My new art endeavor

After thinking about it for years, I decided to apply for, and have been accepted to membership to Pyro Gallery, a local co-op with about 20 members.  I think I'm ready for a different kind of opportunity to display my work, after years of relying mainly on juried shows where you have one piece up for a short period of time.  For one thing, I have dozens of pieces that have aged out of all the juried shows, although they have been seen only rarely and I'm still very proud of them.

The gallery has hired a marketing consultant who is spending time with each artist to look at our work and make suggestions.  Our immediate goal is to fill the gallery for a pre-holiday show of more affordable art, aka smaller things.  Since I've been mostly working on a huge scale for the last several years, I went through boxes and boxes of old work to haul out some small things to show him.  And I changed out the quilt on my big display wall to hang one of my old postage stamp pieces.

Originally I intended this quilt to drip down into a pile of "stamps" on the floor, but since my big wall at home descends with the basement stairs, I was able to let it hang to full length.

Postage 4: Spaghetti Sauce, 2008 (installed on floor)

Postage 4: Spaghetti Sauce, 2008 (installed on tall wall)

The consultant thought the most original and interesting things were the postage stamp quilts (I had some smaller ones as well as the big one on the wall).  His reason was that they were different from the standard quilt format and therefore would be more likely to catch the eye of a designer or buyer.

That wasn't surprising.  What was: second on his list were a batch of "quilts" I had made many years ago with tea bags and rust-stained fabrics.

I hadn't even brought them out to show him at first, but as he was leaving I said "take a look at these and be honest -- if you think they're too insubstantial or too schlocky, please tell me."  But he liked them a lot.

Again, he thought these were different, and that the neutral colors would be appealing to a lot of people.  Apparently in California, where he's from, tea bars are all the rage these days, like coffee shops were 20 years ago, and tea aficionados would be thrilled to have tea bag art in their homes.  (Not sure that's true in Kentucky, but I'll put a couple of them out and see what happens.)

I'll keep you posted!

Sunday funnies 35

Fiber art and encaustic 3 -- Linda McLaughlin

Early this month I had the pleasure of visiting Linda McLaughlin in her studio and couldn't help but fall in love with her encaustic paintings.  Knowing that she's primarily known as a fiber artist, I had to ask how she made the leap into encaustic.

Q.  How long have you been doing fiber art / how long have you been doing encaustic?

I have been sewing for 60 years; about 25 years ago I got really serious and creating my own work became a driving force. 

I first became aware of encaustic about 6 years ago and 5 years ago I went to an encaustic camp to learn more. I was very enthralled at first but my interest has faded. I keep thinking I should do more, but then never do. 

Q.  Did you feel that encaustic was a natural progression from your fiber work, or a totally new thing?

I approached encaustic as a new thing and then tried to find ways of including fiber. I've even thought of doing a relatively large piece of fiber art and then encasing it in encaustic on a wood panel.  I even have the panel (20" x 24").  I just need to do it.

Fiber art and encaustic 2 -- Shelley Baird

Shelley Baird is an artist primarily known for her enigmatic silkscreened designs, enhanced by dense machine quilting.  She has had work in several Quilt Nationals and other prominent art/quilt venues, and took up encaustic a few years ago.

Sometimes she uses her screenprinted fabric as the first layer in an encaustic painting, as in this piece:

Sometimes she re-uses a favorite screen in both fiber and encaustic.

Shelley Brenner Baird, Blue Cypher, fiber/quilt (detail)

Shelley Brenner Baird, encaustic

Q.  How long have you been doing fiber art / how long have you been doing encaustic?

I have been using fiber as a substrate for my work for about 15 years.  I come from an eclectic art background that involved painting and drawing, then a degree in printmaking and another degree in photography followed by work in graphic design and illustration.  I have always made art and fell into fiber/textiles/art quilts/surface design by serendipity, seeking out teachers and mentors.  Once I discovered the many options in surface design I began to develop a body of work that includes a variety of media.

Living in central Ohio with QSDS and Nancy Crow's barn very close to home has enabled me to work with people from all over, including instructors and participants, so the textile community has been very accessible and varied.

Q.  Did you feel that encaustic was a natural progression from your fiber work, or a totally new thing?

When I start any kind of work I just begin with a blank sheet (panel, paper, fabric or an actual sheet sometimes) and approach it just as I have always worked in any medium.  I don't categorize myself as any particular process person so encaustic is just another way to use my ideas.  Fiber can be easily used in encaustic and the transformation from the wax and paint and incising can be another way to look at one's work.  Since I do make all of my fabric with screens and painting I don't see much of a distinction.

I enjoy a break from the tedium (oops, should I admit that?) of stitching.  The ability to work more quickly and move on to the next thing something I appreciate.  Working smaller also enables me to work through more ideas.  I suppose a lot of this is really not about encaustic per se.  So some the things I like about encaustic involve the ability to scrape and incise and melt and remove.

Sunday funnies 34

Fiber art and encaustic 1 -- Terry Jarrard-Dimond

Late this summer I got to see the Bluegrass Biennial, a juried all-mediums show of Kentucky artists, which had a handsome complement of fiber art and also some striking encaustic work.  One encaustic piece was made by an artist whom I know through fiber art circles, and I realized that I know at least a half dozen people who work in both those mediums.  That got me thinking about whether there's a special affinity between encaustic and fiber art, so I asked three of my friends to tell a bit about their experiences in the two  mediums.

I'll start with Terry Jarrard-Diamond, who is probably best known in fiber art circles for her large pieced quilts (she won best in show at Form, Not Function a few years ago and served as a juror for Quilts=Art=Quilts this year).  In recent years she has been doing a lot of work in painting and encaustic.

Terry Jarrard-Dimond, Smoked Ring, encaustic

 Q.  How long have you been doing fiber art / how long have you been doing encaustic?

I have been working with fiber for perhaps 16 years and began exploring encaustic about 5 years ago.  I had been aware of the medium for years but more in connection with sculpture than painting but when I began blogging I became aware of the work being done in this medium.

Q.  Did you feel that encaustic was a natural progression from your fiber work, or a totally new thing?

The step into encaustic painting was not a progression but rather a lateral move.  I had wanted to paint for several years and as I read about this medium the desire to try it developed.  Much like fabric and sewing, there is a significant technical learning curve with encaustic.  Easy to apply encaustic paint.  Not easy to make the work look professional and resolved.

Q.  Do you think encaustic has an affinity with fiber?  and if so, why/how?

The only connection I can see is perhaps the versatility of both of these mediums.  I do think encaustic painting has been and still is an "It" medium meaning that it has come into the awareness of the art-making community and has attracted many new users.

There is often a direct relationship to the final look of some of my painting to pieced fabric work done several years ago.  This is due to how I see space and organize shapes in relation to a space and each other. 

Terry Jarrard-Dimond, Quietly Red, fiber

More fiber/encaustic artists next week...