Working with Weeds--Julie B Booth

Detail of Dandelion fabric

This summer I spent a lot of time working with weeds.

I used the weeds I found in my garden to create a series of hand painted and printed fabrics.

My plan is to design a series of pieces called Weed Maps for F.I.N.E.'s upcoming show All Over the Map. In these pieces, I will collage the weed fabrics with a series of fabrics using different grids. The grids will represent a sense of order in contrast to the wild disorder of the weeds.

Once I have all the fabrics printed, I plan to sit with them and let them speak to me to see what my next move will be.

More to come...

Pillow Talk - Jessica Beels

I have started making wall pieces out of patchworked paper.  I tear sections of still-wet, newly made, flax paper and arrange them over the front and part of the back of a wire mesh form, leaving an opening in the back to take the mesh form out when the paper has dried.  The paper shrinks over the form, contorting it as the paper shrinks and dries. The final piece maintains most of the square shape of the wire mesh, but buckles and ripples where it can.

Some of the paper sections are printed in different colors of metallic paint and ink with various languages and scripts, making the surface a kind of disjointed conversation, like murmered exchanges late at night – hence “Pillow Talk.”  The example in the image above includes speckled paper with seaweed inclusions.

I really enjoy making these pieces.  The challenges are: 1) achieving a satisfying composition working in two dimensions, initially, with the goal of a three-dimensional final form; and 2) designing it so it won’t pull itself apart as it dries.  Another challenge is taking good images of the work.  The color variations are subtle and metallic paints are hard to photograph.

I look forward to seeing how these pieces evolve, maybe in series mounted together, or made over different mesh shapes.

Collapsed Bodies - Ann Liddle

I have a show in December as featured artist in my building at the Workhouse Art Center in Lorton, VA.  I'm getting anxious about getting enough work done so I decided to reuse some old work.  I crocheted the bodies below in 1997.  At that time, I stuffed them and inserted wire armatures.  Now I've destuffed them and removed the armatures.  I have a pile of collapsed bodies to work with.

I'm not sure what I will do with them.  I did restuff one and stiffen it into a sitting position - shown below.  I think I will paint her and maybe put her in a shadow box.  I don't know.  Stay tuned.

Ann

Back on the blog

Back on the blog - Maria Simonsson

I have a renewed interest in the blog since receiving an e-mail from an organization asking to feature me on their website. They had found me through this blog! That proves to me that there are actually some people out there who have found us! So, let's keep updating with what we are doing on our map quest and other things.
I will be back with some images later. Now it's off to the golf course for the second day of my daughter's tournament in Columbia, South Carolina.
Maria

What's next?

It seems we have all taken a break from blogging for a bit this summer. I am "recovering" from my exhibit in June. It takes a while to gear up again and start working in the studio after the huge effort that a show entails, at least for me. I feel a bit lost. But I do have several project waiting in the studio, so it's just about getting back in there and sitting down and start doing. Maybe tomorrow...

I'm posting a few images of some of the pieces that were in the show at Gallery A.

This one is called Lingonberries. It sold.

This may be my favorite. It's called Missing Winter. It sold too!

These are Three Water Jars. Full of the colors of the Caribbean.

This one is a bit different from what I have been making in the last few years. I made four figurative pieces for this show. It was fun. This is Reggae.

So what's next is starting work on the Fine theme of Mapping. I have a piece already, which I will take as my starting point. Here it is:

This piece is called Grid, which says it all...

I made the piece out of wire, like I always use for my armatures. I like the armatures so much that I decided not to cover one for a change, so I instead just wrapped it with cloth and then painted it with acrylic paint. Making it a wall piece is also a bit of a new path for me. It's a very different challenge making two dimensional pieces compared to making three dimensional ones. I guess I think more in 3-D. But I like 2-D. It's fun to give yourself a challenge. 

Going forward, I plan to make more pieces in this series, perhaps filling in some of the spaces with stitched pieces.

Julie Booth: In the Weeds

Our group is working on a new theme: "Mapping: From Here to There". I thought it would be interesting to create "maps" of things we don't normally think about as being interesting or beautiful; things I think of as chores or annoyances. On Easter Sunday, I decided to go out to the garden to photograph and draw the weeds I "should" be pulling. I decided that for my first "map" I would create a painted and printed cloth based on the forms, colors, and textures of the weeds in my garden. I really enjoyed taking the time to sit down and draw from life. I took some of the plants apart to see the tiny details. I drew leaves, roots, buds, pods--the weeds in all different stages of development. I also took lots of photos. Needless to say, the weeding never quite got done! Below is a sampling of photos and tracings and enlargements of some of my drawings. I plan to take some of these and create printing blocks and stencils.

april

As seems usual in Virginia this time of year, summer blasts in with thunderstorms and floods.  So much for the delicate colors and pleasant breezes of a spring day. The "street kids" have been oiling the wheels of their skateboards and trying out new moves for their break dances. There are many places they can be found all around the riverfront not far from my studio. Cement steps are the favorite challenge. They fling themselves down the stairs with impunity. Meanwhile, the gazebo on the dock offers them a stage. A portable boom box supplies an accompaniment.

         Here are a few kids strutting their stuff.