SCULPTURAL WORK, WHEN IS AN ARTWORK DONE

"Chamber" in progress,  Lori LaBerge  2016.  Rug hooked upholstery, industrial felt, metal, yarn

The deck was the perfect place to work this week as the weather was beautiful when we returned from Vermont.  Lately we've had a black bear, deer, baby turkeys and a variety of colorful birds in the field. We've also been keeping an eye on our local raccoon as she is expecting little ones soon.

"Chamber" is beginning to take shape.  I am again allowing for the natural drape of the industrial felt.  

A close-up shows the variety of ways materials are being manipulated.

There were two questions I was asked repeatedly during the studio tour.  The first was how I decide on what to place in the sculpture pieces.  While I plan out the general design of a piece, I do not plan out embellishments.  They tend to evolve as the work progresses.  The studio is stocked with a good variety of metal and yarns to choose from.  

I tend to place various metal pieces on the work to see what works aesthetically.  The number, size and color is taken into account.  I work in a subtraction method by placing a ton of items on the piece and taking some away until what is left looks right for the size of the work.  This gives me plenty of choices rather than constantly having to grab something from the shelf.  This does not mean that other items may not be added later.  

Fishing sinkers and chain painted and waiting to be stitched to the work.

The second question was how I know when a work is done.  I think this is subjective. The mistake I most often see with beginners is work being overdone.  Focusing on one thought or making more than one piece for multiple thoughts can prevent this. 

When I feel that adding anything else will detract from the work or overpower it, I know it is time to stop.  I look at composition to see if any changes need to be made. Does anything look off balance?  Is there enough variety of shape or is the piece intentionally repetitive? Do colors and values work? 

Is the point of the piece getting across?  This is more for me than the viewer.  The viewer may get something totally different from the work than I do.  More often than not, people look at my work and see something I hadn't thought of before.  That is when I really enjoy the individuality of art.

TEXTILE SCULPTURE, ART NOVEL FOR THE ROAD

Sculptural work in progress,  Lori LaBerge  2016

This will be the third out of four sculptural works to be shown July-August and will deal with a water theme.  The rug hooked portion above will be the base.  I added yarn and am just beginning to fray it around the edges.  The metal screws will hold the felted section.

Industrial felt was cut and manipulated with metal into a teardrop shape.

The felt was temporarily placed to get a feel for the final outcome.  Two longer metal rods will be placed through the felt later on.  Yarns and threads will be stitched on the inside and outside of the felt.

On the reading front I ordered a book of art fiction to read while on the road.

I can't wait to get started on this one.  It is about a woman who forges a painting, later becomes a curator and finds out her forgery and the original work are on their way to an exhibit she is curating.  The plot thickens!

STUDIO WORK

Almost completed.  “Side Streets”, 20” X 20”, Lori LaBerge  2016

It has been busy in the studio this week.  I have to stitch the metal washers to “Side Streets, mount the piece and then work on framing.  The original plan was to fill the background with dark grays, but I found the light gray added a nice contrast to the darks without detracting from the orange and yellow.  The diagonal shapes are reminiscent of a crosswalk pattern.

Pieces for landscape show lined up in the studio

Frames for the landscape show pieces arrived early in the week.  I have now completed 10 framed works and two sculptural pieces for the show.  There are two more sculptures to work on. 

The hooked portion of as yet untitled sculpture. 

Upholstery fabric was used for hooking.  The ends were left showing on the topside rather than clipped.   The sculptural section will sit on top of the hooked work.  Open areas were hooked around to leave room for screws to hold the sculpture upright.

Colors chosen for sculptural work.

I want to create a piece depicting water so various shades and textures of blue will be stitched into dark gray industrial felt.  It should be completed in the next couple of weeks.

My daughter will be visiting this coming week and will be helping me prepare for the Toe River Studio Tour.   There will be quite a bit of cleaning due to happen in the work section of the studio.  We’ll also focus on hanging work in the gallery section.  I feel lucky that my family has always supported my art.

Thank those that support you in your art, hobby, career, etc.  and have a great day.

TEXTILE SCULPTURE COMPLETED, WORKING WITH INDUSTRIAL FELT

"Mother Nature and Child",  14 1/4" X 10" X 6 3/4"   Lori LaBerge  2016

Working with industrial felt has been proving to be both a joy and a challenge.  I am loving that I can expand the use of metal that has been employed in my rug hooked work.  

Here are a few challenges I ran into working on "Mother Nature and Child":

1.  Flexibility is the key component of most fiber work.  It allows for manipulation.  The weight and thickness of the felt determines how much flexibility will be allowed.  I used an F15 felt that is 3/8" thick.

The work from another angle.  Lori LaBerge  2016

2.  The addition of metal to the work affected the movement of the felt.  Metal has weight which pushes down on the felt.  I let this happen in this work as I was intrigued by the shape it was taking.  A decision will have to be made with future work as to whether to continue allowing the fiber to fall naturally or to add a support system to force it into a particular shape.  This would depend on the design of each piece.

Looking down into the work,  Lori LaBerge  2016

3.  The closer I brought the top screws to each other, the more height could be added to the piece.  How the metal is attached greatly affects shape.

4.  The felt could easily be cut with an exacto knife.  This gave a clean cut, though care had to be taken.  Due to thickness two swipes of the knife were needed.  If the second cut did not meet the first cut, a ridge was left on the edge of the felt.

Bent spade point needle

5.  Solid, sharp needles were needed to bring the thicker yarns through the felt.  I used industrial steel needles.  A bent or straight spade point with wide eyes worked though effort was needed to pull the needle through the felt.  Felt can also be cut with a laser or waterjet.  

6.  I am looking into leather cutting tools and punches to work with shapes in the future.

This piece was planned to include a rug hooked bottom.  I decided this would just be too busy if it was included.  The next work will be tapered down, allowing for a rug hooked section to be attached.

Knowing what not to include is as important as what to include in a piece.  Try editing ideas, perhaps bringing those ideas into two separate works rather than trying to fit them all into one work and have a great day. 

HGA MIXED MEDIA EXHIBIT AND TEXTILE SCULPTURAL WORK

"Sway" ,  34 3/4" X 13 1/4"  Lori LaBerge  2016

"Sway" was juried into the Handweaver's Guild of America's "Mixed Bag: All Media Art Exhibit".  This is an international juried exhibit featuring high quality, contemporary works created in any material using any fiber technique.  The juror was Beverly Gordon, a retired professor in the Design Studies Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of the book below. 

"Textiles: The Whole Story: Uses, Meaning and Significance" by Beverly Gordon

The exhibit corresponds with the HGA annual "Convergence" conference.  The conference will include exhibits, workshops and  textile tours.  This year's conference will be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin July 30-August 6.  Karen Donde and Catherine Ellis, two well known artists in the Asheville area will be holding workshops this year.

Here is what is in progress this week:

Smaller section of "Mother Nature and Child",  5 1/2" X 4" X 4" , 2016.  This will be attached to the larger section.

Larger section of "Mother Nature and Child" being stitched.  24" X 8" flat (the piece will be rounded for the completed work)

Next week, I will go over what I am learning working with industrial felt and why certain decisions are being made as work progresses.

Attend a class or show, experiment with new media and have a great day.

WOODLAND LANDSCAPE, FELT SCULPTURE PREPARATION

" It's the Yellow Building, Can't Miss It", 10" X 13",  Lori LaBerge  2016

Yellow is a color I don't often use in landscape pieces.  It's a difficult color to dye to a specific shade and stands out in a piece.  Though this building found in the woods is gray in reality, it had small spots of yellow.  I decided to make one whole section of the building yellow.  

The work started as a drawing on linen on site in Black Mountain, NC.  I left out quite a bit of shrubbery and branches and simplified the wooded area on the left from how it looked in reality.   All of the branches would have driven attention away from the building and the windows, where I wanted the main focus.  The piece was brought home and hooked in the studio.

I started planning out the next sculptural landscape work for exhibit.  This piece will contain a miniature rug hooked runner using upholstery fabric which the felted work will sit upon.  

Starting to get supplies and tools in order.  I drilled holes in the edges of the felt where metal rods will be placed.  There will be two sections with one inside of the other. 

I also updated my website at www.lorilaberge.com this morning.  I added an exhibition page with photos to give a bit of history and deleted anything distracting on the site.  This means plain photos of artwork with no text unless photo is clicked on and a larger photo on the home page.  I'll take a well deserved day off tomorrow, technology exhausts me!

Look at colors you would not usually use, try using them liberally, have fun and have a great day.

SCULPTURAL TEXTILE ART "SANCTUARY"

 "Sanctuary" in progress, 15" X 11" X 8"  Lori LaBerge 2016

I had to think about creating sculptural pieces for the July landscape show.  I began to think about my many walks through the woods.  What if during a walk something unexpected appeared in front of me?   Something I could explore in the landscape.  "Sanctuary" is the first result of that thinking process.

The work consists of industrial felt, yarn, thread, beads, copper crimps, a fishing sinker, washers, a bolt and paint.  

 Close-up of upper portion

An opening was created and beads and a sinker were placed inside.  I found that the felt had to be cleaned as it shed heavily when I began work.  I vacuumed and used a lint roller to clean off as much fuzz as possible.  It would be best to use a mask if you attempt this process to prevent breathing in too much felt dust.

 Back portion in progress

As I usually work in 2-D, I finish the back of pieces but don't have to worry about how they are viewed.  3-D presents the added concern of how the piece looks from all angles.  I am in the process of creating a ladder for the backside of the piece.  This will be painted and stitched to the felt.  Fishing lures will be stitched on either side of the top of the ladder.  The above photo gives an idea of how they will be placed.

I have also been enjoying two new books that arrived this week:

"Alberto Burri: The Trauma of Painting" by Emily Braun and others

Burri's work consists of deconstructing in order to reconstruct in a new way.  His work and time spent as a war time doctor are seen in his method of art.  One can see fragments of burlap and clothing with torn edges roughly stitched together.  The rawness of the work is quite startling at some times.  He also worked with wood, steel, tar and plastic.  The use of materials unexpected to the canvas presents a unique approach to collage work. 

"destroy the picture: painting the void 1949-1962" by Paul Schimmel

This book focuses on an exhibition of post-war deconstructivism.  It goes well with the Alberto Burri book mentioned earlier and his work is included in this book also. The effect of wars is brought out in these artists' works as one sees battered canvases representing the feelings of the artists as their world changed. These are works that can have a profound effect on the viewer once the context is understood. 

The question "What if?" is one of the best gifts an artist can give him or herself.  Let this question lead you to new explorations in your work and have a great day.