Original works of art created with fabric and thread
Things are moving forward at the studio! The walls are painted, and the half wall is gone. Thanks to my sister Meg for giving me some great organizing advice and helping me visualize the desks and other furniture (marked with tape on the floor). And thanks to my buddy Forest, for keeping me company while I paint! Still need to finish the trim and paint the bathrooms. Stay tuned for more updates 🙂
So, this is where we start. It’s a lovely space with a new ceiling and overhead lights. I imagine 6 student desks will reasonably fit in the 15′ x 40′ space, with my desks and machines, and room to move around.
That half-wall in the middle of the room is disrupting the flow, so it will have to go. But the place is full of potential!
So here we are, at the 3rd installment in my MACHINE series. “Corkscrew” is made up of 3 separate quilts with the total dimensions 60×48 in. I love this invention, and what it represents – something is about to be opened with the hope that its time in isolation has succeeded in making something delicious.
The largest of the 3 quilts (40x30in) depicts a finished corkscrew. The second (20x30in) is based on a blueprint of the original design made in 1795 by Samuel Henshall, and the one on the right (60×18) is a celebration of various engineering concepts and simple machines: lever, pulley, wedge, wheel and axle etc.
Cheers!
I’m not even going to go into why I haven’t posted since what, early 2019? If you live in the USA you probably know it has been shall-we-say “weird” for a few years.
So I’m just gonna jump back in and pick up here instead of where I apparently left off… I wouldn’t even know how to recap that anyway. Here’s where I am now:
As always, Viewpoints 9 has been a source of friendship and creative inspiration. The fact that there is always a challenge going on has pushed me to complete projects. Some months, those pieces were literally the only things I got done, creatively. The latest challenge: Instead of 9 installments of 8-week challenges, we are to create 3 completed “works” within 18 months. The size requirements are: 30 x 30in, 30 x 60in and 48 x 60in. Notice the 3 works do not need to be 3 quilts. We can make multiple pieces but they have to fill those dimensions. Each of the 9 artists in our group has chosen and committed to a personal theme. Our 3 works must fit into our personal theme, and should be created to hang together as a group.
What’s my theme? MACHINES
One reason I’ve chosen machines is that I love shiny objects, gears, and interesting tools. So I feel like this topic will keep me engaged with multiple pieces over 18 months. Another reason for the machinery theme is that maybe I’m looking for order and functionality in a dysfunctional world. Ingenious inventions. Systems that work. I feel overwhelmed by what I see happening in the USA. The stupid, spiteful, self-inflicted injuries. The corruption and disfunction of national institutions and elected officials. People acting out of fear and absolute ignorance. Rejection of science and reason. It’s hard to remember a time when our country pulled together to get a team of astronauts safely to the moon and back. It’s depressing and threatens to take me down into a spiral of depression and inaction.
So I need to consciously look for the antidote. Wherever I can find a little glimpse of genius. It gives me hope and reminds me that people are capable of building something useful. Maybe it’s too much to hope for my fellow Americans to band together in a common purpose. So for now, I will focus on examples of individual, tangible imagination. My favorites are the inventions that stand the test of time because they solve a problem or fill a need that is universal, not a passing trend. It’s the same fascination that led me to the mariner’s sextant. The design hasn’t changed in hundreds of years, because it is perfect in functionality and efficiency.
As it happens, that challenge began 14 months ago. So I already completed 2 of the 3 required works. Did you think I would make you read this longwinded post without so much as a colorful photo? I wouldn’t do that to you!
First installment: POCKET WATCH 30 x 30in
If you’d like to read about the other artists’ chosen themes and see galleries of our work, visit Viewpoints9 here: https://www.viewpoints9.com/single-post/2019/09/01/v9-6-our-personal-viewpoints
This is the 6th installment in the Viewpoints9 “Living Planet” series. Our word assignment: IRREVERSIBLE.
You can’t un-cut a quilt. I use the holes in this quilt to represent extinct species. They leave an empty space in the ecosystem, which cannot be fixed. Other species are in danger of disappearing (represented by the black fabric shapes). Their absence causes a ripple effect, changing the lives of other animals, plants and people as well.
Technical details: Hand-dyed and commercial fabric, black acrylic tulle (sewn into the cutout shapes)
Hand-guided machine quilting
Raw edge applique
Finished size 36×24 in
This is the 4th installment in the Viewpoints9 “Living Planet” series. Our word assignment: OCEANS
Rising temperatures have changed our oceans, filling them with ghosts. Some species die off for lack of food or because of the inhospitable environment. Others leave their typical habitat in search of cooler temperatures.
Their absence alters the ecosystem.
Sometimes we notice what’s missing, like when coral dies and loses its color, or fisheries collapse and the industries that depend on them start to feel the impact. Still, we let those species go and learn to depend on others.
We tell ourselves “there are plenty more fish in the sea”.
I wonder if we’ll notice when that’s no longer true.
I used the back side of the fabric to create the faded versions of fish. The ghosts are stitched into the background with free-motion quilting.
Technical Details:
36×24 in
hand-dyed and commercial fabrics
raw edge applique and hand guided machine quilting
