More results from the "Emotions Challenge"

Though not Fiberexplorations members participated in last year's "Emotions Challenge," I did post the results of three members' projects in my Oct. 13, 2014 post.  Unfortunately, we didn't have adequate lighting for photography at that meeting, which was obvious in the detail photo I posted of Erika's piece, "Content with My Content."

To rectify that and to honor Erika's beautiful work, she's given me better photos to share on the blog:

"Content with My Content" by Erika Close

Note the intricate machine and hand stitches in these detail shots:

 

detail of focal point

detail 2

detail 3

Good lighting makes all the difference!

Erika Close awarded 1st Place ribbon at Ore. State Fair 2013

1st place ribbon for "Industrial Nature"

Fiberexplorations member Erika Close took home a first place ribbon at this year's Oregon State Fair for her quilt, Industrial Nature (also shown in this post from the Sisters' Outdoor Quilt Show).  Erika's quilt was categorized in the Professional division.

"Industrial Nature" by Erika Close

Detail of leaves and quilting

Erika began this quilt in a workshop by Jean Wells.  Rather than using a traditional binding, she used the portrait finish technique that Jean teaches.  In this method, the quilt is finished, then mounted on a larger quilted piece that works as a frame. 

Quilt entries at this year's fair were up from 150 last year to 220 this year, according to Salem's Statesman Journal newspaper.  Volunteer committees have taken charge of this quilt competition, as well as other "creative living" contests.

Congratulations, Erika!

Two members juried into regional show

Congratulations to our members Deb Sorem and Erika Close, who recently learned that their quilts were juried into the 2013 show Fabrications: The Art of Quilting. 

Deb's "The Signal and the Noise"

Erika's "Meyer Lemons"

This is the second year for this annual juried show of art and contemporary quilts, which is sponsored by the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.  It opens on March 1 with a First Friday reception from 5-8 pm at Franklin Crossing.  This venue is on the corner of Franklin & Bond in downtown Bend.   If you can't make it for the opening reception, the show is open for viewing until the end of March.
 

Fabrications is the only juried exhibit of art and contemporary quilts in Central Oregon.  Quilts were submitted from Oregon, Washington, California and Arizona for consideration.  Jurors selected quilts that represent original design, excellent composition, and unique surface and finishing techniques.

Both Erika and Deb have logged many studio hours over the past year, as their work clearly demonstrates!

Progress of members' challenge quilts

Here are the photos of other members' challenge quilts at our May 21st meeting:

Chris finished piecing her quilt top, and began hand-appliqueing the leaves.

It will be gorgeous when the rest of the leaves are applied!

Erika's quilt on the design wall.

 Apologies for the blurriness of these photos.  We were fast losing sunlight and trying to compensate by turning on all the lamps and overhead lights . . .

Top of Erika's quilt.  The row of single squares shows
all 12 surface-designed fabric swatches from our exchange.

Bottom of Erika's quilt.

Maureen's music-inspired piece also showcases
our 12 fabric swatches (center, bottom).

We didn't get to see everyone's work-in-progress, as some members were traveling and others' quilts were still at their homes, pinned to design boards or in too many pieces to transport to the meeting.  As usual, I seem to have made the least progress!  I can never seem to get cookin' until a deadline is looming too close for comfort.  And even then, I'm still changing my mind . . .

My painted and thread-painted bubble trees, where
the resist failed to hold back the paint!

Technique:   Working with a resist* in a small plastic bottle with a thin metal applicator tip, I outlined the areas that would become tree trunks, branches, the half-circle shaped "bubble," as well as the edge of the grass line.  (* I used Presist, a water-soluble resist that works on cotton fabrics.)  Once the resist was thoroughly dry,  I sprayed a light mist of water on the grassy area before painting it with diluted Setacolor paint, knowing that would help the paint blend.  I should have remembered to suspend the fabric onto stretcher bars (as in silk painting), and because I didn't, the wet fabric clung to my plastic-covered painting surface and the green paint migrated above the resist lines of the grass.  Elsewhere, I painted on dry areas and the paint stayed within the lines (except for a bit on the far left).  Once the paint was dry and heat-set, I rinsed out the Presist, then began thread-painting, a technique I love.
This was a fun experiment, though not 100% successful.    I overdid it on the smallest tree on the right. Earlier, when applying the Presist there, I had problems getting it to flow in a  smooth, thin line.  The resulting blobs meant that after rinsing out the Presist, the white areas to be thread-painted were much wider than in the other two trees.
And after this experiment, I realized that the scale of the trees was all wrong.  So it's back to the drawing board.

Erika sparkles at "Art at Zena" reception

 A smiling Erika Close, next to one of her "Art at Zena"quilts

As one of the artists featured at the Art at Zena exhibit, Erika looked pretty in a wearable art jacket she designed and made herself.   Tonight's artists' reception was well attended, with art lovers and supporters drifting through the exhibit of mixed media pieces, handmade wooden tables (made from wood found at the Zena property), stained glass, metal, and of course, fiber art.

Erika's three 16" x 10" quilted pieces were hung side-by-side, next to several mixed-media pieces.  I overheard several comments on "the quilted art," all of them positive and admiring.  One woman asked me if I knew who made the three pieces, and when I pointed out Erika, the woman exclaimed "She made all three of those?"  Obviously, she was very impressed.

Fire in the Field by Erika Close

Farmhouse Figs by Erika Close

Ferns in the Forest by Erika Close

Erika's family was by her side during most of the evening, including husband Justin, their son and daughter, and her mother-in-law  Maya (also a Fiberexplorations member!). 

In her Artist's Statement for this exhibit, Erika spoke about her experience:
The "Art at Zena" project sponsored by Willamette University has been a wonderful journey through that creative process.  Just being on the property and around the people that have had such a wonderful vision of what it could be has been so inspiring.  Their ideas to conserve and bring back the farm and surrounding property to be a sustainable hands-on place of learning is going to be an inspiration for many generations to come.  The day I spent there with the other artists was a very thought provoking and insightful afternoon.

If you missed the artists' reception, the exhibit continues through April 30, 2011 at Salem's Bush Barn Art Center.

New exhibit includes one of our own!

The Fiberexplorations group is proud to announce that one of its members, Erika Close, is a participating artist in a new gallery exhibit, Art at Zena, at the Bush Barn Art Center in Salem, OR.  We've been privileged to see Erika's quilted triptych evolve over the past several months, and now the public has the same opportunity.

The exhibit opens this Fri., March 11, with an artists' reception from 5:30 -7:30pm., and is on display until April 30.  Mark your calendar!

As part of Willamette University’s mis­sion to uti­lize their Zena For­est prop­erty for eco­log­i­cal and edu­ca­tional pur­poses, the Cen­ter for Sus­tain­able Com­mu­ni­ties invited a group of artists, writ­ers, pho­tog­ra­phers, and film­mak­ers to con­vene at Zena for one day in July 2010 and then cre­ate indi­vid­ual and/or group works based upon their expe­ri­ences. These works will be exhib­ited in the Camas Gallery as part of the Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion Agency’s National Sus­tain­abil­ity Month.  --  Salem Art Association news release

Congratulations, Erika!

For more information, contact Salem Art Association:  www.salemart.org.