While contemporary Chinese artists such as Ai Weiwei and Cai Guo-Qiang often grab international headlines with their projects and exhibitions, there are
This little beauty has taken up a lot of time over the last 2 weeks. It did not quite come out as I had pictured in my head and I think I know how to get there for a future piece. I quite like it hanging in its natural home.
August 28, 2011 I was standing at the American Craft Exposition in Evanston, Illinois when friends of mine came running down to my booth. "Ann," they said. "Is there anyone who can get your quilts out of your studio? Shelburne Falls is flooding." Soon, as they say, the rest is history. My beloved studio which had stood since the 1930's floated down the river as a result of Tropical Storm Irene. Don't tell me that climate change is not real. Period. While I waited for my new studio to get build I made a series of quilts based on the Deerfield River. Much better than fretting when it would get finished, wasn't it? green river--38x38"--quilt--Ann Brauer 2015--photo by John Polak
within the virginia museum of contemporary art, crystal wagner has installed an immersive wave of material that floods across the interior gallery space.
Contemporary Textiles drawing inspiration from Welsh weaving
Cranbrook Art Museum presents the U.S. debut of this career retrospective of Alexander Girard (1907–1993), one of the most influential designers of the twentieth century. Girard worked across the fields of architecture, interior design, textiles, and graphics to create stunning environments that greatly enriched the visual language of mid-century modernism. Girard returned color, texture, decoration,
An 11x14 inch art print of the giant octopus Kraken sea monster with inspirational motivational text GET KRAKEN. The Captain says "Arrrr......If the Kraken cant get ya motivated, nothing will." The original was a mix media illustration. The art is printed in excellent quality on a decorative hand made fiber paper. The paper is a natural light tan color and has a nice texture and fiber inclusions that gives it a very unique vintage look. All United States orders ship by USPS Priority Mail. Orders outside the USA ship by First Class International. Shipping is combined on any additional items purchased from me for FREE, no additional shipping charge at all.
Enjoy a beloved technique of mine that includes and combine two of my craft favourites: ceramics and fibre, through the work of three women artists!
Maud Fredin, textile printing Festivitas, 1954. Print on cotton rips. Sweden. © Maud Fredin Fredholm. Via Röhsska Museum, Göteborg
lace, 1600-1629, British; Needle. Signed B.E.B. with inscription
Look at this picture! Isn't it wonderful!? I have worked at Stanford University Hospital for over five years and never visited the campus library. Today I went and I now have a big smile that won't leave my face because there were so many wonderful books. I am not allowed to check any out, just to put them on hold and make as many scans as I like. I wandered the stacks in a state of bliss. With the research I can do here I will be able to make as many embroidery patterns as I like. I am so happy it doesn't even matter that I wore very inappropriate shoes for walking around on campus and my feet bled or that it was 100 degrees and my refrigerator broke. Most of the books with good pictures are older and the pictures are mostly b/w but I did find a few color photos. Here is the best color photo that I found today. The book is in German which I do not understand except with the help of Google translator. It has a few pictures of embroideries but only this one color photo of the counted satin stitch/brick stitch which is my focus. Appuhn, Horst. Kloster Isenhagen Kunst und Kultur im Mittelalter. Lüneburg, Museumsverein für das Fürstentum Lüneburg, 1966 Note that in the picture there is the outline of a donkey(?) that is not filled in with embroidery. I like the unfinished bits because they give clues to how things were made. Also my first impression with my modern point of view is that the angels are holding forks with fish speared on them for roasting over a fire and that it looks like baby Jesus is being served up on a table with the cow salivating over him. However I am certain that is not the correct interpretation.
Anna Betzbee
cinoh:design-is-fine: Sheila Hicks, Bas-relief for interior of Air France Boeing 747 Aircraft, 1969. Wild silk on polished cotton grid. Courtesy the artist and Sikkema Jenkins & Co. Source Museum...
As I walked by “Clematis and Birds of Paradise” (1924) in the Stavanger Art Museum, I was drawn to the birds with long flowing tails. The feathers are outlined perfectly by leaving just…
I had such an unexpected thrill this weekend. The local quilt guild Foothills Quilters guild held their annual quilt show and I was the first person in the door on Sunday morning - literally! It wasn't that early, 10 AM but I just happened to get there right on time for a change. Anyway the show was just so so in my opinion but unknown to me in another building they had a featured guest artist - Freddy Moran! I almost missed it. It wasn't well marked and no one at the show was talking it up. I just happened to wander into the right place and came upon one of my quilting idols! It felt like walking into a museum side room and stumbling across Picasso sitting at a table surrounded by his paintings. I was gob smacked! Freddy was so charming and friendly, we chatted for quite a bit I probably sounded like an idiot I was so star struck. When I asked if it would be OK if I took pictures she said her feelings would be hurt if I didn't. Today and tomorrow I'll share the exhibit with you so your eyes won't bug out of your head all at once. Unfortunately the display was not the best and I couldn't get a good angle on a lot of these amazing quilts. Let me just say they are a feast for the senses. If you are not familiar with Freddy Moran's work I found this small biography online: Freddy Moran likes to divide her life into three periods: school years, parenting years, and artist years. She graduated form Dominican College, a small liberal arts women's college in San Rafael, California. Pottery was Freddy's first love, and she majored in art. After graduation, she married her childhood sweetheart, Neil----they met when they were 12 and 13. Fifty-three years later they are still boyfriend and girlfriend. Freddy and Neil raised a family of five sons. Their children's families, including 13 grandchildren, live near by and continue to keep her busy and fill her with joy. Her first quilting book, Freddy's House, brought her fearless use of color to a wide audience and is still in demand. Freddy travels and teaches extensively, challenging quilters to break the rules and do what works best for them. She has appeared on national television programs including the DIY network. "Red is neutral" is her quilting mantra. Now on to her AMAZING, FEARLESS and JOYFUL quilts. I hope you get as much pleasure from these photos as I got from seeing them in person. This quilt was so heavily beaded it looked like it was lit with electricity! It was stuck in a dark corner and I couldn't get a good picture. I'll show you the rest tomorrow. Linking to Patchwork Times for more inspiration. Until next time,
Anni Albers used her art to introduce order and clarity into an otherwise unstable and chaotic world. She grew up in Berlin during World War I and in 1933 was forced to leave Germany for the US after the Nazis came to power and closed the Bauhaus where she and her husband, Josef Albers, were
The art of embroidery is very alive in Morocco. Women learn to embroider at a very young age and some embroidery is so intricate it takes months to do and costs hundreds of dollars. Below are typical embroideries made in Fez. The "Fez stitch" is a very fine mix of cross and straight stitches that often covers the cloth entirely. Antique embroidery from Fes in a purple border. Photo: IDPCM Antique pillow in Fes stitch. Photo: McCann A tablecloth in Fez stitch The women don't mark the cloth. Positioning of the stitch is done by "eye" at an incredible speed. photo: J R Pelmont More to the south is another type of traditional embroidery from the area of Rabat, the Moroccan capital. This type of stitch is often done in silk, gold or silver thread and gives a beautiful shiny aspect. It is a very rich embroidery and is used on garments as well as cushions and bed covers. These traditional embroideries are used by contemporary designers as in this superb room photographed for the magazine "Coté Maison" by Bernard Touillion. Some embroidery is now done with special sewing machines. That makes embroidered garments affordable. This proud tailor made the embroidered caftan below for a friend in just three days. We bring the fabric, choose the style of embroidery and thread colour and he starts working. Djellabas are often elaborately embroidered and worn with co-ordinated scarves and babouches. The main diffference between a caftan and a djellaba is that a djallaba has a hood while a caftan does not and a caftan is often worn for special occasions and sometimes heavily embroidered. The linen chambray caftan I wear for lounging at home: Simpler hand embroidery on a blouse by Ludovic Petit, a french designer in Marrakech. Hand embroidered placemat and napkin by abanjà. This pointed example is called the "dars" stitch and is traditional moroccan embroidery. Dark brown hand embroidered velvet cushion by Abanjà... ...and olive green linen with chartreuse and silver embroidery by Ludovic Petit for abanjà. Photos: Sylvie Pellet, Jeanne-Aelia Desparmet-Hart, Joelle Desparmet and others as sourced.
Designer: Sheila Hicks (American, born Hastings, Nebraska, 1934). Date: designed 1967–68; executed 1985. Medium: Linen. Dimensions: 59-1/8 x 82-3/4 x 6 in...
As I try to write this post I have trouble articulating how much the Quilts of Gee’s Bend have inspired me.
I've got just enough space to run a two yard length of silk on my padded table to do some printing and direct painting on this silk. It's different than cotton, as the silk slips around and is way flimsy, but I've gotten results that I like. This will be at QBL next week when I am vending,
At last year's Bite Sized Textiles exhibition, Sue Lawty's little lead-thread piece caught my eye. Just now, a close-up of another lead piece, on the Transition & Influence website, caught my eye - Oh my, the gleam of the smooth metal - the soft metal - a dangerous metal. (No longer found in paint or in fuel; but still in contaminated soil near roadways and in deteriorating old paint ... if you're typesetting, don't forget to wash your hands.) Lead Weave (detail); image from here And the flow of the forms - so easy-looking, a graceful metal ... though she's going with the flow, she is bending the metal to her will. It is an accommodating medium, up to a point. "Calculus" (image from here) Her work includes the "stone drawings" - accumulations of pebbles glued to a wall, very time consuming (to find, to sort, to arrange, to affix); definitely time-based work. Her work "develops ideas of individuality and universality". Of unconventional uses of traditional practices. Pushing the envelope. Tiptoeing near dangerous ground. In an alluring way. Restraint; balance; tension; rhythm. Simplicity; there's just enough happening...
