Snow Persists. Ice Melts. Minds Think.

Snow persists in my yard...

Snow Rose, C. Mauersberger, 2010

Snow Seat. C. Mauersberger, 2010

...and ice melts

Katharina Ludwig

photos: K. Ludwig

Katharina Ludwig exemplifies water as a precious commodity. As the ice melts, the skin gets wet and may also leave small red mark.

It's an interesting idea to communicate the scarcity of water in many parts of our world.  

I am reminded that 1.5 million children  die each year due to lack of access to clean water.  

Katharina may not have intended to evoke my response, but her simple idea to freeze water for jewelry caused me to think about others today.

or perhaps she did.

See more of her innovative ideas on her site here. 

Click on one of the dandelion seeds to see more.

Devotion to Line

Ronald Sulak
Cleveland, Ohio
(1940 - 1993)


My parent's first born, Ronald, would have been 70 years old this weekend. 
He was a lovely man and lived a beautiful life filled with dreams of becoming a policeman, owning a house, having a girlfriend and flying a plane. 
Among many interests, he adored dancing (with girls at weddings!), playing the harmonica, and having a good time. 

He had down's syndrome and always liked to draw.  He had a singular ability to distill an image down to its most elemental parts. 
I'd like to think he had a devotion to line which is one reason I launched a Facebook Fan page to show my artwork under that title.


Here are a few sweet images.
It's been a life-time without him already.

Portrait drawing Ronnie did of me. I faithfully traced the drawing as a monoprint which is why you see dark smudges.
I will scan the original drawing when I find it in my stuff.
circa 1989.

Ronnie like to copy his name onto paper. Here's an example written on an index card. Notice that he is missing the letter "D" in his 1st name and "L" in the last.

Ronald Sulak circa 1941.

Marks of a Life

Ganga Devi (1928 - 1991)
India

Ganga Devi, aripan, 1990, from the Japan Series

Ganga Devi, Naina-jogin, 1988-89

Ganga Devi, The Cycle of Life, 1983-85, detail (Pregnant woman reclining on the ground)via will

I respond to the quality of line drawing in Ganga Devi's works. 

She began life as an Indian village artist and ended up traveling the world documenting ordinary life using the traditional art form known as Madhubani. 

Imagine my good fortune to find a person who scanned many pages of her work from a long out-of-print book.
Please skip over to this blog to read more  and see many more images here. 

Slow Simmer

On the back burner...

These are a sample of small works I've got stewing. 

These aren't for the upcoming exhibit.

Rather ideas I'm parsing.

Stitching on vintage handkerchief and drawing

stitching in process on vintage handkerchief 

detail

drawing of things I see on my walks

stitching map and images

I'm meditating on the words of Agnes Martin lately:

"When I think of art I think of beauty. 

Beauty is the mystery of life. 

It is not in the eye it is in the mind. In our minds eye there is awareness of perfection."

A Teaser

Preparing my work for shows

I thought I'd give you a peek at what I'm up to these days.

As I mentioned in this post here. I'll be in a show. 

I've been stitching my hand-embroidered maps onto 1/2" thick 100% wool felt.

The felt block will be surrounded by a deep frame with no cover (i.e. no plex or glass) 

I want the viewer to be able to really enjoy the stitches.

I'll share more later this month.

Enjoy!

I draw maps of places I've been. 
This one is stitched onto vintage table linen. Then I stitched the linen onto 1/2" wool felt.

Sometimes a Simple Idea Is All You Need

Open Your Heart 

Music by Mia Doi Todd 

Video directed by Michel Gondry

I like the simplicity of this video and its use of Color. The music...meh, but you may enjoy it's hopeful words and melody.

Sophisticated Color Compositions and Summer Retreat in Michigan

Terry Jarrard-Dimond
Clemson, SC U.S.A.

I am smitten by the work of Terry Jarrard-Dimond. 

Her stitched quilting lines are perfectly harmonious with her sophisticated color compositions. 

Amulets

49" x 59"

Hand dyed cotton, pieced and machine quilted

Best in Show, 2010

Form Not Function

Carnegie Center for Arts and History

Here Comes Trouble

18" h x 14" w

Hand dyed cotton, pieced and machine quilted

Wrestling Jacobs Angel

53" h x 80" w
Hand dyed cotton, pieced and machine quilted

I admit to having a love-hate relationship with FaceBook (FB).

This is a story of the Love part of FB.

Terry Jarrard-Dimond and I friended each other through means that only FB can do.* We've corresponded for about 7 months and found we live parallel lives. 

I think you'll find a nice connection to her when you skip over to her blog. 

She is a teacher, mentor, explorer, innovator, and exciting textile artist all wrapped up in a beautiful person willing to share her art path with those who she meets along the way.

But wait, there's more!

Terry will be teaching at the premier season of  Budding Art Ideas in Ann Arbor, Michigan in June, 2010. The location for this artists' retreat is the University of Michigan Botanical Gardens.  Nice.

I encourage you to visit her blog here.

See her extraordinary work on her website here.

Read more about her workshop: Fiber Art Quilts-  Ask “What if?” Building Pathways to Creative Work”  here.

*My first introduction to Terry's artwork was when I designed the Artist as Quiltmaker XIII (AQM) catalog in early 2008 for the Firelands Association for the Visual Arts in Oberlin, Ohio. At that time, I had no idea I'd ever meet her. 

Wall Eye Gallery

Wall Eye Gallery
Cleveland, OH USA

There's a new gallery in town: 

Wall Eye Gallery*

My good friend and I  visited the gallery on Saturday w/artwork in tow.

And now

we're in a show.  

The opening reception is March 19, 2010.

I am making final decisions about work and getting it mounted and/or framed.

Which is a good thing 

because I'll have images to post to show any curious folks what my artwork really is. 

Check out their blog here.

I'll post the announcement with details in early March.

*Not to be confused with walleye fishing in Lake Erie, one of the 5 Great Lakes located in the Midwest region of the U.S.A

Lover's Leap

Polly Apfelbaum

Lover's Leap Black
 2008
Woodblock Print Image Size: 47" x 47"
Paper: Hiromi Handmade DHM-11 Triple Thick

Blossom
Synthetic Velvet, Dye
18' x 18'
2000
Collection, MOMA
Happy Valentine's Day.
Please see more of Polly's work here.

Curious Crochetdermy

Shauna Richardson
U.K.

All photos via Shauna Richardson

A good friend sent me a link to Shauna Richardson's work the other day.  

I was curious and  totally enamored with her talent and thinking processes.

All answers found. Read this interview published here.

An excerpt:

"For me Crochetdermy is a real personal challenge. It retains the ability to make me feel uncomfortable and I suspect that lack of comfort will continue to pique my curiosity and keep me creating these pieces for a long time to come."

I encourage you to see more of her work on her website here.

It's brilliant and bothersome (in a good way!)

Flower Boats, Bowls, Sea Carpets and Bouquets

Flowers by Bornay

Barcelona, Spain

From their website...

"The flowers and the elements that surround them 

are the tools we use to express ourselves in order to succeed in the effect they must produce."

I feel the need to share these lovely pics of flowers during a very cold spell here in Cleveland, Ohio.

Valentine's day approaches,

it seems appropriate.
Enjoy!

boats

bowls

Sea Carpets

and 

Bouquets

See more here.

Saturated Plush Tuffs of Color

Dana L. Depew
Cleveland, Ohio

Floral Composition, oil, acrylic on Chenille

Pink in the Middle, oil, enamel, acrylic on Chenille, 2008

Linear Composition 28 in x 33 in, oil and enamel on crocheted fabric, 2009; Rising Sun, oil, enamel, acrylic on Chenille, 2008

Installation View

Big Bertha, oil, enamel, acrylic on Chenille, 2008

I had the pleasure to meet Artist and Asterisk Gallery owner, Dana Depew today and became an immediate fan. 

He works in a wide range of media from sculpture to painting where he repurposes found objects as he sees fit. 

Found resting against the gallery wall were several of his Chenille Paintings.

He invited me to see more in the maze-like storage area below the gallery.

Dana loads heavy coats of paint onto vintage chenille bedspreads. 

The satisfying result is stiffened saturated plush tuffs color.

See more Chenille Paintings here.

See more about him here.

See his Etsy shop here.

See information about his gallery here.

These are photo's from Dana's FaceBook page. 

Thanks Dana for a great visit. 

Philosopher of Drawing

George Mauersberger
Cleveland, Ohio USA

Wallflower 9, pastel on paper, 44" high x 30" wide, 2005 , Private Collection

Detail

Black 4, 56" high x 42" wide, Charcoal, 2001, Private Collection

Some people think this is a photograph...George rubbed loose charcoal into the surface of a huge piece of white paper, then removed charcoal using an eraser to reveal the image of the leather jacket. 

Angel, 40" high x 60" wide, Watercolor, 1992, Private Collection

I am pleased to announce a nice home for my husbands' artwork on the web.

Long overdue, but so worth the wait. I was happy to do this for him.

With each mark of the a piece of pastel, pencil, charcoal or stroke with the tip of watercolor brush, he immerses us with his own special take on photorealism.

Just when you think you can pull the tape off the stem of a rose on the wall, look further down and see that he has left scribbles on the page telling the viewer that it's a flat surface after all.

He is a Full Professor and Chair of the Art department at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Please pour yourself a nice hot cup of something warm and spend some time lingering over his work here. 

When you get to the site, click on any picture to zoom in for a closer look.