Happy Halloween!

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 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

"Demo at Putney 2016 2" --- Sold

Second demo at Putney. Feels the light is coming from a warm candle flame. It was cold and snowing here at Vermont. After dark, setting in front of a warm wood stove. It was very cozy.

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.

Moonrise

In the spirit of the season, here's a sketch of moon rise from an abandoned road...

"Demo at Putney 2016 1"

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My workshop at Putney VT has started, and this is my first demo. I am so excited coming back to Putney and want to thank Penelope and Capt. John for organizing my workshop. Thanks to all the artists for attending.

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.

My ink sketching setup

“Demo at Granbury 2016 3"

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My third demo on the Granbury workshop. Now the workshop is over. We have gone through a lot. I hope all the workshop attending artists practice what We has discussed. I am looking forward to seeing the progress in your art.

Now. I am sitting at the Ft. Lauderdale airport waiting for my flight bring me to my next destination.

Sunday funnies 34

"Demo at Granbury 2016 2"

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This is my second demonstration on the Granbury workshop. It is the pumpkin season now.

This is one of the demos from my online landscape sketching course. In it I show a handy technique for quickly capturing a vivid quality of light!

"Demo at Granbury 2016 1"

I have started my workshop teaching after I returned from China. I want to thank Vickie Guthrie and the Lake Granbury Art  Association for organizing this worksop, and thanks to all the artists for attending and paint with me. It is always wonderful to see old friends and meet new friends. This is my first demo.

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...

Online Landscape Painting Course!

It's finally here! http://ift.tt/2cigcNw My online course: Landscape Sketching in Watercolor and Gouache is available as a self study subscription at an affordable $15/month.
No long term commitment is required for the class but it may the beginning a of a lifelong commitment to the joy landscape painting for you!

4-Day Landscape Painting Workshop at Austin

You have seen I use my social media to let people know where I go and teach workshops, but some how I forget to announce the workshop in the place I call home. Well, I hope it is not too late. Right after the New Year of 2017, I will teach a 4-day painting workshop at the suburb of Austin. For this one I will concentrate on landscape painting: both plein air and using reference photos. Please visit: http://ift.tt/2e6fa7R for detailed info and sign up. I am looking forward to paint with you and share what I know about art.

The silkhorse project goes live

Several months ago I wrote about a new work that I got involved with, making paper quilts in aid of a Kickstarter campaign.  The project is to gear up for production in India of some fabulous silk scarves, screenprinted by hand by artisans using traditional methods and natural dyes.

I got to use the paper proofs of the scarves to make some of my "postage" quilts to illustrate the gorgeous designs, and had the pleasure of getting to know the artwork intimately, as I fussy-cut the proofs for my own quilts.  I found it intriguing to think that my friend Keith had manipulated multiples of the original horse image in Photoshop to come up with the design of the scarves, and then I got to manipulate multiples of his designs to come up with my third-generation version.

Here's the original:  Manaki, the Hindu sacred mare.

Here she is in silk!

Here's Payal Parekh, the mastermind behind the silkhorse project, wearing the orange scarf as a shrug, helping me with the black scarf.

Check out the Kickstarter pages HERE.  Supporting this project is a great way to help keep those traditional textile arts alive and well in the 21st century.

“Xidi in the rain 2"

This is another pen-&-ink sketch of the Xidi village. I like this medium, it is rather convenient and less time consuming. I did quite many this kind of sketches when I was in China. Using line structure to depict the scene has a special beauty. I want to explore more in this kind of work when I get more time.

Sunday funnies 33

“Fall Blossoms"

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This is my first painting after I returned to the States. For a while, I have been testing new painting experiments. I was told I should come out of my comfort zone and try new stuff. I tried using more high key colors, splashed impressionistically, and even limited myself into monochromes. I used more knifes to sculpted old architectural structures, and doing more plein air landscapes. My art journey has been turned into a drifting wandering. My work sometime is satisfactory, but more often they are mediocre.  Of course, it is normal, because I am doing something I have not been experienced with. Well, I have kind of enjoyed this type of semi-drunk stage, but I know I have gradually lost my identity. Now I have heard a weak voice whispering from the deep part of my mind: go back. Go back to the place where you started and examine what is your first motivation in art.

The Xidi Village

Revisiting the Xidi Village, I spent 5 days. I was enjoyed so much painting, sketching, and photographing the beautiful old structures. It rained quite a bit there, but the rain bring special beauty. The figures bring high chroma color on the black and white buildings giving the contrast of color vs non-color, young vs old. All of these photos I may use for my future paintings.

Faulty demographics

I know advertisers are loath to show unattractive women except as the "before" picture.  That's why you see 30-year-olds on TV explaining how they keep their dentures in, why the guys in Viagra ads have wives who look like Melania.

So I was not surprised, but a little disappointed, to see this ad from Quilting Daily, selling tutorials on various aspects of quilting.

Does this chick look like a quilter to you?  Do quilters tend to watch webinars while lying on their beds?  Aren't her elbows going to get tired long before the webinar is over?

Interestingly enough, the actual titles all feature photos of the presenters, and all of them are ordinary looking real women.  Some of them middle aged.  None of them wearing lingerie.

Funny how these photos of real women are OK to inspire buyer confidence in the actual products, but they have to find a hot model to advertise the sale.  I think it would be more persuasive to show a real woman watching her tablet while sitting upright by her sewing machine.

Sunday funnies 32

Road to El Dorado Elements and Scene