Is Not Gold; Holiday Show

To continue with the treasures that abound in the Potomac Fiberarts Gallery this month, here are the jewelry cases:

We have an array of bracelets in felt, beads, fabric, and wire.

And a bounty of necklaces:

The small item wall; earrings,brooches, barrettes and more:

Hand Made Cards for special notes.

Eyeglass cases,

And hand dyed yarns for that special project or for gifting as is.

Hand made books for journaling or sketching or just making notes as well as pillows, bowls and much more.

I find my days working in the gallery like sitting in Aladdin's Cave. I almost never come home without bringing a purchase with me that I just can't resist. Happy Thanksgiving. Joanne

All That Glitters; Holiday Show

Monday the Potamac Fiberarts Gallery juried in our Holiday Show "All That Glitters---Is Not Gold". The variety of fiber and fiber technique with alternative materials is stunning. Here is a short overview of gifting items available, all hand made in the local DC/MD/VA/PA area.

First an overview of our treasures:

A multitude of Scarves and Garments just waiting to be touched:

The Hat wall, knitted, crocheted, fulled and felted, ready to warm winter heads:

Gloves and Purses:

And wall art to enliven your living spaces:

Plus critters to make you smile:

Come on down and come on in. For November, Joanne

Who we are

It is a pretty well known fact that artists aren't making much money for the hours we put into our work.  We have to love what we do or we'd go back to what we did before because it no doubt was more lucrative than making art.  The following is a list of what some of our members did before they started making art.  Come see us in Studio 18 in the Torpedo Factory Art Center and see if you can relate the former (and sometimes current) jobs with the Art.

Zita Simitus--Chief Psychologist of the Army

Joanne Bast--taught zoology, biology, botany, human anatomy and physiology at              the college level.

Carol Bodin--computer systems designer

Mickey Kunkle--mortgage loan officer

Jeanne Bohlen--physics major who ended up in a number of libraries--public,  for              profit business, non profit organizations.

Lynda Prioleau--still working as a meeting and conference planner

Cindy Grisdela--financial journalist

Eileeen Doughty--cartographer supervising a number of people some of whom were           deaf so she had to learn sign language

Claudia Levy--reporter and editor at Washington Post

Betty Ladd--computer programmer (now office manager at architecture firm)

Ruth Blau--technical writer/editor

Merle Thompson--professor of English Literature

Clara Graves--freelance graphic designer

Roz Houseknecht--swim instructor both then and part-time now

Kay Collins--art teacher, business owner, sex education counselor, and lots more--             very varied jobs

Fran Spaeder--30+ years at the CIA in information technology

Larry Novak--systems engineer and software project manager--scientific and                           engineering applications

Anne Sanderoff-Walker--registered x-ray technologist and used CT scans when                    they were fairly new

Diane Mularz--currently employed as software systems engineer

Debra Lee--managed programs to integrate technology with business systems

Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery Holiday Jury Day

Monday November 15 was the jury day for our Holiday Treasures Show. The Potomac Fiberarts Gallery is a coop gallery that exhibits about 10 entirely new shows of fiberart each year. At the end of a show, all work is removed from the gallery and new work is submitted to a jury process before entering the gallery for the new show. Each piece is individually juried to maintain quality and relevance to fiber or a fiber technique.

The gallery is first emptied of all outgoing work.

Then the gallery is cleaned and prepared for new incoming items.Display committee member Paige Garber is sweeping the floors as Clara Graves prepares hat racks.

The jury tables are set up in the corridor outside the gallery. Racks and bags contain members work awaiting checking in which is done on the tables to the right and left. The center table seats two members of our jury committee who collaborate on passing decisions on each item. While the jurors present for the holiday show are our own members, several times a year, we invite guest jurors to gain a fresh insight. The holiday show is also our largest show in terms of number of items entered. Therefore this jury process is repeated at a second location with a second set of jurors and accessory people. I will only be showing you one. The jurors are ready to go.

Incoming work awaiting jurying.

Members Lynn Hoffman and Bev Ringel check items against inventory sheets.

Roz Houseknecht hold incoming art pieces up for the jurors to see.

Jurors Carol Holmes and Janet Stollnitz make tough decisions.

Works start coming in to the gallery.

The jury process continues.

The gallery fills.

By about 2-3PM, the jury process is finished and the gallery opens for business with a fresh new selection of fiber art and art to wear selections. Scarves and shawls:

More scarves, jackets, vests and other wearables:

Wall Art:

Purses, hats, gloves, handmade books, pillows, and more:

Jewelry, brooches, earrings, barrettes, bracelets, necklaces:

Jewelry cases for the special pieces:

We are open 10AM-6PM daily and weekends, Thursday 11AM-9PM. There will be a special Holiday Open House throughout the Torpedo Factory Art Center on December 2 from 6-9PM.We welcome your visit. Until next blog when I will continue my discussion of stitched beadwork with an introduction of brick stitch. Joanne