These two pieces are a subset of my "Vineyard Series" called Winter Vines.  The top is a new piece, and has not yet seen any exhibits.  The bottom was part of my solo exhibition at Caravintas Winery from July 3 until September 29 of this year.  It has found a new home at St.Marks-in-the-Valley Church in Los Olivos.  I am so thrilled to have it there.  A triptych, not shown here, now belongs to Bob and Vickie Baehner of Baehner Fournier Vineyards.  I'm planning to do more in this series.  I love the imagery in the vines and terrain.  

These are three pieces in a music series that I have been working on.  The piece above is entitled Bass Notes.                                             

This piece is Dream in E Minor, after my favorite violin concerto--Mendolsohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor.                                      

And this is Polonaises, named after the Chopin Polonaises, and the faint back print of the sheet music.  All are now framed, and they look great as a series.                                                                                                                                                      

I have been working on a number of smaller pieces, in particular 12" X 12" squares, to frame for the monthly Guild Room exhibits at Gallery Los Olivos.  This one, called "Trees Like Praying Hands", is one of the pieces I am showing for February.  It is front mounted on linen and framed with a distressed pine frame.  I like the way the small pieces show in a frame. While the large pieces hang like tapestries, the small pieces seem to benefit from framing.  I will be showing a large (3ft X 4ft) unframed piece for March, but am preparing smaller pieces again for April.

This was the entry sign for my reception.

And this was my wine label for the reception wines.

The Artists Guild of Santa Ynez Valley juried me in as the September Artist of the Month.  My feature exhibit, The Vineyard Series, is being shown at Gallery Los Olivos through October 1. This is a photo taken at my opening reception on September 6.  The piece on the lower right, Dreaming of Vineyards, was sold during the reception.  My thanks to everyone who came.  It was so special having you all here!

Here's a peek at a more conceptual piece I have been working on in my Vineyard Series--not yet realistic, but a departure from abstract. It is distinguishable as "landscape" but has a hint of fantasy.  It combines hand dyes, photos on cloth and fusing.

I have my trusty roll of Mistyfuse out this morning, and am fusing large batches of hand dyed fabrics that are to be used for the Vineyard series I will be exhibiting this fall (see previous post).  I started the series last fall with a large piece that will be part of the November Fibervision exhibit at C Gallery in Los Alamos.  I have been adding companion pieces for Gallery Los Olivos, where I will be hosting an artist's reception as the SYV Artist Guild's September Artist of the Month.  

In September I will be the Artist Guild of Santa Ynez Valley's "Artist of the Month" at Gallery Los Olivos in Los Olivos, CA.  I will announce the date and time of my Artist's Reception when the details are finalized.  I have been working on a series drawn from the colors and abstract images of harvest time here in wine country.  This image detail is from a piece called "Les Raisins" (Grapes) and is 42" X 16".  The first piece I completed in this series is a large 42" X 50" work entitled "La Vendange" (Grape Harvest), and it is bound for a November Fibervision exhibit at C Gallery in Los Alamos, CA.  The companion pieces will be for Gallery Los Olivos.  I am having a lot of fun with these pieces because I love the predominately purple and gold colors, and I have been creating my own stencils and screens for the abstract images.                

Quilts on the Wall, a fiber artists' group in Orange County, CA, has assembled an exhibit for the Glendale Quilt Guild show in Pasadena, entitled "Appearances".  This is a small detail section of my submission called "Eyes See You".  There is the potential for this exhibit to go on to new venues.  I will post a photo of the entire piece at a later date. The set of eyes in this detail is that of my husband, Robert.  My eyes are also in the piece, as are those of some of our friends.

"Ruins II" is 24" X 24", slightly larger than the original "Ruins".  It incorporates images from some of the same structures as "Ruins", but mostly different views.  I include it in the Celebration Series for the same reason cited in my earlier post, because it contains the streamers and ribbon-like patterns that symbolize that series.  While I really enjoy the free-form structure of the Ruins pieces, I have been working on a separate series that I am expanding with additional pieces.  I have not yet shown them anywhere, but have committed them to exhibits this year, hence I am not posting photos of any of them as yet.  I may post a detail of one of them in an upcoming post to provide a flavor for the color and theme of that series. Just a hint:  the colors are those that I see in the Santa Ynez Valley vineyards at harvest time.

"Ruins", 17" X 17", while in my Celebration Series, takes a slightly different approach.  Instead of screened images, which appear on the earlier Celebration pieces, I have incorporated photos taken in France and Italy of churches, monasteries and remains of historical structures.  The piece does have the suggestions of streamers or confetti that distinguish the Celebration works. This piece was in Fibervision's Cabrillo Art Pavilion exhibit in Santa Barbara, summer of 2013. I have just completed "Ruins II", which will be in an exhibit or two in 2014.

The Pacific International Quilt Festival is opening in Santa Clara on October 17, and will run through the weekend. "Valley of Fire" will be included in the Fibervision exhibit, Transformation.  This is a small detail inset of the overall piece which measures 42 X 42 inches. The artists in Fibervision will have some beautiful and thought-provoking work on display.  PIQF will also have Carol Larson's "Tall Girl" series, which I am anxious to see in person. Check out her website and blog for more on her upcoming exhibits.  If you are in the Santa Clara area next month, don't miss the opportunity to see the wonderful contemporary art quilts in the non-traditional section of the PIQF quilt show.

Today I received my SAQA Benefit Auction purchase--a piece by Judith Trager called "Regeneration".  It is so lovely, far beyond what can be seen on the internet.  The tree leaves are a gold metallic scrim, and the thread variations add immensely to the piece.  I can't wait to hang it alongside my small, but growing 12" X 12" collection.

My 2013 SAQA Benefit Auction donation was this piece, "Agapanthas in Winter".  It was purchased by Wil Opio Oguta.  The proceeds of the auction are used to promote quilt art as a medium, and to support the fiber and textile artists who express themselves through art quilting.  SAQA sponsors exhibitions, and provides forums for information exchange and discussion at regional meetings and annual conferences.  Watch for SAQA sponsored exhibits at your local venues for art and quilting.

Santa Ana Winds

I recently finished another piece in the series that I call "Celebration".  All of the Celebration works are pieced so that there is the feel of confetti or streamers running throughout.  This one is called Santa Ana Winds.  All of the fabrics in the piece are hand-dyed Kona cotton.  You can see the shibori "stripes" in the yellow and teal strips.  The background, which is a soft melon color is quilted using teal thread to knock back the color and give the piece a dustier look, much like you would expect when the Santa Anas blow through.  The blowing leaves are screen printed with metallic paints.  The entire piece is free motion quilted.

Agapanthus in Winter

After weeding the gardens around our deck of the dead foliage from last summer, I accumulated a pile of dead agapanthus (Lily of the Nile) stems.  They looked a little skeletal and sad, but I liked the way they looked almost as much as when they were in bloom.  Using that inspiration, I created my 12" X 12" SAQA Benefit Auction piece.  The piece is Kona cotton, hand-dyed, and over-dyed using a Shibori technique.  The agapanthus stems and leaves are raw-edge appliqued, then thread painted.  I free-motion quilted the background.

This piece, Lost and Found--Legend of the Red-Tailed Hawk, has been accepted, along with Calzada Sunset (see last blog entry), into the SAQA Regional Showcase at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts (San Diego) during the month of January 2013.  The title of the show is "Creative Inspiration", and my inspiration for both of these pieces is the Santa Ynez Valley--the mountains, the wildlife, the colors.  Fibervision artists and other SAQA friends will also have work in this show, so this is going to be an exciting exhibit!  Now I must get busy and construct the sleeve, etc., on the back of this piece so it can be hung for the show.  Robert and I traveled constantly during the months of October and November, and were home only a few days.  I am so far behind!  Also, my conceptual drawing for the Chaine des Rotisseur, Santa Barbara - Ojai chapter, pin was selected.  I need to do the final drawings for that this week!  Time to get crackin'!

Calzada Sunset

This piece will be shown along with pieces by my fellow Fibervision artists this weekend at the Coastal Quilters' Group quilt show.  The CQG will be featuring a special contemporary fiber art exhibit by Fibervision.  The show will be at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  I hope if you are in the Santa Barbara area you will have a chance to stop by and see the incredible pieces that will be exhibited.

 Yesterday I bought a new jim-dandy Manfrotto tripod with a head that is so solid and smooth, I can't believe I was using my rickety old tripod for so long!  I highly recommend the brand to anyone in the market for new equipment. I also purchased an electronic remote for the camera, which I knew I needed, but just never did get around to purchasing.  I have new Tungsten lighting on order, which should arrive next week.  But even without the new lighting (after having my husband give me a few lessons with the camera and "objective lens") I took these photos of my most recent work, Sunlight on Water.

The fabric is white Kona cotton which I hand-dyed, and Shibori dyed, with reactive dyes.  As soon as they came out of the dye bath I knew they were "water", so I pieced and appliqued them in a way that I felt looked like an impression of rippling water with the sun hitting the surface. The fan seaweeds were screened, using flour paste resist, and like my last piece, etched with a bamboo skewer. I used the gold printing ink left over from Jane Dunnewold's Tahoe workshop.  I drew the corals onto freezer paper, then meticulously cut them out with an Exacto knife.  I ironed the waxed side to my screen and printed using Stewart Gill Metamica paints.  The grassy seaweed is a pewtery green printing ink.  The entire piece is free-motion quilted.

The detail shows the quilting around each seaweed leaf and around all the corals.  Different colors were used on the "water" to correspond to the varying colors from the Shibori process.  The piece is 23"X27" and I will probably use this as one of my Fibervision exhibit pieces.

I am almost finished with a 12X12 for the Fibervision Embellishment Challenge, and will be posting that one in a few days.

 This piece, Pulsar, was my first large piece using a discharge technique. The fabric is black Kona cotton.  I really liked the rusts and creams that resulted from discharging twice.  The discharged portions are highlighted using metallic oil paintsticks and a flat brush.  The "star" portion of the pulsar is screened with a flour paste resist on the screen, and the pattern etched out of the dried paste with a bamboo skewer.  The entire piece is free-motion quilted, and the quilting can be seen better in the detail photo.

I continue to struggle with my photography skills, and tomorrow I am going to the camera store in Santa Barbara to purchase a sturdier tripod than the one I am now using.  Mine is very difficult to get level, and I have to hold the camera in place while focusing--which defeats the purpose of even using a tripod.  My resulting photos always appear "warped", even though they are perfectly squared up.  I am also looking into getting better lighting.  I would love to take a class in photographing artwork, and am hoping Kerby Smith or one of the other really fine photographers will offer a class somewhere in the area.  Once I re-take the photos I will post the new works to my website. 

I was recently invited to join Fibervision, a fiber artists' collaborative on the Central Coast, limited to twenty-five members.  It is such an honor to be working among such fine artists, and I am inspired each time we meet and share current works.  Artwork by the "Visionaries" will be exhibited in several upcoming venues, and I will post details once we are closer to the exhibition dates.

Over and Out for now!