Ripped 2023 Mixed media lends itself well to fiber art. Actually, paper is a fiber too. For this challenge, each artist was to incorporate paper in the work. It was a nice change of process. Searching for the paper in each piece is a fun viewer experience. The size is a repeat at 18 inches wide by 40 inches long. Lynn Anderson So Many Recitals Kathy Blondell It's Not Easy Being Green Betty Daggett Add a Little Rip to the Mix Annette McFarlane Postcards from Italy Elaine Millar Making Connections Hilde Morin Rolling Surf As I See It 2021 In an attempt to give each artist as much creative “room” as possible, we chose a very general theme which is open to personal interpretation: “As I See It”. The size stipulation was 18” wide by 40” long, but otherwise, the subject matter was up to the artist, and boy did we have fun with this one! Log Cabin by Lynn Anderson To Dye For by Kathy Blondell Who's Watching by Valri Chiappetta My Path by Betty Daggett My Fall Maple by Diane Losli-Britt As I See Lincoln City by Annette McFarlane Rhetoric...A Ripple Effect by Elaine Millar 2020 As I See it by Hilde Morin THE WRITINGS ON THE WALL 2020 MIX chose “Text” as the subject for our 2020 Show. This choice and nearly all the work done on our pieces occurred before Covid-19 became the center of everyone’s life in the spring of 2020. Even without consideration of the impact of the virus, “text” is an interesting choice for a quilt group. Does the meaning of the text itself receive the major emphasis, or is it more a celebration of various kinds of calligraphy and ways of representing language? And because letters in their curvy, varied, gorgeous shapes do not lend themselves to piecing, what method does each artist choose to get the text into her work? There is everything from precisely cut out shapes to printed words to hand-lettered bits, showing strong links to each artist’s way of expression. Enjoy the show! DISAGREE AGREEABLY by Lynn Anderson WE by Kathy Blondell THE CITY SPEAKS by Valri Chiappetta BROKEN/FRACTURED; HEALING/MENDING by Betty Daggett OPEN THE DOORS OF OUR WORLD by Diane Losli-Britt RED STATE BLUE STATE by Annette McFarlane A JOYFUL NOISE JOY COMES WITH THE MORNING JOY IT SEEMS by Elaine Millar PLEASE REMOVE BOOTS AND GUNS by Hilde Morin WHAT GOES AROUND ... 2019 Circles and Cycles! Our lives are full of these two things from marbles to polka dots to peas to the seasons and even a life itself. Our group decided to take on these two concepts and “What goes Around…” was born. It was decided that either or both ideas could be used, and so there is a piece about the moon which can be round at one point in its phase, or many other shapes throughout its cycle. And then there is a tongue-in-cheek bicycle because after all, you can’t cycle if you don’t have circles! Some abstracted tulips show their life cycle with dramatic changes of color, and tiny soap bubbles become something else entirely when enlarged. And that’s just the beginning. We hope you enjoy this theme and the ways we have chosen to express it. Blowing Bubbles by Annette McFarlane Moon Cycles by Betty Daggett Gear Up by Diane Losli-Britt Round Pegs - Square Hole By Elaine Millar Seeing Red by Kathy Blondell Merry Go Round by Lynn Anderson Graffitti by Valri Chiappetta Tulip Envy by Hilde Morin WEATHER 2018 In choosing this year's theme, we made a list of possibilities. When weather was suggested, it seemed at once innocuous and yet so broad and full of possibilities. Today it seems that the weather all over our globe is in the news more than ever. The wild swings in climate, whatever their cause, gives us continual headlines: Flooding, Drought, Monster Storms, etc. No part of our world has escaped these extremes and when these occurrences affect the food supply, results are of even more consequence, often in the "catastrophic" category. In the end, instead of asking ourselves "What on earth will I do with this subject?", it became "How should I limit my portrayal to deliver the subject with the most punch?" Living in the northwest brought many thoughts naturally to rain, some for drama and some for it's soothing and sometimes playful aspect.Others illustrated the consequences of weather occurrences or pondered the often unknowable weather we all live with; even if we listen to the weather report every evening, we are still sometimes caught without our umbrellas. Wind and Water #1 and 2 Lynn Anderson Rain for Dry Land Kathy Blondell T Time Valri Chiappetta Convergence Betty Davis Daggett Rainbows of Rain #1 and 2 Diane Losli-Britt Storm Watching at the Beach Annette McFarlane Rain and Shine Elaine Millar Snow and Ash Hilde Morin REFLECTION AND RENEWAL 2017 Portland’s Japanese Garden, created in 1967, completed an expansion and renewal project in April 2017. Our MIX group was excited and intrigued by this endeavor to add what is primarily an architectural space to what has been mostly a serene garden of lovingly tended plants. As usual with our group, we established a few working parameters: A primary piece measuring 24” square A smaller piece (to be hung on either side, top or bottom), measuring 24” x 10” The possibility of adding another small piece We did not specify the use of a particular color, nor did we say that concentration had to be on the new structures or the garden. That was left that up to the artist. As we discovered with last year’s show, “Urban PDX”, our affection for Portland is strong, and we enjoyed the whole process from time spent in the garden getting inspirational photos to wrestling with some new techniques. We hope these pieces show our wonder at this beautiful spiritual sanctuary. "The Spaces in Between" Kathy Blondell "Japanese Pathway" (top) "Garden Pathway" (bottom) Annette McFarlane "The Garden's Silent Welcome" (top) "Sticks and Stones" (bottom) Betty Daggett "Pagoda" (left) "Pathways" (right) Diane Losli-Britt "Peace and Reconciliation" (top) "Strolling Pond Denizens" (bottom) Valri Chiappetta "Peace" (left) "Tranquility" (right) Elaine Millar "Under The Maple Tree" Hilde Morin URBAN PDX 2016 One can't help notice all the cranes dotting the landscape and neighborhoods changing, expanding and some, even shrinking as new replaces old. We thought it would be interesting to explore these changes in our art. Thus the theme Urban PDX was adopted. The challenge included making one piece of fiber art measuring 30 by 40 inches in portrait orientation and one piece that measured 8 by 20 inches. The smaller piece was to be somehow related to the first. As always, how that was to happen was left to artist vision. The last concept of this challenge was to find a way to include yellow, the color of a #2 pencil. We soon discovered that the good old #2 pencil is, in fact, not a standard color. Enjoy our work and do leave a comment if you wish. Feel free to join our mailing list. You can do so on the right hand side of the home page either by a direct email feed or the RSS reader of your choice. And/Or Kathy Blondell How Dense is Dense Enough? Valri Chiappetta Condemned Betty Daggett The Pearl Melanie Grant Go by Train Diane Losli-Britt Tillicum Crossing Annette McFarlane An Urban Conversation Elaine Millar Busy Day at the Portland Mercado Hilde Morin