Lichen Love

Jessie Fair

New York State, USA

Lichen 3, 2010 

Handmade felt, wool roving, discharged silk guaze, threads.  

Hand dyed, wet felted, needle felted, free-motion machine embroidered.

Lichen 3, 2010, Detail

Lichen 2

 2010 35″ x 28″ 

Hand resist dyed wool felt, silk gauze, threads and embroidery floss.  

Hand dyed, needle felted, hand stitched, free-motion embroidered.

Lichen 2, 2010 , Detail

Growth 1,
2009, 30″ x 94″ 

Wool roving, wool felt, silk organza, silk gauze.  Hand dyed, needle felted, fulled, painted.  

Growth 2

 2009 26″ x 44″ 

Wool roving, wool felt, raw silk, silk gauze.  Hand dyed, needle felted, fulled, painted. 

Growth 2, Detail

all images courtesy, © Jessie Fair.

These works are from Jessie Fairs Growth Series in which she is interested in how plants sometimes grow to create a special little universe of  their own. They often overgrow to cover other nearby rocks and nooks and crannies. (my words)

She writes 

"These environments are the subjects of our fantasies; 

the places we go when we need to exist outside of time."

I think I can nestle quiet nicely in one of these green spaces. 

Jessie is presently studying for her MFA in Fiber and Material Studies at Syracuse University.

With quite a number of awards and exhibitions to her credit, I think she's one to watch!

There are many other lovely surprises on her site.

Please click over to see more here.

My thanks to Jessie for allowing me to post about her work.

Hello Halo

On this fine day in May a few years ago, I looked up and saw an optical phenomenon. 
A sundog.
Happy Sunday. 


I'm attending the opening reception of Artist as Quiltmaker today and will post pictures later this week. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends old and new.

Closer to the Real Deal: Eco Colour by India Flint

Eco Colour has arrived at my door.

When I met India last year here, I hoped to take one of her workshops one day.

Next month, I travel to the state of Tennessee to a place called Shakerag under the gentle guidance of India herself.  See course description here.

India is deeply concerned about many things among which are to reduce the toxic load in our bodies, something I am completely immersed in myself these days. 

Please jump over to  her website here and her lovely blog here.

And

If I've piqued your interested, please purchase her book. 

I've been pouring over it all morning and only stopped to place this post. 

Her book is a gift that you must give yourself.

You will be wiser (and healthier) for it.

The Beauty of Maps

Cellarius Star Map, 1660

Andreas Cellarius , born around 1596 was a German-Dutch mathematician and cosmographer who designed this map in 1660 as part of his Harmonia Cosmographica. The images are among the most artistically designed and elaborate celestial charts of any period.

Constantinople City View, 1576

The Beauty of Maps is a BBC series featuring historical maps in incredible detail.
The BBC offers viewers a nice chance to view map highlights and navigate through beautiful historical images.
See more here.
Of additional interest: Amazing Maps here .
and 
Medieval Cosmology here.

Mothers day USA.

Before she was a mother and now.

My mother, Bertha, on her wedding day, June 24, 1939.

Holding 10 month old Annette. Her last child of 11 and my younger sister  in Sept. 1963. 

This was morning after my eldest sisters wedding. 

Mom says this picture tells it all. 

June 13, 2009. 91 years old.

Enjoy your mother or other mother. We wouldn't be here with without her!

Encaustic Logic

Lorraine Glessner
Philadelphia, PA, USA

Between Sleep & Dreams  

encaustic, horse hair, gouache, mylar, photographs, rusted and branded silk on wood

48" wide x 72" high x 1" (depth). 

down sixth street (door)

 encaustic, horse and human hair, mixed media on rusted and branded silk on wood

18" x 18" x 1" (depth)

rows: school 

encaustic, mixed media on rusted and branded silk on wood, 2010

48" wide x 38" high x 1.5" (depth)

all images © Lorraine Glessner

Another gratifying connection made through blogging and Facebook. 

Lorraine and I met online. We seem to cross paths 

with the images of art and artists we like to share on our blogs.

Her encaustic work is fully charged with meaningful marks and layers of life. 

Please spend time on her website  here and be sure to view her blog here.

Enjoy!

A Tree on Cliff Drive

There is a tree on Cliff Drive. 

It lives near Lake Erie on a Cliff.

In late fall it casts a wonderful shadow.

There are metal street signs posted  a few yards in front of the tree.

The tree with it's deep green leaves mid-summer. 

I used my inkjet to print a combination of tree images onto 4 pieces of cotton, 

then stitched them together to make a larger image approximated 20" x 20".

This was about 4-5 years ago. 

Started to put stitches on the bottom portion. 

I removed the stitches last year.

I might add new stitches this summer. 

Will keep you updated if changes occur.

not certain I will work on it.

Marks From Her Yard

Katherine Allen
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.

Bubble and Revel 33.5"x50"

Acrylic Paint ; Screen Print Inks on Silk, Applique, Three Layers, Machine Stitching, 2007

When I worked for the Art Curator at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, 

I selected and arranged for the purchase of this lovely piece.

I do recall the staff surrounding me and thought it was a painting! 
They were so very happy. 

It is more beautiful in person, the gray color in this piece is a silver and has just a hint of shine, the green is a nubby silk fabric, subtle and glorious. Bubble and Revel indeed!

Blue Moon 51"x49"

Acrylic Paint; Screen Print Inks on Silk, Three Layers, Hand Stitching, 2009

Interweave 33"x41"

Acrylic Paint & Screen Print Inks on Silk, Three Layers, Machine and Hand Stitching, 2010

All images © Katherine K. Allen

I emailed Katherine in 2007 after I saw one of her pieces at Fiber Art International in Pittsburgh, PA. She agreed to a sale of Bubble and Revel (above ) for the hospital. 

Katherine told me that the leaves and bits and pieces in her work come directly from her yard. She uses them as a stencil of sorts as she prints the images onto fabric. 
I have yet to meet her in person, however, someday, perhaps we will. 

Please visit more of her intriguing art work here.

Sublime Work in Her 90's

Louise Bourgeois
born Paris, France, 1911
she's 99 
(just 7 years older than my momma)

Untitled, Fabric, 29.2 x 38.1 cm,(11.4 x 15 inches), 2003 

She was 92!

Untitled, Fabric, 60.9 x 77.7 cm, (23.9 x 30.59 inches), 2005

She was 94

Untitled, Fabric, 59.6 x 77.4 cm, (23.4 x 30.4 inches) 2005

Age: 94

Untitled, Fabric and Beads, 45.7 x 55.8 cm, (17.9 x 21.9 inches), 2005

94!

Untitled, Fabric, 121.9 x 152.4 cm, ( 47.9 x 60 inches) 2006

Oh my, at 95.

Proof (to me) that age breeds perfection.

I aspire to these heights

and toast to beauty!

I found these images here.