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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.

Each year the Festival of Quilts show held in Birmingham, UK features a “virtual studio” – a large wet studio where various types of complex cloth are created.  This year Claire Benn, Leslie Morgan, Linda Maynard, Claudia Helmer, and Elaine Griffiths worked using four main processes.  The only thing better would have been the addition of Jane Dunnewold.  Her presence was there, in spirit,  as co-author of some of the books being sold.

Demonstrations included breakdown printing, which is a way of using a silkscreen (or silkscreens)  and Procion MX dyes to create patterned cloth.  Paper lamination, which uses photographic imagery and/or newsprint with matte medium to create design on sheer polyester fabric.  Screen printing and tray & bucket dyeing.

The above images show a long piece of sheer polyester over several photocopied black/white images — a “paper lamination” in process.  We were told that the cheaper the paper used to copy onto, the better.  The screens have a design on it – this can be a temporary design or a permanent screen, whatever your preference.  Matte medium (she was using Liquitex) is then squeegeed through the screen.  After the entire cloth is thoroughly dried, the paper is washed out.  More information about this process is in the book, “Paper & Metal Leaf Lamination,” which you can get in the US through Jane Dunnewold or in the UK through Committed to Cloth.

Various improvisational screens for printing.

I love looking at art journals, especially when they are crammed with clippings, samples, notes, ideas, and the like. The above journal  filled to the brim with various discharging samples and notes.

The point of the Virtual Studio is to expose people to different methods of creating patterened cloth.  It’s part of the Festival of Quilts show, meaning once you pay admission to the show, you can hang out at the wet studio for as long as you want.  It’s fun watching the artists work, listening to the questions and to the answers.  And photos are allowed.  And of course there are also books and a DVD or two available to purchase.  I bought the latest book from Committed to Cloth, “Screen Printing: Layering Textiles with Colour, Texture & Imagery.” It’s pricey, but good.  If creating art cloth is up your alley, be sure to check out what Jane Dunnewold offers.