An outstanding show

After months of hiatus on this blog, I can only tell you I've had a great summer, fall and even the start, middle and (hopefully) end of winter.

What's got me back, you ask?  Well, it's a wonderful show at The Tilted Brick Gallery here in Creston, BC, that showcases some amazing colour and texture from local fabric artist Anne Fetterly.

Anne uses natural dyes to create her luscious fabrics, and they range from rich dark indigo to soft yellows, and everything in between.

From dying to hand-stitching, each piece is meticulously crafted, and many of them speak to the beauty that is the Kootenays.

These hanging panels puddle into a bed of the onion skins which were their colour source.

With one exception, the leaves on these organza panels are all local.  The patterning of them is so soft and engaging that one could get lost in the viewing.

Those of you who know me are aware that I am crazy about rust and steampunk, and these two canvasses cover both items masterfully.  Each of them is 42" x 45", and the impact is tremendous.

 I love the subtle shimmer on this panel - it changes from each minute shift in direction of the viewer.

Here is Anne's 'sketchbook' wall - it details the process for some of the pieces created and is rife with colour and texture on its own.

Anne's love of natural colour translates into stunningly crafted clothing as well as fabric, both shown to great effect here.  I really should have taken a closeup shot of the extraordinary stitching on the jacket.

This intricate pattern has me enthralled.

I fell in love with both the colour and the subtle patterns on these panels.  Anne's explanation of the process (four dye batches, I believe) had my mouth hanging open and my eyeballs popping out of my head.

If you are anywhere near our small town, I can't recommend this show enough; you will be astounded.  It runs through to March 7, 2020.

It's been two weeks...

...and it's going to be longer.  Given the challenge of getting a new computer up to speed, a more-than-hectic schedule, and the call of the great outdoors as we move into full-on summer, it's time to take a hiatus on the blog (length undetermined as yet).

In the meantime, I'll leave you with some photos of some works seen recently at the Artrageous Show at Centre 64 in Kimberley and a nearby hotel gallery.

The Artrageous show was the perfect place to display The Lunacy Gown for a second time.

While I'm not sure when I'll be back, you know I'll continue to check in on your work, so keep 'em coming!  Happy summer to you all!

Frustrated?

Not me - HA! I've been without a computer for the better part of a week, as I transition to a new laptop.  While I have the new one home now, it's not working properly (or is that me?) and goes back into the shop tomorrow. 

In the meantime, I got playing in one of my journals; here's a spread that was finished recently (the start is here).

As I was browsing I became mesmerized by the patterns created as I brayered off paint from gel printing - it's how many of my backgrounds get started.  They range from very ripply (some of the pages have been thoroughly crumpled to add textural interest)...

 to striated,

to those that have picked up texture from the overleaf (this one shows a pattern of a swizzle stick on the reverse).

 The colour range is fascinating,

 and range from the very thick (that must have been SOME gel print!),

 to the lightly patterned.  (I suspect there is a stencil overprint on this one).

I was glad to note that there is a wide range of colours for my background - that means that
I'm not going to bore myself.

I can see that I will need to do some investigation regarding photo editing programs, as the Windows10 photo editor is nowhere near the one I used previously.  And I most certainly will find something - just as soon as I get my computer back and my brain unfried.

In the meantime, I hope you've all had a creative week that didn't include computer issues (unless you really love them, of course).  See you next week, and do catch me up on your doings in the studio! 

That was a brief hiatus...

...from fabric, and suddenly I'm back at it again.  This time, I've gel-printed a lace doily onto a canvas.

I've brayered the living daylights out of a spread in my journal in the process of painting some
cheesecloth, dryer sheets and baby wipes in the same colours.  As I've chopped, slashed and cut, there are a few odds and ends that will get added to the journal pages.  Nothing goes to waste here.

I've created some rosettes out of the various fabrics, and shredded some of the green dryer sheets to act as part of the foliage.

The Nosegay for Alice is already starting to look presentable, even without the addition of embroidery to be added.  I'm loving the organic look of the cheesecloth overlaying that gel print.

Here's a closeup of the stitched leaves (dryer sheets overlaying baby wipes) and rosettes of all sorts.

This project is going to be part of a memorial piece created by Alice Saltiel's artist friends.  She was an amazing mentor to so many of us, and it will be a wonderful group memorial to be seen at her Celebration of Life next month.  I've chosen colours that were an essential part of her palette and the nosegay is a nod to the hundreds of floral paintings she created throughout her life (over 900 in one series alone!). 

Will I ever get back to painting?  Maybe....             How about you?  What are you up to?  Do let me know in the comments below, and feel free to post a link!

Trashion is a fabulous thing...

...and I thought you might like to see more of the pieces from the Trashion Show last week.  Since some of them are on display at the Chamber of Commerce, we trekked down in the rain this morning to take some photos.  Aren't they awesome?!!!

This steampunk outfit by Tracy Floer is outstanding...I couldn't stop looking at all the ways she'd reused 'trash'!

 The dress woven from plastic bags is truly glamorous,

 and the colours in the sash are just so rich.

 I love that it came complete with dancing slippers!

Maureen Cameron's Filter Fantasy features a host of coffee filters stained naturally.

 I'm loving the epaulettes!

 And isn't the floral hat delicious?!

 It's another dazzling outfit, most certainly.

Since we were away visiting family for Mother's Day, my studio was pretty quiet.  That's something I hope to remedy this next week.  In the meantime, I hope you had a fabulous Mother's Day yourself, and that your creative juices are flowing!