Laboring in the Georgia Heat
I don’t produce as much work in the summer because I have school aged children that are home in the summer, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not busy with other projects.
Rebecca Reasons Edwards and I have co-curated Nine Strands: Taking Flight held at The Art Place Gallery in Marietta, GA. The artist’s reception is 7pm this Thursday July 15th and the exhibit runs through July 29th. Participating artists include Sharon Serrano Ahmed, Rebecca Reasons Edwards, Ben Hollingsworth, Julie Runyon Kokan, Deb Lacativa, Hellenne Vermillion, Denny Webster, and myself. If you are in town, we would love to see you and share our work with you.
Rebecca, Ben, Julie, & I hung the show yesterday (and they were WONDERFUL) — and of course I forgot my camera — but Ben sent me these pictures that he took. This is just a teaser — I’ll take individual shots in a few days that I’ll post.
This is me in the tie dyed shirt. I found it at a lacrosse tournament in the spring, and the colors were so vibrant, I had to have it.
This is a shot of the hot air balloons — we hung them from the ceiling. I think they give a whimsical touch to the show. I think that doing the unexpected can sometimes draw more interest. They are made from fabric, Timtex, and some hardware & chain — but they can be squashed flat (crumpled anyway) or pressed out into their balloon shapes.
Did I mention that this was hard to do? I couldn’t have done it without Becca, Julie, & Ben. It took almost four hours — but I was happy with the final result. We always worry about filling the space — but everything we had fit in neatly. The group that usually does the show only contributed a couple of members so we filled the show with invitational artists, but it is a really good mix and I think everything is cohesive and works together well. I hope it’s an indication that fiber arts is growing in Atlanta.
Speaking of which, I forgot to post a pic of my work Bukonyan Elder that hung at The Abernathy Arts Center in Sandy Springs, GA in May & June for the Georgia Artists exhibit. Mine was the only piece of fiber in the show — although there was a piece made with paper with yarn woven through it.
The pieces were hung a little high — and I’m a little short — but this was my best try without a ladder.
This is me with the piece. (The piece is square on the wall although it doesn’t look like it. It’s a good example of how easily camera distortion occurs.)
I think it showed well with the other art. From experience, I know it is hard to place fiber in a gallery with photographs & paintings. The color in the fiber is more saturated — and most other forms of art reflect the light more — so you have to be careful what you place next to a fiber piece. My piece was in the mixed media category — which I admit was a stretch — but it was a stretch that the curator & judges were willing to make — thankfully.