Summer 2012 News and Exhibits

We invite you to our exhibit on the campus of
California State University Long Beach during
Convergence, the biannual weaving conference.  July 16 -July 21 with our reception on Saturday,
 July 21 from 5:00 - 7:00 pm.


We have four new members exhibiting with us:
Julie Kornblum, Lynn Hodgman, Chari Myers and Kathy Nida.  


During the Convergence Conference in Long Beach we have several members exhibiting work.
Visit Utopia Restaurant to see the show  "Threads" with work by Carrie Burckle and Michael Rohde.
www.utopiarestaurant.net

Visit the Long Beach Museum of Art to see the exhibit "Small Expressions" curated by Professor of Art ,Carol Shaw-Sutton, showing work by members
Charlotte Bird, Julie Kornblum and Peggy Wiedeman.
http://www.lbma.org/exhibits.html


Please follow the link to see all of the information regarding the Convergence Weavers Conference.  

http://www.weavespindye.org/?loc=8-00-00

California Fibers members Cameron Taylor-Brown and

 Michael Rohde are currently in the group exhibit, 

Looming Election: Woven Works at the Craft Study Center. 

For the full press release on this exhibit and events during Convergence follow the link:
http://www.craftinamerica.org/press/story_2198.php


 Cameron gave a delightful and informative talk about her work,  "My Life in Fibers" on June 16th, at the Craft Study Center.   You can read more about Cameron on her blog: http://www.camerontaylor-brown.com

Michael Rohde is scheduled to talk about his work on August 4th at the Craft Study Center.
Please follow the link above for more information.

Polly Jacobs Giacchina
NEW FIBER WORK
solo show at The Gallery Next Door  2963 Beech Street, San Diego CA 92102
619.233.6679  Hours Wed-Sun noon to 5pm
Show Dates: June 17 to July 7, 2012

Reception Sunday June 24th  2-5 pm

INTERVIEW WITH MEMBER POLLY JACOBS GIACCHINA

 An occasional series, featuring an interview with one of our members.

"I no longer fight the feeling of entering my studio to “reinvent the wheel”.  Reinvention happens all the time with new ideas both physical and mental."

Drawn to the Center

What theme or ideas are reoccurring in your work?
My work is a partnership and opportunity for me between my materials and the woven organic forms created.

 The interpretation of material has always been a challenge and my focus. 

Finding materials that I could shape and control to get the forms I wanted is an ongoing pursuit.

Tower Swirl

When did you first become interested in fiber?

When I was first introduced to the fiber world, it came from two different perspectives. 
At San Diego State University, in 1971, Joan Austin was beginning to show the importance of sculptural fiber.  We used basic basketry and off loom techniques, to develop three dimensional ideas that were not to be functional.  I was also very interested in textile design and silk screening of fabrics.
The other view was from Misti Washington, a wonderful basket weaver that shared her home and ideas on natural fibers and traditional basketry.  It was the beginning for me to explore the natural materials that were so abundant in my own environment.
It was a good time to be experimenting in fiber, as the field was being developed and appreciated.   After doing many, many functional baskets that were sold in stores, I was able to develop ideas towards a sculptural vision.  

Crimson Strata

What about the medium of fiber appeals to you?

Date palm seed stalk became my material of choice.  Available to harvest in the area, it allowed me to weave on a larger scale.   Over time I have searched to find a way to introduce color with the earth tone hues I have from nature.  Painting canvas and twining it along with the natural materials has been a great evolution for my work.  I could still use the date palm in its natural state and use acrylics to voice another layer in my weaving.

Who would you like to critique your work?

An important part of my development in how to critique and view my work came from collaborative meetings with both Dave Davis and Don Weeke.  It is such an amazing experience when you come together with artists that are at a similar level to your work and have equivalent appreciation to nature and it possibilities.  We’d choose an inspirational word and weave our own interpretation using our own techniques.  We would then come together to meet and critique.  It is very important for me to be comfortable with those that critique my work and that I have a mutual respect for.  This was an invigorating environment helping me to develop my own voice with my weaving.  It lasted more than 10 years and sadly ended when Dave passed away.  I still count on Don to help me from time to time with his invaluable point of view.

What are your creative challenges?

I am often not sure how to verbalize the feelings and pleasures I receive from the actual doing of my art.  It is both satisfying and challenging and I feel lucky to continue to weave.
I no longer fight the feeling of entering my studio to “reinvent the wheel”.  Reinvention happens all the time with new ideas both physical and mental.

Polly Jacobs Giacchina

                                                        OCEANIC FORMATION
                                                        by Polly Jacobs Giacchina
                     included in juried show CRAFT FORMS 2011 at the Wayne Art Center
                                                     December 2, 2011 to January 21, 2012

TRYING TO KEEP IT TOGETHER

by Polly Jacobs Giacchina

included in juried show at Mesa Contemporary Arts/33rd Annual Contemporary Crafts

January 27 to March 18, 2012

California Fibers member, Michael Rohde, is showing in 3 exhibitions across the country.

Tara is included in the exhibit:
Interconnections: Tapestry Weavers West
November 14, 2011 - February 3, 2012
Reception: Thursday, November 17, 2011 from 5 – 7 pm
Mills Building
220 Montgomery Street (at Bush)
San Francisco, CA 94104

Lobby hours: Monday through Friday 8 – 6

‎House 46 is on exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles:

Work for this exhibition was selected by Kerri Hurtado
of Artsource Consulting and Deborah Corsini
from submissions by Tapestry Weavers West members.

November 15 – February 5, 2012
Collecting California

Collecting California is our first exhibition featuring quilts and textiles drawn from the museum's permanent collection by contemporary California artists. It features recent acquisitions - gifts from both artists and collectors - and showcases the rich variety, legacy, and continued evolution of the California fiber art movement.

Included in the exhibition is a selection of work by local artists Sonya Lee Barrington, Cathy Bolding, Marian Clayden, Susan Else, Linda Gass, Sheila O'Hara, Therese May, and Joan Schulze. Artists from other parts of the state are Marlene Bloomberg, Charlotte Patera, Michael F. Rohde and Louise Schiele. Vintage pieces on exhibit are quilted works by Lucy Hilty, Jean Ray Laury, and Yvonne Porcella, and Ed Rossbach’s classic hand manipulated twinning, as well as a basket by the long time collaborators Lillian Elliott and Pat Hickman.

This exhibition focuses on an important aspect of our collecting mission – to honor and support local fiber artists and art history by documenting and preserving California’s textile art for the future.

‎Tibetan Prayers is included in the Textile Study Group of New York exhibition, "Crossing Lines: The many Faces of Fiber":CROSSING LINES: THE MANY FACES OF FIBER, an exhibition of 58 large and small, two- and three-dimensional works of contemporary fiber art:

Juror: Rebecca A. T. Stevens, Consulting Curator of Contemporary Textiles at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC. 
This exhibition will be installed in the World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery, Three World Financial Center, 220 Vesey St. (entrances on Vesey and West Sts.), in lower Manhattan, New York City.
CROSSING LINES: THE MANY FACES OF FIBER will be open to the public for 11 weeks: Dec. 6, 2011, through Feb. 19, 2012. Hours: Tues.-Sun., 12–4 pm (closed Monday).

Gallery 1927 is showing "As We See It: Fiber Artists of California".  

This show is a collection of works from 16 contemporary fiber artists from all over California.  All pieces are in fibers of different types; pine needles, date palm, waxed linen, even recycled materials like metal & plastic, to name just a few. Many techniques are used as well to sculpt these works of art.  Please join us on Nov. 10th at

6-9 pm for the Opening Reception.  Fine Arts Building 811 W 7th Street, LA CA 90017.  Show runs Nov. 7th to Nov 30th. 

This show will include California fibers members: Polly Jacobs Giacchina and Peggy Wiedemann

Tapestry weaver, James Koehler, has a lovely DVD showing his process from design to woven tapestry.
He passed away  March 3, 2011.

http://jameskoehler.com/

INTERVIEW WITH MEMBER CHARLOTTE BIRD

  An occasional series, featuring an interview with one of our members.


My greatest pleasure is being in the zone, when time stops, my focus is narrow and work gets done without much conscious thought.

http://www.lindagass.com/IntimateApparel/Artists/CharlotteBird.html  

Last Clear Chance, commission for
San Diego Regional Airport Authority

What themes or ideas are reoccurring in your work?
     Time, process and change are reoccurring concepts. My work changes with new techniques, with changes in my personal life, with research when a new idea pops up. Time is part of my process as well. I hand dye most of the fabrics I use. It can take several dye processes to get the color and pattern I want. Machine piecing and machine embroidery are time consuming. I machine quilt all my work and hand embroidery often is a final step. Some pieces go together quickly – less than a week. Others can take months to resolve.  

Airport Backsplash,
mosaic tile drinking fountain
San Diego Regional Airport Authority
Terminal 1, near Gate 3, inside security

 How do you approach your work?  Recently I have had commissions that   direct the concepts and content. When I am starting my own work I often begin with fabric…piles of fabric….until something stands out and begins the additive process of image/concept development. After some research, often a simple google search, ideas are refined and manipulated on my wall.   

 What is your creative process?  Sometimes work starts with color and pattern: Sometimes with a concept or word. I often do some research on a concept or word or image. After that my best process is as without thought as possible. Back to that “in the zone.” 

What tool could you not live without?                                                    

Sewing machine, fabric, dictionary or computer since google is now a resource, needle and thread, pencil and eraser.                    

 When did you first become interested in fiber? I’ve been working with fabric since I was a small child. My mother taught me to use the sewing machine when I was very small. We made my school clothes every year through high school. 

 Does California, as a locale, physically or an idea, emotionally, manifest itself in your work?  The clear sunny climate of Southern California appears in my usually preferred color palette-full intensity colors particularly red.  However, I spend a substantial amount of time in interior Alaska at various times of the year. I am drawn to the  subtlety of the color palette there. When I work with an artist friend there I find my palette shifting to grayer and more muted colors.

   

Chinook, art quilt, 2011. 19"h  x 41"w

        Why did you decide to become a member of California Fibers?           

       I’ve been a CF member since the late 80’s?  (I can’t find a resume with the date of my first  exhibit with CF. It was a show at the Pannikan in Encinitas.). Donna Joslyn who was CF membership chair then encouraged me to jury into the group. CF offered an opportunity to stretch my skills and ideas to art rather than womens clothing which was my focus at the time. I remain a member because that opportunity to stretch and grow continues.

Vanity on the Move

Humanity Series(Vanity) by California Fibers member Carol E. Lang  was shown in the Handweavers’ Guild of America’s “Small Expressions 2011” in Nashville at the Tennessee State Museum from June 4 through September 11, and then travels  to an exhibit at the Association of Michigan Basketmakers Convention in October. http://www.weavespindye.org/pages/?p=HGASmallExpressions.html