textile paintings
Posts tagged art
Art, Work, & Life
010 years ago
I didn’t post on my blog last week. There was a tide of work and life that consumed me and overtook my time. I stole some hours here and there, but I didn’t meet my weekly art goals.
I think everyone struggles with balance. I have work that helps pay the bills, I have a family to take care of, and I have my art that I need — just for me. All three constantly pulling.
I had recently finished cutting out and fusing the 4th abstract piece in the series I’m collaborating on with Leisa Rich. This is what it looked like when I gave it to her.
And she spent a couple of weeks on it. There is a tremendous amount of embroidery stitching on it now — and these very cool things cut from canvas that she printed images on through her printer (have to make a note to try that) as well as vinyl (some in blue!). There is also this cool fabric that’s blue and orange that adds the hot colors more along the bottom.
I love it!
Leisa suggested that I finish this as an irregular shape — not a rectangle. The technical person in me started immediately thinking about how I could do that. We’re also doing some free-form shapes and I pillowcase them — which means I sew the backing onto the front (right sides together) with an opening on the side — and then turn it right side out and topstitch the sides down. That would work here — but I wouldn’t want the edge topstitched on such a large piece. I would just need to hold down that seam while I quilt it — so I’m thinking maybe a water soluble thread. However, if I do this, I can’t quilt it heavily — there would be no place for any stretching to go.
I’ll think on that for a while. For now, I’m still cutting and fusing #5. I should have been done by now, but life keeps getting in the way. Hopefully, I can make a lot more progress this week.
I forgot to take pics of the free floating pieces. These are smaller pieces that Leisa is constructing — and then I’m quilting them and doing the finishing work (or rather in this case, I’m pillowcasing and topstitching the edges of them, which is the finishing, and then quilting them.) Each of these will hang independently on a very large wall and can be moved around depending on the exhibit space. They are less like quilts and are more sculptural in design.
We’re making great progress. I have at least 3 more pieces to plan, but we have until October when the show opens here in Atlanta.
Studio Frenzy
010 years ago
Last week, I finished cutting the 4th abstract in the Car Wash series that I’m working on with Leisa Rich.
Like my other pieces, I approached it with the intent of cutting it out in color order starting with the yellows, then the purples, then the blues — but as I went on, the entire thing became unwieldy. Breaking it down into meaningful pieces became really hard. I became best friends with my colored highlighters — and I bought more of them. I rued the day that I had drafted this thing. I think I may have pulled some hair out.
I ended up with all of my fabrics on the cutting board and the master pattern on top of the piece I was constructing.
This was my first picture.
I started working on the blues at the bottom, then adding in the grays.
Then I started working on the top but was coming to the realization that the only way I could approach this monster was to finish whole sections as I came to them.
This is just insanity. I did realize that I was almost out of that medium gray and I was going to need more. I was very pragmatic about it, though. I put all of the gray that I did have along the outer edges. Then I planned a search mission to the fabric store and luckily found something in the same color and value. It has a lot more texture, but I think that that’s fine.
Here, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Literally, everything is done but the part in the very middle. At this point, I highlighted that section in the middle on my pattern so I’d know where I was. I kept getting lost.
And here it is before I gave it to Leisa — a quick shot on my wall before I whisked it away. She is embroidering it. So many edges.
On my new time keeping app, I can easily see how much time I’ve spent doing something. I spent 39 1/2 hours cutting this out. Holy cow.
So my next piece is going to be much simpler. It has to be. I have at least 4 more large pieces to do for the show and I want to have them completed by the end of May.
Since I handed this last abstract piece off to Leisa, I’ve been working on the abstract piece that will cover the largest wall in the gallery. It will be made up of a lot of smaller pieces that will be hung individually. Leisa is making the tops of these pieces — and she gave me a bunch to work on. I pillowcase turned them — no easy feat — topstitched them, and am now adding some quilting. They’re meant to be very textural on the wall so they aren’t heavy with quilting. I’ll share some pics later.
I also wanted to share this picture of my daughter in the Dominican Republic. She went after Christmas on a mission trip with her school and her father.
I let her take my camera — my DSLR Canon T3i. I was looking forward to seeing all of the pictures of the DR, but alas, the only pictures I will see are the ones they took with their cell phones. This is the last known sighting of my camera — it was stolen at the airport on her return trip home.
It made me very sad, but I have all ready replaced it. The camera body came last week — and I’m waiting on the lens. It should be here today or tomorrow. Instead of the 18-55mm kit lens, this time I opted for the “nifty fifty” — the prime 50mm lens. It has no image stabilization or zoom — but it’s “faster glass” with an f-stop of 1.8 compare to the f-stop of 3.5-5.6 on the kit lens. It’s a less expensive lens, but I’m told that it’s a far superior lens. Can’t wait for it to get here!
2015 Goals
010 years ago
by Virginia Greaves
in Goals
I am late in publishing a post regarding my art goals for the year. The truth is that I have been struggling with them, but this morning, it occurred to me that that’s because 2015 is going to be different. I can’t just copy my goals from last year and have them work again. I am preparing for a two-person show. I can’t share pieces once they’re final, and since they’re abstract, blogging about their creation is not the same. I can’t break the process into manageable portions anymore. Currently, my ironing board is loaded with fabric, and I’m applying pieces as I go, no longer by color alone.
I am also challenged by what I can enter into shows in the coming year if I am dedicating a chunk of work to the two-person show. There’s only so much that I can produce.
I did make a leap and finally a purchased a time keeping app called OfficeTime. I had been using the timer on my phone, then entering it in a Notes app, then transferring it later to a spreadsheet on my desktop. That became unmanageable. Now I have a timer that keeps track of what I’m doing by project & by category. It doesn’t sync with my desktop, but I can export my reports to a spreadsheet. I haven’t decided if I’ll stick with that or purchase the desktop version too. Right now, there’s no backup of my hours which makes me nervous now that I’ve come to rely on this app so much.
Anyway, let’s give this a shot.
— Make 2015 goals.
— Create spreadsheet to keep track of hours by project and by category — as well as social media goals.
— Print blog books. I didn’t get to that last year. I keep hoping they’ll upgrade Anthologize into a better app — or a better app will come along that turns my blog posts into better publishable material. I’m not thrilled with what I get from Anthologize — it doesn’t give me published dates as a reference on page headings. You can only put them in chronological order by hand. I already have the PDF’s created — I just have to send them to the printer. I’ll commit to printing 3 years worth.
— Create a printed book of work created. This is more easily said than done. I want to create a page for every piece on my website. Ultimately, it would be great to have every piece I’ve ever done. I thought about a scrapbook with prints of my work, but then none of my artist statements or information on sizing would be on there. I’ve reached the point where my inventory is getting away from me. I want a place that I can bring it all together and have even if my website would one day go away.
— Increase web traffic. Last year my goal was 5% — which at this point seems like a bad joke. I innocently thought that the best way to increase your traffic was to write regularly on your blog and post regularly to social media. Silly me. Apparently, all you really need to do is get your name or work published somewhere in mainstream media — OR do something that other people find offensive and talk about endlessly in a social forum. LOL! Well, it seems funny now anyway.
While I have no desire to attract negative attention, I do want to continue to grow the traffic on my website. I cannot, however, use 2014 has a year for comparison — so let’s say a 10% increase over 2013 traffic.
— 
Complete at least 6 large pieces. I will definitely stick with this goal. I have at least 5 large ones to complete for the two-person show.
— Participate in two-person exhibit.
— Enter at least 6 other exhibitions. This is the same as last year’s goal which, given the two-person show I’m working on, sounds like a lot, but I’ve already entered 3 as of today.
— Continue to work on collaboration with Leisa Rich.
— Publish at least 1 blog post per week. Last year this was 2.
I spent a lot of time last year combing through articles about art — which I tend to do anyway — and then tweeted them. They then syndicated to my personal Facebook page — and at the end of the week on Sunday, I would write a weekly Tweek! summarizing all of the tweets I made in the week. I’m not certain how popular those blog posts were though.
And then in a pinch, I could also make a Wordless Wednesday post with a photograph I had taken somewhere for inspiration. Did I tell you that my camera was recently stolen? <sigh> I do intend to replace it and will probably still do some Wordless Wednesday posts.
I would like to write more on my blog, but I’ve been faced with more challenges for my time in the past year. I started doing some freelance work, and when I’m not doing that, I want to be in my studio creating work. I have deadlines I have to meet. So my blog has suffered as a result. If I’m being realistic, though, I don’t see that changing, so I’m only going to commit myself to once a week.
— Write 
at least 4 FaceBook posts per week on my professional Page. This is the same as last year.
— I don’t think I’m going to continue a Twitter goal. I am going to keep my account, but in the scheme of things, it don’t think it was adding much to me professionally.
— Spend at least 15 hours per week on my art. Last year I said 15 hours in the studio — but in the end, I counted all dedications of time to my work. The truth is that a lot of time is spent entering shows, shopping for supplies, working on my website, curating, etc.
— Sell at least 2 of my pieces. This is the same goal that I had last year, and I’m comfortable continuing it.
— Be a positive and constructive energy within the art world. I’m okay with competition, but I don’t agree with stepping on other people to get ahead. I want to share what I know through speaking to guilds, and I want to share the work of other artists so that others can experience their talent. Be the change you want in the world — I choose the brighter path.
Working From Photographs
010 years ago
by Virginia Greaves
in Inspiration
This morning, I was spending a few minutes on Facebook, and Dorte Jensen, who was accepted in SAQA as a JAM member at the same time I was, posted a picture of a piece she made of Lincoln to the Art Quilts page. Given the recent discussion of the use of historical photographs in your artwork, I couldn’t help but think that comparing her picture of Lincoln to mine makes my argument all too clear — that the use of a photograph as inspiration does not mean that the artist is merely copying the photograph. Obviously, there is immense skill in drafting a pattern from any photograph and rendering it in your own style.
Although the inspirational photograph for her piece is slightly different than the one I used, it is obvious that our styles are completely different.
This is Dorte’s piece.
And this is mine.
If our pieces were merely copies, they would look almost identical. Clearly they do not. They each have their own spirit and life and attributes that make each one special.
Dorte has also recently made a piece of Ben Franklin that is marvelous. I hope you enjoy her website.
As portraitists, it is inevitable that we will turn to historical photographs if we want our work to be marketable. The skill with which they are rendered are no less than if we were to use one of our own photographs. As long as the copyright is clear, they are a wonderful source of inspiration.
2014 Accomplishments
110 years ago
At the end of the year, I look at my goals and see how close I came to achieving them. Here is it January 8th — I should have done this at the end of 2013 — but I got the flu after Christmas, and it took all of my energy for a couple of weeks. I’m just now beginning to recover and put together the pieces of everything I have to do in my life. Today was the first time I’ve had to look at my art goals.
2013 was the year that “I finally broke into the sunshine at the International Quilt Festival/Houston” — and 2014 was the year that I created controversy. But just like I said last year — I’m still here and kicking — and I hope to continue to create in 2015.
— My blog was viewed 21,00 times in 2014 which broke all of my previous records. The highest viewed post was The Use of Someone Else’s Photograph in Your Work, the subject of which was the controversy over my piece Worry at the International Quilt Festival/Houston this year.
— Worry and Golden Moment were accepted into Georgia Artists at the Abernathy Arts Center here in Sandy Springs, GA, an exhibit highlighting the work of local Georgia artists from all mediums. Golden Moment won 1st place.
— Worry was accepted into International Quilt Festival/Houston: World of Beauty and was awarded 3rd place in the Art-People, Portraits, and Figures category.
— Dolce Far Niente was accepted into the special exhibit What’s for Dinner? at Quilt Festival/Houston.
— The Cardinal was shown at the Square Foot Fiber Art Pin Up Show at the Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance here in Atlanta and then was donated and auctioned at the International Quilt Festival/Houston Silent Auction.
— Lincoln traveled from the 2013 International Quilt Festival/Houston and went to The Texas Quilt Museum, Spring Quilt Market in Pittsburgh, International Quilt Festival/Chicago, and Quilt! Knit! Stitch! in Portland before being purchased.
— Beach Guardians traveled from the 2013 Sacred Threads show and went to Sacred Threads West: Art of the Sacred in Seattle, WA.
— Rebecca Reasons-Edwards and myself co-curated another exhibit this year called Fierce Fibers at The Art Place in Marietta, GA. Beach Guardians, Golden Moment, A Walk in Twilight, and Worn were exhibited.
— Golden Moment was accepted into Art Quilts XIX: Permission to Play at the Chandler Center for the Arts in Chandler, AZ and was awarded Juror’s Choice & 3rd Place.
— Firecracker was included in the article Pet Portraits Popular With Owners Who Quilt in the Daily Sentinel published in January.
— Heike Hellmann-Brown wrote an article about me and my work that was published in the local publication North Fulton Family Life in August.
— Sold Lincoln to a private collector.
— Sold I Am the Vine, You are the Branches to a private collector.
— Sold Worry to a private collector.
— Sold The Cardinal to a private collector.
— Met goal of selling at least 2 of my pieces.
— I completed 3 large portraits, 1 small animal portrait, 1 small abstract, and 3 large abstracts. (All of the abstract works were made in collaboration with Leisa Rich.) (Goal to make at least 6 large pieces met.)
— I started a collaboration with a local artist, Leisa Rich. We have been working on an abstract series based on car washes and are planning a two person show at the Abernathy Arts Center in October of 2015.
— I applied and was accepted into Studio Art Quilts Associates as a Juried Artist Member.
— I spoke at The Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild in Marietta, GA, The Alpha Arts Guild in Alpharetta, GA, and the Misty Mountain Quilter’s Guild in Blairsville, GA.
— This year I kept a massive spreadsheet and kept track of my hours. I have to find a simpler way to do this. Halfway through the year, I decided that I not only wanted to keep category totals but also totals by project — so I ended up keeping two separate spreadsheets.
— As of the end of the year, I have 115 FaceBook Page followers (increase from 2013 unknown but I think it’s around 50%) and 32 Twitter followers (52% increase but still small).
— I did fairly well on maintaining my social media goals. I posted at least 2 blog posts a week 80% of the time, I posted at least 4 FaceBook page updates 78% of the time, and I posted at least 6 Twitter updates 74% of the time.
— What I didn’t do well with this year was keeping myself to at least 15 hours per week in the studio. I only met that goal 59% of the time. I was on track until I started taking freelance scoping work on the side. The truth of the matter is that my family is a part time job, so freelancing work cut into my art time. I do think I will keep this goal in 2015 however. I just need to work on being smarter with the time that I do have available.
— I didn’t keep my sketching goal at all. I have no problem drafting out a pattern for a particular project, but I can’t seem to make myself stop and fill a page in a sketchbook.
— I easily increased web traffic 5%. Given the controversy over Worry at IQA/Houston, my traffic increased 55.4% over last year.
I am eternally grateful for the support and encouragement of my friends and other people that reached out to me during the controversy over Worn. I am reminded that my place is to hold up others to the light and forward their achievements in a positive way. I leave all the others that still have lessons to learn — behind.
Love me or hate me, I’m still here, and I hope that 2015 is a great year.
#winning
110 years ago
by Virginia Greaves
in Exhibition
Although I’m not a big Charlie Sheen fan, I can see him in my mind’s eye, grinning and proclaiming “Winning!” I think that’s a little bit how I felt last week — like I had been through a tremendous storm but come out on top after all.
I got an email last week from Mary Mattimoe with whom I have corresponded with in the past. We both have pieces in Art Quilts XIX in AZ, and she was able to see the exhibit in person and take pictures. Luckily, she took a pic of my piece Golden Moment and sent it to me.
Photograph courtesy of Mary Mattimoe
It’s a wonderful venue and I love the lighting on the piece. You can even see the background quilting — which on that batik, is impressive (the lighting not the quilting).
And you see that little card down there in the right hand corner? It says “Juror’s Choice” and “Third Place.” Awesome sauce!
I also received my packet from IQF-Houston a couple of days ago. It included a check for the sale of Worry (#winning) and my third place ribbon.
I was hesitant to open the envelope with the judge’s notes. Even on a winning piece, they can create some moments of humble pie. But even there, the judges loved the piece and gave it high marks. After the scathing criticism I received from members on QuiltArt, it was nice to have judges with prominent resumes of their own support what I’m trying to do in my work. (#winning)
Love me or hate me, I’ll be here tomorrow — just doing my thing.
Irish Eyes Are Smiling
010 years ago
This morning, I finished photographing my latest piece. As I was writing a web page for her, I decided to call her Irish Eyes. I kept thinking of the song “Irish Eyes Are Smiling” when I’d look at her. Those green eyes are really a giveaway. I don’t actually know if the model is Irish — but it doesn’t matter. Those green eyes and the touch of red in her hair with the pale skin scream Irish.
Now I’m on to putting the binding on #3 Abstract. I met with Leisa last week — and we do intend to give these abstract pieces more meaningful names. We laid out the gallery and a plan to fill it out. I’m feeling more confident about that now. I think that come October, it’s going to be a fabulous show!
Looking Forward
310 years ago
I have been neglecting my blog. Instead, I spent the week briefly looking at the vitriol on QuiltArt, and then turning to my studio. The best thing to combat all of the crushing criticism was a deadline.
Although among all the negativity, I received a lot of surprising support. I had some Atlanta friends that stood in the gap for me when I couldn’t, and for that, I am truly grateful. I also had some internet friends stand up and proclaim their support, and I received many emails of support and encouragement. I heard from people I never expected to, and I made some new friends. So out of the fire, there has been some good.
My last blog post has been read, I believe, almost 2,000 times. People have been combing my website, and I’m certain that a good deal of it was in judgment, not support.
There is something about the Migrant Mother photograph — and my use of it — that brought out a lot of strong emotions in people. And in that regard, I think it has been successful. Not all of the PR has been good, but it’s certainly been a topic of discussion.
Regardless of all of that, I have deadlines to meet. I have an entry due at the end of the month and guests coming next week — so this new piece has to be completed this week. I finished the quilting yesterday and am almost done with the handwork. I hope to complete it today and block it.
And then there are new shows to consider. I have another piece based on a Dorothea Lange photograph that I’m considering entering in AQS — at risk of the ivory tower elitists coming to hunt me down for having the gall to (gasp) use someone else’s photograph as the inspiration for a piece of work. I also have to prepare for Sacred Threads which is coming up as well as the local East Cobb Quilt Guild Show.
Furthermore, all of my studio efforts after finishing my current portrait will go back to the abstract pieces for the two person show I’m debuting with Leisa Rich in October.
One foot in front of the other — moving forward. There are people that don’t like my decisions, but life is too short to spend time worrying about them. They don’t understand me — and I don’t understand them. It’s like the school playground all over again. I think I’ll just go back to my studio. It’s peaceful there.
Having a Good Hair Day
010 years ago
Before I left for Houston, I had made some good progress on the hair in this portrait. I always find it hard to leave in the middle of a project, but I had finished most of the hair.
In this pic, here is only one small part of the first value in the part — in the top at the middle. Then the next value is golden.
Although I really wanted to go with brown purples, I just didn’t have them in my stash and I couldn’t find them in the store nearby, so I ended up going from golden into an orange brown — which is really more of a realistic choice for this model’s actual hair.
The next value shows the brown. (I somehow managed to lose one of the highlights in her right eye — didn’t notice it until her hair was done.)
And this shows the darkest browns.
Then I laid in all the blacks, which included her shirt, and the little bit of gray.
I spent of lot time trying to find a perfect background. I had bought several greens, but in the end, they fell flat. A purple seemed like a striking choice, but I didn’t have anything that worked well. I had a blue that I liked, but I’ve used it as a background before, so I went to the store with the mission of finding one similar. This batik has some deeper shadows that I like. It sets her hair off nicely. I took this pic with my iPhone which makes her hair look more red than it is.
I also replaced the highlight in the right eye and put more gray in her right arm. I had it all brown which was just wrong and caused by blurred lines between her hair and her shirt.
This week, I added the background and started the appliqué. Her face is done and I’m about halfway done with her hair. I hope to start quilting her soon. The days are clicking by quickly and my deadline approaches.