I am working steadily toward an April 18th deadline for Fiber Feast. This special event showcases the work of about 30 fiber artists with a runway show and sales floor. This year I will have these "string" backpacks on the runway and sell small paintings and note cards featuring macro photographs on silk.
Our runway commentator asked each of the artists to describe the inspiration for their work. This is how I answered with regard to the string back packs pictured here.
I needed an artsy,
sophisticated “tote” for a grand tour of
New York City. I wanted a hand’s-free,
sturdy, and lightweight way of carrying
maps and guidebooks with easy access to my cell phone, sunglasses, and
hotel-room key.
As a silk painter on a
journey, I also wanted to reinforce an intention that frequently crops up in my work. I think of the ocean as a
metaphor when I try to peacefully navigate the noisy, stimulus-rich,intense world I
live in.
The question, then, is how to make a focal fabric that sets the visual rhythm of the waves with their calming
and balancing effect against the drama of the sea’s vastness and power. Check out the design for the focal fabric. Notice the seaming and the secondary patterns that result. Hopefully, you will witness the excitement of bright colors, rhythm in the seaming, and patterns similar to how sand settles as the waves retreat.Last summer, I taught how to paint and seam silk to look like Bargello tapestry. Soon, I will be publishing and distributing a pattern for the string back packs similar to the one in the picture. Stay tuned.