Members at CannonArt Gallery

Cannon Art Gallery  2013 Juried Biennial  January 20 to March 9, 2013

Members exhbiting: Polly Jacobs Giacchina, Carol E. Lang and Valya

 

Textiles in Art, with artist, Cameron Taylor-Brown

Norton Simon Museum - Events

Date: Saturday, February 23, 2013
Time: 11:00 am - 1:30 pm
Speaker: Cameron Taylor-Brown 
Type: Art-Making Workshop

Unravel the history of textiles in art with artist Cameron Taylor-Brown. Discover how artists from different cultures interpret textiles in a wide variety of media—tempura on wood, oil on canvas, copper, stone and tapestry. After exploring examples from the Norton Simon collections, participants create a textile-inspired collage using a range of materials.

Meets in Entrance Gallery | The fee of $30 ($24 for members) includes all materials and admission to the galleries on the day of the class. | Online registration is required.

The Beyond the Boundaries Award was recently created by California Fibers to encourage artistic innovation in the fiber arts.

Brooke Atherton, Quilt Archaeology

  

California Fibers has given it's first annual award, Artistic Innovation in subject, materials and/or technique, to artist, Brooke Atherton, for her quilt, Quilt Archaeology, in the Quilt Visions 2012: Brainstorms exhibit.

California Fibers: Defined

California Fibers: Defined opens at the Merced Multicultural Arts Center in Merced, California with a reception on November 29.
California Fibers; Defined features the work of 15 members of California Fibers, and was juried by Arline Fisch.  "The range of work ... is extraordinary," says Fisch, from beautifully executed traditional tapestries to innovative baskets to free hanging sculptural forms and viewer interactive installations.  Equally exciting is the experimental focus of some of the work with artists using digital imagery and complex combinations of techniques to expand their work in new directions."

Lynne Hodgeman

Kathy Nida

Valya 

Chari Myers

Charlotte Bird

Peggy Weidemann

Polly Jacobs Giancchina

Gail Fraser 

Ashley V. Blalock

Julie Kornblum

Michael Rohde

Kathryn Harris

Susan Hart Henegar

Cameron Taylor-Brown

Charlotte Bird showing at San Diego County Regional Airport

ARTWORK at San Diego Airport Gate 22 

gives waiting travelers something to think about,

"The Shape of Space" Quilt Exhibition Looks at the Natural World.

San Diego artist, Charlotte Bird, will show "The Shape of Space," two large quilts in the exhibit space at Gate 22, Terminal 2 East, at the San Diego County Regional Airport from November 13, 2012 through February, 2013.

About inspiration for this exhibit, Charlotte says, "The natural world is a geometry of curves, of which the circle is the most perfect. Beautiful curves are all around us, often unperceived because they are so familiar. I have drawn inspiration from some of the most remote: a galaxy so distant that we know it only through the Hubble telescope and organisms so small that we know them only through a microscope. We make tools of science to empower our purposeful vision. the resulting images can empower our mindful vision."

Charlotte Bird has been creating textile based artwork for 25 years. Her art quilts and mixed media sculptures often recall universal forms like the circle and the spiral. Time, process and nature are persistent themes. She maintains a studio in mid-town San Diego. Her website is www.birdworks-fiberarts.com.

The exhibit is part of the ongoing San Diego County Regional Airport public art program which places temporary exhibitions of artwork by local artists throughout the airport.

INTERVIEW WITH MEMBER MICHAEL ROHDE

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

"Overall, the greatest pleasure I get in doing my work, is seeing the progress from an idea, through the gathering of materials needed to the final realization of the completed object."

Pattern” -  2011, tapestry: wool,  natural dyes,   38½” x 36½”   

 When did you first become interested in fiber?
 In the early 1970s, I’d noticed someone wearing a handwoven blouse, and became curious about how cloth was made. This started the long path that has taken me many unusual places.

What about the medium of fiber appeals to you?

           Working in fiber is a vey tactile process, especially in an age of virtual experiences. Also, I’m drawn to things that are not commonplace, and stand a bit off from the mainstream.

“From My House to Your Homeland” - 2003

, tapestry installation, hand-dyed wool and silk, 

54” x 98”

        What is the origin of your ideas, the locus?

      For many years, I wove rugs, based on pattern and color combinations. Slowly, they began to reference textiles, other than rugs, and no longer were viewed as having a function as a rug. Then, a confluence of events brought me to a new way to look at my work: suggested to consider tapestry, an invitation to be part of a major European exhibition, and a concern about issues in current politics at the time, 2003. A new way of working evolved with “From My House to Your Homeland”: the idea preceded the design part of the work. 
      This piece is a concern about loss of homes in times of war, and the line comes form a poem by June Jordan.

“Canace” - 2011, silk, natural dyes;
four selvedge wedge weave, 5¼” x 5” 

What is the greatest pleasure you get in your work?

    

           Overall, the greatest pleasure is seeing the progress from an idea, through the gathering of materials needed, to the final realization of the completed object. Along this way, I sometimes think the selection of colors and the dye procedures to achieve those colors give the most immediate satisfaction; the meditative, step-by-step of building a weaving has a tactile, albeit slowly realized gratification, but the ultimate goal is the completed, woven work.

“Sutra” - 2008, tapestry: Navajo and Tibetan wool, silk, natural dyes, 

  44½" x 38½",

Which dead artist do you most identify with?

Mark Rothko, for his subtle use of complex colors. Agnes Martin for her simplicity of image, which conveyed much more on further study; also for her “Writings”.

       Which living artist do you most admire?

            There are many, but two who come to mind are Jim Bassler and Martha Stanley.

“Nocturne” - 2002,  rug:

 hand dyed wool on linen warp, 83" x 54"

               

      What is your biggest challenge as an artist?

          Writing effectively about my work.

           What is your biggest fear as an artist?

                    That I will die with all my weavings, and they won’t get

          out into the world.

                    What tool could you not live without?

                   The dyepot; if I could not make my own colors, 
           the work would not be my own.

    Why did you decide to become a member of CF?

 I have always enjoyed the company and learning experience of traditional weaving or fiber art guilds, but a dozen or so years ago when I applied to join California Fibers, I was drawn to be part of a small but dedicated group of artists, who worked together to jointly promote their work, through exhibitions, and other tools to educate the public, such as the website, newsletter and this Blog.

       

  

“Unity” - 2009, tapestry: wool, silk, natural dyes,   68” x 48”

   

               What is your motto?

               If it is worth doing, do it, and do it again.