Flat River Gallery Show, Dec. 2-Jan.29

Meditation:  Sticks at Sunrise
Monoprinted and embroidered

Oh, it has been a while since I posted!  I have been busy, especially with the indigo and shibori workshops, printing the last of the deconstructed screen printed fabrics, stitching both shibori pieces as well as the monoprinted embroideries, and new dolls for my upcoming exhibit:

December 2 - January 29

FLAT RIVER GALLERY
219 W Main St, Lowell, MI 49331
(616) 987-6737
RECEPTION:  Sat., Dec. 5, 2-5pm
www.FlatRiverGalleryandFraming.com

"Jennifer Gould creates art dolls of fabric using her hand printed textiles of quirky characters. Those textiles that don't pop up into 3-D form become stitched and embellished pieces of abstract imaginings."

I'm looking forward to being the featured artist for this 2-month period.  I have a group of somewhat different dolls to show and the monoprinted embroideries that have been so important to my work this past year.  I've included a lot of embroidery on both dolls and the wall pieces and indigo dyed and shibori stitched work.  Look forward to seeing old (friends forever, that is) and new friends at the reception.

Blue Faced Woman with
Yellow Legs

Indigo/Shibori and SD/Embroidery Workshops

Well, the indigo and shibori workshop ended up being at my studio (garage and driveway) as well as the SD/embroidery one since there weren't enough students for the Red Spirit.  Fortunately the weather was glorious and students came up with, of course, the most wonderful fabric.  They studied the basic stitches by doing a page of each type for their notebooks and then used those stitches to embellish fabric as well as clothes.  I encouraged them to bring colored fabric, too, which gave great results.  A couple of women had to leave before I did the slide show on my laptop of the 2005 World Shibori Symposium in Tokyo and all the associated gallery exhibits around the city, as well as my trip to Arimatsu which is considered the shibori capitol of Japan.  The SD/embroidery weekend turned out to be mostly stitching for more indigo dyeing which ended up to be fun and colorful, even though that weekend's temps were in the low 90s.

My personal experiments were doing ori-nui on ribbing from sweatshirts--- I have a doll series of Pisces Women in mind for these.

From Surface Design to the Stitched Mark: Class at the Red Spirit Retreat Center

"Une Petite Rien" by Jennifer
Gould, paper towel, mono-
printed, hand embroidered

I'll be teaching "From Surface Design to the Stitched Mark" at the Red Spirit Retreat Center in Ganges/Fennville, just south of Saugatuck/Douglas, Michigan, on Sat./Sunday, Aug. 15-16, 2015, following the "Indigo and Shibori" class the previous weekend.  The info is up on the www.theRedSpirit.com with explanations and fees.  Hope you can take part.

"Clouds and Rain" 2012 by Jennifer Gould,
rayon monoprinted, hand embroidered

Indigo with a Twist: Class at The Red Spirit

Indigo dyed fabric showing possibilities of multiple
colors when using colored cellulose fabrics.

I'll be teaching "Indigo with a Twist: Dyeing Blue with Shibori" at the Red Spirit retreat center in Ganges/Fennville, just south of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, on Sat./Sunday, August 8-9.  The info is up on the www.theRedSpirit.com website with explanations and fees.  Hope you can join us that day!

Jennifer Gould Designs on Facebook

Bird Tracks in the Sky, monoprinted and embroidered

I am now on Facebook as a business and I guess have made it into the 21st century some would say!  Here's the link:  JGD on Facebook

Indigo dyed (blue on top) and printed
silk scarves

Michigan League of Handweavers Conference

"In the Garden of the Puff Sisters"
Jennifer Gould, 2015

Sister #2

Sister #3

      






   The MLH conference begins this Friday, June 5 (2015), at Hope College in Holland, MI, with the opening of the exhibits at 2pm.  My participation in these is my "In the Garden of the Puff Sisters," a triptych of figures in which I used photo transferred (acetone rubbings) of selfies I took in front of my refrigerator, crimp woven cloth (see previous posts explaining this technique taught by Diane Totten) on which I transfer printed disperse dyes in bright colors as well as on deconstructed "silk" flowers.  I also have a vendor booth in which I'm selling my self-published patterns, dolls, and handprinted fabric.  The Fashion Show takes place on Friday at 7pm with $20 tickets (cash only) available at the door.
Exhibits are open and free to the public.

Fiber Art, Functional Fiber, and Fashion/Accessories Exhibits:

Friday, June 5, 2-6:30pm (all except Fashion/Accessories)
Saturday, June 6, 10am-6:30pm (including Fashion/Accessories)
Sunday, June 7, 10am-2pm

Fiber Art and Function Fiber exhibits are located on the 1st floor of Martha Miller Bldg. on Columbia Ave.

The Commercial Marketplace (with 13 vendors of yarn, roving, books, glass beads, dolls, handprinted fabric and more) is in Maas Auditorium on Columbia Ave. across from the Martha Miller Bldg.

The Fashion Exhibit takes place, starting on Saturday morning, in Graves (room 119) on College Ave.

Indigo Dye Day, May 2, 2015

Jonetta Brown's shirts.  See her comments  about  the shirts
in the narrative.

Lou Wolf's highly stitched jacket.

Lou's pieces hanging in her yard at home drying.

More of Lou's pieces.

A lot of us had spent time each evening stitching ahead of time to get fabric bound and resisted:  jackets, shirts, blouses, scarves and the odd fabric piece on which to experiment.  Jonetta Brown did stitching on two shirts (shown above) and commented that, "The one on the left was a light blue shirt on which I used poinsettia leaves so it did have green here and there. Interesting to me that the original blue was removed but nothing happened to the green. The one of the right was white."

Imaginary Friends: New Dolls

"A Green Tea Drinker"
by Jennifer Gould

You'll see most of my new dolls in this series in my just previous post about Synchronicity Art Gallery in Glen Arbor, Michigan.

One that especially made me laugh is "A Green Tea Drinker" on which I put a empty packet of green tea with a long label entitled "Evidence of a Tea Drinking Obsession."  I do love green tea and mint tea.  Also, the base fabric is a yellow mesh polyester knit that's sheer enough to have done rubbings from leaf plates.  Very bright green tea leaves sprout from her shoulder and above the tea bag.  She was lots of fun to do!

New Dolls at Synchronicity Gallery, Glen Arbor, Michigan

"Woman in Striped Halo"
by Jennifer Gould

"Woman in Striped Halo"
by Jennifer Gould

"Woman in 3D Flowers" by
Jennifer Gould

I sent off my newest group of 15 dolls to Synchronicity yesterday and look forward to them coming out of the box into the light, again.  I try to develop a new series each year for this gallery and, although I have used this design before, I've never used embroidery pieces on them.

I call this new series my Imaginary Friends because of the quirkiness of their individual characters.  When I find myself laughing as I make one or when it's finished, I know I've done a good job.  I often have people walk into my booth at shows and start laughing--- definitely a good sign!

"Purple Spotted Sister #1"
by Jennifer Gould

"Blue Faced Woman with
Yellow Legs" by
Jennifer Gould

"Pink Woman with Green Leaves"
by
Jennifer Gould

I decided to use a lot of my little hand embroideries in composition with their odd bodies.  The faces are all from a piece of Nuno Co. (Tokyo) sheer fabric I bought there in 2005 that has 20-30 different faces.

Synchronicity Gallery is in Glen Arbor, Michigan, (6671 Western Ave, Glen Arbor, MI 49636

(231) 334-4732) and open for it's summer run on Mother's Day, May 9 and is usually open until the end of October.  Glen Arbor is a lovely little resort town on Lake Michigan almost due west of Traverse City that has many wonderful galleries and stores for visitors.   Visit their website at www.synchronicityartgallery.com.

Woman with 3D Flowers by
Jennifer Gould

GROVE GALLERY, East Lansing, Michigan

Barefoot Sister with Fish

I'm in the process of becoming a member of Grove Gallery & Studios in East Lansing, Michigan.  This is a fabulous co-op gallery of many textile artists as well as ceramicists, printmakers, and so many more.  It's the only place, other than my booth shows, where I sell  my fabric.

Click here to visit my page on the Grove Gallery website and here for my photos of sample work from dolls to embroidery to handprinted fabric.

There will be a "New Member/Artist Exhibit" from June 25-August 7 and a Welcome Party and Opening Reception on June 25, Thurs., from 5:30-8pm.  Hope you can attend!

Barefoot Sister
in Kimono and Obi

Discharged arashi shibori (left) and printed
discharge squares and circles.

Fabric Collages: Water Series

Water Series: 3

I love this piece, in fact, the entire four pieces so far in the Water Series of fabric collages I've done this winter.  I hope at some point it gets into an exhibit!  I've loved working with asymmetrical pieces and seeing so many different fabrics merge together.  I had originally been inspired by all the striped fabric I make (LUV dots and stripes).  The first one came together so easily; even the stitching was fast and decisive.  Well, with each successive one it has been, of course, more difficult.  The water element of each may be elusive or questionable to viewers but I see water in all its many forms.  Number 4 is in the LowerllArts show as I write (previous post), so onward to #5 and more.  (I'm also working on some small dolls for Synchronicity--- 3-D and 2-D all at the same time!)

This section is mostly flour resist painted poly
organza and roller printed begaline (sp?-- a very warp-faced
thickish taffeta).

Detail of Water Series: 3
Deconstructed Screen Printed knits, discharged
black silk velvet, discharged corduroy and cotton, roller
printed cottons.

Water Series Fabric Collage at LowellArts!

Water Series: 4

Detail of Water Series: 4

I worked hard in February producing two fabric collage pieces to continue my goal to work and develop my textiles in a 2-D composition.  Water Series: 1 and 2 were accepted into the Celebration of the Arts (Feb. 6-18 and a previous post).  Water Series: 3 was not accepted at the LowellArts! West Michigan Regional Art Competition, unfortunately (maybe if it had been smaller), but Water Series: 4 is in the show and I got to see it hung last night at the reception.  (Also great news that they'll be moving to a new building on Main Street which will give them lots more room for exhibits and PARKING.)

I worked with a lot discharged cotton, rayon (top black piece), dyed cheese cloth, knits, as well as hand printed fabrics.

I had a great deal of difficulty trying to machine stitch the piece because the opening section of my sewing machine is not as large as I need (and newer models seem to have even smaller openings).  For the first in the series, I backed it with white craft felt; the second one I used Peltex (or TimTex) and the much firmer PelTex/TimTex has a great firmness but it doesn't fold easily to be able to stitch the left side of the piece.  So by the time I got to Water Series: 4, I was back to using craft felt to back the stitching.   

Detail of Water Series: 4

I also backed the other small ones with black foam core (sewed on one side of Velcro to the back of the piece and glued the opposite Velcro side to foam core).  This was great for the smaller somewhat square/rectangular pieces but for #4, which is very long, I didn't think this would work, so I put a foam core piece up at the top under the black section which I put the sleeve and dowel.  I was gratified to see that it hung well and flat to the wall for the exhibition.

Detail of Water Series: 4

TextileArt Book of Jennifer's Pisces Women

I was thrilled when asked to submit images to be included in the latest book on textile art published by Textile-Link.com in the Netherlands.  This one, TextileArt Around the World, has one page of images for each 160 artists in the book--- wow!  What an incredible array of textiles in so many different visions of what textiles are today.  

My page included all Pisces Women.  Although I had sent an immense variety of images of pieces I've done, they took the many of my most recent Pisces Women.  For  more information and points of sale:  www.textile-link.com  and on Facebook:  Textile-link

Do consider registering for their newsletter as it is filled with great possibilities for textile artists and their other books.

Wild Faces: Postcard Salon at the Muskegon Museum of Art

"Wild Face 1" by Jennifer Gould
Fabric, printing, stitching

"Wild Face 2" by Jennifer Gould
Fabric, printing, stitching

"Wild Face 3" by Jennifer Gould
Fabric, printing, stitching

"Wild Face 4" by Jennifer Gould
Fabric, printing, stitching

I am so proud of myself that I got these finished--- it only took me 2 years!  I started in January 2014 by carving the face stamps out of black insulation foam (my favorite thing to make stamps out of), printed the faces in black (ProFab textile paint) on cream colored knit, and then didn't get any farther.  Needless to say with the deadline at the end of January, I didn't enter anything into the Postcard Salon that year.

This year the MMA has moved the deadline back a month to Feb. 22, so I did the rest of the work mostly last month (January 2015) and finished them today (2-10-15).

"Wild Face 5" by Jennifer Gould
Fabric, printing, stitching --- SO HAPPY
TO REPORT THAT THIS ONE SOLD
AT THE MMA SALE ON 3/12/15!

I love the red embroidery and how it energizes each face's expression.  Looking forward to the reception and sale of the postcards ($30/each with $15 to the MMA and $15 to the artist) on March 12 evening.  I didn't sell any in 2013 when I first entered and I'm not really expecting to sell any this year either; coming up with ideas, doing them and finishing them, and then entering them is plenty.  Here's the link to the MMA and the Postcard Salon:  Click here for pdf for Postcard Salon info

Fabric Collage: Newest Pieces at Celebration of the Arts

Water Series: 2 by Jennifer Gould

Detail of Water Series: 2 (stitching on knit fabric above
and printed fabric below).

My newest pieces aren't three dimensional but flat fabric collage pieces.  I wanted to work with 2-D (even though the stitching makes the surface ripple wonderfully) and with non-rectangular shapes.  I love the idea of irregular sides and odd shapes.

The Water Series was the opportunity to put pieces of handprinted and dyed fabric together in abstract shapes.  "Water Series: 1" uses commercial fabric and discharged fabric with stitching.  "Water Series: 2" uses stitched deconstructed screen printed knit fabric, hand printed stretch woven synthetic, and discharged decorator gauze.

Water Series: 1 by Jennifer Gould

Detail of stitching and discharged fabric
on Water Series: 1

Both of these pieces were accepted into the Celebration of the Arts held Feb. 6-8, 2015, at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan.  This is a show I do annually because it's attended by a huge array of GR area residents and artists and I always get a piece in.  In fact, I tied with winning the Second Prize in 2011 for "Mother & Child III."  It's always a fascinating show!