In process...breaking free

I find that trying to explain what kind of art I do is often complicated, especially to my beloved French friends and colleagues (To be fair, this is probably due to my lack of descriptive vocabulary in French when it comes to the arts, lol). They seek a definition, a box to check off, classifying my work as something recognizable and familiar.

The brow furrows when I admit that no, in fact, I do not draw well and was the source of much frustration to my professors when they saw how I grasped other areas of art perfectly fine, but just didn't seem to twig how to translate 3D to 2D...

Furrowed brow turns to full-on frown of bewilderment, when I try to explain that no, I'm also not a painter, nor a sculptor, nor a couturier, though what I do incorporates all of the above. It's only after explaining (probably in too much detail) about the sewing of layers of hand-dyed fabric, cutting of geometric and organic shapes, machine embroidery, surface embellishment with paint, beadwork, lace, yarn, etc., depending on the piece that their faces tend to light up like Christmas morning and they exclaim with relief "Oh so you do patchwork!!!" And triumphant in finding the box and ticking it, they promptly tune out any of my nay saying to this generalization of what I do... dismissing it with a sniff and “Ahhh, mais bien sur!”

I've always been one to wince and duck out of the way of this label "patchwork". The word brings to mind the costumes of those scary circus clowns in loud, garish colors, or of Halloween costumes friends would wear when going trick-or-treating as a bum. (Side note for my British readers, this last word is not to be taken in its generic reference to certain anatomical nether regions.) It traps fiberart in the realm of “craft” – a hodgepodge collection of bits of cloth sewn together to make a covering) without leaving space for it to be accepted as “fine” art – works which are studied, modeled, reflected upon, and planned; works with a “raison d’être.”

That said, yes indeed, part of what I do, and what many other fiberartists do, can be classified as “patchwork” or “piecework” quilting. My current piece for “The Dream Rocket” project, for example, is absolutely, without a doubt, a piecework quilt square. The inspiration behind the quilt square came from the project itself: a celebration of mankind daring to reach beyond the limits of what was assumed possible – travel to outer space – and from this break with tradition, we've discovered galaxies that we are only beginning to scratch the surface of understanding.

So I decided to start with a very classic quilt square: The Bear’s Paw, which to me looked like mini rockets or fish in the middle. In my piece, those mini rockets / fish break free from the confines of what tradition holds them to and they go off to discover new worlds…

I hope everyone had a special Easter weekend!

Rock(et) your day! (-;

Holly

First Steps...toward the moon?

So I'm going to skim right over the fact that it's been just over a year since I blogged and dive right into the fact that very soon, I will exhibit in a show called "Dream Rocket". In short, I have secured a place on a Saturn V rocket, which is the vehicle that propelled man to the moon. The Dream Rocket project encourages children, families, schools, and artists alike to share their dreams, expressing them through the traditional symbol of the simple quilt square.

Some might say this is a juvenile place to re- “begin” for an artist. They may be right. But this simple project appeals to my inner girl scout in the sense that it pulls together several ideas I love:

“Impossible” dreams

Belief in self

Protection of the planet

Imagination

Then there is, of course, the historical, cultural reference to the quilt. Quilting was a particularly important practice in early American history due to the shortage and expense of readily available imported fabrics for creating warm bedding and the difficulty of spinning and then weaving one’s own fabric. Efficient use and reuse of textiles was common practice. The scraps were used in myriads of expressive ways to create blocks which comprised the quilt.

In addition, and of particular pertinence to “The Dream Rocket” project, was the idea of community: the women of early communities would come and work together – bringing their skills, stories, and anecdotes to the circle, thus passing on generations of wisdom to the younger women and girls in the group.

So here are a few images of the development of my quilt square for this rather touching and remarkable project...

Watch this space (pun intended?) for more news and photos of my newest piece.

In the meantime, rock your day!

Creatively yours, Holly