Spring Time with Loose Threads

     It is spring time and everything is beginning to feel new again.  With the new year a new challenge was presented.  Our group is very eclectic.  It is often difficult for use to decide what we want to do.  And, as with any group, many of us struggle with our sense of self - "Who am I?" "Where do I fit in?" "What kind of artist am I?"  All of us ask these questions of ourselves.  I am hopeful that through the challenges that our group gives one another, each of us can answer those questions.  Or at least have a better insight of how these puzzle pieces fit together.  Spring time gives us a sense of renewal and this latest challenge was met with that same sense of Spring renewal.   

     Loose Threads finished the newest and latest challenge.  We each gathered five to six items from a specific list, brought them to our Christmas meeting, where the items went into bags, and we had to blind pick five or six of them.  The hope was that we would each get an array of everyones items.  Some of the types of items on the list were buttons, ribbon, unconventional fabric, paper ephemera, and metal. However, several of us chose items that we had brought.  Then with these items we were to make an art quilt in the size range of 16x20 to 18x24.   It's interesting that for us, as a group, size is an issue.  We can't go too small or too big, and we will spend quite a bit of time debating what is too small or too big.  We usually love the concept of the challenge, but that size thing can be quite a grappling hook.   

     Arranged on the page are our completed results.  This was a fun challenge.  I know that the paper ephemera, for me was a challenge. How do you work with this stuff.  But everyone integrated each of their items in really great ways.  

Deolinda Rhoades

     Deolinda developed a coffee themed piece.  She was inspired by the Starbucks's cards that she chose.  I love the velvet fabric (her unconventional fabric) because she created subtle coffee cups with steam rising from them. Deolinda is very bold in her choices.  She uses strong design, colors, and texture.  This piece is no exception. 

Barbara Sawyer

     Barbara Sawyer loves flowers.  A lot of her work centers around gardens and flowers. Her designs are often very illustrative, humorous, and peaceful. There is a 'child' like quality to her work, in that I mean, I am often taken back to the wonder of childhood through her eyes.  Her color choice are usually very bright and clear, and she has a way of making choices that are straight to the point.  This piece is quite charming.

Adena Joseph

     Adena Joseph has such a command of color.  Many of her pieces remind me of the highly energized images that come out of Mexico, and Central and South America.  But there is also an Asian feel as well.  She does make pieces that are very subtle, but very thoughtfully designed.  This piece is exuberant color and texture.  Wonderful job!

Karen Taber

     My piece (Karen Taber) is good.  I, like some of the other artists, still want to refine the piece and add some more too it.  I actually tried to use more then one unconventional fabric - I originally chose a suede type fabric.  So I added in lace, and denim (from a pair of pants), and I backed the whole piece with a stretchy jersey.  I painted buttons that I had to use and crochet a lace piece to add to the piece.  My work can either range from being highly illustrative to highly abstract.  

Barbara Sindlinger

     Barbara Sindlinger has a great love for nature.  She has made truly beautiful landscapes.  But when she is inspired by the sea her pieces really come to life.  This resent piece is no exception.   She has a great use of subtle color and really works with embellishments well.  I love what she did with the acorn buttons she got from me.  She turned them upside down and filled them with beads.  

Grace Hoya

     Grace Hoya is very clever.  She really looks carefully at the world around her and then brings it into her work.  Each piece she makes is usually very personal.  This piece is no exception.  She based her design on photos she took of the rafters in her new home that is being built.  From there she created a very organic abstract image referencing her old home and the new home that she will be moving into.  It is quite lovely

What's Been Happening

Hello to all.  Well it must be admitted that the caretaker of our blog went on vacation during the summer.  Mentally more then physically.  We have been meeting regularly and making and sharing ideas.  Right now we are in a transitional stage of figuring out our direction.   We have been working on pieces that were influenced by different art styles and artists.  It has met with various degrees of success, but I don't think that overall we have been that enthusiastic about it.

I think now we are looking for new inspiration.  One of the things that we did this summer was fabric dying.  It was great fun.  Some of us had dyed fabric before and some of us had not.  Actually the process, as I was one of the 'newbies' in dying, was fairly simple.  Messy, fun, but easy.  I am hoping that this experience will help us along a new path.

We are also branching out by going on some 'field trips'.  I think that this will sort of happen as we find things to go see.  More on that when there is news.

We have some new work to share and several examples of our fabric dying experience. Grace and Adena both brought quilted pieces to share.  Grace's piece was from our last art style, which was Art Deco/Art Nouveau.  She found inspiration in Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural designs.  Adena shared a quilt that she finished from a class/demonstration that she participated in some time ago.  All of our other ArtDeco/Art Nouveau pieces, unfortunately did not make it into this post, owing to some camera/photo mishaps and basically technology working against us.

Enjoy our dyed fabrics and Grace's and Adena's  pieces.

Grace Hoya

Adena Joseph

Becky Haley

Becky Haley

Barbara Sawyer

Barbara Sawyer

Barbara Sindlinger

Barbara Sinlinger

Karen Taber

Karen Taber

Playing with Abstract Expressionism

Welcome spring!

This month we are catching up on one of our member's Impressionistic piece from the last round.  She was not able to attend the last meeting so we did not get a picture of it.  Below is Grace Hoya's interpretation of Impressionism:

Grace Hoya

We are well on our way with the next round of art quilts.  This time we tackling Abstract Expressionism.  This is an approach that came about in the 1940's.  Artists were exploring new ways of 'seeing' the world, both the inner world and the world around them.  The pieces below are works in progress.  It will be really exciting to see how they look completed.  The first two are UFO's that Grace is thinking about manipulating for her piece.  She is not sure which one she is going to continue with, but both have really great possibilities.

Grace Hoya

Grace Hoya

The next one is Karen Taber's visual experiment.  She is working on layering fabrics and thread.  

Karen Taber

Our last contributor is Klara East, one of our newest members.  She is using hand dyed silks, velvet, and beading.   

Klara East

And..... we need to give a huge big shout out to Barbara Sindlinger who did very well at Best of the Valley in April.  This is our local annual quilt show in Lindsay, California.  She received the Chairman's Special Merit Award for her quilt Farmer's Wife.  Way to go Barbara:

Impressionistically Inspired

Deolinda Rhoades

 Well here we are again.  Our first projects for the new year.  We are challenging ourselves with art styles this year.  This first round of quilts were inspired by Impressionism.  We looked at different artists and took elements from their work. People were inspired by everyone from Vincent Van Gogh to Edward Degas. It may have been the colors, the objects in the painting, the general feel of the piece, or the entire subject matter.  We have here quite an eclectic presentation. 

Some of us are really thinking about what we are producing, so some of our pieces are not complete yet.  We are looking for more feed back on what we are working on, rather then ideas after the fact, or the finished piece.  

Our next challenge is Abstract Expressionism.  I don't think that any of us can wait to see what we do with that style or movement.

We have two new members this year - Klara East from Exeter and Becky Haley from Springville, and one returning member - Deolinda Rhoads from Hanford.  We can't wait to see how they will inspire us all.

Karen Taber

Barbara Sawyer

Barbara Sindlinger

Adena Joseph

Becky Haley

Call For Artists

Call For Artists

California Loose Threads is looking for fiber artists to join our fiber art group from the Kings/Tulare county region of California.

Our mission statement: California Loose Threads is a fiber art group whose goal is to inspire, explore, challenge, and learn from one another while working in the fantastic world of mixed media fibers.
We are looking for some new members for our group. We have openings for 3 or 4 members. If interested please contact us at k2tt@cherishedreams.com by December 1, 2014. Include your name, a statement telling us why you would like to become a member and two images of work you have done or a link to your blog, flickr, or instagram accounts.

Deadline: December 1st, 2014

Thanks in advance - we look forward to seeing the exciting things each and everyone of you have to offer.

Our September Offerings

This is the month.  We have completed our next round of inspiration challenges.  Some really great things were created.  I do hope that everyone is enjoying this challenge.  I had to miss this meeting - soooooo  I didn't get to hear the discussions.

But let me present to you:

Barbara Sindlinger

 Barbara Sawyer

Adena Joseph
 

Grace Hoya

Karen Taber

Adieu to Anna

It is a sad post this month.  Our dear Anna has made the momentous decision to leave Loose Threads.  The travel and commitments of her life have moved her in new and exciting directions.  She has been a constant mainstay of our group and will be sorely missed. 

Her talent and dedication over the years has inspired us all and challenged each of us to explore this quilt world in new a unique ways.  Many of her pieces have inspired each of us to try new techniques and to push ourselves in new artistic directions.

Anna, like many of us started as a traditional quilter, and she still creates traditional quilts and teaches others to do the same.  Somewhere along the way she discovered the joy and freedom of the art quilt.  With her background experience in art, art quilts re-awakened that desire and she has studied and explored just about every technique that is employed in the making of art quilts.  And I think that at times these pieces give her the most joy and feeling of fulfilment when it comes to making a quilt.

For an artist, more often then not, it is the process of making a thing that gives us joy.  Even if we do not like the piece when it is finished, or even if we felt frustrated through the entire process,  we still feel the joy in the making.  Anna, to me is that ardent artist; the Explorer.

WE WILL MISS YOU.

She even finished her current challenge ahead of us so that she could leave on a high note.  This piece was inspired by Lesley Cunningham's inspiration board: