Use It or Lose It

Are you one of those people who can’t look at a woven plastic vegetable bag or a sturdy cardboard garment tag without considering the artistic potential it might contain? I confess that I am one of those. I spend an inordinate amount of time collecting castoff relics that other people just throw in the garbage. But there’s good reason for such behavior.

Since 2003 I have been making a serious effort to add recycled items to most of the quilts I make. These recycled elements might take the form of plastic milk jug stoppers, wine corks, and discarded orange “weedeater” cord. I have even used melted plastic bags to construct quilts. But my favorite junk takes the form of natural fiber.

If you use fabric for anything, you can usually glean some recycled fibers when you handle it. When I buy new fabric to make quilts or garments, the first thing I do is wash it. (You need to remove that possible formaldehyde, you know.) If the fabric was cut from the bolt, especially if the cut was uneven, you will be rewarded with a wonderful little bundle of tangled threads. Cut this off while it’s wet and form it into a small nest until it dries. Instant embellishment!

Wash your new fabric in loads of similar colors. When you take the fabric out of the dryer, check the lint filter for a cool glob of colorful lint. (I even find myself searching out fuzzy fabric to wash.) Lint can be captured under tulle on a fabric surface. Or if you’re into fiber sculpture, the pigment for your sculpture medium is free!

My other favorite recycled fibers come from ripping fabric. I use a lot of evenly woven cotton fabric in my work, and the best way to get a straight line is to rip it. In a quilt with a lot of strips, you will find an amazing amount of threads result from ripping the fabric. I save them all, unless the color is muddy. And if the fabric is some that I have hand dyed, you can bet that I’m not going to let one speck of that gloriously colored thread go to waste. These threads are also wonderful for embellishment and for making fiber vessels.

Other crazy recycled artist types are out there. The Atlanta art show “Not Biodegradable” is on display at whitespace gallery through September 4^th. One of the artists is Mireille Vautier, who creates her artwork by embroidering on plastic bags. It sounds wonderful! Stop by and see the show if you can.

Whitespace is located at 814 Edgewood Ave., Atlanta, GA 30307. The phone number is 404.688.1892. Gallery hours are Wed. – Sat.11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  You can see some of the work on these websites: whitespace814.com and whitespace814.blogspot.com.

If you want to see ingenious ways to recycle garments, check out the fun at newdressaday.wordpress.com.

Happy recycling!

Claudia

Energy in Motion

I recently wrenched my knee and have been going to my chiropractor. He’s working on my spine a little each day to restore the proper flow of energy in my body. Now, you may or may not believe that particular theory, but it’s undeniable that energy is of huge significance in the world and in ourselves. This made me think about different types of energy and how they affect us as artists.

I remember as a teenager helping to build a float for a school parade. We had a short time to accomplish this, and it seemed an insurmountable task, stuffing crepe paper into thousands of tiny holes in a wire armature to create the huge, looming figure of a bear. But my classmates and I kept the flow of energy going by laughing and joking until the task was miraculously completed.

As the chairman of an arts group putting on our first art show in our town, I worked with my small committee until we were so exhausted that we didn't know if we could keep going and get everything done in time. But we relied on each other’s energy and support to keep going, and we did. The energy that we got back from the 300 or so guests who attended the opening kept us going long after the event.

In a wonderful youtube video, Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love gives a speech about the perception of artistic inspiration as a sort of disembodied divine energy that comes to a person endeavoring to do creative work. Here’s the link - It’s definitely worth viewing.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x-u-tz0MA This energy comes to different people in different forms; you may find yourself identifying with some of them. It’s something fun to think about.

If you’ve been watching “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” on Bravo TV the last few weeks, you will have seen all manner of creative energy at work – from the most positive to the ugliest and most negative. There was a true showing of “artistic temperament.” It was gratifying to see that the person who seemed to radiate the most caring and loving energy toward every other person was also the artist who won.

As artists, most of us work in a solitary manner. But the energy we need to keep creating often comes from others who are making art, too. Getting together with friends who share our art is imperative. Doing a sort of cross-training exercise by viewing types of art that are outside our own discipline is also a great way to be inspired. That’s why it is such a good thing for SEFAA to have a booth at the Georgia Quilt Show in October. Not only will the quiltmakers gain from it, but so will the knitters, weavers and silk painters. It should be a wonderful sharing of artistic energy!

If you would like to share in a more concrete way, please donate some spare “fat quarters” of fabric (cut 18” x 22”) to sell at the SEFAA booth. Our Fiber Arts Alliance is itself a wonderful sharing of creative energy. Remember to share SEFAA with everyone you know!

Connecting Threads

The past few weeks, I was busy chairing a free art camp for the children in my little town of Senoia. My friends and I managed to get two days of teaching fiber into the mix. I predict some future fiber artists or fiber art patrons in the group.

It took lots of individual volunteers, two organizations, the city, and a several businesses to pull it off. It was a clear example of the connections needed to accomplish a large project. Indeed, most projects outside of our individual creations take a certain connectedness to succeed.

That connectedness was in full view last Sunday at the color class taught by Rebecca Ewing and sponsored by SEFAA. Nancy Williams did a wonderful job chairing and setting it all up. The class was excellent and Rebecca was creative and engaging in her teaching. But the most interesting thing about it for me was the diverse group of fiber art people in the room.

I have taken numerous quilting and sewing classes over the years, but they have all been niche learning, with every participant being a quilter or “sewist” (the word coined in recent years to distinguish people who sew from a waste disposal system). The SEFAA classroom was different – full of fiber art people pursuing all sorts of different fiber tracks. There were knitters, weavers, quilters, crocheters and more. The connecting thread here was a love of fiber and a desire to learn. It worked really well.

Another opportunity for connectedness comes on August 22nd, when three talented teachers will combine their expertise in one fiber project for the SEFAA class, “A Taste of Fiber (Arts).” Students will learn fabric dyeing with Inko dyes, free-motion machine stitching and hand embroidery.

It’s unusual for three fiber professionals (Ray Pierotti, Leisa Rich and Jane Timmers) to teach collectively. I have seen the project example in person, and it is stunning! The cost for the all-day class (really three classes) is extremely reasonable. I hope we can post some of the resulting projects on the website or blog late next month. There is still time to sign up and make this connection. If you go back to “classes and workshops” on the fiberartsalliance.org website, you can download an application.

It is thrilling to see new groups joining SEFAA each month. We are establishing connections – connecting threads!

Berry Picking

I was picking blueberries last week at a peach and blueberry farm in rural Pike County, and I suddenly thought about SEFAA.  This may seem odd, but there’s a “thread” here.

First of all, I’m not an outdoor person. I’d rather spend my time indoors sewing, quilting, dyeing fabric, or pursuing any number of other fiber activities. So doing anything in the blazing sun is not really my idea of fun. But it was a beautiful day, and my kind husband, who puts up with lots of "fiber field trips," invited me to go.

The last time I had picked blueberries was in my college days on a family farm in Maine. The blueberries were that luscious, intense indigo color and they all seemed to be equally ripe. The biggest challenge was finding enough buckets to rake them into. Fast forward a number of years to the Georgia scene.

Rows of blueberry bushes covered a grassy field, but the berries were (eek!) all different colors. Some were magenta, some gold, some cream, some spring green, and some were indigo. Apparently, a number of other people had been picking before us, so the berries were in all different stages of ripeness, and each ripe berry had to be discovered and picked ONE AT A TIME!

After my initial irritation subsided, I really looked at the berries and noticed how beautiful the bushes were with the symphony of colors they displayed. Really, they were much more beautiful in their diversity than if they had all been the same lovely navy.

Here’s where SEFAA comes in … I think it’s wonderful that we have an organization that encompasses all the different fiber arts. I am primarily a quiltmaker, but I greatly admire spinning, weaving, knitting and other fiber disciplines I don’t pursue. When we work together to support each other and learn from each other's strengths, an uplifting sort of cross-pollination can occur.

We can also learn from, as well as teach, those fiber artists who are at different stages of “ripeness” from our own. This can be another benefit of SEFAA, and it’s the reason I am so excited that we’re talking about having a conference, maybe next winter, to bring us all together, face to face. What color blueberry will you be?

Claudia

Future Fiber

The role of fiber may be more vital in our future than most of us realize. Now through August 14^th, an exhibit at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) is showcasing the future of fiber in its exhibit “On You 2.” This is the second show at MODA featuring wearable technology, using conductive thread and fabric manipulation. 

In her article in the AJC today, Catherine Fox noted that old world fabric techniques, such as smocking, quilting, pleating, and embroidery actually lend themselves to this new technology. How's that for relevance?

Imagine being able to wear your computer screen. I can't wait ...  For show hours and directions, visit the website at www.museumofdesign.org

A Search for Artisans

If your love of fiber tends toward mixed media, you may want to enter the “Artisan Search 2011” held by Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. They are looking for five fabulous artists/craftsmen in the areas of Mixed-media Stitch, Art Journal and Book Making, Printmaking and Silk Screening, Mixed-media Jewelry, and Collage and Assemblage. For more details, go to www.clothpaperscissors.com and follow the link to “Artisan Search 2011.” The deadline for receipt is September 13^th.

I hope all you fiber friends have a wonderful Fourth of July.  Maybe some gorgeous fireworks will inspire a new woven, dyed, sewn, quilted, knitted, crocheted, knotted, or embroidered work of art!

Feeling Empowered

All of us probably are feeling a little bit helpless right now as we watch the ugly, oozing oil coat the South's gorgeous beaches, kill precious wildlife and wreck delicate ecosystems. However, as fiber people, we might be able to do something to help. 

A website called MatterOfTrust.org is putting out a call for clean, natural fiber of almost any description. Thanks to to a hairstylist and inventor named Phil McRory, the fiber can be used to make oil-absorbing booms to soak up and divert some of the oil spilled in the Gulf. What a wonderful idea! 

If you have any fiber that you think might qualify, or even if it just sounds like an interesting idea, check out the website for details on how to help. 

This information is courtesy of Handwoven Magazine's e-newsletter, Weaving Today. I have checked out the website and it seems quite sincere and positive. Please pass the info on to others. Gotta go - I'm sorting through my fiber now ...

Claudia

Marvelous Moments in Fiber

Hello SEFAA members, fiber artists and friends. Every life is filled with lots of everyday, ordinary happenings and then those rare, defining moments when the clouds part, angel choirs sing, and you know you will never forget what happened. Sometimes those special moments involve fiber …

I can’t ever remember not knowing how to sew. My mother grew up in the Great Depression, and she could make anything out of fabric - except shoes, as our family joke goes. I watched my mother sew curtains and dresses and decided to make ball gowns for my Barbies, then jumpers for myself. I was officially in love with fabric! Good thing, since folds and bolts, thread and notions covered most of the horizontal surfaces, plus all the nooks and crannies, of the upstairs of our home.

When I was 10 years old, my sister was studying interior design, and she came home from college with a piece of white cotton that she had silk-screened with green and blue. (Cue the angel choirs above.) Something about that glimpse of surface design turned on a light in my eyes, and lo, these many years later, it hasn’t dimmed. I realized at that moment the potential for fabric beyond clothing, and I knew that I wanted to “design” fabric, whatever that meant, when I grew up.

When I was a young mother, Jean Ray Laury was my hero. I admired her creations while I managed to amass quite a collection of fiber art books, magazines and supplies. It was a golden age of art and craft, and I sewed, painted fabric and taught myself batik. Then I had to get a “real” job!

Years later, I landed a dream job with a Birmingham publishing company designing and writing about cross stitch and sewing. When the company added a quilting magazine, I found my bliss again. I have been designing and making folk-art and abstract art quilts ever since. There’s something about the quilt format (Could it be fiber, over fiber, over fiber?) that calls to me every day with its siren song.

I also love fiber collage, thread painting, wet felting, needle felting, fiber-reactive dyeing, painting and stamping fabric, photo transfer, hand embroidery, and using almost any recycled object I can tack to a quilt. Add some jewelry making, purse making, teaching (Which I love!), volunteering for the arts in my little town of Senoia, and you have a picture of my art life. Three years ago I helped start an art quilt group, The Southside Irregulars, to aid and abet me in my fiber adventures.

These are my “marvelous moments in fiber.” This blog is for all of us, and I would love to know the fiber beginnings of each and every SEFAA member. If you are willing to share something about yourself, please e-mail it to me so I can put it in the blog. We would also love to know of any shows, sources for fiber goodies, and cool techniques you can share. Really, anything fiber-related is fair game. Please be sure to include any sources and credit where it is due.

I hope to see everyone this Friday at the monthly SEFAA meeting, and I look forward to meeting you!

Claudia Wood