Trash to Treasure . . .

"Untitled" is 17" x 10"

Here’s a couple of pieces that use recycled wrappers. I’ve read quite a bit about using ©Tyvek in fiber art. I’ve been experimenting for some time with it. I love the results of this light weight version that are thrown away every day as wrappers.

Untitled is painted wrappers, that are layered. I then printed directly on the sheet with my ink jet printed. After stitching over the printed lines, I got out my trusty heat gun and had at it. I like how layers of color interm

ix. The feel of the finished piece is almost like a leather.
What do you think?

The second piece using wrappers, Overseas, was sold through the Fiber Art for a Cause. In fact, all three of the little quilts I donated were sold! Virginia Speigel and her gang raised a total of $190,000 over seven years with this project. What an impact they have made!

The painted, fused, stitched and distressed wrappers make up the fabric’ of the sea. Don’t be shy about leaving your comments. I’d love to hear from you. Can you guess where the wrappers came from?

Collage Mania – Fiberart For A Cause 2009

UPDATE…UPDATE…UPDATE…UPDATE

Fiberart For A Cause Collage Mania is now available for ‘pre-viewing’.  You can view the little art quilts I created for the event at: Collage Mania’s Page 5.  Be sure to peruse all 384 of the donated works before the sale begins on May 5th!

Fiberart For A Cause (FFAC) is underway for 2009.  I’ve just sent images for three 8 X 10 inch quilts to go on sale May 5th through 7th.

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/CollageMania2009.html.

Under the direction of Virginia Spiegel, in just three years, Fiberart For A Cause (FFAC) has donated more than $165,000 to the American Cancer Society.   FFAC is striving to surpass the $200,000 mark this year.  By purchasing one (or more) of the hundreds of fiber collages and art quilts, you can help achieve this goal.  100% of the money raised goes directly to the American Cancer Society!

Gold donor day will be on May 5th, where for an $80 donation (or more if you wish), you can receive your own little work of fiber art.  On May 6th and 7th, remaining works will be available for a donation of $40.

Here’s the three quilts that I donated.  I hope you like and I HOPE you’ll buy!

Overseas

Imported, commercial and hand dyed fabrics.  Recycled, painted and distressed wrappers.  Various beads and cinnamon sticks.  Machine quilted.

Fossil

Rust treated commercial cotton, and synthetic fabrics.  Machine quilted and bead embellished.

Refuge

Commercial cotton and synthetics, some rust treated and highlighted with Shiva paint sticks.  Machine quilted and bead embellished.  Toy pig (for a chuckle!).

Preview of all the collages and quilts donated to FFAC will begin on April 29th.  A link to the preview and sale will be available at that time through http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/CollageMania2009.html.  Be sure to mark your calendar, computer and phone timers, and tell everyone you know about this fun way to support the American Cancer Society.  Remeber 100% of your donation is tax deductible and goes directly to the American Cancer Society.

Preview – - – April 29th        Gold Donor Day – - – May 5th

All remaining works available May 6th and 7th.

As always,  please leave comments below.  I would love to hear from you!

Age Old Art and Aging New Art

I went to my first opera! It was stupendous! And it was in Harlingen, Texas!

The Metropolitan Opera of New York simulcasts live matinées at movie theaters throughout the country. I was watched and listened to Orfeo Ed Euridice as if I was in a first row seat…even better, I swear I could see tonsils the camera’s were so close!

Stephanie Blythe captured the tortured widower, Orfeo, perfectly…my heart ached for his pain. Danielle’s beauty is superseded only by her magnificent voice in her role as Euridice. And Heidi Grant Murphy’s angel Amor enchanted all, leaving us with a chuckle or two. I wish I had the knowledge of opera and voice to properly credit the range of voice in Orfeo…the highest notes and strongest projections were reached with ease.

The dance was bold and enchanting. With a ballet’s grace mixed with the jagged moves of modern dance, Orfeo Ed Euridice surprised me at every scene.

My favorite part of the whole show was the chorus, exemplifying heroes, heroines and even a few villains that we all know from history. Abe Lincoln, Marie Antoinette, John Lennon, Genghis Kahn, Frederick Douglas, Leif Erikson, Mark Twain, and so on . . . the list is endless and magnificent. The costumes were spot on. I would love to get a hold of the leftover scraps of fabric and embellishments. See the Who’s Who in Orfeo to view the many characters portrayed in the production.

If you have the opportunity to see the Metropolitan Opera, either live or via satellite, don’t hesitate. Magnificence awaits you! Visit www.metopera.org/HDLive for more information.

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/hd_events_next.aspx

Also new to me this past week is the surface design process of ‘rusting’. With only a bit of white vinegar, a rusty old candle holder, some plastic bags and some fabric, I created these pieces.

Rusting is so easy. I wrapped vinegar soaked fabric around the candle holder, using a few clothes pins to hold it in place. Then placed them in plastic supermarket bags and tied them closed. After a couple of days, I reopened and rinsed the fabric…what do you think of the outcome? I love this!

My brain is swirling with ideas on what to do with this process next. It is so easy and using white vinegar at 79¢ a bottle and rusty old items…you can’t go wrong on the price. Give it a shot. You’ll love the outcome!

Hot Textiles…What a Book!

Steve bought me this great book for me a month or so ago (an early Christmas present).  Hot Textiles by Kim Thittachai is a phenomenal exploration in the use of your heat gun to create works of art in textiles.

Here is a recently created work, Remnants, that used Thittachai’s technique of painted fusible web distressed with heat.  The background fabric is a hand dyed and burnt out silk.

Remnants ©Ann Flaherty 2008

For another experiment, Blaze, I used the inside of a Fedex envelope.  Painted with water based red and yellow paints, I then blasted it with my heat gun creating a dimensional synthetic cloth that can be easily stitched.

If you are not up for making your grandmother’s quilt, and love to experiment with the use of alternative items in

Blaze ©Ann Flaherty 2008

your work , such as Tyvek, vegetable mesh, synthetics, paints, dyes, seeds and so much more, Hot Textiles provides understandable instructions that beg you to try more.  Here are a set of skills that you can incorporate in other techniques.  Buy this book and set a play date soon!

One caution:  because of the use of heat on a variety of materials, you will need a well ventilated area.

Art…Art…I want you

Watch this heart warming ode to the artist from Tonya Davis with song written by Andrea Dorfman.  Is this how the artist in you feels?

Have fun creating art while learning about the cultures of your community with Cultural Cloth.

Giving Thanks

Giving thanks is the single most important tradition of our country. We are a nation peopled by others, all wanting something special, a good and prosperous life for our selves and our children. Difficult times have been part of the struggle since the Pilgrims first landed, but we’ve always managed to come together , overcome, and appreciate our collective accomplishments.  As you read this post, and just a few of people I am grateful to have in my life, I hope you’ll consider who and what you appreciate and share your thoughts in the comments section.  I’d love to hear what you are thankful for.

Today, I give thanks for the many friends I have made, especially through the ‘art’ of fiber. It’s been over ten years since I started quilting and the friends I’ve made are so many I can’t count them. Whether it be traditional or artistic, we are a generous group with many gifts to offer. And when I’ve asked…you’ve delivered! THANK YOU!!!

A couple of months ago, I asked members of Quiltart.com to send my grandson’s Adventurer’s group postcards. They were earning their Communications badge, learning about the mail system and people of other parts of America and the world. Boy…did they get a lot of postcards,  traditional and fibers cards too!  And here is a special thank you written by Christian on behalf of his group. Thank you all for being so kind to a group of children eager to learn about the world. THANK YOU!

See the kid on the left in this photo, he is the original Kid from Operation Kid Comfort.  Because of his father’s brave service the idea of providing photo-transfer quilts to children of deployed service members came to be.  It’s been five years since we launched Operation Kid Comfort, and because of you and the support of the Armed Services YMCA we’ve served thousands of America’s Littlest Heroes, the children of our deployed service members. You’ve sent donations, material and monetary. You’ve offered your talents and created beautiful photo transfer quilts for our OpKids. You’ve made the mission of our men and women overseas a bit easier, knowing that they will not be forgotten by their little ones who curl up with images of Mommy and Daddy each night. THANK YOU!

And to the artists of Fabled Fibers, through your amazing art quilts that celebrate children’s literature, you have brought tremendous attention to Operation Kid Comfort. From Houston to Vermont, your work as enchanted and inspired thousands (me too!). It’s been a joy to work with all of you. THANK YOU!

E Pluribus Unum II: Cultures in Cloth will be launched online in a few weeks. I’m readying the images to show a Quiltart.com now. They are amazing! Each quilt is unique and captures the meaning of America’s motto, E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many One), beautifully. I know the world will be thrilled with this online exhibit, and should the venues become available…some live ones too! THANK YOU!

To each and every artist who responded to the last minute call for Woven in the Fray, opening November 28^th at The Arts Council Fayetteville/Cumberland County in Fayetteville, North Carolina, you rose to the challenge. In less than two weeks we put together an amazing timeline of the fiber arts. As the first exclusively textiles exhibit at the facility, Woven in the Fray covers a myriad of stitching techniques. From traditional quilting to surface design and mixed media fiber we expect to not only delight those who love textile arts, but educate the many who are not familiar with the genre. THANK YOU!

To all the kind people who have tested my new workshop, Cultural Cloth: Exploring and Expressing Our

Cultural Cloth: Our Lady of Guadalupe by Roberta Morgan

Cultural Histories, you have given me the gift of a great start! Understanding that this is not just a fiber class, but a diversity workshop that uses fiber collage as a tool for exploration and discussion, you have provided me with wonderful samples and the experience to carry this course to the communities of America. THANK YOU!

And to my family and friends, your never ending support keeps me going. Without Steve, none of this would be possible. Without the encouragement of so many loved ones, friends and fellow quilt artists none of these project would have succeeded. THANK YOU!

I am blessed with the many gifts you all have given me, and will forever be grateful for each one. THANK YOU!

With Love and Appreciation,

Ann Flaherty

Please tell us what you are thankful for through the comment link below.

Not Just Grey Matter

Quilts at Tufts Medical Center

This past September, I had the great privilege of seeing four works from my Not Just Grey Matter series, on permanent display at Tufts University Medical Center of Boston, Massachusetts.  Displayed at the entrance to the Neuro Oncology and Hematology clinic are ‘literally’ my thoughts on the creative process.  Photographing the quilts was difficult.  Across the hall is a bank of windows overlooking Boston’s skyline.  One day, I’ll have someone who has the right equipment photograph the group.  (If you can’t make it out, that’s the Prudential Center and Hancock building reflecting off the glass.)

Back in the Spring of 2005, I became fascinated with scanned images of the brain, specifically of my brain.  While I hope that none of you ever needs to have a brain MRI, I used the opportunity to explore the use of these images in fiber art.

Organic Matters

Not Just Grey Matter is a series of six art quilts that incorporate images of my brain through photo-transfer techniques.  After obtaining a copy of the MRI images on disk, I used various techniques and filters of PhotoShop software to manipulate them.  Two of the quilts included in the Tufts display, Organic Matters and Imagination Matters are shown here.

For Organic Matters, I played a bit with the color and then used a wood cut technique to create the three images on the quilt.   The 11.5″ X 30″ piece includes leaf patterned commercial fabrics and beaded embellishments.

For Imagination Matters, I printed the same image on a soluble stabilizer.  Using the image as a guide, I stitched the an outline of the image and then washed away the printed pattern.  Under the netting, I added some egg shaped beads.

Imagination Matters

The last two quilts in the series, Focus and Montag’s Legacy,  were part of the Professional Art Quilters Alliance -South (PAQA-South) exhibit, ARTQUILTSreflections at the Page Walker Arts & History Center of Cary, NC in September and October, 2008.

Montag's Legacy

Montag’s Legacy, based on the character of Fahrenheit 451, uses a grid of images from my scans in the background.  If you read the book, you may recall the task of memorizing books, and then teaching two others to memorize the same information.  Thus, humanity was saved to rise up another day.

Materials used in the work included hand-dyed and commercial fabric, organza, yarns, fused fabrics, Angelina fibers, threads, and beads.

To view the exhibit in its entirety, please visit: http://web.mac.com/janine_leblanc/ARTQUILTSreflections/Welcome.html

Moving Day

This is a new link for me, and I hope all my friends will find me.  I was having a tough time posting to the old site and decided to give WordPress a try.  You’ll let me know what you think?  Of course you will.

Winter Moon 12 1/2

Winter Moon reminds me of a winter sky off the coast of New England, the air is cold and biting; the beauty is endless. This piece has some shimmer to the fabric and paint that doesn’t photograph well (for me). But I think you get the idea.

It utilizes commercial cottons, thread painting, fabric paint, and fusible appliqué. The thread painting was done several years ago and sat waiting, actually pinned to my design wall waiting, until the muses offered a solution. What do you think?

The next quilt is a labor of love . . . my love of beads! I bead on the road while traveling with Steve. Often we will be in the car most of the day, not hard to take in our little Beemer, but still it can be boring. I throw a recorded book in the CD player, place my ‘bead box’ on my lap, and time flies by from there.

I recall a few years ago, Steve and I were on our way home from visiting the kids in  Atlanta.  We had the top down, enjoying the sunshine and a perfect day.  All of a sudden a burst of wind hit me.  The flower I was beading flew out of the car, into center island of I-85.

Steve didn’t blink.  At the next exit he turned around and drove south until we saw the splotch of pink.  Thankfully, it was still in the grass and not stuck to the tire of a big eighteen-wheeler. Around again at the next exit, he parked on the grass (don’t tell the Statie’s) and rescued my flower.  It’s now, thread painted and beaded,  attached to a quilt that hangs in our guest bath.

Tide Pool 9 1/2

The background of Tide Pool is basic, with purple fabric covered with tulle for a bit of texture, and a nice batik border.  The beads are varied in size and style.  I like to just bundle and bunch (a real technical term) and see where it leads.  Do you like the leaves?  As with most of my work, the piece leads me . . . it will tell me what it wants to say.

Seems like I’ve been drawn to creating works with water lately.  I grew up in the Boston area, and water played a big role in our lives.  My father loved the sea, spending every spare moment out on the water.  Winter Moon reminds me so much of him.

My childhood was spent in the water.  Sunset Lake, camping at Maple Park, the beaches of West Dennis, Wollaston or Nantasket, any day with sunshine involved water.  I never missed a good wave or an afternoon with water skis .

And I can’t forget the Gidget/Moondoggie effect of a good beach.  You never knew when the next adventure would present itself, and who would be a part of that adventure.  When I think back on my younger years, almost every great memory involved a beach. I wouldn’t trade a moment of it!

I’ve got a few more ‘water works’ that I’ll share later  when I’ve finished ‘framing’ them properly.  As a good friend pointed out, sometimes they just need a backdrop.  I think you’ll like the results.

Thanks for visiting Ann Flaherty’s Strands of Imagination.  As always, if you have any questions about my work, do not hesitate to ask.  I hope to see you again soon.