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This is something I’m working on.  It’s not too large, like 17 ” or so on the longest side.   It’s very circular in how it was made – photos I took at various places and then printed on photographic paper which was then photocopied; the photocopies were collaged onto thin fabric with other papers and painted; that piece was then photographed and went back into the computer to create the above which was then printed on cotton sateen.  I also have the same image printed on a very thin Lutrador.  I forget what the stuff is called, it’s being marketed under a particular name that’s not Lutrador.  I bought it at the Festival of Quilts show last year when I was in the UK.  I also have thin metal coated with inkaid and waiting to dry.  I’m planning to print it on metal.  I’ve no idea what I may do with it all, if anything.  It may end up in one of my journals as some experiments.

I’m in a group called Fiber Revolution.  We exhibit at various venues.  One member arranged for and curated a show that went to Botswana last year.  This year it’s happening again.  Last year I missed the show because I didn’t get anything new finished in time for the deadline.  This year, I want to be in the show so I pushed myself to get my butt in gear and make something.  You can see the waterlily picture that I took.  That photo became the basis for the quilt.  After altering it in Photoshop, I then printed a small section onto fabric to color with a variety of pencils, pastels, and crayons.  I also experimented with various stitching.  Once I understood what direction I would be taking, I photographed, altered in Photoshop, and printed that image onto cotton sateen, combining it with some hand painted fabric.

I ended up doing far more quilting on the piece than I originally intended.  I got totally carried away with it, but I found myself in the zen-state of calm enjoyment (luckily the machine was calm, too).

The piece is now completely finished, photographed, and ready to go off to Botswana by the due date.  It’s also off to the copyright office for registration.  It’s called Refracted Lily.  It’s kind of crappy that I find myself registering everything I’m particularly fond of However, it  bugged me so much when past work ended up on mouse pads and coffee cups because someone swiped an image.  While I was able to get the items stopped from further sale, there wasn’t anything else I could do about it.  Sadly, it wasn’t the only incident. I’ve learned my lesson.  I am now far better prepared should something like that happen again.  After I get confirmation of the registration, I’ll post an image of the finished work.

Anyway, this in part is what I’ve been up to in my “spare” time.  Although, I did get out for a few hours today to take a couple butterfly pictures.  More on that soon.

"It's Time" - © Gloria Hansen 2010 - 57" x 40"

Several people have asked me what the piece looks like that was accepted into Visions: No Boundaries. This is it.  The piece works in my obsession with time and has other layers of personal meaning.  The title has additional meaning because I have tried to get into Visions for years and years and have been rejected every time.  It still amazes me that I finally made something that caught the eye of this show’s  selection of jurors.   The piece is a digital collage of a variety of images I’ve taken over a couple years that include various ruins, arches, clocks, and strange little things like a pile of books and a swan.  It has an overlay of digital geometric pattern.  The piece was printed on silk using pigment inkjet ink and further colored with Caran d’Ache Neocolor II painting crayons and textile paint.

"Circles Collide" - © Gloria Hansen 2010

I am very honored that my piece, Circles Collide, will be a part of the ITAB exhibition.  The piece is based on a digital painting and the image was printed on silk fabric using archival pigment ink.  It was further enhanced with fabric pastel.

From the press release:

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 22, 2010 – The first International TECHstyle Art Biennial (ITAB) exhibition, a new signature event for the Museum of Quilts & Textiles, opens August 17 and is on view through October 31, 2010. The opening reception, free with admission, is Sunday, August 22, 2:00-4:00pm.

ITAB is a juried exhibition of work by artists mining the expressive potential of combining fiber media with new information and communication technologies in their artistic processes, in the content of their work and as a mean of artistic expression. Leveraging its location in Silicon Valley, ITAB serves as the premiere platform for introducing the emerging work of artists exploring the intersection of fiber art and technology to the global community that assembles—virtually and in the real-world — on the occasion of the San Jose’s biennial ZER01 exhibition, the 2010 01 SJ Biennial, which runs from September 16-19, 2010.

The ITAB 2010 exhibition includes 41 works by 28 artists from six countries— including Canada, China, Germany, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These artists responded to this signature event in a variety of ways using technology in their content and subject matter or as the means for creating the work. The resulting exhibition explores the variety of ways that artists use technology such as jacquard weaving, digital printing and video to express their ideas.

For more information, visit the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles website.

The above photos is from of one of pieces that I painted on Saturday that ended up getting rained on.  The other two images underneath is the second of the two pieces I did.  Both were drenched.  Rich saw them, ran out in the rain with me.  I rolled it in the plastic, and he and I got it into the garage where the fabric remained rolled up for two days (rain on Sun and Mon, and no enough room to roll them flat).  Today the weather was lovely.  Once I could take a break from working, I unrolled them on the grass.  Both were still wet and paint was running all over them.  I sloshed the paint around and added more where it was needed.  I did it about 2 in the afternoon, and it didn’t dry until after 7 p.m.  The piece is about 4.5 yards by 60 inches, and it took nearly an hour to iron it!

Here are the photos of the other piece.  This one is 3 yards by 60 inches.  I’m very grateful that both pieces came out fine and that I’ll be able to use them for quilt backs.

This is the last of the discharging I did Tuesday night.

The above are black cotton sateen.

These three photos are from the same piece.  It’s about a yard in size.  While I’m not usually a brown person, I like this and I like the other brown pieces that I did.  They have a rich soil quality I like.

I have a couple of these orange pieces, and they are my least favorite, although it could make a good accent color.  It’s from a Walmart black cotton.

I’m taking a break from discharging as on Tuesday night my gloves wore through the finger tips.  The top back pad area of my fingers are still quite tender.  Yes, I ordered much thicker gloves and a respirator (the one I was using wasn’t cutting it).

Before the finale of Lost, I discharged a few more pieces of fabric.  The first three are blacks that I bought from Joann’s – an Egyptian cotton.

I like how these came out.  They feel tight, almost like a batik.

These were some more blacks from my workroom.  No idea what make.  I do like the the browns.

The above is another black from Joann’s.  It was the most expensive black I found there – $7.95 a yard – and it seems to soak in the bleach almost immediately and no black remained.  I’m surprised at how bright it came out.  I have a couple others from this black.  It also reads orangy, but paler with subtle patterning.

After a long spell of what felt like way too much of the stressful flavor of work and not nearly enough me time, I finally felt like I could take some time off to focus on some of my own art.  While I desperately want to make a new wall hanging, I decided to do some fabric painting to get the juices flowing.  I like painting large pieces in a primarily black pattern to use on the backs of quilts.  I finally felt some happy brewing as painting became my goal for the afternoon. Rich came outside and took this picture.  He pointed out that my hands and arms are covered, but I got the “why the heck are you painting barefoot” speech along with the “are you painting in your pajama bottoms?”  That would be I like being barefoot and yes, pj bottoms.

It didn’t take long for him to come outside telling me it might rain.  Happy me is no longer a happy me because I thought it was suppose to be a clear afternoon (and it was — mostly).  So the above is a version of the “oh damn” face as I quickly painted the piece and a second, hoping for the best.  It started to lightly drizzle, but I thought it would stop.  Being that the deck is wooden, and paint was dripping all over the plastic, I figured there was a good chance I’d mess up the deck (ask me how I know fabric paint and a wooden deck don’t get along) if I tried to drag it into the garage.  I decided to leave the fabric alone.  It did drizzle, nothing too hard, but I suspect I now have a four yard x 60″ piece of crap looking fabric — well, two pieces of crap fabric. We’ll see.  It’s still outside as I figure it can’t get much worse (well, it could blow off the plastic and into mud).

I decided to gather up some black fabrics and discharge them.  First I wrapped the fabrics into various bundles.  Then I set up two buckets in a tub.  One had bleach in it, the other anti-chlor to stop the bleaching action.

The process was a fast one.  It didn’t even take a minute to get a reaction from the bleach.  I then dunked the fabric into anti-chlor while taking off the various elastics and what not.  Then everything went into a hot wash with more anti-chlor.  The different blacks produced different results.  I don’t know what fabric is what or where two came  from, but the fabric that came out with more of a muslin look was an inexpensive cotton from a nearby Walmart.  Since the fabric department is being phased in our nearby store, I’ve been periodically checking in to see when things might go on sale.  I’m envisioning buying up things like needles, pins, and other basic supplies.

These are the results of the black from Walmart.  Much more black came out, although it did wash nicely.

I used plastic lids to get this effect.

I like this piece and am glad it’s about a yard in size.

Here’s another black.  It discharged to a pale gray.  I also like this piece, and it’s about a yard.  To my eye it looks more like a batik than a discharged black.

This is a small piece, but I love the look of it.

Here’s the flip side.

This is also about a yard in size.  I’m planning a trip to the Monument Valley area of Utah and the surrounding canyons in early June.  I like how the color scheme of these pieces are putting me in mind of that area.

I tried to replicate the small piece that I like so much, but wasn’t able to do it.  This is a portion of one end (the piece is narrow but long).

And this is a piece from the other end.

While I may have messed up the fabric that’s still in the backyard, I’m pleased with the discharged fabrics.  I’m going to get more fabrics folded and ready do some additional discharging — maybe tomorrow.  I *may* try some other solid colors and commercial prints to see what happens to them.  This time I’m going to remember to put a mask on.  I can still feel the bleach in my lungs despite having a ventilation fan on.

My hope is that creating some new fabric will get myself in gear to make some new work.  We’ll see!

This gorgeous piece of artwork was made by Beryl Taylor.  Originally from England, Beryl has been living in NJ for many years.  A few years ago, we learned we are practically neighbors.  I was visiting with her yesterday to give her some Elements lessons when she surprised me a present.  When I unwrapped it,  I was practically in tears.  This piece is just gorgeous, and it’s so her!  It measures 9×11″ and is mounted on a 12×14″ matte.  It’s signed and ready for framing.

She knows I have a thing for clocks and time, and this piece is filled with little clocks.  It’s hand and machine stitched,  includes her fabric paper,  fabrics, and hand stitched beads.

I love her edging technique.  Our schedules will be meshing again in May.  We plan on getting together and doing some collaborative work.  I’m looking forward to it, especially since I have years and years of embroidery work that I’ve done long ago when I was active in the Embroiderer’s Guild of America.  At some point later, I’ll photograph a few pieces to add here.

Beryl has a book loaded with images of her fantastic work along with instructions on many of her unique processes, including that gorgeous edging that is such a signature of her work.  You can click on the book above for more information.  You can also click here for information on her DVD in which she teaches how to make her unique fabric paper, among other things.  Last but not least, you can visit her website.

Earlier in the year, I entered Quilt Visions 2010: No Boundaries, an exhibition of art quilts that will be on display October 24th – March 13, 2011 at the Oceanside Museum of Art in California.

I have never been accepted into that show despite years of trying.  I briefly looked through some of my files to see if I could find the year I received my first rejection letter from them.  No luck, which is in all likelihood because I tossed it.  Having enough rejection letter to cover a wall can get a bit depressing.

This time around  I entered two works:  “Circles Collide,” which won an award at the IQA show in Houston, and “It’s Time,” a piece I finished right before the deadline and which I made specifically to enter into the show.  My thinking was if it wasn’t accepted, which I suspected it wouldn’t be, I’d enter it into other venues.

This past rainy Saturday afternoon, I received in the mail a “fat” envelope from Visions.   “It’s Time” was accepted.  I cried.  My red, blotchy face made my husband cry.  My business partner was on iChat/video with me and he started to tear up.  It’s absolutely silly to let a show have such weight, but it does.  There were only 40 works selected from 600 entered.  Clearly very low odds.  I am absolutely thrilled that this time around the jurors saw something in my work that made it appropriate for their selection.

After posting my acceptance on the QuiltArt list, I received emails from others.  Some were also accepted, and thrilled.  Others shared they had tears, but because they didn’t make it.  Even with the full knowledge that the jurying process is extremely subjective, I feel their pain.

Another artist from a group I’m in shared a quote from a Lancaster County, PA newspaper.  In an article interviewing Olympic skater Johnny Weir (who lives there),  he was asked, “What does winning an Olympic medal mean to you?”

He replied, “Figure skating medals aren’t won by a stopwatch or number of goals scored. We’re judged by strangers. I can’t control winning a medal. What I can control is competing to the best of my ability and leaving a piece of my soul on the ice. That’s what’s important to me – leaving my soul and opening my heart for my fans. An Olympic medal would be icing on top of my cake, but in no way does a medal define me. I define myself.”

I offer this for other artists who didn’t make the Visions show.  And I’ll keep it here because later in the year I’m going to enter Quilt National, another show my work has never been accepted into.

Digital Inspiration and More

As noted in the post below, Fiberart For A Cause is the brainchild of quiltmaker/artist Virginia Spiegel.  Its purpose is raising money for the American Cancer Society. In addition to contributing to Peggy’s tote, there’s another tote up for auction: “Digital Inspiration and More.”

My tote contains lots of goodies that will help you take digital and traditional media and combine them into some new art work.  The tote includes Digital Essentials, The Quilt Maker’s Must Have Guide to Photos, Files & More; the complete set of Free Stuff on the Internet books; and over five yards of fabric that I’ve painted.  All books will be autographed (unless requested otherwise after the auction).  As a bonus, I’m also including three inspiring books: Design Explorations for the Creative Quilter by Katie Pasquini Masopust; Radiant New York Beauties by Valori Wells, and Magical Four-Patch and Nine-Patch Quilts by Yvonne Porcella.

The auction starts today and will run each Tuesday for the next several weeks.  My tote will be auctioned I believe later this month.  There are many totes filled with fun stuff.  You can see them all here.

I hope you join in the auction.  It’s for a great cause and you may have the final winning bid!

Peggy Schroder’s Have A Heart tote which I and others donated to.

Fiberart For A Cause is the brainchild of quiltmaker/artist Virginia Spiegel.  Its purpose is raising money for the American Cancer Society.  For several years she has been active in putting together various fundraising auctions and has thus far raised and donated over  $190,00!  (In the past I played a very small role by donating a small quilt which raised several hundred dollars.)  Now Virginia has created Tote Tuesday as another way to raise funds.

Tote Tuesday features themed totes filled with unique, beautiful, and
inspiring items from the worlds of art quilting, fiber arts, knitting,
 beading, mixed media and surface design.

  The totes are including original artwork, autographed books, hand-dyed
fabrics, gorgeous yarns, beads, handmade journals, fun and useful
materials/tools for mixed-media and surface design, online classes, DVDs,
 and much, much more.

A list of the more than 20 themed totes now in progress is here.  The bidding opens on February 2nd and continues through March. Check out the list, mark your calendar, and consider bidding on a tote filled with goodies.

100% of the proceeds will be donated directly to the American Cancer Society
.  For more information about the fundraiser, click here.

While doing the “big clean” — my delusion of some order in my life — I found myself looking at some encaustic pieces I did a couple years ago.  These pieces incorporate a mixture of waxes (beeswax, parafix, and soy wax, which tends to give me a headache) with acrylic paints and various other bits like netting and string.  I had taken a workshop and, a result of it, loaded up on various supplies so that I could experiment.  Working with encaustics is a great way to blend various media into lots of layers and textures — something I’m very drawn to and yet feel I don’t have enough of in my work.

Here’s a close-up showing more of the texture.

And a bit closer still.

I’ve also been in the sketchbook mood lately.  While flipping through the pages of what I’ve done these past couple months, I stopped at this page when seeing the relationship between the strong vertical lines in this watercolor/gouache sketch with the earlier painting.   If it were allowed, I’d post an image of the quilt I’m frantically working to finish for entry into the upcoming Visions show.  It, too, is right up this alley — verticals, layers, mood.

Here’s a different piece.

And another.

My journals have various notes — try this, try that; add more texture; work in ghost imagery, incorporate obvious line.  It’s good going through older  journals, comparing the ideas then with what I am doing now.  It seems there is something to writing these things down.  It’s possible the ideas do seep in and eventually flow into new work.

If you’re interested in encaustic work. here are two books that will get you started:
Encaustic Workshop: Artistic Techniques for Working with Wax, by Patricia B. Seggebrush; and
The Art of Encaustic Painting: Contemporary Expression in the Ancient Medium of Pigmented Wax, by Joanne Mattera.

London Dreaming

Cay Denise wrote me regarding a poem she wrote inspired by my “London Dreaming” piece, a digital collage and small textile wallhanging I created a few years back.  She gave me permission to post it here.  Please keep in mind that it’s her work, and please don’t use her work without her permission.  If you need to contact her, please do so here.

EMBOLDENED

Momentum
sweeps us
towards the fractals of our future…
…clouded
by an inability
to time travel the distance.

Propelled forward…
…we write our history by
the last footstep
on the path taken
of the paths not taken
where our actions and inactions
our words and
our works
make meaning of us.

A step is a mighty bridge,
from the land of what we were
to that of what we will become.
With each one
a version of us,
blooming with memory,
time and place,
creates a sculpted depiction
of that moment…forever.

Buried in future’s tombs
statues of our choices.
Some gilded… others,
ghosts of guilt,
unlived pleasures
unforgiven pains…
…haunting the histories we live with
and the origin of our next journey.

So, with every beginning
consider each step anew.
For the bridge
can take you anywhere
and be the becoming
you wish to step in to.

By CDMacKenzie 3/26/2006 (in collaboration and based on ‘London Dreaming’ digital collage by Gloria Hansen)

"Petite Woman 2" by Susan Schrott

Susan Schrott made me this gorgeous quilt as a birthday gift!  It came as a total surprise, and I am overwhelmed by her generosity.  Wow!  The photo doesn’t do it justice.

Susan tells me that she made it using a photo transfer of a drawing she did, putting it onto fabric she painted and bordered with Swarovski crystals.  She also made the yellow fabric about a year ago by leaving painted cotton fabric to dry in the sun after she scattered it with leaves.  It’s free motion machine quilted with cotton and metallic threads.   Susan has more information on how she made the quilt on her blog.  You can read more about it here.  :)

"the little book" by Laura Cater-Woods

Laura Cater-Woods makes these fantastic “little books” that she sells on her website here, and she surprised me with one!  It’s a soothing book that has an original cover and includes quotes, photos, and other stuff to inspire you.  There are index tabs within the book so you can rearrange the items or add to them.  Peaking out from under the book is the face of the hand-painted card Laura included with the book.

The very first quote I read was: “Self indulgence in the service of art: highly recommended.  Feed your Muse!”  Sounds like a plan to me!

I thank you both for your generosity.

Transformations 2009: Reflections - exhibit catalog cover

I am one of the 34 artists with work juried into the Transformations 2009: Reflections show.  It premiered at the Festival of Quilts show in Birmingham, UK.  I am very honored to have my quilt, Witley Decay 1, on the cover of the  exhibit catalog.

The exhibit will next travel to:

• Guilford Art Center in Guilford, Connecticut: November 13 – January 3, 2010;
• Alaska Fiber Festival: March 5-14, 2010;
• Grants Pass Museum, Grants Pass, Oregon: June-July 2010;
• Visions Gallery, San Diego, California: August 6 – October 10, 2010

You can see the full quilt above.

"On the Edge"

While I want to post more pictures from the Festival of Quilts show, I thought I’d instead post my journal quilt from the Journal Quilt Project II: Elements—Earth, Water, Air, and Fire exhibit, which just arrived home.  The quilt is 17×22 inches and was seen in the Fall 2008 International Quilt Festival show in Houston, the 2009 show in Chicago, Illinois, and the 2009 show in Long Beach, California.  The 2008 show was different than the journal quilt project shows  in the past. It was one 17×22 inch piece to represent a theme, rather than a series of 8.5×11 inch pieces without a theme.  Additionally, the quilts were juried.

My piece is called “On the Edge.”  The inspiration for this quilt came from a photograph I took at St. James Park in London, England.

You can see my quilts from past exhibits here.  Give it a moment to load.  It’s a Flash-based gallery which at the time seemed a good idea, but which now tends to bug me as it takes a while to load (so much for that idea!).

close-up