Wild About Fiber

The Connecting Threads show put on by the Contemporary Quilt and Fiber Artists art quilting and fiber art group that I belong to has come to a close.  The show at the Women's Art Barn in Mariemont, OH was a huge hit!  It was very well attended and 8 art quilters sold work in the show!  That is always a thrill when someone else loves your vision enough to take your work home to enjoy every day!  The hanging committee put the show together in a thoughtful way that caused my eyes to flow from piece to piece until I had seen the entire show!  That takes a considerable amount of talent in itself!  Here is my coiled piece, Desert Sun on a stand in the show, part of the flow!

Tomorrow, June 17th from 1 to 4 pm is the opening of the Contemporary Quilt and Fiber Artists second annual show at the Women's Art Barn in Mariemont. What you can expect to see is amazing fiber art.  Most of our members are art quilters and elevate their work to fine art through their skill and attention to detail.  We actually hold our monthly meetings at the Women's Art Barn, a beautiful art space.  If you think you might be interested in joining our group, come to the opening and view the art, talk with the artists and get a feel for the group.  It is an encouraging group of people who are enthusiastic and fun, and above all, so talented.  I am honored to be a part of this amazing and sharing group of artists!  If you are interested in the group but cannot join us for the opening, leave a message below and I will contact you!  Light refreshments will be served and we look forward to seeing you there! My coiled piece, Desert Sun, is my entry i...

I recently had the pleasure of being a featured artist at the Miami Valley Christian Academy for their annual Fine Arts Night.  It is organized at the school by the Art Department and was my first such experience!  The students even made a sign for my table.  My obligation as a participating artist was to demonstrate coiling.  The elementary age children and the parents seemed to be the most interested in the coiling.  One little girl was so attentive and asked such good questions!  It was fun to explain the different types of core material I had used and how I use them for different effect when she said, "hmmm....that makes sense."  SO CUTE!  It was a great experience to participate in this annual event! While I was demonstrating, I had a signup sheet on my table for people to sign up for a coiling class and so now I have to get ready for that class!  Gotta run, lots to do!

A little over a year ago, my friend, Robbie Porter taught one of my art groups, Creative Saturday, how to coil.  I have found I enjoy coiling very much.  It is an old way of making baskets and can also be a very artful form of basketry.  These are the first 3 pieces I have made.  With every piece I make, I explore what happens when I do something different to them.  With my first piece, I had no finished product in mind, but as I worked on it, the yarn started suggesting sand and surf as I worked on it.  Before I finished it, I had a trip to Florida and another artist friend, Charlie Patricolo of  Charlieclothdolls on Facebook, was teaching classes in Florida and I was visiting friends in Florida.  Charlie picked my friend Cheryl and I up and off we went to Naples, Florida to visit one of the galleries that carry Charlie's dolls.  We had a lovely day with lunch in Naples and a stroll on the beach just off of downtown Naples.  The ...