Salon de la Courtepointe 2008, Montreal

I just came back from teaching at the Salon de la Courtepointe in Montreal. It was my first trip to Canada and I enjoyed it very much. The quilt exhibit was quite beautiful and people very friendly. I was surprised by the number of large hand-quilted quilts. Most of the quilts, both hand- and machine made, were exquisitely done. The executive committee member in charge of the faculty was so nice to take me around the city and it was wonderful to see very new buildings next to old stone ones. Some of the architecture, both modern and older, was quite interesting and beautiful and would certainly be an inspiration for work in textiles.

We also visited the Oratorium Saint Joseph, which houses a large collection of nativities created by artists from around the world. From an aesthetic standpoint, it was fascinating to see how artists in countries from parts of the world as different as Central or South America, Asia, Europe, etc. took advantage of the material available to them and how they interpreted the same moment in the history of Christianity.

One last note, I really enjoyed being in a country where I was surrounded by English as well as French speaking people.

The photos are of some decorative elements sculpted on the fronts of some of the buildings in the old part of downtown Montreal.

"Embroidered Textiles"

I received the book by Sheila Paine, "Embroidered Textiles", that I mentioned in one of my previous posts. The book looks fabulous with wonderful photos. The following chapters are listed in the table of contents: Guide to identification, The decorative power of cult, Religion and its patterns, The magical source of protection, so I think it will be really very interesting to read. I have not had time to do more than quickly leaf through it but I can't wait to begin to read it. I will keep you posted!

Accepting rejection

Oh, that's a tough one! I had entered two pieces in an art quilt exhibit scheduled for the end of summer 08 in VA and just found out that both pieces were rejected. I used to be absolutely devastated when I entered a show and was rejected. It felt that I had put my whole being into my work and so, it was not only the work that was being rejected but me. Of course, that was a naive way of seeing things and I have since realized that there are so many factors that play into acceptance or rejection: assuming that all the images have "professional" quality, how many entries (i.e. images) do the jurors have to go through and where are your images in that lot, within the first 100 or the 500th?, how does the work fit into the theme (if there is a theme is), would your work fit with the rest of the exhibit and last but not least what is the juror's personal taste? So, now am I devastated? No. Am I disappointed? You bet!

Process

If I have everything planed out and decided as I start a project and all I have left to do is execute it, I have no interest anymore in finishing it. So, even though I do have to have some idea of what I want to make and have to do some planing, drawing of shapes and pieces that I will need, I keep a lot of detail decisions to make as I go. I find that, first of all it keeps my interest, but also it allows me to make decisions after I see how each step looks like. It allows me to react to unexpected things that came about, cool secondary designs and unplanned problems (yes, those too). So, until the end, I have the option of changing things to make the most of serendipitous results or accidents.

The photo is the fabric I just stitched for the inside of the inner petals of the new "Offerings". I now have to cut the hand-dyed velvet for the back of those petals and decide what stitching to do.

Do you also work this way? Or do you have to have everything planed ahead of time? Isn't it interesting to see how our minds work differently!

Public persona

A few days ago I received the newest issue of "Art Calendar" and read an article by Eric Maisel called "Adopting a public persona". The article discusses how an artist (and I am sure most other professional people) may have to adopt a persona in their business dealings that is not necessarily what they are in private, to either project a more assertive and confident personality than what they feel, or vice versa, tone down their natural brashness. This made me realize how much I have had to teach myself how to do that. I think I do appear as fairly confident to my students, public or fellow artists but this is so remote from the insecurity and the doubts that really fill my mind. Is it a mistake to admit it? I don't think so. I think many people, myself included, feel better and actually gain confidence if they know someone they know and possibly admire also suffers from self-doubts. What do you think?

Working

I have been working on the new "Offerings" and as you can probably tell from the photos, it is going to have a flower shape. It is so much fun to create textures with embroidery. I use a layer of fabric and a layer of batting for each side. The batting is cut to the exact shape. The top fabric, for the upper part of the leaf, is cut larger, so that when I stitch I can slide the top fabric slightly over the batting and anchor it with an embroidery stitch: here I have used French knots and stem stitch. Quite easy but very effective as far as textures go. And again, so much fun!

Dyed fabrics

I have dyed the fabrics for my new "Offerings" piece. As usual, I like fabrics with different contents and sheen to add interest and texture. On the picture, from left to right: small piece of silk/linen blend, 2 large pieces of cotton velveteen, 1 large piece of silk/cotton blend. The colors are ok but I must say that I can't wait until June to take the 7-day workshop with Carol Soderlund at QSDS in Ohio ( here is the link to the workshop page on Carol's website: http://www.carolsoderlund.com/workshops.html). I have heard so many wonderful things about her workshops and I think what I learn with her will give me so much more control. Right now, I do have an idea of what I want when I start dyeing but it seems that the result is never exactly what I had envisioned and I have to make do with what I get rather than get what I really want! Hopefully that will soon be corrected!

Starting

I am just starting on a new "Offerings" piece. In the end, I decided that the necklace would stay by itself (for me to wear!) but I have an idea for a new box that, instead of containing a piece of jewelry, will have another little secret inside. As of now, it will remain just that, a secret! I love that stage of the work, where everything is still possible and no one, including me, knows for sure what the piece will become. It is such a thrill and such power! Can't write any more, I have to go dye some fabrics and threads.

more about inspiration (continued)

My post from yesterday got me thinking about a new piece for the "Offerings" series, either a companion to the necklace I am working on or another piece altogether. When I look for inspiration and to get my brain in gear and creative juices flowing, I have a whole bunch of books that I leaf through. Some are fiber related, some are not. And I do this until something in one image captures my attention and gives me a thread to follow. I am not looking for images to copy but rather for a spark to happen. The work that orinigates from that spark of an idea has usually absolutely nothing in common with the image.

So I was looking at some of those books and there are 2 in particular that I would like to mention because I think they are a wonderful addition to the library of anyone interested in line, textures, design or 3-d objects. They are published by Dover Publications (so very affordable!) and are black and white, extremely enlarged photos of plants by photographer Karl Blossfeldt. One is called Natural Art Forms" (ISBN 0-486-40003-4) and the other "Art Forms in the Plant World"(ISBN 0-486-24990-5). Here are an image from each book. How cool is that! Can't you see the textures just waiting to be stitched!

in progress

I feel a bit frustrated since I have been working non stop for the past week on a translation and have not had a chance to touch a needle and thread for several days. I had decided that since I am making jewellery to go with my "Offerings" boxes, I should make a necklace for myself. So I started one. I am not sure at this point if it will get a box too or just be by itself. What do you think?