Opposites?

Valentine’s Day today got me thinking, are our closest relationships based on similarities or differences?  This is a photo of my daughter and her boyfriend.  She just recently entered a “cutest couple” contest using this pic and they won by a landslide.  She described the photo in opposites…he’s the marine and she’s the princess…he wears boots and she wears heels.  They are opposites in so many ways but are truly dedicated to each other.    To celebrate their relationship (while she and beau are 7,500 miles apart) I needle felted a couple of wool ducks to add to her duck collection.  I also think it’s fitting that she had her eye on the Valentine SweeTarts while we were shopping one day so there it is, opposites.  But in our case I’d say that the apple was swept by the wind when it fell.  It fell far from the tree.

Empty Nest

Yesterday I received news that I won a merit award for my fiber painting, “Lily,” showing at the Naperville Art League gallery.  I just recently began my membership there after being away for nearly 3 years.  When I started working fine art in fiber I was eager to show my work and so I joined the art league.  My daughter was in high school at the time and even though I was excited about fiber art it seemed that there was never enough time to get even one piece done a month for the monthly shows.   It amazes me how much that changed with my daughter away at her first year of college.  While she was away I didn’t come home from my office job and have to put dinner on the table, or sew a dress for the next dance, or just simply be company.  Not that I didn’t love to do those things but now, with my empty nest, I can choose to do whatever I want to do.  A lot of times that means delving into my fiber stash, maybe creating a new accessory line or working on my latest “painting.”  Summer put a temporary hiatus on my work but I’m eager to get going strong in September.  I’ve had a summer of inspiration that I’m excited to put into reality. 

The NAL pictured my “Lily” in their August newsletter which you can see here.  This is a large file that takes some time to load.  Here's a partial photo of the painting:

 

Currently Showing

Last week David Sharos of the Naperville Sun ran a piece about Naperville Art League’s latest project, “Between the Lines.”  I was surprised to receive David’s phone call but the very short interview turned out to be a couple of pretty nice paragraphs in the article.  I was pleased!  You can read it here.  I received the call from David because I’m showing one of my felted pieces, "Lily," in the Art League’s current exhibit.  David also included a large photo of another fiber art piece, "Americana," in the article.  Unfortunately the photo only downloads half way but I uploaded to my blog for you to see.  

This was my first of what I consider a large fiber piece.  The size (20” x 28”) and the 3 elements made it quite an undertaking but it successfully pushed me out of my “little” box.  I usually think in terms of 16” x 20” now and with needle felted detail this can become quite time consuming.  While I compare needle felting somewhat to colored pencil in the way I layer and blend and often work only a few “strokes” at a time I would never have undertaken a colored pencil drawing of that magnitude. 

I’m also privileged to have been juried in to the Naperville Art League member’s exhibit, “Spontaneous,” at the Schoenherr Gallery of North Central College in Naperville.  This show runs until August 22.  North Central College is my Alma Mater and my daughter is currently attending there so it really pleased me to be accepted.  The fiber piece, "Uganda Couple,” that I submitted took Best of Show at one of the league’s exhibits which qualified it for the Best of the Best in 2008 held at the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oakbrook.  I don’t currently have the piece up on a website but you can see some of my fiber art here.

Charles Van Grooten

Charles Van Grooten is a House Rabbit Society foster bunny who came into my life after I lost a dear Californian rabbit to a heart attack during surgery. I was smitten by the sweet nature of big white bunnies with their contemplative faces and beautiful red eyes. After over a year of Chuck living with us he developed a bump on his side. The bump was an abscess that apparently developed from a BB that was lodged in his side from being shot before I knew him. Poor Chuck! The BB and abscess removal went well but he came out of the surgery with head tilt. He’s recovered remarkably well but he does lose his balance once in a while and if his 4 feet on not on the floor he’s not sure which way is up.

One of Chuck’s activities before head tilt was skyping with my daughter’s friends on her computer. She took an awesome picture of him staring into the computer screen. I couldn’t help but transform it into a fiber art piece. After needle felting a wool layer down with the color scheme I decided to use a mohair blend of yarn for finishing. There is some metallic yarn and flax as well. I still have to work the border but I couldn’t wait to get it on my blog for everyone to see. As me and my daughter would say, ahh, Chuck.