Plastic Bag Fusion Demonstration

 Concord Art Association took me on last week to give a demo class regarding my technique  fusing plastic bags.   It was a fabulous success with eager, inquisitive participants. I look forward to being asked back.

A Closer Look

My Country Tis Of Thee,  20"x13", presently on exhibit in the State House offices of Senator Eldridge

I've been told that my style of painting draws the viewer in to take a closer look.  

This is good.  I strive to share an idea ---a story, of sorts.  I believe art should make people feel something, one way or another ... grab your attention ... yank at your heart and mind  ... see possibilities ... provoke wonder ... amuse or calm.  It is my voice communicating through my hands.

 ---tell-tale signs of our checkered past.

 acrylic paint, vintage photos, board game images, maps, flag scrap ... all fuse nicely under the luster of buffed wax.

A Chair for Charity

 Mod again.

From this to that --- what a process!  

I loved the Scandi original but was requested to change it for the cause.  

After sanding and painting the frame, leather scraps were cut into 1" strips to weave, wrap, staple and tack.  Plenty of re-thinking and re-dos.   Comfortable and difficult to say good-bye to,  I will have to find another to smother with modern love.  

Mod Pod goes up for auction April 29, 6-8pm, to benefit Household Goods Recycling of Massachusetts, at Powers Gallery, Acton.

The Process In Progress

  Finally got back to the Pillar Project.   A porch pillar from the old farmhouse next door is getting repurposed; it stood in my basement collecting sawdust for awhile.  Eventually it was chopped into thirds, rough sanded and transferred upstairs.  Ideas percolated and visions were sketched; yet other projects moved forward.  From the dismantled Victorian house  hidden in the woods, another pillar was picked and it too, awaits its own metamorphosis.

 In Her Shoes, has an circus-like weather vane apparatus stemming from its top.
History, souls, ghosts, stories ---flying at me from all directions --- I love this assemblage biz.  Designing, searching, gathering, rearranging, popping storylines --- finding objects that satisfy;  it's a gradual transformation process.

 Day after day I uncover this camoflaged cut, turn it, muse over the juxtaposition of color, texture and text.  Too busy--- not enough--- is it cohesive?

I remind myself to STEP BACK and STEP OUT.
It is almost there.  We both are in progress.

Snowgnomes: Stuffed with Personality

                          Students came out of the February cold

     and into the warmth of my cozy studio workshop for a session of Snowgnome-building.  Repurposing is key to creating these mischievous winter folk.  Experienced sweaters, hardware, containers, buttons, game-pieces & more were given new use as the Snowgnomes came to life.  Glue-guns, hand tools, needles and floss were the surgical implements of choice.  Shared laughter and delight rippled through-out the creative process.  Ideas were forming of what else one might use to design more creatures at home.  No kit, just creative wit.  Let the trickle-down effect begin.      

 

                                   

                          

Walldolls To Go On Goodnow Library Walls---month of April

Monday's on-going class is constructing Walldolls ---imagined robots, nightmares or creatures.  Students are challenged to look at discarded common objects in a new light. They sort, design, cut, drill, wire and glue.   Decisions are made based on color, shape, size, texture, balance and symbolism.  Learning to use tools is an empowering part of the process.  Creativity and problem-solving are evident in this deconstruct / reconstruct atmosphere.
 We are having so much FUN!
 The  month-long exhibit will be in the Young Adult Room at the Goodnow Library.  No Kit, Just creative Wit,  will feature Walldolls and fused plastic collages, all created by students here in my studio.

Sunday's One-Day Workshop had students fusing plastic bags to make bold, colorful fabric.  Essentially, the students collaged and I applied my free-motion stitching on their surface designs .  A completed shoulder pouch, cell phone case and fabulous wall-hanging were delivered a couple days later.

Cold Hands, Warm Art

Been watching the formation of this "glove" all week and knew I had to move quickly, as the sun was moving in on it, too.  

February Exhibition

detail of Gone Fission,  24"x 36"

Concord Art Association:  Members Juried II Exhibition
February 15 - March 13, 2011

Opening reception  Thursday Feb. 17, 6-8pm

Juror: Karen Haas, Curator of the Lane Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Glass Fusings Framed

Wednesday's art class:

cut, design, attach, fuse,

paint, surface design,

glue, smile !

 We considered: color with contrast & texture ...
 composition with
balance & space .

We discussed:  straight even lines and edges are not always interesting.  Tilted, uneven, wavy edges can make something be very interesting.

Tableau Vivant

Keep your guard up


  60-second scenes, created only to be captured with my camera, I jump into my boots and move !   My impish cast of characters rotate through the seasonal tableaus.  With Mother Nature as my muse, I am the set director employing discarded objects to mime my message.

Snowcones ahead.

Watch your step.

Fused Bunting ... A Happy Band of Flags

Everything outside is grey and white,
so I've added some color at the windows.
This project started with leftover pieces of fusing scraps.

---can't keep from smiling.

After I made the flags, I had to figure out how they were going to be strung together----and I knew it had to be in keeping with my repurposing riff.  This embroidered trim, which takes me back to the 70's era, was found in my sewing closet. I picked it up years ago at a "fabric hoarder's" yard sale ;-}
I'll have to reuse other fabric down the way.

I think I might try fusing a strand of bunting with someone's name spelled out, one letter per flag.
Wouldn't that be fab?!  Custom bunting, anyone?

Working On This ... and That

a triptych to be seamed

title:  She Thought They Couldn't See Her

I am sooo detail oriented I can drive myself crazy with all the little futzing .
(approx. 24"x 30") 

        

My Favorite Things 2010

Captured moments with family & friends.

Being courageous ... willing to stand out in a crowd.

Handmade with love.

Looking at things from unexpected perspectives & angles.

Studying things closely, appreciating tiny aspects that  easily go unnoticed.

Spontaneous creations with whatever you have, no matter where you are.

Following inviting paths and trails .

Yard Art  --- old buggy-seat-spring from farm days of yore.

Mingling of Nature and Nurture --- "Creeping Jenny" & sedum doing their thing.

Found-objects bearing rust and a patina .

 Driftwood sculptures---tales of tail-less inspiration.
  

 Stones ... stacked in the garden, piled on the porch.  High-tide at the beach even brings a stacking game challenge for those who can build the tallest tower.
Stones collected at the shore are autographed by everyone who visits our cottage, a way to mark your table place and to be pulled out again upon your return ... a way of saying,
 "I was here!"

.

 Bold circles within circles ... in my art, on and under my feet ... somehow satisfying,
Kandinsky got it right.