Sunday, November 12, 2006

Fiber Collage

The Fiber Collage class with Susan Sorrell is done and I've completed two pieces. The first, “Meditate on Piece” was inspired by Susan Shie and Susan Sorrell. I love both of these artists! It turned out to have a rather patriotic feel with the red, white and blue beading along the edges. That was not intentioned, but it fits with the theme of peace and my political statement that we should try new alternatives to achieve world peace.



















The second piece is called “Happy Trees Grow in the Garden of Love”. It was inspired by a desire to not make a personal statement other than “sometimes I just to make a pretty picture.” I like the way the swirly stitching creates a textured background – it’s like painting with thread.




















This has been a great class. Learned so much about embroidery stitching and beading. Love the handwork process -- slow and meditative (except for threading the bead needles which disrupts the Zen-like state of beading.) I like the way the class unfolded, building on each lesson.

For my first two pieces I used rather basic beading (which is more than I've done in the past!) I'll try some more advanced techniques as I do other pieces. I love painting with thread and beads! I will eventually want to incorporate these into larger pieces because for handling purposes they need to be small. However, once they are mounted on mat board or foam board, they will be able to be framed (or just hung). I’m still challenged with the question of “how do I hang my stuff?” To frame or not to frame – that is the question.


3 comments:

Alma Stoller said...

Hi Jan,


I love your sense of color and the creative freedom you express.
Keep up the great work.

Alma

Jan's Art and Musings said...

Alma, thanks for your kind words. This is a fun journey that I've embarked on and I appreciate the inspiring work by artists like you!

Elle said...

What fun pieces!