going to enjoy years of Lego and maybe I needed to play. 

Back to Centre

Five years ago I left a comfortable County job for the uncertainty of freelance work and time to make art.  It was the best choice I ever made.  I have more satisfying freelance opportunities than I can handle and this fall, I will have a one-person exhibition in a 2500-square-foot gallery (working title: Bound/Unbound)! 

And it all started at the Centre Gallery -- or back then it was the Mitchell Wolfson Jr. Collection of Decorative and Propaganda Arts -- my first real job.  I left the gallery in 1987 and now, twenty-one years later, will have an exhibition in that same space.  It feels deeply satisfying to be returning with my own show, a full and beautiful cycle. 

And so I begin my blog at the urging of the amazing Jane Powell of Random Arts in Saluda, North Carolina.  I am seven months out from my exhibition and I will use this space as a venue to document my progress, process some of my thoughts, and almost certainly to vent!