NEW ARCHITECTURAL PAINTED TEXTILE, SPRING STUDIO CLEANING

"Local Color"  24 1/2" X 30"   Lori LaBerge  2018

Paint was added to a larger work this week. It is interesting to see how the resulting paint color is affected by the wool color underneath. This has to be allowed for so the overall piece works. Mixing the right amount of paint for the larger areas to be covered proved challenging at first as I have only used this technique on smaller works. Mixing too much paint leaves waste, while mixing too little means having to match the exact color again.

Close-up "Local Color"  Lori LaBerge

Part of the week was devoted to yearly spring clean-up:

I like to change it up a bit once in a while so a large table was brought in and placed by the front window. Now I can work with a view. Organization, with more recent work displayed, started on the right wall and will continue tomorrow.

 A second bookcase was brought in to help organize and materials were cleaned up on the larger shelves. It is amazing how much is accumulated over time.The dye table will be cleaned up the beginning of the week.

Wall patching began and since I have no leftover paint I have decided to go with a color rather than redo the white for this wall. Painting starts tomorrow morning and my son and his girlfriend arrive Wednesday for a one week visit.

A VISIT TO THE STUDIO OF VERMONT ARTIST CATHERINE HALL

"Baroque",  48" X 48"  oil and glass beads on canvas, Catherine Hall

While back in Vermont I decided to reconnect with my college art professor, Catherine Hall.  We often don't take the time to thank people who have made a difference in our lives. There are times we are with them for short periods and we move on.  It has been close to 30 years since we had talked and after seeing an article in the local paper on her artwork, I knew it was time to stop by and say "hello" to her.  

View of section of Catherine Hall's studio

We met at her studio in downtown Burlington.  Catherine is a versatile artist, exploring work in paint, encaustic, paper, sculpture and installation art.  Her materials consist of paper-mache, japanese rice papers, wax, dyes, plaster and oil paints among others.

Left side of Catherine Hall's studio

We talked about memories from the lecture hall and studio classes.  Projects she had students working on back then included collaborative murals, encaustic, egg tempera, oils, and weaving.  I still have some of my projects from those days.  My old Janson's History of Art and Arnason's History of Modern Art books are on my studio shelf today. 

A wonderful little alcove in Catherine Hall's studio

During our conversation, I learned of Catherine's link to the fiber arts.  Her father had run a textile mill in England.  She spoke of her daughter, Meg, who has an art studio in Brooklyn.  Meg Lipke works in felted wool as well as being a painter.  

There is an excellent article Catherine wrote telling of the art connection between her mother, herself and her daughter.  She writes about the textile mill, yarns, and includes photos of works.  The article portrays the strength of women in the art field and is inspiring to both current and future artists.  It can be read here.

By Catherine Hall, 2015

Of course, I couldn't leave without purchasing a piece of art.  I'm excited to return back to North Carolina and hang the above work in its new home.  

Look up those who have inspired you, aided you in your artistic work or simply been a source of encouragement and have a great day.

PROJECTS IN THE ART STUDIO

"Missing Windows" in progress  36" x 60", Lori LaBerge  2015

The majority of the week was filled with paperwork.  There was writing up information for the Plein Air group exhibit at Sauder, accounting, filling out forms, keeping up with inventory, preparing photos, continuing to prepare for classes, ordering supplies and class items, etc.

As a result of this, I did not complete as much as I would have liked on "Missing Windows". I added some bright blues in with the lighter blue and will be making some small tweaks on some of the green sections later on.    

I like to be ahead of myself with projects and made a trip to the local yarn store for when I'm ready to start whipping the edges.  Unfortunately, some of the colors I used were not readily available.  I thought about dyeing yarn for the whipped edges, but don' t want a perfect match.  I will be writing some yarn companies for samples this coming week.

A look inside the studio.

A larger work is hard to see while you are working on it.  I decided to place a carpet strip on the wall to place the work on and get a better view.  Love it!  This really allows me to step back and look at the pieces overall effect. 

I also thought that since I am working on the windows of abandoned buildings, I would start working on some smaller pieces related to abandoned items in buildings.  These works are still in progress.  All will be on black fabric and later be screwed down through the linen onto a backing board.  I'm contemplating hooking around the edges of these.

This is an old single-gang cable outlet cover found at an architectural salvage shop. I am using the edges of cut linen that are often left after bigger projects.  I hooked a small square, spray painted it and placed the cover on top so part of the hooking shows behind it.   I love the way the paint has been scraped off of this over the years.

 An old door chain latch was used on this piece.  

The aged patina is great on this double gang cable outlet cover. 

Consider setting up a place where you can more easily view your larger work as it progresses ( a carpet strip can be attached to most any wall and a canvased artwork could easily cover it when not in use if need be) and have a great day.