Sheep Painting

I'm still at the easel painting two or three nights a week. I've accumulated quite a large stack of paintings that will never see the light of day! They will either end up in the trash or forever be hidden in a dark closet. It's all part of the learning process and is to be expected (thank goodness my husband realizes this and is supportive!).

Here is my latest endeavor, a painting of three sheep. Since I work with wool for my fiber pieces I thought it would be appropriate that I paint some sheep.

New 12 x 12

I'm sure glad women are allowed to change their minds! I decided to make a different piece for the 12 x 12 exhibit I mentioned earlier. The other piece was nice but as one of my friends told me it wasn't equal to my best work so I made another piece.

This is about 9.5" square and will be mounted on a 12" square black canvas. The background is a felted piece of Merino wool batt. The other pieces in the design are also made from Merino wool and have been needle felted then I added beads and hand embroidery. I'm still working on a title....4-D Intellator is what my husband suggested. That's a word he made up that stands for intellectual translator. The symbols on the left are being translated into other alien languages through a 4th dimension device. I know, I know.....I watch too many Sci-Fi movies!

Fiber Christmas in July

A couple of friends, Shirley and Dorothy, went with me this past weekend to Kellyville, OK to the Fiber Christmas in July event http://www.fiberchristmas.com/. I took my camera but forgot to take photos! It was a small wool festival but we all had fun, met new 'fiber people', and spent money. They had some really nice wool available so I couldn't resist bringing a sampling home with me.

Mixed Media Collage Exhibit

I entered a local show, Mixed Media Collage, sponsored by the Oklahoma Watermedia Association last week and had all three pieces accepted into the exhibition. The show is on display until August 22nd at the Norick Art Center on the Oklahoma City University campus. My "In Kandinsky Time" received a Judge's Mention so I was very pleased!

I admire Wassily Kandinsky's abstract paintings so that's what inspired this piece. Kandinsky was also a musician and since I'm working on a Time Series the title (In Kandinsky Time) seemed to fit. I made the black felted background from Corridale wool then added the other pieces of the design by needle felting. Then of course I had to add beads and hand embroidery. This is mounted on a thick gallery canvas that I painted.

Paintings in progress

I'm still working on oil paintings. I think I'm improving but it seems like a very slow process. It just takes a lot of practice and you end up with a lot of bad paintings! Here are my latest two paintings that are still in progress. I have more work to do on the turtles but it's almost finished.

Current Works In Progress

I've been invited again this year by OVAC (Okla. Visual Arts Coalition) http://www.ovac-ok.org/ to participate in their fund raiser event called 12 x 12. I love this annual event so I'm honored to be included. They supply a 12 x 12 canvas for the artist to use so this felted piece will be sewn to the canvas once I have painted it purple.

I belong to Yahoo group called abstract challenge and this piece was originally made for one of their challenges. I changed the face and added a couple of borders and unless I change my mind, which I'm allowed to do, this will become my 12 x 12 submission. I still have time so I may make another piece before making my final decision.

Fiberworks 2008 Photos

Here are some photos I took of Fiberworks 2008. The exhibit was over on June 27th and now we are starting to work on Fiberworks 2009........it's a never ending job! IAO Gallery has invited us back again next year so at least we have the location and the date so now we are searching for our next juror.

Critique Night at Fiberworks 2008

I've been neglectful and haven't taken photos of the Fiberworks 2008 exhibit this year. This is the only photo that I took and it was taken at Critique Night when the juror went around the gallery and talked about each piece she had chosen for the show. The juror, Erica, is at the far left standing next to the wall. Critique Night is one of my favorite events of the year. I don't always agree with the juror's statements but it's interesting to know her/his thoughts. No one ever gives harsh critiques and this juror was particularly nice (almost too nice) about it. I like to hear good constructive critism about my work because I'm always striving to improve. If someone has a suggestion or a comment I want to hear it. Like I said, I may not agree but I keep an open mind and try to digest the information.

Fiberworks 2008 Award

I had two pieces accepted into Fiberworks 2008 this year and this one, Another Place In Time, won an Award of Merit for $250! The opening reception was June 6th on my birthday so that made a wonderful birthday present. Time Tracks is the other piece that is in the show.

Fiberworks 2008 had 132 pieces entered out of which 68 pieces were accepted so I was thrilled to have work in the show much less win an award. They presented $4000 in awards this year which is outstanding for this type of exhibit.

The show will be on display at the IAO Gallery until June 27th. You can see other photos of Fiberworks on their website. http://www.iaogallery.org/

Working on Fiberworks 2008

I'm a member of the Fiber Artist of Oklahoma and we are gearing up for our annual juried exhibit, Fiberworks. This will be our 30th anniversary! You can read about it and download the prospectus on our website at http://www.fiberartistsok.org/. Our juror this year is Erica Spitzer Rasmussen who is an incredible artist that creates mixed media and handmade paper garments. She has been featured on the pages of FIBERARTS, Surface Design Journal, Hand Papermaking, Craft Arts International and SpinOff Magazines. We have photos of her innovative work on our prospectus.

Erica will be giving a free lecture on June 4th at the Belle Isle Library in OKC that is open to the public. Thursday, June 5th will be Critique Night at the IAO Gallery downtown OKC. The exhibit will be hung and Erica will talk about each piece that she selected for the show. I love Critique Night! Fiberworks is the only juried show that I have entered that has such an event. Friday, June 6th from 6 to 8pm will be the opening reception at the IAO Gallery http://www.iaogallery.org/, 811 N. Broadway, OKC. The exhibit will be on view until June 27th.

It's an execellent show of traditional, contemporary and innovative work primarily made of fiber so if anyone is in the area I hope you will stop and see the exhibit.