"Apple in a Thicket" - Mounted Art Quilt

Just turned this up in one of my "unfinished objects" trunks.  It is a 12”square art quilt with hand painted apple surrounded by heat altered Tyvek snippets in my stash of to-do works. The apple was finished with a layer of very high gloss acrylic medium. The dimensionality the gloss provides is not apparent in the photo.  At first I thought that I would finish it with a hanging sleeve and label; however, I changed my mind and am going to mount it on a stretched canvas.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2017.  All rights reserved

"Speaking Out" in "Threads of Resistance"

I'm totally thrilled today that my work, "Speaking Out" has been accepted into the "Threads of Resistance" exhibit that will travel the nation from July 15, 2017 through October 2018. it is "a juried exhibit of fiber Artists Circle Alliance...to protest the Trump Administrations actions and policies." Approximately 500 works were submitted in the Call for Entry so for my work to make the cut of 63 chose works, I am very honored.

The Artists Circle Alliance has posted photos of ALL the art works that were submitted. To view them, go to http://threadsofresistance.org/the_artwork.html

"Speaking Out" (36" Wide x 24" Long)

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2017.  All rights reserved

"Waiting for Dawn"

It all started with a

one-of-a-kind print from many moons ago

Print Made from Raised Impression on a Small Serving Plate

and some hand dyed fabric remnants

After doing some dying, printing and piecing, I had come to a stopping place with a piece I was working on and started to clean up after making a mess.  Just couldn't bring myself to toss the dyed remnants.  I had 8small,  orange tone triangles and a several feet of left over strips of mottled grey fabric.  As I opened the draw were I save workable remnants, the print of a small bird caught my eye.  It had been hiding in that drawer for at least a couple of years.

I tried several arrangements of the remnants and finally settled on a design that I liked and set about piecing it.  On my worktable lay some green fabric that I thought might pull out the muted green in the print.  Yep.  It worked so I pieced a border with it, backed it with batting and fabric and set about doing simple stitch in the ditch quilting.

I could have bound or faced the piece, but since it was 12.5" x 12.5" and I had a 12" square stretched canvas on hand, I put a boxed facing around it and stapled the facing to the back of the canvas.

Stapling the Facing to the Back of the Frame

To finished the piece I cut a mat board backing, glued it to the back, attached small D-rings and strung the piece with hanging wire.  Waalaa!  Another brain fluff was complete.

"Waiting for Dawn"

 I dearly love the creative moments which come about with no planning, just the joy of making something from nothing.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2017.  All rights reserved

"Vetruvian Man" Awarded Prize Follow-Up

Today I received the most wonderful thank you note from the curator, Lisa Anderson, of the 7th Annual Art Scientific show that held by California State University, Fresno and was exhibited at the Sorensen Art Gallery in Fresno, California.

 Along with the note was a ribbon for my Vetruvian Man work and its being awarded a second place in the show, but, much to my elated surprise, there as also a check enclosed. 

Given the high volume of art that Lisa was handling, I am very touched by her personal and heartfelt words.  I am sharing this to show how all curators should respond to artists in their shows.

Award Ribbon, Personalized Note and Check

Once again, here is the work that was awarded the  prize.

"Body Map in Honor of DaVinci's Vetruvian Man"

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2017.  All rights reserved

"Vetruvian Man" Awarded Prize

30" x 50" "Body Map in Honor of DaVinci's Vetruvian Man"

Am very happy to learn today that my work which pays homage to DaVinci's Vetruvian Man has been awarded second prize in mixed media at the Sorensen Gallery in Fresno, California.  This work was juried into the 7th Annual Art Scientifique month long exhibit at the Sorensen Gallery in the heart of Fresno.  Yearly the Departments of Science and Mathematics at California State University, Fresno put out a national call for art entries which deal with some area of science and/or mathematics.  Because many of the submissions are from scientists and mathematicians, I have been exceptionally thrilled that my works have been accepted for two years in a row.

This was my work that was juried into the last years' 6th Annual Art Scientifique exhibit.

36" x 36" "Gray Matter Unveiled"

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2017.  All rights reserved

"Crisp Autumn Morn" in Fiber

I'm totally stoked to find myself on quite a roll thee past few days.  Here is another art quilt that was stashed away in a trunk waiting many years for me to revisit it and finally complete it.

20" x 20" "Crisp Autumn Morn"

This piece was made entirely with commercial fabric remnants.  The perpendicular central panels were pieced, as were the black and orange borders.  The 'L" shaped orange elements were hand appliqued.  The leaf and rectangular and "fussy cut" leaf elements were raw edged machine appliqued.  The inner panels were closely free motion quilted with gold metallic thread.  The entire top was then quilted to batting and backing fabrics.  It is mounted on 20"x20" stretcher bars over which I nailed a gesso finished, thin plywood sheet to prevent any possible migration of wood elements through to the quilt.

Thanks for dropping in.  Hope springs eternal that I will adhere to my 2017 New Year's resolution to finish many quilt tops that have been "sleeping" in trunks for years on end.   Perhaps I'll have more to show you soon.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2017.  All rights reserved

 

"Tulips in the Window" - Stained Glass in Fiber

As the years pass, unfinished works seem to add up and then fade into that abyss of time.  My New Year's resolution for 2017 was to revisit storage trunks, pull out uncompleted works and finish at least the ones that I had begun years ago.

I began this work over 8 years ago.  It withstood the test of time--I still liked what it might become.  Today I am ecstatic to report that this piece is completed!  Yay!!

Here are a couple of close-ups of this work in which I used hand dyed and silver lamé fabrics on a background of black commercial fabric

Here are a couple of close-up shots:

Now, I must get back to going through my trunks to identify more works in want of attention.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2017.  All rights reserved

"It's Not a Black and White World"

I created this work a long time ago, but somehow it seems relevant today.

We are all of the human race and it is high time we respect others as we respect ourselves.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2016.  All rights reserved

"Speaking Out" in Fuller Lodge Art Center, "Pulse" exhibit

"Speaking Out" © Linda Friedman 2016

I'm tickled pink to report that my quilted art work, "Speaking Out," has been juried into the Los Alamos, New Mexico, Fuller Lodge Art Center exhibit, "Pulse".    Here is an invitation to the opening reception that is scheduled for this evening.

Invitation to Opening Receiption

If any followers happen to be in New Mexico during the remainder of June through July 30th, I hope you will visit the Fuller Lodge Art Center to take in the exhibit.  The address of the center is:

2131 Central Avenue

Los Alamos, NM  37544

The call for art outlined what the jurors were looking for, as follows:

"Examine the concept of rhythm and take time 

to tune into the cadence of the world around you..."

My work, "Speaking Out" was inspired by Pharrell Williams' song, "Freedom" that was released in 2015.  This quilted work was composed upon white and red cotton and cotton blend fabrics, screen printed and stenciled using my original designs with acrylic paints mixed with fabric medium, and free motion quilted.

Sure wish that my schedule would allow traveling to the reception.  The variety of art promises to be stimulating.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2016.  All rights reserved

Painting Fabric over Gutta Resist

Today, as I was looking through my studio drawers for tea lights, I ran across water soluble gutta resist, small, squeeze bottle applicators and needle pointed plastic syringes.  Instead of starting the laundry as I had planned, I whipped out a 14”x14” piece of white cotton fabric, laid it atop a plastic bag to protect the work surface and tried to draw gutta up into the syringe so that I might be able to make fine resist lines.  

 Unfortunately, the gutta was too thick to draw up into the syringe so I set about making markings onto the fabric with the squeeze bottle applicator.  What started out as fairly thin lines became fat lines as the gutta resist “bled” into the fabric.  Any plans I had for creating a design that made sense flew out the window and then came the scribbling.  I figured that I might as well fill the space with markings.  What could hurt?

I then hung the fabric to dry.  After about an hour the gutta was completely dry. I lightly spritzed the entire square with plain water.  Next I applied a 1:1 ratio of Setacolor fabric paints and water with a 2” brush.  The first color I used was yellow and then applied Oriental blue in diagonal stripes that ultimately bled into the yellow, as I had anticipated it would do.

Painted Fabric Over Gutta Resist Hanging to Dry

I was initially disappointed with the image, probably because it did not turn out as I had hoped it would.  However, as the piece dried, I began to increasingly appreciate the randomness of the image.  Now I wish that I could be able to replicate this, although I know that will be impossible.

Here is a picture of the fabric after the gutta resist was washed out, dried again and then ironed.

Final Fabric from Gutta Resist, with Yellow and Oriental Blue Wash of Setacolor Fabric Paints

Revisiting the use of gutta as a resist has spawned new questions.  I am now wondering if the gutta could be applied over a stencil with a wedged make-up sponge.  Unlike the lack of flow control when using a squeeze bottle applicator, I pondering that the amount of gutta applied might be better controlled by using a small, dense sponge.  I have a few more 14” x 14” squares of cotton fabric just waiting for further experimentation.  Hmmmm.  Possibilities! Gotta love ‘em.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2016.  All rights reserved