Food For Thought / Thought For Food

(photosbypaige)

Always a treat on the inside, my Fowl-Playhouses take me back to my childhood.  I put  a lot of time, thought  and creative energy into gathering stuff (found object assemblage!) and designing my Saturday set-ups.

   I remember coveting Sucrets tins,  threadless spools, an empty pink jeweled cosmetic container, forgotten thimbles, discarded bottle-caps and tiny hand-sewn pillows stuffed with cottonballs.  Attaching fabric and photos to the walls of boxes ... turning them into Marlo Thomas's " That Girl" apartment;  I was making dioramas before I knew the word.
Creating simple Tammy & Barbie doll clothing using left-over fabric scraps, seam tape,  lacy handkerchiefs, cutting rectangles and patiently sewing on snaps---all before stick-on Velcro made it easier for my own daughter, that was all play for me.   After I finished the long engrossing set-up,  I'm not sure how much time I actually devoted to the imaginative moving-characters-around part,  but I sure loved the selection and placement process which still rings true today.
  It makes me wonder about my own kids ... what are they doing today that will stick with them (or haunt them) years down the road?

Fused Polyethylene ? What's That About?

What is that?  Did you paint it?  How did you get all those colors?
These are some of the questions posed to me when people see my art  ...  my surface design ... my fused paintings ... my belts and bags.

Simply stated, the fabric I create is made from colorful discarded plastic bags;  the process is fusion.  I cut, layer, piece and fuse (using heat) to make my cloth.   Free-motion stitching seems to bring it all together .  The crazed stitching is my "scraffito"--- a scratching & graffiti technique which I love to use in my paintings.  These defining lines bring the finishing pop to my design.  The process is now demystified !

Sewing is a skill I picked up as a child and I continue to use it,  even when I wire objects together in my sculptural assemblages.  After years of exploring and building skills in paint, collage, sewing, weaving, glass fusion,  glass blowing, sculpting with clay and found objects,  this type of surface design just seems to fit right in.

Teaching others, challenging people to be creative and see things differently, brings me great pleasure.  Passing on skills is empowering ... I love seeing an 11-year-old girl gain confidence with a hot-glue gun or a hand-drill.  Encouraging a child to "go ahead and cut that apart", to use things in new, unexpected ways is drawing on the right side of the brain. Creating art  truly makes my heart sing and I strive to pass it on.