Dienstag, 1. Dezember 2009

TEXTILE ABSTRACTIONS - A Challenge



I am part of the TEXTILE ABSTRACTIONS challenge group. We are 12 fiber artists from around the globe, coming from different backgrounds, but decided to work for two years with common themes and size to create 144 art quilts.

Our first challenge begins today, December 1. The first theme (one word) will be posted on our group blog today and we will have two months to complete each quilt. Each time, one of the members will choose the theme. Head over to the blog for more informations about the challenge and us.

I am really looking forward to being part of this group for the next two years. It will hopefully help me to get back into a working routine. The year 2009 has not been very kind to me and in some ways it has been a year of transition. I had no time to spare for art and feel blocked now. That’s why I have been looking for a project, a challenge.

Montag, 30. November 2009

New and Exciting


Yes, I have been neglecting my blog. It’s not that I didn’t have something to say – au contraire. But I had to work on an old PC and didn’t have access to my files. For various reasons, we decided recently to switch from PC to Mac. Last week on Wednesday, two brand new Mac’s arrived: an iMac and a MacBook Pro.

Now I am getting used to Mac OS – and I think I will love it. iPhoto is still giving me a hard time. It is so different from MS photo management. But my main problem is my website. It must be completely redesigned with a new software because MS Frontpage cannot be used on Mac. Mac’s own website creator, iWeb, doesn’t offer enough possibilities. Jane Dàvila kindly recommended me Freeway 5 Express, so I just downloaded a test version. Let’s start playing!

Montag, 16. November 2009

Quilts = Art = Quilts

Quilts = Art = Quilts is the Schweinfurth Art Center’s annual juried quilt exhibition. If you don’t have the chance to see it in person, head over to their website. You find a list of all the exhibiting artists and Award Winners (congratulations to all of them!) and you can also download a PDF slide show of Quilts = Art = Quilts 2009.

Donnerstag, 12. November 2009

TexArtAcademy - Neues Programm / New Program



Die Tessiner Kreativ Tage (jährlich stattfindende Seminare im Tessin) haben ihren Namen geändert. Die Änderung hat sich aufgedrängt – einerseits, um sich der Internationalität der Teilnehmenden anzupassen und andererseits, um eine eigene Seminarwebseite machen zu können. Dazu brauchte es einen einzigen Namen und nicht wie bisher drei Namen in drei Sprachen: TexArtAcademy.

Die eigene Webseite verzögert sich noch etwas: ich habe mich inzwischen entschlossen, von PC auf Mac umzusteigen und das bedeutet, meine Webseite völlig neu zu machen. Falls jemand Erfahrungen mit Webdesign Programmen für Mac hat (nicht iWeb!), nehme ich Ratschläge gerne entgegen.


The Ticino Creative Days (seminars here in Ticino) have changed their name. It was time to find one name (not three names in three different languages … quite a problem in Switzerland where we have four official languages), an international name - and tadadada, it's TexArtAcademy.

My goal was taking the seminar page away from my personal website and create a seminar site. But this will take some time because in the meantime I decided to switch from PC to Mac. Switching from one operating system to another means also a complete remake of my website. I will sure be busy the next couple of weeks…

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Das erste Programm unter dem neuen Namen TexArtAcademy ist jetzt online! In den folgenden zwei Kursen hat es noch freie Plätze:

The first program under the new name TexArtAcademy is now online! There are free spots in the following courses:



Am 18. und 19. Oktober 2010 können mit der Schweizer Textilkünstlerin Judith Mundwiler all die gestickten Quadrate verarbeitet werden, die wahrscheinlich die meisten einmal gekauft und nie gebraucht haben (wenn nicht, können sie bei Judith am Kurs bezogen werden).

Zur Erinnerung: Die gestickten Quadrate aus Afghanistan sind kleine, individuelle Kunstwerke, die wie rohe Diamanten hier in Europa verkauft und zu einem fertigen Produkt von Textilschaffenden weiterverarbeitet werden. So entstehen praktische Objekte, wie Decken, Taschen, Kissen, Gürtel oder Buchhüllen. Oder die Quadrate werden in Textile Bilder eingearbeitet. Als Verarbeitungstechnik kann Patchwork, Trockenfilzen, Schichttechniken, bemaltes Vliesofix und Transferfolien und viele weitere spannende Techniken verwendet werden. Das Endprodukt ist nicht nur eine Kombination zweier Techniken, sondern auch eine Verbindung von zwei Kulturen. Textile Poesie zwischen zwei verschiedenen Frauen aus unterschiedlichen Kulturkreisen entsteht!

From October 18 to October 19, 2010, Swiss textile artist Judith Mundwiler shows you how to use all the embroidered squares from Afghanistan you may have bought and never used (if you don’t have any, you can buy them at the course).

Do you remember them? Embroidered squares from Afghanistan are small, individual pieces of art. They are sold in Europe like raw diamonds and textile artists transfer them into a finished product. Practical objects as blankets, bags, pillows, belts or book covers emerge – or the squares are being integrated in a textile image. Processing technologies could be patchwork, felting, working in layers, painted fusibles, transfer foiles and many other exciting techniques. The finished product is not only a combination of two techniques, but also an alliance of two cultures. Textile poetry between two different women who belong to two different cultures.

Informations about the embroidery project in Afghanistan: http://www.deutsch-afghanische-initiative.de/blog/author/pascale-goldenberg/






Am 20. und 21. Oktober 2010 ist Margit Amann von Glembotzki hier. Viele Besucher werden an den Ausstellungen der letzten Jahre ihre dreidimensionalen Quilts bewundert und sich gefragt haben, wie man so etwas herstellt. Ich habe zum ersten Mal eines ihrer Werke anlässlich von QuiltArtLugano 2007 gesehen, als Margit damit am Wettbewerb teilgenommen hat und war fasziniert von der Wirkung. Mit allem, was unter die Nähmaschine passt, wie Folien, Watte, unterschiedlichsten Papiersorten, Papiertüchern, Federn, Filz, Bändern usw. können die Objekte variert werden. In diesem Workshop entstehen die Oberflächenstrukturen nur durch das Material und die Verarbeitungstechniken, nicht durch Oberflächenbearbeitung. Aus Farb- Flächen werden Farb- Körper.

From October 20 to October 21, 2010, German artist Margit Amann von Glembotzki will be showing how Fabric takes Shape. Margit is exhibiting her work in Germany and abroad and many visitors may have asked themselves who these objects are made. I have seen one of her pieces back in 2007 when Margit participated in our QuiltArtLugano competition and I thought it was an amazing work of art.

Margit says: We can vary our objects using whatever we can get under the sewing machine foot, f.ex. foil, cotton wool, various papers, feathers, felt, ribbons etc. During this workshop, surface structures are formed only by the material and the processing technologies and not by manipulating the surface. From a coloured surface to a coloured shape.



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Selbstverständlich können Kurse miteinander kombiniert werden und/oder der Hotelaufenthalt kann verkürzt oder verlängert werden. Die Seminare können aber auch ohne Hotelaufenthalt gebucht werden.

Ich würde mich freuen, euch an einem der Seminare bei uns im sonnigen Tessin begrüssen zu dürfen.


The courses can be combined and/or your stay at the hotel can be prolonged. There is a lot to see and to visit in our beautiful area! However, the seminars can also be booked without accomodation.

It would be my pleasure to welcome you here.




Dienstag, 10. November 2009

Guest Appearance: Kathyanne White

Some time ago I invited fellow artist Kathyanne White to do a guest appearance. She kindly accepted and wrote a tutorial for you:


My fiber work revolves around digital prints on alternative surfaces. Recently I was a able to learn the amate bark process of making paper. Once the paper is made, I precoat the paper with a digital ground from inkAID and print the bark paper. This is a look at the process and results.

Using Kozo Bark from Thailand:

1. The kozo was soaked overnight in water and soda ash
2. Bark was then boiled with more soda ash
3. Once boiling the bark was added to a crock pot to simmer for 8 hours.
4. The Kozo was then rinsed till clear and stored in water.

Next came the actual paper making.

In order to create the paper you need boards to lay out and pound the bark. Plywood or press board can be used. It just has to be smooth and have a lightly varnished surface. Lightly varnished so the board it still slightly absorbent, so the paper can dry on the board evenly.

Before you put the pulp on the board, you use a bar of soap and go over the top to add a layer of soap. The soap allows the paper to come off evenly and without damage.

In order to create some holes in the paper, I found you had to place the bark strips separated enough so they wouldn’t move together when pounded. I am still experimenting with how many strands of fiber and how close they have to be to leave spaces in the paper. It is a learning process, but nothing too difficult.

The pounding is done with a rock. The rock needs a smooth bottom and has to be the right size to easily fit in your hand. It also needs enough height that your fingers don’t get pounded in the process.

The pictures show parts of the process:

1) Visuals of the amate bark process.
2) Dried paper
3) Print of Grand Canyon 14” x 14”
4) Print 2 of the Grand Canyon 14” x 14”
5) Mariposa Grove print on bark paper attached to printed copper mesh

Kathyanne White
http://www.kathyanneart.blogspot.com/
http://www.kathyanneart.com/
http://www.kathyannewhite.com/


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Montag, 9. November 2009

Patchworkbücher günstig abzugeben

Im Sommer richtete ich mein Studio neu ein. Dass ich dazu alles (!!) ausräumen musste, war zwar sehr aufwändig, aber auch eine Chance, loszulassen (und verloren geglaubte Schätze wieder zu finden…). Deshalb hatte ich mich entschlossen, mich von vielen Büchern aus meiner umfangreichen Sammlung zu trennen um Platz für Neues zu schaffen. Viele dieser Bücher habe ich in der Zwischenzeit verkauft – einige sind noch zu erwerben. Sie sind alle in einwandfreiem Zustand. Wer weiss, vielleicht ist gerade das Buch dabei, das jemand schon lange sucht und das vergriffen ist.

Preis pro Buch: CHF 8.- + Porto und Verpackung (Schweiz: CHF 5.- / Europa: CHF 8.-). Bei mehreren Büchern in einem Paket werde ich die effektiven Portospesen verrechnen.

Convergence Quilts (Ricky Tims)
Harmonies & Hurricanes (Kumiko Sudo)
Pieces of an American Quilt (Patty McCormick)
Pineapple Passion (Nancy Smith & Lynda Milligan)
Bargello Tapestry Quilts (Marilyn Doheny)
Fantasy Fabrics – Techniques for Layered Surface Design (Bonnie Lyn McCaffery)
Blockbender Qults (Margaret J. Miller)Stretching Tradition (Lynn G. Kough)
Mastering Machine Appliqué (Harriet Hargrave)
The Country Bride Quilt (Craig N. Heisey & Rachel T. Pellman)
Fun with Fat Quarters (Nancy J. Martin)
A Log Cabin Notebook (Mary Ellen Hopkins)

Zudem habe ich noch die folgenden, dünneren Bücher. Sie kosten CHF 6.- + Versandkosten:

Cathedreal Window – A Fresh Look (Nancy J. Martin)
Creating Scrapbook Quilts (Ami Simms)
Sashiko – Traditional Japanese Quilt DesignsCats, Cats, Cats - 20 Fun Fabric Crafts

Wer ein Buch (oder mehrere Bücher – Quiltgruppen für die Bibliothek??) möchte, ist gebeten mir eine Mail zu schicken. Die Anfragen werden in der Reihe ihres Eintreffens bearbeitet.

Dienstag, 3. November 2009

Full Moon



I didn’t even realize it was full moon last night. So, when I got up early this morning (well, it was at 7am…) I was quite surprised to see the moon hanging over the landscape. Until I had my camera ready, the moon just “touched” the hills and shortly afterwards it disappeared. Notice the snow covered hills – it’s the first snow we see this fall.



As Cindi, a friend from Florida said: It looks like a quilt to me…


And fellow artist Lesley Riley mentiond: next month we will have a Blue moon – 2 full moons in 1 month – Dec 2 and 31, just in time for New Years Eve. Thanks Lesley for the moon alert!

Montag, 26. Oktober 2009

SURFACES TO DYE FOR - part 2

Last week I have been showing you what the students created on the first two days. In the meantime, the workshop is over and on Friday, everybody headed home. Ruth Issett's trip back to England was a very long one: due to the nationwide general strike in Italy, her flight had been canceled and she was on stand by for one of the first flights leaving Milan after the end of the strike. Good news: she arrived home on the same day.

It’s always sad when a 4day class comes to an end and we must say goodbye. Everything has been running smoothly: the workshop space was perfect, the food delicious, the weather beautiful. Some of the students and Ruth Issett stayed overnight and we have been laughing quite a lot during and after dinner.

Not that I have been much there during the workshop (as an organizer I am too busy and cannot participate), but I managed to head over now and then and each time I came back I was surprised how much the works have changed. Students have been stitching by hand and by machine and created stunning white/beige on white/beige work. On the last day, these surfaces have been dye painted. Here are just a few of the pieces (always before and after dye painting). Find some more photographs on my website. The program for 2010 will be online soon.





Nina



Gabi



Anna



Leslie



Paola

Mittwoch, 21. Oktober 2009

SURFACES TO DYE FOR - Workshop with Ruth Issett




At the moment, Ruth Issett is teaching this fascinating class, right here in Ticino. The workshop includes printing, dye painting and various forms of hand and/or simple machine stitch both constructional and decorative.

On the first day, students prepared samples using different white and cream fabrics and threads in natural fibers. Then the samples were dye painted – stunning results were achieved and the students learned to understand how dyes affect different fabrics.

On the second day, they prepared a first bigger piece for dye painting.

Stay tuned – the class goes on for two more days!
















Donnerstag, 15. Oktober 2009

Houston Quilt Festival - Best of Show

The winners list of A World of Beauty, the annual fall judged show of the International Quilt Association is online: http://www.quilts.org/winners.html.

On the Wings of a Dream by Caryl Bryer Fallert of Paducah, an amazing work of art, is Best of Show. Congratulations Caryl – very well deserved Best of Show!

On her website, Caryl explains the design concept and gives informations about the story of the quilt. Pop over – it’s a tale from real life!

I had the privilege to meet Caryl and her late husband Bob back in 2000 (oh my – where has time gone?...) and to attend some of her classes in Fort Myers/Florida. You may ask why on earth I had been taking classes in Florida? Well, friends of mine lived in Fort Myers/FL and I used to visit them now and then. They have introduced me to members of the Southwest Florida Quilters Guild and I had the chance to exhibit with them during their show Florida Celebrates Quilts in 1998. I became a guild member and when they invited Caryl to teach in Fort Myers I signed up for her classes. These workshops opened up some new and exciting creative doors. Caryl is an extraordinary person and artist and we kept in touch for many years.