Current exhibitions

My time keeps flying by and it has been too long 

since I have added to this blog.

These images are of work at or going to current exhibitions.

My FICTIONAL FANTASY, below, is now in the Dreams exhibit at the

Page-Walker Arts and History Center in Cary, NC

 And, this is the announcement card, front and back.

 New Image Artists are now showing at Capital One in 

Tysons Corner, VA.

My NOT ALWAYS GREEN is included as well as

CATCHING THE MOMENT below.

This is an older piece that I have always liked.

Although the magnolia blossoms die

within one day I have added the embroidered leaves 

to indicate their aging by the color changes, from a bright green

 to a deep coppery color.

Much of this piece has 3D parts along with some insects.

 The Creative Crafts Council of Virginia, Maryland and DC

has an upcoming event of all crafts. This exhibition will be 

at Strathmore Mansion in North Bethesda, MD

From June 1 to July 31, 2019

My GATHERING IN will be in this exhibit.  

It is a two panel work that I finished in 2018

These are EYES for another show that will take place 

this summer in DC.

The measurements are 5 inches by 23 inches.

Machine embroidery on cotton.

Now I must get out and walk around to enjoy all 

the blooming trees and bushes before I return to the studio.

The week of Art and snow

I spent a lovely day Tuesday meeting with several friends 

at SAAM (Smithsonian American Art Museum).

We wanted to see the Obama portraits and found 

more of a crowd in front of Michelle's portrait 

than in front of the President's but I'm sure that changed all day.

Both were even better in person/paint than 

the images you see printed or on TV.

 We were surprised when we discovered that the Do Ho Suh 

exhibit had just opened. 

It is a wonderful unusual and beautiful show. 

He uses sheer Poly fabric in many colors over steel wire 

to create transparent sculptures of common household items, 

he calls Specimens. 

The installation included a long walk-through area 

 hall-like with doors and windows and more specimens.

There were also a couple of huge drawings 

on hand-made paper using thread or paint.

The whole experience is well worth a trip to see and 

walk through that long installation.

 

 Wednesday, the snow fell all day and everything closed. 

I think we saw perhaps 6 inches, nothing compare to NY or Boston

but enough to close the federal government and the schools,

and telling us to stay home......

 So I did and added an over-sized lady bug to this small

(12 by 12) embroidered quilted panel.

Titled ALONE AT LAKE ARROWHEAD 

as the tree is from a drawing I made 100 years ago 

when we had a house at Lake Arrowhead that

we shared with 2 other couples and their families.

 In the meantime  I baked a couple of birthday cakes and 

rather than candles I added a lot of painted wafer paper butterflies.

They are all eatable but no one wanted to eat them. 

So talking about those butterflies.........

..... in my last blog I wondered if I would finish the butterfly piece 

I had been looking at and not working on 

for several months. I cut it in half the day we lost power.

It was finished and photographed this week by Greg Staley

 This pair of butterflies still has no title 

but I will come up with a name soon

 The total size of the Pair is 35 inches high by 47 inches wide.

 So, now what do I do with all the left over embroidered butterflies.

Over the last year I had made hundreds in all sizes and colors.

 Some will go in my notecards.....

And I still have more. I am through with butterflies. 

Of course that is what I said about hands 

but they keep appearing, so who knows what will come next.

Stay tuned....

What do you do on a powerless weekend?

Let's go back in time. 

This butterflies piece has been floating around my studio

 for a long time. I have been unhappy with it and ready to scrap it,

but hated to waste all those hours spent making so many butterflies.

At one point I started to create a colorful and realistic butterfly

 to add as a center of interest.

I did finish and added it but this colorful butterfly was out of place 

and did not make me like the piece any better.

 Here above and below details that I kept coming back to, but still was unhappy.

 So in between other thoughts and art I started drawing dead or falling apart 

dried cone flowers. 

Colored pencil drawing on the left with photos on the right.

Friday morning I looked out my studio window and saw these 

 deer wandering around our yard and the one next door.

We do live in the District of Columbia with a very small yard.

How they got through all the traffic and crossed so many streets is a miracle.

Then Friday at about noon, I finally decided to 

cut my butterfly piece in two and make it a pair or diptych. 

 

 As I cut it in two pieces, our power went out. 

While the NE was having a very bad storm we had the high winds, here.

Now what does a person who would rather shoot myself 

than go without my sewing machine do?

And in the cold........

 Having added a very warm sweater or two,

I sat by a sunny window, as it was still daylight and very bright 

and started to hand stitch a lining.

Continuing on a powerless Saturday and sitting by 

our gas fireplace and a close window

I continued to, ugh! hand stitch a lining on both pieces.

Now must connect all the pieces and add that casing.

About 9 PM on Saturday our power came back. 

We are once again warm and I will happily go back to 

my wonderful sewing machine to finish this pair.

Perhaps in my next episode I will show a completed butterfly pair.

Fiber exhibits both real and digital

Time has been flying past my previous creative work keeping it 

at a stand still as I work on a commission. 

I am still collecting butterfly photos....

.... while the  many finished butterflies are waiting

 to be included in an art work.

At this time my 'Variations on K' artwork is included in this SPUN exhibit.

Variations on K (KISS) is 24 by 18 inches.

Kiss in many languages including sign language.

Embroidery on hand-dyed cotton fabric.

 

'No Answer' (below) is 23 by 20 inches and will be 

in the digital exhibit titled 'To The Point' 

at the Visions Art Museum in San Diego 

in early October.

In case you cannot read the words in No Answer, 

the letters are created with window screening 

and then covered with thread.

 The words say, "What is the Question?"

 When I finish the commission 

 I will write about the steps 

it took in creating the final art work.

Art Work Comes and Goes

Often my artwork comes and goes. 

Some pieces travel further than I have ever travelled.

 Not Always Green has recently returned form The Taiwan 

International Quilt Exhibition 2016 in Tainan City, Taiwan.

Window Box is now at the International Korea  Bojagi Exhibit 

in Seoul, South Korea

KISS: In Any Language is leaving tomorrow

 to go to the SPUN 2016 Innovative Fiber Exhibition 

in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The opening will be September 10, 2016.  

 Three Flowers left the studio for places unknown. 

They may be at Vicky Fogg's desk at

the Washington Post or where ever she wanted to hang it.?

 I have been thinking about butterflies for the past month 

and wondering how I can show them as the delicate 

winged creatures they are. Perhaps in a cluster.

Maybe as small lacy versions of themselves?

And I am looking at old paintings. 

This is probably 5 by 6 feet,  50 years old, 

and loosely painted on plywood.

Keep watching as I love a puzzle 

and don't know what is coming next.

Recent catalogs and publications

The month of May brought several catalogs, to my attention.

 The Radical Elements exhibit has a catalog with two pages 

for each artist. Both a statement about their element 

and a list of the unusual materials defining the subject are included.

My Cadmium element piece has been seen here previously 

and here it is again in the catalog.

 This month a friend gave me this winter Gallery Guide for the DC area. 

I was surprised to see a picture of my Wide Load in 

the listing for the Waverley Street Gallery in Bethesda, MD

 The SAQA Regional exhibit, Tarnish produced this small catalog.

Christine Adams and Lesley Riley were the co-curators. 

My Sitting Still, Life was in this show at VisArts in Bethesda, MD.

 The Texas Quilt Museum produced this their first catalog 

for their exhibit, Butterflies and their Beautiful Kin. 

Part of the show was juried and part invitational.

 My Variations on B was included in the invitational section. 

I am pleased to have it in this quite wonderful exhibit.

The month of May flew by with wonderful exhibits at many venues. 

And, fun days were spent with our Granddaughters 

and their husbands, Lindsey, Brandon, Hayley, and Brant. 

I would recommend the 3 hour Segway tour.

It beats the pedestrian tour of the monuments.

Note Cards and time

Most of May has been filled with wonderful yet busy 

and time consuming events.

The studio time was limited to a short time to make note cards

Here are a few using embroidery on found pictures. 

 Starting with good quality Strathmore cards  

speeds up the process, a bit.

 Occasionally I find pieces of painted canvas to add.

 Trees remain a favorite and I love putting them in doors.

 Ah! the tropics!

 Another butterfly with one of my favorite flowers.

 A small tree in a vase.

Lastly some found machine embroidery.

I am beginning to get back to the real studio time and 

working on some abstracted architectural compositions.