MIXED MEDIA WORK

"Between the Lines"  7" X 10" (11"x 14" as shown matted) LaBerge  2018

I worked a bit with paint, colored pencils, canvas, thread, upholstery and cotton this week. An architectural painting was done on a 4" x 4" piece of canvas using acrylic and colored pencil.

Upholstery fabric was pieced together and the painted canvas was stitched over with a turquoise thread. 

A striped piece of cotton was then stitched on top of one side of the upholstery fabric.

The edges of the canvas were left raw. This along with the pieced upholstery and stitched cotton reflect the process of constructing buildings. A large amount of work goes into the time between the start of construction and a finished building leading to the title "Between the Lines". The completed work is now ready for framing.

A WEEK OF HOOKED ART AND PAINTING

"Monolith"  11" x 14"  Lori LaBerge  2018

My natural inclination is toward strong colors. In this work I decided to have just the one bold area. The dark blue/gray with black half circle stands out among the pastel shades surrounding it. There is a relaxing softness to the work. The use of irregular lines rather than hard edge adds to the soft feel.

  

 "Monolith" in progress on frame

                                                                   

Color selection

Blues, pinks and greens seem to be my colors this week as they appeared in both painted and hooked works.

"Gallery View"  11 X 14 acrylic on canvas,  Lori LaBerge  2018

I've been spending time walking downtown noticing all the building angles and alleyways. Various shapes were sketched out for use in this and future works and studies. Numerous diagonal lines approach from both the left and the right leading to the focal point of a square filled with color against a bright white. It gives me the feeling of wanting to be in the work itself with the lime green and royal blue adding a bit of excitement.

ON THE ROAD WITH ARCHITECTURE

Entry walkway into Fallingwater

We have been looking up architectural sites to visit on our travels. Having passed by Fallingwater numerous times, we took time to stop and make it a day. This home is well worth the time and the guides are wonderful.

Photos are not allowed inside the house and only at distance points for exterior shots. The home design shows the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright. The attention to detail is simply amazing.

A fireplace with a round container for heating cider, glass which opens on the living area floor with steps leading down to the water (soak your feet or go fishing), windows which span around corners and a desk designed so the long window next to it can be opened. Wright clearly was able to envision exactly what he wanted. A balcony wall off one bedroom was purposely low so one could lie in bed and the view would not be obstructed. Photos of these and more can be found here.

Fallingwater Rising tells the story of Wright's architectural journey with the house. The owners were the Kaufmann's (Kaufmann's store is now known as Macy's).

The Fellowship tells the story of Wright's apprenticeship program where he trained others. If you like real-life drama you can read about the murders which took place at Wright's Taliesin home in "Death in a Prairie House". The book jumps around a bit with confusion in parts but is hard to put down. We'll be visiting Taliesin in Wisconsin this summer. Note there is a Taliesin East  (Wisconsin) and a Taliesin West (Arizona).

Down the road from Fallingwater is Polymath Park. Duncan house by Wright and two homes by his apprentice, Peter Berndston are there. These were homes designed to be affordable to the middle class. They are available for rental for overnight stays. Another Wright house is being moved there and they are in the stages of planning for a winery on site.

Entrance to restaurant and ticket check at Polymath Park

A stained glass work from the gift shop has a new place in our home.

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.

INDUSTRIAL LINES AND SHAPES

 "Industrial Park"  14" X 11"  Lori LaBerge  2018

This week's work shows small changes can make a difference. I wrote a little about this piece last week. The half circle took the place of a vertical rectangle. A curve was also added to the upper section and filled with dark blue. This broke up what would have been too much white space and created a better contrast against a section of the light blue. The dark colors envelope the lighter ones leading to an interesting lighter shape running diagonally through the piece.  

Original sketch for comparison to finished piece

While working with sketches and photos of newer homes, I still love industrial buildings. They lead to discovering numerous lines and shapes.

 Diamond shapes interlock on fencing, an oval is formed on the top of the barrel, while horizontal piping follows the length of the building. I like the sky shape left by the L shape of the building in this photo.

Various chimney shapes, taller, shorter, round, square. The side vents have one horizontal and a larger one vertical, lending variety. The piece developed from this photo is below:

"Paint the Town Red"  11" X 14" Lori LaBerge 2010

 Wide circular shapes on rooftop contrast with the wide rectangular shapes. Small openings are seen along the side of the building. Barbed wire runs across the top of the fencing.

 Cranes and piping add height. The horizontal rungs of a ladder are on the side of  tall brick form. The wide width of the smaller tank with domed roof in front gives it a horizontal appearance. Shapes are shown in relation to each other.

Vertical and horizontals of the metal bars in front resemble an erector set. There is a variety of spacing on the form that climbs the side of the building. Various box shapes make up the building itself.

CREATING BY SPEAKING WITH YOUR WORK

  "Orange Mint"  11" X 14"  Lori LaBerge  2018

We've been on the road the last couple of weeks, but I have been working. This piece uses repetition. Three curves (2 partial circles and the upper left) and multiple diagonal lines. There are two whites, blacks, greens and oranges. A bit of shadow play uses the dark orange and dark green. The cityscape is implied but avoids realism.

New sketches were created with the idea for "Orange Mint" on the middle right.

I am reading "You Say to Brick", a biography of architect Louis Kahn written by Wendy Lesser.

"You Say to Brick: The Life of Louis Kahn"  by Wendy Lesser

The title is Kahn's reference to his method of talking to materials and asking them what they want to become. I am finding myself attempting to apply this method by looking at a design sketch and saying "Okay sketch, what colors would you like to have? What would you like to convey?" It is a bit odd at first, almost as if you are giving up control. It is not necessarily what you want the sketch to be when turned into a textile work (after all, as artists we can be a bit self involved), but what it wants to be. 

I like Kahn's way of thinking about what a material or design wants rather than what it needs.

"Industrial Park" in progress  Lori LaBerge  2018

Another work titled "Industrial Park" (in progress) was developed from the sketches made. The original vertical rectangle was changed to a half circle. The design basically said "I want to be an industrial park (this developed the title) and I want a half circle with a curve like the top of the blue and yellow sections have. Because industrial parks can have dull colors, make my half circle bright red."

Without using Kahn's method, I may have made the yellow door like section the focus by using a brighter color or more contrast against the blue. This may have worked, but I look forward to seeing how that red works when the piece is completed. Well, with Kahn's method I know who's boss and it seems to be the art itself.

COLLAGE EXPLORATIONS: THE GOOD AND THE BAD

"Red on the Hill"  10" X 8"  collage on paper,  Lori LaBerge 2018

While searching for art on Netflix, I was lucky enough to find the documentary "Eva Hesse". Parts of her diary are read and it explores her doubts. She questions her work, should she continue, what would happen if she did not, how could she make her work better, feeling stuck, etc. It explores what all of us feel at one time or another.

Hesse's friendship with Sol Lewitt and his letters to her struck a note with me. He tells her to explore, to make terrible work, to create nonsensical work and to forget about others opinions (basically, "F--- Them." He mentions not letting your own ideas hold you back. He gets down to the idea of just making work whether it is good or not.

Another take was Hesse's comments on the longevity of her work. She really didn't care, it was the art in the moment that mattered and up to museums to worry about any deterioration of work. This made me think about how maybe art is in the moment, maybe it is not meant to last. It may be meant to move forward with the new.

"Cavern"  10" X 8"  Time spent exploring organic shapes ending in compositional problems

While "Red on the Hill" shown at the top of the post is worthy of framing, I'm not seeing "Cavern" as anywhere near that level. I see the former as the good and the latter as the bad. Too many compositional problems. (I'll give myself a break as it was 3 a.m.) There are, however some interesting sections to it. I decided to rotate the work, exploring the colors and shapes,looking for what I may be able to use in future pieces.

When the work was turned upside down, I liked the idea of what appears to be lightning created by the white edges of ripped paper. The colors work well together and the L-shape created by the blue, green and black frames the red. (Note how the thicker L-shape is created in "Red on the Hill" by the greens and pink).

"Red on the Hill" was started with a clear idea, while "Cavern" was not. For me, this makes a difference in the outcome of a work. I don't need a full design in mind, but an idea helps me to move forward. With "Cavern" the idea never really developed and the thought of a cavern didn't hit me until it was finished. The piece may have been better had I come to that idea sooner.