Stitching Stories

 

 

TELLING STORIES WITH STITCH

If you've ever had the impulse to tell a story through your art work, don't underestimate the power of stitch. While we textile artists often lose ourselves in the colors and shapes that make the bold statements in our work, the elements of stitch are no less important. I use machine and hand stitch both as textural lines on my work, but also as expressions of rhythm and energy and movement.

THE FINAL CHAPTER

Stitching is the final layer of story that I try to tell. Think about it: do you strive for even regularity? For an all over even steven precision of stitch -- nothing wrong with that! Or do you let the speed of machine, the size of a by-hand seed stitch take on some of the emotional content and context for your art. I know that the second approach is mine. I gave up perfection long ago, and while I admire the skill that that kind of quilting requires, I don't even pretend to aspire to it -- I prefer my own rather higgledy pigglety kind of approach to stitching and it suits the kind of work I do.

FIND OUT MORE IN THE E-MAG

If you'd like to know more about my approach to stitching, there's an article in the new issue of the electronic magazine In Stitches. Included is a short video interview and demo, as well as the step-by-step how-to of my process for making an art quilt. I can't share the link to the article, since that's the point of selling an e-zine, but I can share the links to the store for various platforms! If you do make the purchase (or subscribe -- I have found the e-mag full of great content) you'll find a variety of videos, step-outs, reviews and helpful and interesting stories. In this issue: articles by Janet Lasher, Carol Anne Grotrian, Jill Jensen, Norma Schlager, Cloth Paper Scissors editor and author Barbara Delaney, Carol Sloan, Kathyanne White, Eileen Lauterborn, and editor Jane Davila.

 

Store Links:

For iPad

For MAC

For PC

Archetypes and Artist Identity

Above: Photo of Suzanne Wright Crain's altar in progress.

Deep work and deep play took all of us into wonderful work this past weekend. Here are some photos of artists at work -- some made altered books, some altars. Everyone, including me, found some insights pertinant to our particular time, space and needs.

 

 

Robin Early and Suzanne Wright Crain and Martha Grant work on their Archetype projects.

As we looked at various approaches to exploring our "inner teams," I had found some work by creativity coach and author Eric Maisel that shed light on the ways identity as an artist (or should I say identities) can both help and complicate our work, identity and paths. Am I artist the beautifier, artist the visionary, artist the businesswomen, artist the  producer, artist the activist...??

Recently an infographic came across my path that also informed this pondering:

http://www.swiss-miss.com/2011/12/how-photographers-actually-spend-their-time.html

Certainly teaching a workshop such as this Archetype workshop calls on my skills as teacher and mentor, while I also try to do my own work ast least part of the time as a way of modeling and demonstrating the processes and products involved.

Then, as the weekend came to a close, a friend called and told me one of my large textile pieces was included in a "home" section report in the San Antonio Express News. I called the collector and thanked him (and his wife Suzi) for giving the reporter my name (read the story for more info!). Ah, another artist identity -- published and out there. 

The dining room in the home of Suzi and Dennis Strauch, near Pipe Creek, has a quilted piece of fabric art on one wall. Photo: BOB OWEN, San Antonio Express-News / © 2012 San Antonio Express-News

The dining room in the home of Suzi and Dennis Strauch, near Pipe Creek, has a quilted piece of fabric art on one wall.

Photo: BOB OWEN, San Antonio Express-News / © 2012 San Antonio Express-News

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/real_estate/article/Spaces-A-global-chic-Pipe-Creek-home-with-more-3431078.php#ixzz1qLiJe3Zi

Gifts in Order

 

Just in time for holiday giving, so says QA on the web today:

 

 

 

‘QATV’ Series 600This season we explore soy wax and flour paste resists, screen- and gelatin-printing techniques, and so much more!

Artists include:

Liz Berg, Andrea Bishop, Jeanne Cook-Delpit, Jane Dunnewold, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, Karen Fricke, Terry Grant, Mary Hettmansperger, Carol Ingram, Liz Kettle, Kathy Mack, Lindsay Mason, Linda McGehee, Susie Monday, Diane Nuñez, Jennifer O’Brien, Luana Rubin, Jeanie Sumrall-Ajero, Terry White, and many more.

 

Watch a Preview Now!

 

Frugal Art Supply and Me

Here's what Jenn Mason, editor of Cloth Paper Scissors, had to say this morning. Check out the frugal art supply post here or on the magazine site archives at this page link.

What do you get when you have the opportunity to witness artists in their natural habitat? The secrets to their art! This is what I discovered today while watching the intro chapters to three of our Cloth Paper Scissors Workshop DVDs. All three artists, Linda Blinn (Make it Graphic), Susie Monday (Mixed-media Textile Art), and Julie Fei-Fan Balzer (Collage Fast & Furious) made a point of talking about using their drop cloths and cloth rags in their art.

Linda Blinn  

 

Linda Blinn likes to make the most of her stencil overspray by using a poster board as a drop cloth on her work surface. She also uses small sections of muslin as a work rag.

   
Julie Fei-Fan balzer

 Julie Fei-Fan Balzerclaims to use cloth rags instead of paper towel because they make great colored fabrics to work into her art—not just because it’s eco-friendly.

 

   

susie Monday

Susie Monday uses old drop cloths cut into scraps for over-printing in her silk screen prints.

 

 


Memorial for 72 Killed on the Border

Before I left this week for El Salvador, I participated in a memorial/action to honor the 72 workers from Central and South America who were killed by Mexican narcocartel thugs when they refused to join the cartel as drug mules and enforcers. The demonstration was at Northwest Vista College and was designed to educate the college students, staff and faculty about the impact of U.S. actions on the lives of others 

Here is a link to an online story in this week's Vista Voice, the college e-newspaper.

72 Dead; Migrant Memorial Takes Place at NVC

The Vista Voice

An observer, Susie Monday, said the memorial also sheds some light on those victims who have died as a result of the demand for drugs in the US "The primary ...

TV and Me

Not sure when or if this has actually started airing yet, but the Interweave folks are touting Season 6 of Quilting Arts TV. I do a demo of Rainbow Printing on one show (maybe the first?) I am hoping they send me a comp of the series! And if they don't I will order it. These shows have become one of my fallbacks for watching while I work in the studio -- lots of inspiration and interesting techniques.

Here's what they say at the publisher:


New Quilting Adventures Available Now!
 
“Quilting Arts TV” Series 600 could easily be the best season yet.

Join Pokey Bolton and her talented, clever guests in this sixth season of exciting adventures in quilting. You'll be amused, inspired, entertained, and informed by this season's master quilt artists. Enjoy the many fabulous quilting designs, techniques, and a wide variety of new projects in the 13 full episode DVD set.

Description

In addition to covering contemporary quilt design, free-motion quilting, machine embroidery, thread painting, and fused appliqué, this season we explore soy wax and flour paste resists, screen- and gelatin-printing techniques, unique finishing techniques for small quilts, and introduce a new, fun and informative segment: Save My UFO (UnFinished Objects).

Embellishment topics include designing with zippers, 3-D fabric flowers, and incorporating grommets in patchwork totes. Surface design techniques include stenciling, resist painting, gelatin printing, stamping with soy wax, screen printing fabrics using water-soluble crayons and polymer medium, designing fabrics with thickened dyes, and creative masking and stenciling techniques with oil paint sticks.

Projects include a Winslow Market Tote, 3-D floral appliqués that can be used as quilt embellishments or as brooches, soft-sculpture fabric birds, a colorful journal cover, a 3-D ornament, quilted boots, and fabric-collaged animal portraits.

Plus, Sharon Morton discusses the purpose of guilds and how they can help with quilting, and Pokey explores quilting from the eyes of a 7-year-old girl to get her unique perspective.

There is something for every art quilter and mixed-media artist, beginning through advanced levels.

The Series 600 guest list includes: Liz Berg, Andrea Bishop, Jeanne Cook-Delpit, Jane Dunnewold, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, Karen Fricke, Terry Grant, Mary Hettmansperger, Carol Ingram, Liz Kettle, Kathy Mack, Lindsay Mason, Linda McGehee, Susie Monday, Diane Nuñez, Jennifer O’Brien, Luana Rubin, Jeanie Sumrall-Ajero, Terry White, and many more.

Join us for another season of 13 inspiring episodes!


In Series 600 you'll also learn from quilt artist Sharon Morton who discusses the purpose of guilds and how they can help with quilting.  Also, Pokey explores quilting through the eyes of a 7-year-old girl to get her unique perspective.

This season we explore soy wax and flour paste resists, screen and gelatin-printing techniques, unique finishing techniques for small quilts, and introduce a new, fun and informative segment: Save My UFO (UnFinished Objects).

Embellishment topics include:
Designing with zippers
3-D fabric flowers
Incorporating grommets in patchwork totes

Surface design techniques include:
Stenciling
Resist painting
Gelatin printing
Stamping with soy wax
Screen-printing fabrics and so much more!

Quilting Arts TV New Series Preview



Here's what Pokey and team say about the new season (I'm on it in the previewed show, after Jane, but it's not on the preview-- but my name is!).

Description

In addition to covering contemporary quilt design, free-motion quilting, machine embroidery, thread painting, and fused appliqué, this season we explore soy wax and flour paste resists, screen- and gelatin-printing techniques, unique finishing techniques for small quilts, and introduce a new, fun and informative segment: Save My UFO (UnFinished Objects).

Embellishment topics include designing with zippers, 3-D fabric flowers, and incorporating grommets in patchwork totes. Surface design techniques include stenciling, resist painting, gelatin printing, stamping with soy wax, screen printing fabrics using water-soluble crayons and polymer medium, designing fabrics with thickened dyes, and creative masking and stenciling techniques with oil paint sticks.

Projects include a Winslow Market Tote, 3-D floral appliqués that can be used as quilt embellishments or as brooches, soft-sculpture fabric birds, a colorful journal cover, a 3-D ornament, quilted boots, and fabric-collaged animal portraits.

Plus, Sharon Morton discusses the purpose of guilds and how they can help with quilting, and Pokey explores quilting from the eyes of a 7-year-old girl to get her unique perspective.

There is something for every art quilter and mixed-media artist, beginning through advanced levels.

The Series 600 guest list includes: Liz Berg, Andrea Bishop, Jeanne Cook-Delpit, Jane Dunnewold, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, Karen Fricke, Terry Grant, Mary Hettmansperger, Carol Ingram, Liz Kettle, Kathy Mack, Lindsay Mason, Linda McGehee, Susie Monday, Diane Nuñez, Jennifer O’Brien, Luana Rubin, Jeanie Sumrall-Ajero, Terry White, and many more.

Join us for another season of 13 inspiring episodes!

And here's the preview on YouTube:

Meanwhile, this month's Quilting Arts magazine includes a profile I wrote about French artist Sylvia Ladame.

05-18-2010

Inspiration and techniques! Thread sketching; needle felting; hand stitching; recycled sweaters; 3-D embellishments; batik with soy wax; Dunnewold on design; circular quilts; “Inner Animal”; and more!  Continue thread sketching with Susan Brubaker Knapp, with a focus on texture. Learn Jane LaFazio’s techniques for creating colorful and unique fiber art that encompasses needle felting and hand stitching. Discover how squares from recycled and felted wool sweaters serve as the base for Morna Crites-Moore’s embellished art quilts. Explore soy wax batik alongside Melanie Testa. Use fabric-covered wireform mesh to create sculptural elements. Learn about the inspiration and techniques behind Victoria Gertenbach’s wonderfully graphic quilts. Take a sneak peek at Jane Dunnewold’s new book: Art Cloth: A Guide to Surface Design for Fabrics. Check out Laura Wasilowski’s method for creating small circular quilts with colorful fused appliqué and quick-wrapped edges. Gain insight from Jane Dávila on taking commissions. Enjoy more inner animal reader challenge results. Get to know art quilters Geneviève Attinger and Sylvie Ladame. Read about the smokestacks and factories featured in Elizabeth Barton’s industrial landscape quilts. And don’t miss Goddess Robbi Joy Eklow’s recent home décor adventures.

 

 

Cool Offer from Quilting Arts

From the website: Quilting Arts June/July 2010

05-18-2010

Inspiration and techniques! Thread sketching; needle felting; hand stitching; recycled sweaters; 3-D embellishments; batik with soy wax; Dunnewold on design; circular quilts; “Inner Animal”; and more!  Continue thread sketching with Susan Brubaker Knapp, with a focus on texture. Learn Jane LaFazio’s techniques for creating colorful and unique fiber art that encompasses needle felting and hand stitching. Discover how squares from recycled and felted wool sweaters serve as the base for Morna Crites-Moore’s embellished art quilts. Explore soy wax batik alongside Melanie Testa. Use fabric-covered wireform mesh to create sculptural elements. Learn about the inspiration and techniques behind Victoria Gertenbach’s wonderfully graphic quilts. Take a sneak peek at Jane Dunnewold’s new book: Art Cloth: A Guide to Surface Design for Fabrics. Check out Laura Wasilowski’s method for creating small circular quilts with colorful fused appliqué and quick-wrapped edges. Gain insight from Jane Dávila on taking commissions. Enjoy more inner animal reader challenge results. Get to know art quilters Geneviève Attinger and Sylvie Ladame. Read about the smokestacks and factories featured in Elizabeth Barton’s industrial landscape quilts. And don’t miss Goddess Robbi Joy Eklow’s recent home décor adventures.

Looking for some great image transfer ideas for art quilts? 

Here's a free ebokk offer from Quilting Arts magazine (which, by the way, has in it this month an article profiling French artist Sylvia Ladame that I wrote!).

 

Click here to download

Live, on a screen near you!



MIXED MEDIA TEXTILE ARTS!

The Quilting Arts people launched my video workshop this week. Take a peek. Buy it now! I am so jazzed to see this, especially since I thought I was really lame in the first part of the taping, but they know how to edit a segment...

Here's what the newsletter says:


Mixed-Media Textile Art Workshop DVD Available Now!

Be among the first to take Susie Monday's new workshop!  Mixed-Media Textile Art, the newest of our Cloth Paper Scissors Workshop™ DVDs, is now available. Get ready to take your mixed-media textile art to the next level with Susie's masterful demonstrations.  At your own convenience and in the comfort of your own home or studio, you can explore new techniques and enhance your design skills.

 

You can order from Interweave in the link below, or wait til I get wholesale copies that I can autograph and personalize for your library -- and I'll include a few pdf downloadable related lessons, too!

 

Mixed-Media Textile Art (DVD)

 

And while you're shopping, you might want to take a look at Jane Dunnewald's new DVD on screenprinting. It's a perfect complement to my DVD if you don't know anything about prepping a screen or making your own -- even this preview will get you started!

Cloth Paper Scissors Debut

I'm honored to be writing now for Cloth Paper Scissors, the Interweave Press mixed media magazine. My first article will be in the May/June issue and its a profile of mixed media artist Robert Maloney. I hope you'll all pick up a copy and tell me what you think, when the mag hits the stands!

And, speaking of publication, I've also just received word that my Cloth Paper Scissor DVD Workshop about Rainbow Printing will be released in Apri and that it will be featured in teh CPS newsletter of April 7.

Hi Susie,
We will be promoting your DVD in the April 7th newsletter. Can you please send me some tips or a brief how-to related to your DVD for that newsletter? We would also need an image. We will need all of this no later than April 1st.
 
Thanks Susie. Please let me know if you have any questions.
 
Have a good night.
 
Warm regards,
Barbara Delaney
Assistant Editor
CLOTH PAPER SCISSORS®

I am holding my breath til I see that hour-long me-in-front-of- big-scary-camera workshop! I learned a lot in the process, and beg those of you who have the opportunity to see it sometime to tell me how I could improve. (I'll let you know where/how to purchase when I get the word that it's on the way -- or you can go to CLP's website and sign up for their newsletter.) I KNOW I was really disorganized and rushed at the beginning (breathe, Susie) but I think I improved as the tape rolled.

 

Open Studios Online

Ran across this online invitation today, and I thought it would be fun to participate.You might want to, too.

Be Part of Our Online Open Studios Event

The theme of the Fall 2009 issue of Studios is Open Studios, so we're kicking it off with a virtual tour, and you're invited to participate. Here’s how:

Step 1.  Take pictures and/or video of your studio. Maybe your studio is a large, dedicated space or maybe it’s just a corner of the dining room. It doesn’t matter—we want to see it! And don’t worry that it isn’t perfect. Art is not about perfection. You can clean it up, leave it in its natural state—it’s up to you.

Step 2. Announce the tour on your blog/website and include the cover image of the Fall 09 Studios, linked to our website.

Once you’ve posted image and link, leave a link to your blog/website in the comments section of the In the Studio with Cate editor’s blog anytime before October 2.

Step 3. On October 3, post the images/video of your studio on your blog or website with a little commentary describing your creative spac and what makes it special to you. Leave the post up through October 4, or as long as you like.

The first 25 people to join the tour (i.e. leave a link to their tour announcement on Cate’s blog) will win a door prize from the Studios storage closet (books, fabric, craft bags, art supplies, and more). Everyone who participates will have the opportunity to share their unique workspace and get ideas and feedback from others.

So, join the fun! Any questions? Contact Studios Editor Cate Prato at cprato@interweave.com.

And it will get me to clean up my studio, at least a little, before I take off on the first of three event journeys to Houston.

Here's what's on the agenda:

Federation of Texas Fiber Artists Meeting -- Houston's HAFA hosts this year's events, held every two years among the four member "chapters" of the organization -- Austin, Dallas/FW, San Antonio and Houston. Here's what I'll be doing:

 Studio tour, Workshops on Photoshop and various facets of art business and professionalism and gallery visits -- Gallery stops at the ArtCloth Network's exhibit at Archway Gallery and the Federation's show at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (nope, my entries were not accepted for either show, better luck next time, right?)

Next:

International Quilt Festival, the big one at George Brown Convention Center, all four floors!

I'm teaching, demoing, lecturing way more than I expected. I sent in some proposals last spring, thinking that the way they worked would be to pick three, maybe four of my options. I was asked to present seven different programs. Good thing I am traveling up and back to the Houston Federation event, so that I can take some of the supplies then and leave them at a friend's house. I am excited, but a bit apprehensive about all the activities -- suspect I won't be doing much for fun except teaching. But, I am signed up for Ann Johnston's dyeing course, one I've wanted to take for a long time. This will be the lecture, demo version, but I am certain I will learn a tremendous amount. Ann is the dye guru in my book!

Here's my teaching ,etc. schedule, in case you get a chance to join in. Last time I checked I had openings still in all of my offerings. Workshop registration includes one admission ticket to the exhibits, trade shows, etc. For more information go to www.quilts.com.

The International Quilt Festival in Houston will be
held October 14- 18 (earlier than normal this year only).
Catalogs are now available for classes and workshops
from Quilt, Inc. Several Texas artists are included as
instructors and lecturers. Susie Monday will be lecturing
and teaching (# from the catalog): For more information,
visit www.quilts.com
#368, Wed, 4-5pm, $8
Lecture: Nurturing Creative Kids (and Grandkids)
#411, Thurs, all day, $83
Workshop: Rainbow Prints with Water-Soluble Crayons
#540 Friday Sampler, 10-noon, $30
Demo: Zapped (almost) Instant Silk Scarves
#605 Friday 6-9
Workshop: The Sensory Alphabet, $43
#749 Sat. 10-noon, Mixed Media Miscellany, $30
Demo: Rainbow Prints w/Water Soluble Crayons
#756 Sat 2-5, $50
Workshop: Shapes and Silhouettes
#804, Sun 8-11, $45
Workshop:Inspiration is in the Cards
#Sun, 11:30-1:30
Demo: Stories on Your Shoulder

And third:

ArtCloth Network Meeting

This is a group of (up to) 25 artists who have a special place in the repertoire for art cloth. Right now there are only 20 members, so if you are interested, check out the website for the group and send me an email. We will be opening up for applications sometime later this fall. The meeting is largely a Show-and-Tell with some fun gallery visits, business meeting and lots of fun with friends who I've met through this closeknit group.

 

Another Artist Profile

I have had my third artist profile published in Quilting Arts Magazine this month -- it's about Cathy Kleeman and deals primarily with her right-brain/left brain balancing act as an artist. I've enjoyed talking to the artists whom I've interviewed for the  past three issues -- and the good news is that I'll have an article about my "rainbow" prints with water color crayons and polymer in an upcoming article, the first writing I've done for QA that will be about my own work!

But, since this one was also the cover story, that's a pretty nice accomplishment, too!

 

In Print, New Porch, New Pooch

Gap in posting is to be expected. When Linda goes on break from teaching, I tend to forget my (self)employed status for a while  (well, until I look at my bank account) and revel in summer in the Hill Country. And a lovely one it is so far: cool in the mornings and evenings, spectacular thunder and lightning storms, clear skies and billowy clouds and sun during the day. The tierra has finally gotten enough rain to green up and the tomatoes in the garden are ripening!

There's a new pooch, a new porch and I'm back in print in the magazine world after a long sabatical from that strand of the tapestry -- My first piece in the quilt world is in Quilting Arts in the June/July issue: a profile of Alaskan artist Ree Nancarrow. I love writing and profiles of artists are a perfect genre for me -- I get to talk to artists whom I admire and then shape a story to communicate what I find special about their work. Thanks to Pokey Bolten (and Leslie Riley who introduced us at last year's International Quilt Festival). So run out and buy a copy, send a letter to Pokey about how much you like my writing (I'm sure), and lets keep that path open!

As to the Pooch. Linda picked up a dumped black-and-tan coon hound (we didn't know at first and thought she was a bloodhound) on the highway and its been a roller coaster ride ever since. You know those free dogs -- she had a bad abcess from a fight with something; she was going into heat; she had to be spayed and her very long nails groomed; the long beautiful ears where filled with bacteria and she and Rodeo, the resident alpha animal gentle spirited border collie, have spent many a testy moment posturing about status in the pack. Not to mention that Bandera (she's named for the highway, county and county seat up the road) seems to think resident cat is a coon. Not so good, since resident cat is fearless and loves to provoke said coon hound. And that a coon hound is mostly nose. So she can't be trusted to stay home guarding the resident sheep (us) as can border collie Rodeo. But, as things will have it, we love her. Find her fascinating and goofy, and are now walking 3 miles a day to give her the run time she needs. We are all looking much trimmer.

The new porch is a big hit with family  and friend visitors, as well as the residents, two and four legged, and I can't wait to use it for opening morning sessions (if it stays cool enough) for the next workshop (completely sold out, thanks to a final registrant who found me and the workshops due to the published profile!). What a sentence.

Our neighbor Bill (That's his house, which he and his wife also built, in the background) built the extension to an existing deck, making a sleeping/dining porch about 25 by 15 with an open porch 8 feet out and poised over the cliff side overlooking the cedars and water oaks. The roof is clear near the house, letting light into the kitchen and DR and metal on the part further out from the house. Three screen doors complete the picture.

So, what are you doing this summer, so far? It's a great time to dye, to sunprint and to rust, so we're dusting off the rust bucket and the dyepots and getting (back) to work!

 P.S. Here's Rodeo, so he won't be too jealous about Bandera's star role in this post.

 

Art Calendar, Alyson & Me

 

Advice to artists: When Alyson B. Stanfield puts out a call for photographs, answer the call. If you're lucky and have the right work to share, you may find yourself featured in a magazine article, such as this one in June's issue of Art Calendar!

This is the second time an article by Alyson has used one of my photos to illustrate her advice, and, I assure you, the exposure is welcome. And of course, as a fan and occassional student in Art Biz Coach workshops, the advice is always worth reading. This article about public speaking for artists includes the following tip (buy the magazine to read more and to catch the rest of the details!) Alyson writes:

"Provide a call to action.

When you conclude, don't forget why you're there....Suggesting a next step to your audience provides both closure and a transition for continuingyour relationship with them."

Believe me, I learned several good new approaches to include in my next artist's talk from the article, and I suspect you will as well!