Identity in Fiber

The theme of "Identity" is explored by 26 SAQA New England artists, including several of the Sisters in Cloth.  Diane Wright, Ruth Ann Olson, Vivika Hansen DeNegre, Carol Luddington, Gail Kotowski and Debbie Bento all have answered the question "Who am I?" with thoughtful interpretations in cloth.  Join us for a wonderful exhibit and an opportunity to ask the question of yourself...

IDENTITY IN FIBER

An Exhibition of Fiber Art

January 22 – March 5, 2011

Opening Reception Jan. 22nd,  5-7 PM

at the Windsor Art Center (WAC) Gallery

40 Mechanic Street

Windsor, CT 06095

(860) 688-2528

www.windsorartcenter.org

Through art quilts and fiber sculpture, artists share the memorable experiences and traditions that have shaped their identities.  Meet some of the artists and enjoy light food, music and a special drawing at the Opening Reception on Saturday, January 22nd.

Preparations for a Show

Preparations for the Sisters in Cloth show, Double Take:  Photo and Fiber, which will be hung at Yale University's Haskins Laboratory in January, are underway.  This show represents a departure from our usual presentation style... and a giant leap in making our artwork more accessible to galleries.  We are mounting our quilts, all 32 of them, then using black "float frames" for hanging.  The photographer's pieces will also be framed, adding to the overall unity of the exhibition.  The result will be an absolutely stunning display of consistency and beauty in photo and fiber.

And the preparations include ordering and storing frames, mounting quilts on stretcher bars, and finding space for lots of quilts in an overflowing studio...

To see a few lovely examples of two of the completed pieces, check out Martha Wolfe's blog posts in late November and early December, and feast your eyes on a fiber tiger lilly.

TEXTile is UP!

The Sisters in Cloth latest exhibit is up at the Guilford Free Library, 67 Park St., Guilford CT. It will be on exhibit through December 30.

Titled TEXTile, it was a challenge posed to all members and former members: create a piece 20" wide and up to 48" high inspired by "word". "Word" was meant to be translated very broadly; however, a word or character had to be contained within the piece.

Ten current members and two past members have contributed work: Barb Adams, Debbie Bento, Vivika DeNegre, Yvette Howard, Evelyn Judson, Gail Kotowski, Carol Ludington, Ruth Anne Olson, Marie Shepherd, Martha Wolfe, Diane Wright and Linda Zimmerman.

The Opening Reception will be Thursday, December 9, 5-8pm at the library. Please join us. There promises to be a party of friends and acquaintances....AND we are being joined in our celebration by two photographers, Mark Janke and Mary Ann Flick, whose exhibition will be showcased in the outer galleries.

This just in.....

Apparently mindless work can be very satisfying...nay, even exhilarating!

This little snap of what looks like a colorful wreath is actually the results of our 'sister' Barb Adams sleepless Sunday night. Yep, tissue holders. Go figure.

It all started on Friday when Yvette Howard brought to the meeting a sample of some tissue holders she had made for her church's annual Fall Festival Fundraiser. I have lost count of the emails I've received since then on the rapturous moments generated by creating these little colorful containers. Barb Adams and Debbie Bento have tweaked the pattern (the subtleties of a right sided interior....it feels just a wee bit "twilight zone" to me).

One of the beneficiaries of Barb's sleepless, yet productive night, will be a friend's kindergarten class. As cold and flu season approaches her class of 26 potentially runny noses will be properly dabbed. And, what child wouldn't want to have their very own bit of colorful fabric in his/her pocket? A bit like having your blankey with you at all times...but camouflaged so that it's a useful, acceptable, 'big kid' tissue holder.

Sisters at Play

If you came to one of our meetings, you might wonder why we are called Sisters in Cloth...knitting, beading, sewing, paper collage and painting are all enjoyed by our group. We've had workshops on beading, batik, and felting. We've had guests who us glorious couture knitwear and incredible artistic basketmaking. We've even dabbled in origami...but today was different.

Eileen Clark, owner of Odonata Seaglass Jewelry and Gifts, gave a lively workshop on her signature style of encapsulating seaglass in sterling silver wire. We were pleased with the results and hope to make more of our own!

Sun Printing in spite of Earl's Threat

Our ruggedly optimistic small group soldiered on in the face of Hurricane Earl's predicted arrival and sun printed. "Sun printed?" you ask. Yep....well...nope. Cloud printed. Ever so faintly some printing occurred.

The first pic is actually at the end of the morning when it began to sprinkle....rain painting ;^)

The final pic is the one we are holding out hope for...a real sun print. Fingers crossed for Yvette's butterflies.

Our philosophy is "What the heck! The worse that can happen is that we have painted fabric and have a ton of fun doing it." And we did.

Sisters' Dye Results

Today was our regular meeting and the usual show and tell was the "main event" (as it often is).

Our former member Evelyn Judson, who has relocated to the Raleigh NC area, was in town and made the meeting. She returned our Green Challenge which had been shown jointly with her group's Green Challenge. She also brought her art quilt "Testimony" for us all to see. The photograph is included in an earlier posting.

Five us us who dyed last week brought our dyeing results...and over achiever Carol also brought two gradations that she'd completed over this past week. The variations of linen, cotton(s) and silk were obvious, as were some of the subtleties of mixing variations. We were so happy with the results we've decided to do it again: Sept 3, same time, same station...stay tuned.