Last Bead and Button Post

While many of us who use fiber techniques when we do beadwork, there was an artist and teacher at the Bead and Button Show who uses a loom to create masterworks of beading.  I was fortunate to take a class from Judy Walker in small bead looming.  I loved it and loved her clever "paper clip" loom which eliminates the need for lots and lots of sewing in of warp threads.  Judy had some of her work with her and allowed me to take pictures.  These are amazing pieces.  All of them were done on a traditional bead loom with lots of thread to cope with afterward.  The sizes were about 18" x 24" except for the "rose window" which was about 20" square.  The red rug has 47, 695 beads according to Judy and she should know since she would have picked them up one by one.  This type of beadwork is definitely not for the impatient and faint of heart!

 

You can look for some loomed beadwork in the gallery in the future but not in this size or complexity!  This type of exposure to new ideas and techniques is why many of us go to conferences.

Ann Graham's Scenic Scarf

The judges of the Hot Tropics show selected Ann Graham's silk scarf for recognition. Ann says, "The design for the scarf originated while walking within the campus of a woman's college in the UK. I made a few sketches of lichen growing up a stone wall and some old vines that had crept along the wall. There were other elements of that walk that were sketched out but were not incorporated into this scarf. The color palette was consistent with spring in the UK - wet, green and gray! When I got home, I made a rough draft of the placement of the elements and used watercolor paints to test the various hues. I think the muted colors and chromatic grays are successful in capturing the weather that day."

Here's Ann's description of her technique: "The scarf was painted with French silk dyes (Pebeo Soie) and a water-soluble resist (Resistad) available from ProColour, a New Zealand dye company. There were no thickeners used. Using a water-soluble resist requires carefully stabilizing the scarf on a frame that is just larger than the scarf, using a resist applicator with a fine nib, and applying the resist with a steady hand! Once the resist is dry, it needs to be ironed before applying any dyes. The scarf, once completed and dried, was steamed for three hours, washed and pressed. With a water-soluble resist, the need for dry cleaning is eliminated."


This close-up of the scarf shows the detail Ann was able to achieve with this method. You can see the whole scarf on our January 12 post.

Art Quilt Inspirations

Hello, I am Floris Flam, our Gallery's blogger for the month of January. I am an art quilter specializing in small wall hangings. I dye most of the fabrics used in my quilts and also dye and paint silk scarves. This month, I plan to have several discussions of current art quilt trends and techniques as exemplified by the work of our Gallery members.

We are often asked about our inspiration, the source of the idea or image behind a quilt. Often a quilt is inspired by a photograph taken by the artist. The photo may be translated into fabric following the original very closely, as seen in a quilt I based on a photo I took of an art nouveau doorway in Palermo, Sicily.

Sometimes a quilt may start with a photo inspiration, but look nothing like the original photo. I took a photo on the campus of the University of St. Thomas in Houston because I liked the angles of the buildings. I traced my photo, sliced the tracing into vertical segments, rearranged them, then based my quilt on a section of the new drawing.



On the other hand, a quilt may be based on something as commonplace as the pattern on the bottom of a foam hamburger container. Several years ago, I did a series of quilts using the geometric shapes on one of these for a series of quilts. Here's one of these:

Sometimes a quilt may be entirely nonrepresentational, with the artist working from a group of fabrics she has chosen and without a plan. I often work this way. Here's an example of this kind of quilt:

Betty Ford, another quilter in our Gallery, says that her inspiration usually springs from nature, especially remembered images from early childhood on their farm in Kentucky. Her quilts begin with a sketch, photo — her own or others' — or a painting. She collects art and photography books for this purpose and has shoe boxes full of postcards from art museums and galleries. She also makes thumbnail sketches while watching TV, clips ads that she glues in a sketch book, saves any image that appeals to her, such as napkins and greeting cards. She constantly reviews this material because some appeal one day and others another. She uses primarily hand-dyed fabric, her own and those of some other dyers. Frequently ideas come from the fabrics themselves. This quilt, Winter, was inspired by the photo of a shower curtain Betty saw in a home furnishings catalog.