Nature Inspired Art – Page 18

Save the Bees

I’ve mentioned before that my artistic voice is nature inspired-art which frequently carries an environmental message. Last week I completed a new piece which definitely fits this concept. A few weeks ago I read an article which reported that in early October (2016) seven bee species in Hawaii had been listed as endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

This topic concerns me…a lot! Back in September, millions of bees were killed in an attempt to control the mosquito population (and spread of the Zika virus). For many years, there’s been concern about the survival of bees. We need these pollinator species in order to grown food. Yeah…the demise of bees concerns me.

So in response to the USFWS news, I created a new art piece entitled “Bee-Taken.” I thought you might find it interesting to read how I created it.

I start by using Adobe Illustrator to create illustrations or line drawings of my imagery. Once I have the drawings, I can resize them to fit my requirements for the finished piece. What’s great about this process is I’m building a library of illustrations which I can reuse for future projects.

When I’m making my art quilt, I use the line drawing as a template to cut out the fabric pieces. In this case, I decided to make the bee out of wool felt. Using a light box or window, I traced the pattern elements (body, head, legs, etc) onto freezer paper. Then, I ironed the freezer paper to the right side of the wool and cut out the parts following the lines on the freezer paper template.

Once I had all the wool body parts, I laid out my design on my background fabric. Then, I stitched around the pieces to hold them in place. After all the body parts were secured, I began thread painting. Using wild zig-zag stitching in coordinating thread colors, I created the fuzzy feel of the bee. I used a similar technique to apply tulle (commonly found in wedding veils and tutus) onto the bee to create the transparent wings. Fabric is very 2-dimensional and I really don’t like using it by itself, so I strive to create texture and 3-d effects. The photos shows the difference of before and after thread painting.

This piece accurately represents my vision. When you look at it, you don’t see a shouting statement and I don’t want there to be. However, I frequently do want there to be underlying statement in my art. In this case it says, “Save the Bees.”

Join me for:

“Paper, Canvas, Cloth”
November 4 – December 17, 2016
Campbell House Galleries, Southern Pines, NC
featuring the work of
Sharon Ferguson, Marilyn Vendemia, & Nanette S. Zeller

Where this road takes me

Four weeks from now, I will be hanging a show at the Arts Council of Moore County’s Campbell House Galleries. The exhibit entitled “Paper, Canvas, Cloth” features my work and that of 2 of my friends. We have known each other many years and we each have very different styles. Sharon who paints and draws is a classical realist. Marilyn paints in oils with a tonalist style. I am mixed-media art quilter. Although very different styles, I know our art will look good together because we share similar themes and color palettes.

This is a pivoting point for me. I’ve been in art exhibits before. I’ve been a featured artist in several local art galleries. But, I’ve never been in an art gallery show where I am featured with just 2 other artists who aren’t art quilters. It will be interesting to see how people view this exhibit. Will they consider what I do as art?

Because this exhibit is pivotal point for me, it makes me ask what’s next? What is the long range goal? Some decisions will be based on the reception I get in November, but more so, it is about what I plan to do personally to move forward.

Working to prepare for this show next month has given me time to process my feelings about what’s next. I know that there are exhibiting opportunities that I plan to apply for at the end of the year. I know I have a solo gallery show scheduled 2 years from now. But I also know I’m going to have let it all play out, because part of the challenge is affording to create the art.

When you exhibit, you have to hoard your work so you have enough to hang on the walls. If you’re hoarding, you can’t sell your work unless the owner is willing to give it back to you during the exhibit dates. But then, some galleries want all or a significant portion of your work for sale. Some exhibits want to keep your work for several years. There has to be a balance of making enough to sell and making enough to exhibit. I’m considering ways to streamline my processes, so I can make things faster.

What others have done is seek teaching and publishing opportunities. This is something I’m seriously considering. But, teaching and publishing also takes time away from making; another balancing act. For now my goal is to get this show hung, then use November and December to re-group and set the stage for what’s next. My plan is to start 2017 with boots to the ground, running. We’ll see where this road takes me.

Join me for:

“Paper, Canvas, Cloth”
November 4 – December 17, 2016
Campbell House Galleries, Southern Pines, NC
featuring the work of
Sharon Ferguson, Marilyn Vendemia, & Nanette S. Zeller

One quilt at a time

I often refer to my life as a journey. I know I keep moving forward. I keep changing. And, I definitely keep experiencing new things. As I’ve been working on my art this past few months, I feel like everything I’ve ever done is coming full circle. Well, actually it’s a spiral or mobeius. My life starts on one end and I keep coming back to the same intersection. In reality, I’m slightly misaligned from the last time I crossed that point. There’s too much that has happened, so I am someone different than the last time I was here.

But why does it feel like I’ve gone full circle?

When I was a small child, I played outside a lot. I loved discovering new things. I picked flowers, dug in the dirt, played with earthworms and hugged a few trees. I loved animals. I used to have a slip of paper that I wrote in grade school which read “When I grow up I want to be a conservationist.” I have no idea how I knew that word, maybe it was from the countless hours I spent reading Ranger Rick magazine. I pursued that dream for many years and eventually earned a Master’s degree in wildlife biology.

Then life happened. I needed to work and found gainful employment in IT at the peak of the dot.com era. When that bubble burst, I started exploring art and found employment editing books. During these years, I almost completely walked away from my childhood interest of conservation. My art “sometimes” had environmental components, but it never had a real meaning. I just made things because I wanted to make them.

I’ve realized the environmental theme has been more evident in my art these last few years. I have a story in my head & heart that I want to share. I mentally visualize the things that mean so much to me. I remember the forests, the plants, and the birds. I think of the earth as a whole and how we’re destroying it. I want you to see the beauty. I am back in my youth, full circle almost, but with a different age and understanding of the complexities of it all. I’m picking flowers and dreaming big about how I will save the world one quilt at a time.

Join me for:

“Paper, Canvas, Cloth”
November 4 – December 17, 2016
Campbell House Galleries, Southern Pines, NC
featuring the work of
Sharon Ferguson, Marilyn Vendemia, & Nanette S. Zeller

Mental lists

Things are plugging along here. I finished quilting the Osprey wing. I just need to trim it down and finish the binding/edge treatment. I’ve decided that finishing this quilt is something that could wait for the last minute, so I’ve begun a new piece.

This new quilt is going to be a companion piece to a one I made a couple years ago. Similar idea and color palette, something more whimsical than I have been working; a giant tulip! It should be fun to work on.

As I’m building my collection, my mind is definitely processing what comes next. As I posted last week, I’ve been accepted for a solo show at Page-Walker Arts & History Center in Cary, September 2018. I know this gallery well, so my mind is thinking what sort of artwork groupings I should have. What is great about having 2 years to work on this, is that I could create pieces specifically for the walls of this gallery space. So many possibilities.

I’m also thinking about what comes next. I can’t allow 2018 to be the only exhibit opportunity in my future. I have so many ideas and I’m looking forward to pursuing them. Just 7 more weeks and “Paper, Canvas, Cloth” will be hanging at the Campbell House in Southern Pines. Once that is up, I’ll start focusing on all my mental lists.

Join me for:

“Paper, Canvas, Cloth”
November 4 – December 17, 2016
Campbell House Galleries, Southern Pines, NC
featuring the work of
Sharon Ferguson, Marilyn Vendemia, & Nanette S. Zeller

“Knock, knock, … who’s there?”

I finished “Knock, Knock” last week. Well almost, I need to hand-stitch the facing and hanging sleeve to the back of the quilt. And, it may need a little dab of paint, here and there to add highlights. I’m holding off showing the finished pieces until I get closer to the exhibit in November, but I’m happy to show off some sneak peeks.

If you look at the pictures, it may become obvious why this quilt took so long to complete. It’s final size is 32.5″ x 42.5″. I couldn’t have done this intense quilting on my domestic sewing machine. My workhorse machine for the last few years only has a 7″ opening to pass my fabrics through as I sew. Thanks to the grant I received from the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County I was able to purchase a machine with a 16″ opening which allows me to quilt larger pieces. I’m very happy that I took the initiative to apply for this grant and also very honored to have had the support of so many people while I was working on it.

So, why am I calling this piece “Knock, Knock”? The focal point of this quilt is the ivory-billed woodpecker (you can see its outline in the blue backing fabric and the small flying-version in the stitched detail photos). Many of you know of the pileated woodpecker. Well, the ivory-billed is the widely believed-extinct, bigger cousin of the pileated. The ivory-billed loved bottomland hardwood forests of the southeastern United States. These mature-virgin forests have been greatly diminished from aggressive timber harvest. It’s unlikely that there’s any place large enough that this large bird could survive, but with reported sightings in Arkansas in 2005, there is hope.

Some are still looking for this majestic avian species. For those willing to have hope, they will continue to wander the southeastern swamps listening for a distinct “knock, knock” of the ivory-billed woodpecker as it taps on a tree to call for others of his kind. It all reminds me of the child-like game…”knock, knock, … who’s there?”

Trust me, it’s big

I feel like I’m moving like molasses in January. I have been putting a lot of hours into the quilt hanging on my design wall, titled “Knock, Knock. Who’s There?” This quilt is huge, that’s half my battle. When I make a quilt I usually create the background fabric much larger than I need it. That’s why I can’t tell you how big it will be. I’m guessing somewhere around 40″ wide x 60″ tall.

The other aspect of what I’m doing … that takes time … is all the layering. I create one layer, work to get it right and then it’s time for the next layer. What I posted last week was 2 layers, I made the trees and added some shading. The shading was done with Shiva Paintsticks (which is oil paint in stick form). It takes a 24 hours for the paint to cure and become permanent.

This week, I added some tulle to create the waterline on the trees and some highlights to the swampy water. Today I securely stitched down the trees and tulle to my batting layer. This took a few hours. The birds are yet another layer to this quilt, because I had to stitch down the trees before I could add them. Last week I made the birds and today they are now glued forever to the quilt.

Progress? yes. Molasses in January? Most definitely.

I’m getting closer to the part I enjoy most, the machine quilting and thread painting. I have to add some more details to this monster (more layers) and then it will be ready for the long arm machine. Yay, it’s getting there! Just in baby steps. Once the quilting is finished I’ll be able to cut it down to size and let you know how big it really is. Right now trust me, it’s big.

Good karma following along with me

I’ve been in my studio a lot the last week. I’m trying to create a regular work habit. I’m under pressure to get some new pieces finished for an upcoming show in November, so there’s no time to waste. I’ve put priorities in place and that’s helping me keep focused. I’m seeing results and that’s helping me be motivated.

My art is comprised of a lot of phases. It’s never as easy as saying, well let me throw this together. I get an idea and know what I want it to look like, but how it gets there is always process. For example, the piece that is currently on my design wall is pretty large. I’m working on a forest scene. I could slap some fabric down and have you imagine that they are trees, but I want it to be more realistic. I need to work on the shading. I have lots of options. That’s were things get interesting and challenging.

I never choose the same option. On the parakeet quilt I just finished, I used colored pencils for shading. I love working with them, but had a couple glitches I didn’t expect. Fortunately, I was able to recover from the issues and I’m happy with the final outcome. The glitches do put me in a panic, because they could turn into a irreversible catastrophe.

The current piece I’m working on also needs some shading. Because of it’s size, I decided to use Shiva paintstiks and a stenciling technique to add depth. On this too, I stumbled with a few glitches, but in the end I’m good with it. Another catastrophe diverted.

Of course there’s more to this quilt than just a couple of grey trees. In the foreground of the photo, you’ll see a paper cutout that I used to find the right proportions for an ivory-billed woodpecker who is going to play in these woods. Layer upon layer, the design forms. Each step, I get to choose the options to create what I envision. But with each step, I’m also at risk of another irreversible catastrophe. It is harder to recover from these on larger pieces, there are a lot of hours invested in what you see. There’s a lot more hours ahead. After each layer, I pat myself on my back and get ready to move forward. I’m ready to move forward on this piece…and looking to good karma following along with me.

Dense with vegetation

There’s a new quilt on my design wall this week. I started it a while back, but decided to abandon it until I got the Sweet16 up and running. After finishing the Carolina Parakeets, I believe I’m ready for this one now. I estimate that it will have a finished size somewhere around 40″ x 60″.

All the fabric trees have been cut and ready to fuse to the background. After the trees are in place, I’m adding depth and 3-D shading using tulle (aka bridal veil), a trick I learned early in my quilting career.

I used to work full-time as a freelance technical editor. A lot of the tools I have in my “tool box” were gleaned from editing other people’s books. The very first book I edited was Joyce Becker’s Beautifully Embellished Landscapes. During the editing process, I had to read through Joyce’s book several times. With that much review, stuff is bound to stick in your head.

Tulle is a wonderful medium to create transparent shading effects on fabric. If you need to make something in your landscape look darker (or lighter) , just sew a layer of dark (or light) colored tulle on top of the fabric. That’s what I need to do next; I only have 3 shades of tree fabric and need to add some dimension to the scene.

In real life, the color value of a landscape scene gets lighter the farther it is from you. For example, when you see mountains, the peaks farthest away from you are usually lighter (smokey looking) compared to those in the foreground. When you’re looking at a landscape in real life, it’s the light from the sky and sun that creates this faded coloration. On the other hand, when you’re in the midst of a dense forest, the vegetation adds shadows and darkens the background. So do I want my forest to have light coming from the horizon or appear dense with vegetation?

5 ft-wide Wingspan

The parakeets are coming along nicely. All the thread work and quilting was accomplished using my HandiQuilter Sweet16 sewing machine. I am so grateful for having been awarded the grant to purchase this machine. I really has made creating large quilts so much easier.

I’ve debated about posting a final picture of the parakeets here. I’ll probably do that eventually, but most likely closer to my November show at the Arts Council. I’m pretty proud of what I’ve done on this one. But, unfortunately, you’ll have to wait a little bit for the reveal.

As soon as the “keets” are done, I’ll be on to the next pieces. One was inspired by a photograph taken of an osprey by my friend, Brady. Brady is a phenomenal wildlife photographer. He provided the inspiration for my “Fireline” quilt I made a few years ago.

For “Fireline”, Brady had the photo and I rendered it in fabric. This time, I had the idea and asked Brady if he had a photo that would help me accomplish my idea. I’m so happy to be working with his imagery again…can you imagine a 5-foot wide wingspan?