Mailed Art: Delivery System exhibit through Feb. 24

"Evidence of Tea Drinking Obsession"

I was so excited about this exhibit and open invitation from the Holland Area Arts Council (150 E. 8th St., Holland MI).  All the pieces were mailed at a Post Office and arrived and hung on the wall at HAAC as is.  Nothing was opened.

The first piece (not mine...) to arrive was a cell phone in a plastic package from the Post Office with the label "WE CARE" and a statement about how the Post Office takes great care to make sure everything gets delivered without damage.  The cell phone, of course, was sent just as is with the arts council's address and postage.  It won first prize.  Anyway, you have to see this show to appreciate everything.

"Tweet Tweet"

My goal was to create pieces that were not the typical flat and rectangular shape that you always see in mailed pieces.  So my first attempt was one that I'd been thinking about for a long time, "Evidence of a Tea Drinking Obsession," made from my green tea package bags.  It arrived with arms and everything in tact.  The Post Office people behind the counter laughed!"

My second piece was a bird that I'd made a couple of years ago and definitely not rectangular.  The picture is before I went to the PO with it because more postage was added to the tail and under the wings.  (More postage was added to "Evidence" also.

And the postage had to be stamps, and the stamps had to be commemorative that had to go along with the theme of the piece.  So, the "Evidence" piece had Chinese New Year stamps from 2016, the "Tweet" piece had the current winter bird stamps, and the last piece "Earth to Jennifer" had Planet stamps.

"Earth to Jennifer"

So the last piece, "Earth to Jennifer," is three felted balls.  The biggest one and the top one have tapestry landscapes woven into the felt on each side.  They hang on monofilament with a "flag" at the top (like it's planted into the soil of the top one) with the HAAC address on one side and the title on the other:

Earth to Jennifer.
Earth to Jennifer.
Come in please!
Hello?


Unfortunately, the Post Office somewhere a long the way, decided it was lost from something else and put it into a big envelope with a clear front and a red stamped message, "Found Loose in the Mail."

The Feb. 24 end-of-show reception will be a time when I can buy back my "Earth to Jennifer" piece.  I want to see it hanging free again.

I had a fantastic time doing all these and sending them.  The PO people were totally willing to go a long with it, and HAAC is looking forward to doing this show each year!

Water Series at the Holland Area Arts Council MI Arts Exhibit

Water Series: 2

The Holland Area Arts Council in downtown Holland, Michigan, is hosting the 2016 MI Arts Competition and I have two pieces in the show, both in the Water Series.

I did four pieces in January and February 2015 that consisted of collaged fabric and freeform machine embroidery, mounted and hung as 2-D textiles.

The first one and the second (shown above) were first in the FUMC's "Celebration" exhibit that February.  The fourth was in the Lowell regional show that spring, the third was in the Muskegon Museum of Art's regional this summer 2016 and now the second and fourth are in the HAAC's MI Arts exhibit.

For pieces and flat work that was just an exploration of techniques using many different types of hand printed and dyed fabric, it has paid off very well in being able to show them at many different exhibits.  It seems as though my textile figures still are not accepted as "ART" as flat textile work now is.  Have to do more work on that front.

I loved combining the deconstructed screen printed cotton knit fabric (top of #2 above) with the textile painted/printed synthetic and the discharged cheesecloth (bottom) to create this perspective of water in many forms.

Water Series: 4

In Water Series: 4 the top is a black rayon from India that was first shibori stitched with round kumo circles.  I discharged it with dots.  Below that is mostly discharged cottons and a lot of cheesecloth and knits.  The green is a hideous green acetate muslin that's printed with black textile paint and was the perfect combination with the ochre yellow.  Always keep those ugly fabrics because they suddenly become just the right thing with the right patterns and colors.

Unfortunately the colors in the details for #4 are not quite right, too blue.  The colors in the full image are the right ones.

Each one of the Water Series shows water in so many different forms:  running in streams, sluggish in swamps and wetlands, boggy clay with weeds, at night in still reed ponds with the moonlight flowing down, in ice and blizzard storms, underwater with seaweed and reflected light.

Water Series: 4, Detail

Water Series: 4, Detail

I'm looking forward to somehow combining these techniques in a form I still call "Structures"--- not flat but 3-D, not a figure, but a textile form in the round.  More experiments and exploration!

Water Series at the Holland Area Arts Council MI Arts Exhibit

Water Series: 2

The Holland Area Arts Council in downtown Holland, Michigan, is hosting the 2016 MI Arts Competition and I have two pieces in the show, both in the Water Series.

I did four pieces in January and February 2015 that consisted of collaged fabric and freeform machine embroidery, mounted and hung as 2-D textiles.

The first one and the second (shown above) were first in the FUMC's "Celebration" exhibit that February.  The fourth was in the Lowell regional show that spring, the third was in the Muskegon Museum of Art's regional this summer 2016 and now the second and fourth are in the HAAC's MI Arts exhibit.

For pieces and flat work that was just an exploration of techniques using many different types of hand printed and dyed fabric, it has paid off very well in being able to show them at many different exhibits.  It seems as though my textile figures still are not accepted as "ART" as flat textile work now is.  Have to do more work on that front.

I loved combining the deconstructed screen printed cotton knit fabric (top of #2 above) with the textile painted/printed synthetic and the discharged cheesecloth (bottom) to create this perspective of water in many forms.

Water Series: 4

In Water Series: 4 the top is a black rayon from India that was first shibori stitched with round kumo circles.  I discharged it with dots.  Below that is mostly discharged cottons and a lot of cheesecloth and knits.  The green is a hideous green acetate muslin that's printed with black textile paint and was the perfect combination with the ochre yellow.  Always keep those ugly fabrics because they suddenly become just the right thing with the right patterns and colors.

Unfortunately the colors in the details for #4 are not quite right, too blue.  The colors in the full image are the right ones.

Each one of the Water Series shows water in so many different forms:  running in streams, sluggish in swamps and wetlands, boggy clay with weeds, at night in still reed ponds with the moonlight flowing down, in ice and blizzard storms, underwater with seaweed and reflected light.

Water Series: 4, Detail

Water Series: 4, Detail

I'm looking forward to somehow combining these techniques in a form I still call "Structures"--- not flat but 3-D, not a figure, but a textile form in the round.  More experiments and exploration!

Water Series at the Holland Area Arts Council MI Arts Exhibit

Water Series: 2

The Holland Area Arts Council in downtown Holland, Michigan, is hosting the 2016 MI Arts Competition and I have two pieces in the show, both in the Water Series.

I did four pieces in January and February 2015 that consisted of collaged fabric and freeform machine embroidery, mounted and hung as 2-D textiles.

The first one and the second (shown above) were first in the FUMC's "Celebration" exhibit that February.  The fourth was in the Lowell regional show that spring, the third was in the Muskegon Museum of Art's regional this summer 2016 and now the second and fourth are in the HAAC's MI Arts exhibit.

For pieces and flat work that was just an exploration of techniques using many different types of hand printed and dyed fabric, it has paid off very well in being able to show them at many different exhibits.  It seems as though my textile figures still are not accepted as "ART" as flat textile work now is.  Have to do more work on that front.

I loved combining the deconstructed screen printed cotton knit fabric (top of #2 above) with the textile painted/printed synthetic and the discharged cheesecloth (bottom) to create this perspective of water in many forms.

Water Series: 4

In Water Series: 4 the top is a black rayon from India that was first shibori stitched with round kumo circles.  I discharged it with dots.  Below that is mostly discharged cottons and a lot of cheesecloth and knits.  The green is a hideous green acetate muslin that's printed with black textile paint and was the perfect combination with the ochre yellow.  Always keep those ugly fabrics because they suddenly become just the right thing with the right patterns and colors.

Unfortunately the colors in the details for #4 are not quite right, too blue.  The colors in the full image are the right ones.

Each one of the Water Series shows water in so many different forms:  running in streams, sluggish in swamps and wetlands, boggy clay with weeds, at night in still reed ponds with the moonlight flowing down, in ice and blizzard storms, underwater with seaweed and reflected light.

Water Series: 4, Detail

Water Series: 4, Detail

I'm looking forward to somehow combining these techniques in a form I still call "Structures"--- not flat but 3-D, not a figure, but a textile form in the round.  More experiments and exploration!

Water Series at the Holland Area Arts Council MI Arts Exhibit

Water Series: 2

The Holland Area Arts Council in downtown Holland, Michigan, is hosting the 2016 MI Arts Competition and I have two pieces in the show, both in the Water Series.

I did four pieces in January and February 2015 that consisted of collaged fabric and freeform machine embroidery, mounted and hung as 2-D textiles.

The first one and the second (shown above) were first in the FUMC's "Celebration" exhibit that February.  The fourth was in the Lowell regional show that spring, the third was in the Muskegon Museum of Art's regional this summer 2016 and now the second and fourth are in the HAAC's MI Arts exhibit.

For pieces and flat work that was just an exploration of techniques using many different types of hand printed and dyed fabric, it has paid off very well in being able to show them at many different exhibits.  It seems as though my textile figures still are not accepted as "ART" as flat textile work now is.  Have to do more work on that front.

I loved combining the deconstructed screen printed cotton knit fabric (top of #2 above) with the textile painted/printed synthetic and the discharged cheesecloth (bottom) to create this perspective of water in many forms.

Water Series: 4

In Water Series: 4 the top is a black rayon from India that was first shibori stitched with round kumo circles.  I discharged it with dots.  Below that is mostly discharged cottons and a lot of cheesecloth and knits.  The green is a hideous green acetate muslin that's printed with black textile paint and was the perfect combination with the ochre yellow.  Always keep those ugly fabrics because they suddenly become just the right thing with the right patterns and colors.

Unfortunately the colors in the details for #4 are not quite right, too blue.  The colors in the full image are the right ones.

Each one of the Water Series shows water in so many different forms:  running in streams, sluggish in swamps and wetlands, boggy clay with weeds, at night in still reed ponds with the moonlight flowing down, in ice and blizzard storms, underwater with seaweed and reflected light.

Water Series: 4, Detail

Water Series: 4, Detail

I'm looking forward to somehow combining these techniques in a form I still call "Structures"--- not flat but 3-D, not a figure, but a textile form in the round.  More experiments and exploration!

MLH Biennial Fiber Show, 2012

"Markings: Breeze" by Jill Ault; painted silk organza

"Markings: Breeze" Detail by Jill Ault; painted silk organza

Margaret Jager's hand spun wool blanket

Forest Woman in
Maple Leaves

Last year during the spring, the Michigan League of Handweavers (MLH) had its 17th biennial fiber show at the Ella Sharp Museum in Jackson, Michigan.  This juried show of members' works takes place in different locations around Michigan with the 2014 exhibit taking place May 17-June 28 at the Holland Area Arts Council in downtown Holland, Michigan.  

I was able to get three of my Square Headed Women in the leaf theme in the show.  My favorite piece was Jill Ault's painted silk organza hanging, a glorioulsy delicate work that probably should be viewed from both sides.  Also, Margaret Jager's grid patterned handspun wool blanket made on a small loom and the pieces assembled into the large blanket.

Check out information about MLH and its upcoming conference in August at www.mlhguild.org.

Forest Woman in
Catalpa Leaf

Forest Woman
in Beech Leaves