Warped Milwaukee 2014 Fiber Arts Show

Here's my applique art quilt entry for the Warped Milwaukee 5th Annual Fiber Arts Exhibition at the Jazz Gallery, 926 E Center ST, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The theme is "Motif," and I tend to do a lot of Day of the Dead-themed art and have wanted to do a larger format (11 x 14" is large for me) fabric collage.  This is raw-edged applique with shapes being cut from my hand-painted fabric (except for the light blues which are commercial print colors) and heat-fused to a black background and then secured with free-motion machine quilting.  I like to use brightly colored variegated thread for the quilting.

The show opens Friday, November 14, 2014 with a reception from 6-9 p.m.and will be up through November 30. The gallery has limited hours but is generally open on Tuesday nights 6-8 p.m. (for live jazz sessions) and Saturdays 12-5 p.m. but also check the Jazz Gallery website for other events.  On the last weekend of the show, the gallery will be open Nov. 29-30, 2014 from 12-5 p.m. for the Crafters Marketplace, which I will also be participating in, where local artists will be selling handmade items, if you want to get your holiday shopping done!  Both events are organized by the ABK Weaving Center and coordinated by Susan Buss.

Participating fiber artists this year are Liala Samir Amin, Carolyn Brady (yours truly), Susan Buss, Shayla Clements, Taylor Easton, Sarah Eichhorn, Jan Falk, Andrea Havens, Katie Haws, Brittany Kieler, Carley Knight, Susan Knorr, Mel Kolstad, Judy Larsen, Shannon Molter, Jane Moore, Alonzo Pantoja, Jill Pitterle, Lori Pruessing, Maggie Sasso, Maikue Vang, Sarah Westphalen, Nicole Woltman, and Josephine Yanasak.

Books Unbound II

I just dropped off my pieces today for the show "Books Unbound II" by members of the Binders Guild book arts group here in Milwaukee. The show will be up November 9-30, 2014 at the Marian Gallery in Caroline Hall at Mount Mary University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There will be an opening reception on Friday, November 14, 2014 from 6-8 p.m. (See also my previous blog post.) There will be quite a variety of handmade books and other book-related art. We each had to do a 12x12" canvas around the theme of story-telling so I used a quote from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice for my collage.
 
We also each did an abecedarium or alphabet book. Mine is an accordion book "A to Z Tangles" with 2" square pages, each featuring a different handdrawn tangle pattern. The back of each page has the designer's name listed for each pattern. I had a lot of fun drawing these, but some letters it was difficult to choose just one pattern!

 We also each did a piece inspired by the theme "Cabinet of Curiosities." For mine I added to an assemblage piece "Inexplicable Syncopation" that I had done in 2007 for a show at the Bay View Book Arts Gallery, because I had never felt that the piece was quite completed (and I still don't but I had a deadline).

You can see these and my other books on Flickr here.

Work in Progress for Upcoming Shows

As it has been some months since my last post, here's an update on a few things I've been working on.  You can also "Like" my Facebook page, as I am somewhat better about posting little updates and photos there. (Somewhat!)

 I'm submitting work for two shows this fall and also participating in the Crafters Marketplace again.

Opening first is "Books Unbound II," the second show by the Binders Guild book arts group. (The first show was in 2010, and you can see photos here.) This year's show will be up November 9-30, 2014 at the Marian Gallery on the Mount Mary University campus in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The book on the far left in the announcement above is one of my books, and I will try to post more photos in a future blog post. UPDATED:  Also see my Books Unbound II Flickr set here

Each participant is also doing a 12 x 12 inch canvas for the show, and this is mine:

I'm also planning to participate in the annual Warped Milwaukee fiber arts show again this year and am working on my submission this month (as the application is due October 31!), and you can see a sneak peek here:

The fiber arts exhibit will be up from November 14-30, 2014 in the Jazz Gallery, 926 E Center ST, Milwaukee, and on the last two days of the show November 29-30, 2014 (the weekend after Thanksgiving), I will also be in the Crafters Marketplace there as well. If you're interested in participating in the Warped Milwaukee show or the Crafters Marketplace, here is the overview. (You may have to click on the image to enlarge it to a more readable size.)

You can also find the info and the links for the separate applications for both the fiber art exhibit and Crafters Marketplace on the ABK Weaving Center blog and the Warped Milwaukee Facebook page or Google+ page.

So even though I have not been blogging, I have been busy!

Milwaukee Artist Trading Card Exhibit

It's been a few months since I've blogged, but I'll try to get back in the swing now that spring is here! I've got a show up this month at the Creative Arts Resource & Network of Western Racine County (CAR&N) gallery, 220 E Main Street, Waterford, Wisconsin, featuring Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) made by members of the Milwaukee ATC group (including myself).

Although we only take up one wall of the gallery, there are 169 ATCs by 55 different artists. I received the majority of the cards in trade at the Milwaukee ATC monthly live trade meetings. (See our group webpage for more information.) Many of my ATCs included were from my ATC-a-Day project in 2006-2007 because the majority of ATCs that I've made have been traded away to other people!  But I got all these fabulous cards in return:

There's quite a variety of art from traditional painting and drawing to collage and assemblage using everything from fabric & fibers to recycled objects and wire and glass. The display case in the first photo above includes some fragile and three-dimensional ATCs.

If you are in SE Wisconsin or Northern Illinois and interested in seeing the show in person, this Google map shows the location of the gallery as well as some local laces to eat nearby. The actual gallery hours vary (and are not what is listed on their website). They are generally open Tuesday-Friday 10-4 and Saturday 10-3, and are sometimes open Wednesday & Thursday evenings until 8 pm but they may close early some days if they do not have any visitors. If you are driving from a distance, I would recommend calling ahead to make sure that they will be open when you are planning to go. If you are unable to see the show in person, you can get a photographic overview on Flickr here.

Besides the Milwaukee ATC group's display, you can also see paintings by Jeremy Uglow, photographs and collages by Nick Torkilson, and jewelry by Jeanne Baas. The ATC portion of the show will be up until about May 23, 2014.