BURLINGTON CITY ARTS EXHIBITS: WOOD AND METAL

I returned last night from our trip to Vermont.  On our day out to see art we had a chance to visit the Burlington City Arts Center.  On display was wood and metal art. Enjoy!

Cal Lane works in metal.  Those of us who love textiles can revel in the lace creations she creates from using a torch on items such as old barrels, wheelbarrows, shovels and other industrial items.  The combination of strength and fragility attracted me to her works.

Work by Cal Lane

Close-up, Cal Lane

 Artist, Cal Lane

Artist, Cal Lane

Flour was poured through metal carving creating a oriental rug effect.

Clark Derbes creates art using a chain saw.  While I had seen chain saw art, I had never seen contemporary artworks created this way.  The geometric sculptures left my husband contemplating the "how was it done" and me delighting in the colors, shapes and patterns. 

Chain saw art by Clark Derbes

 Artist, Clark Derbes

 Artist, Clark Derbes

 Artist, Clark Derbes

Artist, Clark Derbes

These artists have elevated their work to another level.  Metal becomes lace through welding, an old tree stump becomes a sculpture through use of a chain saw.  Think about how various materials can be manipulated with various tools and have a great day. 

"ROUNDABOUT" COMPLETED, "COASTAL ROUTE" STARTED

"Roundabout"  20 X 20,  Lori LaBerge  2013

Metal parts were added to "Roundabout" this week.  I used clear thread, but may change this as I tend to like the made by hand feel that comes from seeing yarn attaching the metal to the fiber.  Not being patient enough to wait for the 3" washer I ordered to show up at the door, I trotted over to Lowe's again to search for something new.  

It is always interesting to see reactions when you are in the plumbing or electrical aisle, are asked if you need any help, and tell the salesperson you are just looking for items to use in an art piece.

I found the perfect 3" circular item hanging on a rack.  It is a rigid conduit locknut.  I also picked up a 3" galvanized steel floor flange because who knows when a piece may just cry out for one.  The locknut called for "Roundabout" to have a design change as it is quite a bit slimmer than the 3" washer.  The center area was filled with some nuts and a washer representing the common plants and center statue seen in many roundabouts.  The washers to the right side depict vehicles traveling the roadway and balance out the piece nicely.

Another work was started this week:

   "Coastal Route",  20 X 20, rough sketch

The wavy roadway lines sketched through the piece were changed when the design was transferred to linen as I was not happy with the presentation.  Care had to be taken where the wavy lines themselves intersect as well as where they cross with straight lines.  The wider horizontal stripe will be hooked with various shades of blue which have yet to be dyed. 

"Coastal Route" hooking started

I decided to hook randomly in each two inch square.  This is time consuming as the squares need to be kept as straight as possible.  I find myself hooking looser than I normally do to give each square a place to rest and to prevent bulging.

Placing colors in order from light to dark sounds easy.  I had some difficulty as a few of the grays I dyed were very similar.  Look at the far right column in the above photo.  Which is darker, the first or third section?  They are both blue grays, but the lower one is darker than the top one.  This led me to search for a site where you can practice this.  The site is x-rite and you can take their color challenge.  Have fun!

Look closely at the color values of objects around you, decide whether they are light, medium or dark, look at them in relation to similar colors and have a great day.

  

"BLUE ROAD" IN FINAL STAGES, LEE KRASNER BOOK, JOURNAL ACTIVITY

"Blue Road", 18 X 18, Lori LaBerge  2012

I have been jumping around working on various pieces.  Some, already in progress, were put aside in order to have time to create a few more works for the PAF Gallery showing March 15th and 16th.  The past week included some of the finishing work on "Blue Road". 

The metal and wood parts were placed and I created two tassels.  When researching nomadic clothing and bags, I noticed an extensive use of tassels.  I could not find any information on the meaning these may have had and will continue to try to find out more about them.  Their addition completed the piece and added to its story.  All that is left now is the final labeling, framing and wiring. 

After a day of work, I love to read at night.  With the snow falling outside, I decided to curl up in bed with a hot chocolate and a good book.  This was my choice:

 "Lee Krasner: A Biography by Gail Levin

The book interested me as Lee Krasner was an artist in her own right, painting abstract work before she met Jackson Pollock.  I've only read the first chapter and am glued to the pages.  My favorite part of artist biographies is learning the artist's approach to work and thoughts about that approach.  I find it unfortunate that when I minored in Art History in college there were very few women artists whom we studied.

The journal activity for the week was a different take on brain-storming.  I wanted to take some time to discover how I thought about fiber art and what words I associated with it.  I decided to rip two pages out of a book (any book will do).  I happened to find an old history book from high school.  I then took colored pencils and x'd out words that I felt were not associated with textiles or fiber.  I chose the x as it resembles stitching.

    

The words left after marking others out were then written around the page.  It was interesting that while working with the first page I only filled half a page of background while I filled the whole of the second page of the journal.  I went back after finishing the second and looked for words on the first page I may have missed. Through this process I completed the first journal page.  

Close-up of page

Some of the words I found were: strong, lofty, custom, fringed, cloak, adorned, native, arts, curiosity and time.  The more I worked the process, the more I stretched how words could be associated with textile and fiber work.  When returning to the first page, I found I had missed words such as wander, forward, irregular, becomes and reunite. Why did I now accept these words?  I began to think in a new way:  one can use fiber in a wandering motion, want the fiber arts to move forward, see the uniqueness of irregularities, make plain fabric become beautiful and tear fabric apart to reunite it in a new way.

Look at the words you read in a new way, relate them to your art, hobby, or life and have a great day.

Note--No news on the studio update, weather is really holding things up.

TABLE RUGS FOR DECOR

Yellow table rug, 10" X 13" linen, wool, metal, Lori LaBerge  2012

This week has been a wonderful combination of dyeing, hooking, whipping edges, stitching metal to fiber and designing.   I love the table rugs.   They are wonderful for displaying pottery and look great on coffee tables, sofa tables and chests.  The rugs will be available for purchase at the Carolina Designer Craftsmen show in November.

Full view

The whipped edges were finally finished this week.   After the edges were finished, the various hardware parts purchased last week were poured onto the studio table.   Decisions were made as to which metal parts would go on which rug, then the parts were scraped and painted according to what was needed for the design.

Red table rug, linen, wool metal,10" X 13", Lori LaBerge 2012

Full view

I also purchased some art this week.  My husband and I took a ride toward Banner Elk, passed a little gallery and had to turn around to go take a peek inside.   I'm so glad we did as we had the chance to meet Sally Nooney.  The gallery was full of her paintings, fused glass and jewelry. She was a delight to visit with and we talked about art, painting, glass and rug hooking for at least an hour.

Now at home on an entry wall, fused glass, "The Forest" by Sally Nooney

I love exploring back roads and finding little gems like Sally's gallery. Enjoy a weekend ride near your home, explore new places for art and have a great day.

TABLE RUGS IN PROGRESS, BOOK IN RUG HOOKING MAGAZINE

Table rugs in progress.  Lori LaBerge  2012  Hooking, whipping edges and embellishing the rugs still need to be completed.

This week I started work on a series of table rugs which will measure approximately 9" X 12" each.  They would also look wonderful framed if one wishes.  The rugs will be created in a variety of colors and based on the same design.   I also had the chance to do some dyeing this week:

Colors dyed for use on future table rugs.  

The table rugs will be embellished with metal so a trip to the hardware store was in order to search for items to add to the rugs.  When not at home, a good place to find me is in the hardware or electrical section of Lowe's, Home Depot or the local Trustworthy hardware store.  I love those places!

Items waiting to be scraped, cleaned, painted or used as is in work.

I had received an e-mail from the editor of Rug Hooking magazine, Debra Smith, a while back asking for permission to place my book in their "Good Reads" section.

It is in the September/October issue and they did a wonderful write-up on it. Information on ordering the book can be found here.  As I was going through the issue, an article I really enjoyed  was one by Diane Krys.  She combines knitting and rug hooking in a wonderful way and I can't wait to see more of her work.  

Think about how you can create different combinations in whatever your work, hobby or project may be and have a great day.

JASPER ROCK RUG AND BROKEN JEWELRY

"Jasper Out of Reach" 12" X 9 3/4" X 4" Lori LaBerge  2012

It's funny how things come together. I knew when I saw the piece of red jasper above that the rug for it would revolve around the colors of Sedona, Arizona and the western U.S. The color of the jasper is very similar to that of the red rocks for which Sedona is known.

Colors of wool used based on the photos below.

There were actually more shades of green out west than I expected.

Shades of orange, red, green, black and white seen in the rocks.

I have ideas for every piece, but don't always fully develop how they will be implemented at the beginning of the project. When the rug section was finished, I took a break to clean the bedroom closet. There I was, cleaning a shelf, when I picked up one of my necklaces and the chains broke and fell all over the closet floor.

I honestly had no interest in putting the chains back together because I was already thinking of a way to use one of them in the rock rug. The last two of the rock rugs have dealt with barriers and what better barrier than a chain. 

 Close-up of chain, nails, wire, and washers used for barrier.

I love creativity. It is always amazing to me how people think in different ways and come up with different ideas. Sometimes a simple thing like a broken necklace can lead to a new thought process.

Enjoy where simple accidents can lead you, explore your own creativity and have a great day.

METAL MEETS ROCK RUGS

Since I've been using both new and salvaged metal parts in wall pieces, it was only a matter of time before metal began to be used in the rock rugs.

"Caged Rose Quartz"  12 3/4" x 8 1/4" x 2 1/2"   Lori LaBerge  2012

Close-up of wire wrapping.  Lori LaBerge  2012

Rocks are embedded and safely surrounded within their natural homes before being removed, mined, sold raw or worked into finished gems.  The rose quartz shown above has thick picture hanging wire wrapped around it to simulate a caged and trapped environment.   It is more along the lines of keeping things protected and safe from the outside world.   The rougher wire was used to compliment the rough cut of the rock itself.  The rock is set on its own island section of the rug.  The various blues portray water flowing between the various land formations.

"Camelot"  13" x 9" x 2 1/2"  Lori LaBerge  2012

Shades of pink, green, dark gray and off white were used in the rug above to bring out the variety of colors in the piece of watermelon tourmaline.   Again, the thought of rocks being kept safe in a natural home was used.   In this case, the rock is fenced into its own little area within the rug.

  Close-up of watermelon tourmaline rock.  Lori LaBerge  2012

Working on these pieces made me think of how often we confine people or things, not to purposely imprison them, but to keep them safe.  We see children playing out in the streets less than they used to, we keep our pets indoors, we place our money in a bank and we have fences around our homes.  There is no animosity in these actions.  We merely want to keep our children, pets, money and homes safe.  It is interesting how confinement can be both good and bad.

Think about what you keep confined in your life ( I like to keep my work tools confined in their little box and, yes, I'm guilty of keeping my chocolate in a certain place).  Have a great day.

MIXED-MEDIA IN PROGRESS

This week I decided to take a few days off.  As usual, this never occurs.  I have a difficult time staying out of the studio.  A box full of 10 X 10 art boards having been sitting around for a while and the decision was made to tackle a small piece this week.  Here is the progress so far:

The abstract figures were well received during the studio tour and I would like to make a series of these.  The idea behind these is to create the emotions and feelings we all experience in an abstract way.  This is only the third in this group and the first two dealt with how we miss people and wait for them to come back into our lives and how we all have difficult times in our lives yet have the ability within us to get through them.  These can be viewed here and here.  Above is the hooked portion of the current piece.

A metal part from a salvage shop was added to the side of the figure along with an old key attached to it.  A deep bright blue wool was chosen for the sides.  This photo was as I was working on the placement of pieces.

Gold was chosen as the color for the wood parts.  This will follow the use of gold on the art boards and framing of the other pieces in the series.

All pieces are now in place on the art board and this coming week I will work on adding more metal parts and perhaps some stones.  I still haven't quite decided how it will be finished as this usually comes to me during the work process.  The title of this piece will be "Locked in My Quiet World" and refers to the need for quiet time we all struggle to find in our busy lives.

If, like me, you have something you did not quite finish this week, think about the things you did complete, how far you have come in your life and projects and have a great day.

MIXED-MEDIA "FREE PASSAGE" IN PROGRESS

The past week was spent designing and hooking a new piece. Mixed-media is always interesting as construction issues have to be taken into account. In this piece, I plan on putting a metal plate in the center with an item screwed to the top of the plate. This led to planning the center of the piece so the plate will fit properly after the hooking is done. Since fiber is rarely perfect, the plate had to constantly be placed onto the empty center of the piece for fitting purposes. I want a tight fit with no backing fabric showing through on the edges of the metal plate. This piece was worked on monk's cloth rather than linen to allow for some stretching to fit the plate. 

An alternative to this method could have been to adhere the plate to the backing fabric before the hooking process and hook around it. In a few experiments with this method it seemed the backing fabric showed on the edges and I did not get the tight fit I was looking for. The size of the plate did not always match up to the holes in the backing fabric. I'll experiment more with this at a later date. Here are photos of the work so far: 

Hooking and whipped edging done with center awaiting completion.

Artboard primed, painted, and glazed with patina.

Work table with items for finishing work.

A great old lock found at an architectural salvage company.  This will be used for the centerpiece.  I have not decided whether to leave as is or paint it, but I really like the old feel so am veering toward as is.

This is my old piece of cardboard and the metal pieces I am spray painting for the piece.  It looks like a work of art all by itself.

Experiment with news things, try alternatives when things aren't going the way you planned and have a great day!