Vignettes and Textile Art

I have a solo show coming up that I will be hanging at the local hospital on the 30th, and I've yet to create a single piece for that show.  Nope instead I've been working on other projects, ideas I just can't seem to get out of my head.

It's no lie, I've been struggling with what I want to say, what I want others to see, how I see the world, and this ties into my brand, licensing, and a whole nuther ball of wax.

So today, as I was cleaning my sewing table in desperate search for a needle I lost in hopes that the fur kids wouldn't find it with their feet, somehow the idea of 'vignettes' crept into my mind.  So I wrote the word down and once I was done clearing my table, no I didn't find the needle, I got onto Google and looked up the definition of vignette.

Vignette in the literary world usually refers to a small impressionistic scene.  Vignette in the visual arts world in a nutshell means that the edges fade into the background.

Corn No. 51

With the exception of election years and natural disasters Iowa pretty much has mastered the ability to fade into the background, maybe this is why the 'coasters' refer to this part of the US as fly over country???

In Memory of Corn No. 1

So now I'm contemplating the concept of a vignette and how this relates to the prairie and plains states and to fiber and textiles in general.  And then I started digging through old photos I've taken of this great state, and of artwork I've already created and now see that I may have been creating vignettes all along.  Sometimes it takes the artist way longer to see, than it does their audience, what they have been saying all along, sounds counter intuitive but it is what it is.

Queen Anne's Crow No. 2 detail

So I'm off to to do some more thinking, and possible some digital collage making tonight so that I can start printing fabric and paper first thing in the morning. The next eight days will be a flurry of creativity and most importantly stitching!

Birds at the Refuge

Birds in flight at Neil Smith Wildlife Refuge

I miss not getting to see the bison or the elk, well the bison we did see were a mile plus off in the tall grass.  Am hoping to go back and visit again soon.

More Prairie Inspiration

I'm not sure how well the fence stands out in this image, it really pops in the larger version. This is the fence that's employed at the Refuge to keep the bison and elk contained.

More grass, more birds.

WIP Sunflower

Sunflower over Black Birds in Tree Stencil with some sequin waste dots using craft paint on baltic birch panel.  I'll pull the Black Birds in Tree back out after I'm done with the sunflower and other embellishments.

Detail of Sunflower and Black Birds in Tree Stenciled image.

Dreaming of Summer

Milkweed and Ants.

Milkweed with Monarch Butterfly.

Milkweed with Bumble Bee.

Milkweed with Monarch Butterfly.

Dreaming of Summer, taken in July 2009.

Lichens

Lichen inspiration from 2009, winter is still lingering here and I'm longing to get out into the woods for my Spring foraging activities.  Nope not lichens I merely photograph those, I'm talking morels and other edible yummies!

Horsemint aka Bergamont

Bergamont aka horsemint.

Garden Path

Is in need of cleaning, etc., but I do love my native plants, and the pollinators that they attract.  This afternoon the thistles were visited by green hummingbirds, this morning goldfinches.

Oliver's Run Part One

Before, this is my garden that literally went to seed and to the weeds, this summer.  John mowed almost everything down, and now there's room for the new, to Oliver, dog run.  Our neighbor, Praise God, is giving us their dog run to add to our dog run so it'll go from being 12x16x6 feet to that size plus another 12x8x6 feet, I think it may actually be larger than that, we'll know for sure tomorrow once we have it all set up.

After, a few native plants were spared the lawn mower blade. Specifically the milkweed and the two white plastic buckets, which have their bottoms removed, are protecting my prairie dye plants.

Will post more photos tomorrow once we get the dog run up and usable.

Praying Mantis

WIP - Sunshine and Roses 061713

It should be finished tomorrow sometime, this piece has been a break through piece for me.  Break through in that while beading and stitching I resolved some issues I had with another piece I constructed way back around 2001, Big Blue Stem.

Big Blue Stem - Earth Pigments, Natural Dyes, Cotton, Cheesecloth, Stitch. 

This piece has been languishing in my studio for about twelve years.  From time to time I trot it out, hang it on my wall and alas nothing, nada, zilch, zip!  And then late Saturday night, whilest I was stitching on Sunshine and Roses it occurred to me to experiment with overlaying digitally printed silk organza fabrics onto the right hand panel.  More coming soon...

Bjorkboda Marsh 060613

Near Bjorkboda Marsh in Hamilton County.

Native prairie plants at the marsh.

The marsh has water once again, it took a LOT of rain for the water levels to return to normal.

Rabbitbrush and Sage

Rabbitbrush and Sage in a cast iron pot ~ 2007

I have studio visitors coming May 7th, the designer wants to learn how to dye with natural dyes and see some of my natural dyed fabrics.  My plans are to show her some of the dyestuffs that are native to the plains states.

Beading Resumes

Was starting to make mistakes so decided to take the rest of the day off from writing and started beading instead.  Am working on the branch portion now, trying to integrate it as part of the whole piece.

More bead soups, this time greens, browns, and brownish purples so as to look like an actual branch in my crabapple tree.

Ok I know I've shown this last one before, multiple times actually, but I sooooooo love this color combination!  The only colors that make me even more happy are sage greens, purple sages, and golden greens.  It's hard to explain... except to tell you to go hang out on the open prairie in the fall.

Prairie 2002

Prairie
2002
45x38ish inches
Natural Dyes
Silk Crepe de Chine

This is "Prairie" I found it last night in a wicker trunk with several other pieces to my 2002 Prairie Rermnant Solo Show.  I'm thinking of cutting it into four sections, after pressing, and machine stitching, maybe push the surface a little further, and work them into my Canyonland Series.  This while I wait on my indigo vat to do it's thing!

Brown-eyed Susan

Rudbeckia hirta

Bjorkboda Marsh - 080912

The marsh is now dried up, the grass has greened up after this past weeks rains, am  hoping the birds return and soon.

Bjorkboda Marsh

Went out to the marsh this afternoon for a much needed infusion of inspiration!!!

Now to spend some time in the studio this evening working with a fresh mind!

Stitching Details

More stitching coming later this afternoon, had to take a break from sewing.  In the mean time I'm thinking about  the direction of this particular piece, of rivers, cottonwood trees, marshes, and the difficulties early settlers faced in settling this wild wet often boggy land called Iowa.

WIP - Queen Anne's Forest

Queen Anne's Forest (lace) No. 1
4x6 inches
Painted Timtex, Machine Embroidery

I will be adding indigo dyed silk organza to this piece later this evening.