The Asheville Reef

Though we are pretty far from the ocean, a reef is growing in Asheville!

We are an official satellite of the worldwide "Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef" project created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring in Los Angeles.

The project started in 2005 and has grown out of several intersecting threads - mathematics, marine biology, feminine handicraft, collective art practice, and environmental concerns regarding the plight of living reefs. Here is a portion of the local coral reef:

Over the last month or so, I crocheted four items to add to the reef. Here they are, photographed in two different settings at my home:

You might recognize some of my pieces in the larger display at The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, where our local reef is currently residing.

When I delivered my pieces of coral, there were a group of women actively involved in making their own coral creations. Now that is a good example of how the project is fostering "collective art practice!"

There were a lot of items that were far more creative than my contributions, so I couldn't resist sharing a few more pictures:

Even though crochet is far from my favorite fiber medium, I enjoyed being part of this project and I look forward to attending the reception in September when the Wertheim sisters will come to UNC Asheville to speak about the project.

Fun with scissors and glue!

Last week I went to a "Collage Art and Mixed Media Workshop" at the local community college, AB tech. It was taught/facilitated by a local artist, Ursula Gullow and there were just 5 of us in the workshop, so we had plenty of opportunities to network together and explore our creative sides.

I came away with two collages, both using some copies of old postcards that I had brought with me.

This first collage started with some woven paper, a technique that Ursula demonstrated, however by the time I completed it, there was very little of the paper weaving showing. Another technique that we were encouraged to explore was stenciling and I used this extensively to fill my background space. I also used some printed lutrador and then finished the entire piece with a wash of diluted glue tinted with some brown paint. I found that the wash tended to "antique" the entire piece and that seemed to enhance the overall "aged look" suggested by the vintage postcards. The collage was mounted on a canvas board which I chose because I felt that due to its size, a piece of poster paper would have been too flimsy.

My goal was to try to use collage in a piece that was primarily fabric, so I had brought a piece of white muslin taped onto a piece of foam core and I used that for my second piece. This piece uses painted fabric, printed lutrador, some ribbon and some paper strips. I attached everything with glue and then when I got home, I removed the fabric from the foam core and fused it to a piece of batting and did some surface quilting to make sure everything was attached. I did a little bit of thread painting to extend the brown paper lattice. It is approximately 11 inches square and I'm not sure what the next step will be. I would like to embellish it further... maybe some beads?

I enjoyed the workshop very much. Ursula did a great job inspiring and encouraging us. She demonstrated several techniques that she finds useful when constructing mixed media pieces and encouraged each of us to use them, if we chose, in our projects. It was a fun day!

It's in the mail...

On the first day of summer, my new greatnephew was born. His name is Harrison Joseph, but I guess he will be called "Harry" which was my father's name (his great grandfather).
A week later, while I was in Buffalo, I bought fabric to make him a quilt. And here it is!

It's just a simple design of squares with an inside border that matches the backing. The inside border and backing fabric has some cute little vehicles on it and the squares are random primary colors that match. It's about 35 x 45 inches.
I think it looks very "little boyish" with blue being the dominant color and all the little cars and trucks on the print fabric. I just used raw edge machine applique to add his name in block letters to the top.I'm pleased with it and I'm especially proud of the fact that it is already in the mail and he will receive it before his 1 month birthday! I'm usually not that prompt. :-)