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?