Reaching For Something

This is my piece titled "Reaching."
The symbolism of the box itself is just a symbol for anything in life that seems to ensnare us from reaching out potential.  It requires us as humans to reach out and go for the feeling of making a difference in the universe, and our striving to achieve this. The piece itself is made from matte tones of black and red with blazing touches of rusts and yellows.  The hair of the woman is completed with ribbons and machine quilted.

Butterflies and Poems of Spring

I am starting a new fiber art piece. After sketching on a week long cruise to the Carribean I came up with an idea.
Butterflies that carried little forest nymphs on the power of their wings.

Butterfly
Fluttering on the wind
tossed and turned by the air currents
going off to gather strands of gold
to weave into the tapestry of spring.

Rain

Oh- the rain is pouring today- washing away scads of pollen.  There are places like Aruba that barely see an inch of rain.  I feel chilly from the spring rain, but without it the flowers would barely have a song to sing.  There is something very comforting about the sound of the rain on my roof and it makes me feel sleepy.  All my trees have a washed vibrancy about them in the rain. The greens look move saturated in the rain.

The Wonderful Intensity of One Flower

I love color and composition in all its forms.  As an artist I have an eye that has been trained for years to stop and notice the intricacies of nature and life around me.  What a grey and dull life I would lead without my eyes to see the little things around me.  I was walking in the Dahlia Garden at the arboretum and thousands of gorgeous dahlia blooms surrounded me.  With camera in hand I was allowed to focus on this one bloom and notice the yellow and the contrasted small tips of luscious mauve that gave a firecracker appearance to this one flower.  I fell in love with color and texture through God's gift that day.

Dating is very much like going through this garden.  I have been taught through the negativity in the dating scene that life is not an assembly line of women and men to go through as if one has a pair of blinders on.  It turns out to be an excersize in learning about ones own fears and ones own degree of self -worth to to see that I am a part of the greater whole that is the universe.  I think of myself as much like this dahlia.  People may pass by- not noticing the grand intensity of the colors and the textures that each petal offers to us.  It is up to the artist in me not to emulate the general population of mankind - but to choose to stand apart within the universe and take notice of the small  things all around me.
I choose to live this way.

Walk In The Woods

I love walking -it is a solitary activity , but it gives me time to think.  Sometimes I find the woods and the wide open spaces a chance to really breathe.  I miss that.  It is too long since I felt the wind in my hair and the fresh musky air in the woods.  The green sweet smell of the new leaves and the richness of the verdant green color soothes my mind and centers me.  I miss having someone to quietly stand with me- the only sound being our shoes as they crunch along the paths.   Someday soon , if God wills it to be- I will find a genuine companion.  I know it does little good to wish for something that does not currently exist-so I spend little time on such thoughts.  I think just of the green moss that lies in wait and will greet me soon enough.

To Dye For

In the small hills outside Kyoto -you walk along the suburban areas near Ohara Japan.  This was a sweet gal who with one assistant produced some very modern and edgy designs on cloth.  The method used was called Katazome.  There are so many interesting variations on cloth and design you could spend a lifetime perfecting techniques.  The Japanese have perfected so much of the dying techniques that to go and see this was an amazing privilege. I am currently working on using discharge dying to make a new piece.  I am also trying a small piece of dying shibori- I did not have luck with the dye and the soda ash technique I used so  need to go back and try it again.  I might attempt the Katazome technique at a later date.

When I got back from Japan I wanted to have a permanent memory of a Geisha I had passed in the street.  They run quickly by and do not like to pose for photos.  If your not quick it is hard to capture an image.  I found this young girl so beautiful.  The color combinations are saturated and what we might consider discordant -shades of turquoise blue and an obi of various shades and patterns in red.  It is shocking and yet interesting.  I was studying at a Gallery on Long Island and my teacher had suggested I try my hand at replicating the image onto a ceramic vase.  Although not an exact duplication, the image reminds me of the young Geisha.

Poet's Forest

This is the final piece of hand stitched fiber art that is the poets commissioned piece.   Here is what he stated upon seeing this piece " an image of ressurection, renewal, reinhabitation after what some people call destruction or disaster. I believe these two words exemplify the anthropocentric view that most humans have of Earth Phenomena"  


 This is imagery which portrays my view of the part of Long Island called the Pine Barrens- it undergoes deforestation through forest fires and then constantly renews itself.  I feel I captured what he desired in this piece and I am pleased with the results. The piece was actually  by a poem by Tom Stock titled " Soil Meditation" so that the final art piece became a very personal tribute to this author.
Tom has worked tirelessly to preserve and pay tribute to the Long Island Pine Barrens and has studied the area as a poet and a naturalist.  I am thrilled that this fiber art piece will now be part of his collection among other  art he has purchased.

Cherry Blossoms in April

This is what I called the Sakura bowl- in Japan in April the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.  They are so beautiful that everyone is in complete awe when they are viewed.  Camera buffs snap the blossoms wildly and it is one of the most beautiful sights to see.   When I came back from Japan I wanted to capture the sight of the cherry blossoms in full bloom.  I took antique Japanese kimono fabric and coupled with pure silk I fashioned this sculptural bowl.  I then embellished the bowl with beautiful corded threads which hang down from the main focus.  These bowls pick up the light when in the sunny windows of my home.

Holding the Coral Reef in Your Hands

Sometimes I walk along the beaches and I think about the absolute beauty of what is so hidden from us.  The world that we don't see if filled with fish and living coral as beautiful as one could only imagine.  I love to snorkel in the Caribbean, but also so lucky to be able to live near the beach.  I made this silk fiber bowl from 100 percent silk fiber and strengthened by a stabilizer.  I then was able to add small yarns and pieces of thread to the coral reef and also small little limpet shells that I gathered off the beaches of Barbados.  I can hold the memory of those days in my hands now and it takes me back to the beaches that I so love.

Beautiful Indigo Dying

When I was in Kyoto I got to visit a family of Indigo farmers and Dyers.  What is absolutely mesmerizing was the techniques of storing the tiny buds of the indigo plants and then transforming it into a blue dye called indigo that they then use to dye both fabrics and handmade papers.  The cloth comes out this rather grey color , but then when they wring out the dye with these poles it is set with the dye that is stronger and more permanent than any other type of blue dye.  They showed us shirts and jackets with indigo dye that looked totally saturated and as if it had been dyed last week although it was at least 50 years old.  The indigo plant buds are basically stored in damp and dark storage facilities and then they are mixed with water and set into these dye vats into the cement floor.  I have quite a bit of the indigo dyed cloth and find it quite beautiful to work with.

This is my studio today before I put all my fabric back in order- sometimes it all gets quite ahead of me.  Love this little studio of mine- a quiet place to reflect and work on all my art pieces.  Spending the rest of tonight getting things back into shape.

Piece in Progression

This is the stitching I did today in my studio for my poet's piece.  I am slowly getting all the small stitching done and adding small branches as I go along.  I am enjoying making this piece as three dimensional as possible.  The rain was pouring in buckets today so that it was a really good day to do this.  Back to work tommorrow , but I am about 25 percent in completion.

commissioned beginning

This is the preliminary beginning of the piece I am starting for the commissioned piece of the Long Island Pine Barrens.  I am just starting to stitch the main part of the pieces and add small stitched branches.  It is a departure from my typical work, but I had been in a temporary lull so this was the spark of inspiration that has jump started my work again.  Sometimes if you hit a black spot of nothingness you kind of get frightened that the muse of creativity is gone.  Those can be the moments when the lull before the next great moment of a new avenue of opportunity hits.

Hand Dyed Optical llusion

This piece is approximately 6 foot wide by about 7 ft in length.  This particular piece was very challenging.  I started out being able to find the solids , but the marbled pieces needed to be made in just the right tonalities to achieve this three dimensional look.  This took me one year to complete.  I used 100 percent cotton fabrics and dyed the fabrics and used Sea Salt to disperse the dye throughout the cloth to give the marbled look to the cloth.  It tends to be a rather messy operation, so that I did this in the summer when I could get the salt off the dried pieces of cotton when it was drying out in the sun.   This is one of those art quilts that would be considered priceless in light of the time and overall sweat factor that went into completing this piece.  If you turn your head in another direction the pattern will fool your eye and vary from hexagons to cubes.

The Vision of an Artist

All great and not so great artists have a vision that drives their work,  It takes a long time to see your own world view come to life in our work, but it is vital in keeping to our personal goals.

I dated one of Long Islands greatest black and white photographers and we would spend hours defining what we were trying to set out to do.  His vision was basically to get people to stop and really observe nature and trees and flowers and little bits that we often pass by as we hurry about the tasks of life.

My personal vision is that I would love people to come to terms with the fact that so much of life is not in view , but is truly a part of life and ourselves.  Things exist all around us that we often take for granted, but beyond our limited and myopic view is a great and wondrous series of experiences.  I  have been on a cruise ship and out in the middle of absolute nothingness.  To sit in a deck chair and have 360 degrees of water and blue horizon and seemingly nothing else is an inspirational experience.  Sometimes people can experience this degree of oneness when climbing a snow bound mountain peak or diving in the reefs.

If you are an artist and would like to share your vision with me..I would love for you to comment .

The Black Fish

This is one of my favorite studies of a collage fish.   This was made when I came back from Kyoto.  I hand pieced all the small bits of cloth and then I machine stitched the back of the piece to get the movement to flow through this.  I tend to think that most of my art studies of fish have taken on a personality of there own.

My Fix

Art is my drug of choice.  Some people are addicted to drinking, gambling or eating potato chips.  I fine that when I am working in my studio-the music is blaring and I am at peace .  Time is no longer an element.  It has no place in my world.  I sit and can quietly engage with my work and become one with what I am working on.  The clock can tick away and I don't know what time it is or how I got there.  It is like when you are driving and you forget how you got to where you are. I find that both scary and amusing.
It is also my emotional therapy.  Whether I feel angry or sad, the work can express what I feel and reflect exactly my inner driving forces.  Artists are so lucky in that respect.  We get to let our work guide us along the rocky paths of life.

Hair

I am in a state of quandary about hair.  This is a bowl I made completely sewn and fabricated out of the hair of a alpaca.  I sewed and stabilized the hair and then embellished the bowl with golden threads.


  Hair is a dichotomy.  People adore and cherish it.  Many men without it feel not as attractive.   Women with long and lustrous locks of hair are valued in society,   Then if we were to find spare hair lying about on the corner of a room, we are disgusted and horrified.  I don't understand this.  How can one value hair and be so disgusted by it at the same time.  If we find a single hair in our food- we assume it has defiled the entire plate and insist it be thrown away.   I wanted to make a piece of art that would question this dichotomy of love and hate .  I hope I accomplished what I set out to do.

Geisha

I am amazed by the art and beauty of the geisha and maiko of Japan. From the make-up to the way they dress has always fascinated me. I got to see these women and they are so beautiful in their unique ways.
I wonder about the identity and the sense of self. They virtually hide behind the make-up. The nape of the back of the neck is considered very sensual and the only flesh that is really exposed in their world.
So many women in so many cultures hide their real identity through their make-up and clothing. Why is that?
I work with the antique pieces of their clothes..reworking, re-fashioning, making art out of it all,trying to bring a sense of purpose and dignity to what they had in their past.
I hold the pieces in my hands and think to myself "where has this cloth been, what young girl was wearing this, did she dance to music at an emperors court, or did she suffer at the hands of someone wearing this cloth."
I always pay a sense of honor to the cloth and its original story.

Life of a Single Artist: My Work

Life of a Single Artist: My Work

My Work

I decided to put my dreams into a bowl. I dream in Tessellation. Repeating geometric patterns occupy my mind at night. These bowls were made with treating 100 percent silk caps that were hand dyed. They are so transclucent that they seem to let the light in and out of them. I love my own work- is that conceited? I hope not.

If this bowl could contain my dream it would be about returning to Japan- to the place which holds my heart and soul. So much of my work is reflective about the experiences of the Japanese geisha-

If you dream- do you dream in color too?

Graffiti

I was traveling alone on the Long Island Rail Road and slowly making my way into Penn Station. Slowly the motion of the train eases my mind and I am lulled by the passing of life and the accoutrements of middle class suburbia pass along at a steady clip.
You get to see the backyards of so much of life. Pools now covered with remnants of the ice and snow. Perhaps wrecks and shells of cars pass by, as does all the backyards of so many Lives. Each person has a story to tell. We all do. As the city gets a bit closer, the graffitti starts to blanket the passing rail cars and empty buildings. The inside of the bridges become the palette for the street artist. I am sometimes amazed at the expression of the street artist; even their sense of creativity can not be harnessed. I wonder if they were given a studio and a blank canvas would the bridges and empty factory bricks still serve to inspire them? Is it the destruction of the public property that entices them or just the inner desire to express themselves?

What exactly is an Artist ?

Perhaps your wondering what exactly is Fiber Art.  It is the taking of cloth and manipulating it-dying it-sewing it-tearing it and making it all something unique and beautiful.  I have always loved art and felt I was chosen to be an artist by a force that is higher than the self.  To do art is something one doesn't really have a choice about.  Have you ever questioned the obligations inherent in being an artist?