August Meeting!

Our last summer meeting was August 15th at the library. In September we will meet at the school in our marvelous art classroom! The agenda for Setember is not finalized yet, but it will be geat!

So, for August we had a lesson on some of the elements of design. Cathy A led us through a few eye opening exercises. The first one was to draw a posed figure without looking at our paper in 10 seconds. I will NOT post my results of that exercise. They were hugely funky and not in a good way :oP"""""
Next we sectioned off our paper into six boxes and crated lines to express certain concepts or emotions. <--- From top left to bottom right they were; feminine, overheated (I could relate to this one, sigh), angry, cheerful, masuline, and relaxed. Here are the results of my efforts.

Next, we did the same type of thing using color. ---> Our words were; fresh, tired, energized, slow, road trip, and Birthday. Here is my 20 second rendition.

Lastley, we divided our page into three sections and cut up magazines. We pasted images we liked into the three sections and then decided the emotions the mini collages brought to mind. <--- Here is my cut-and-paste. It was great fun (felt like grade school :o) and I learned that my "art language" is definately COLOR, as opposed to line or image, to create a feeling in my work.

We all had such different results, I should have remembered my camera so I could post others work. It was very revealing and I'm off to do some more, there is always more to learn!

I have managed to update our meeting dates on the side bar. Come join us if you are close!

Until next month! Deb H

July Meeting

Here are the paper exercises we did in July.

First up, we picked one color, a more intense version of that color, and it's complement. Then we cut out graphic designs to make positive/negative images.


Secondly, we chose complementary colors, then chose more paper to create an analogous + complement color scheme. We used the analogous colors to fill space.


Lastly, we did a group exercise, round robin style:

This was great fun!

How could these exercises translate into fiber? The first one might be interesting translated into thread painting or quilting. What if a design is quilted in yellow thread on black fabric? What if it's black thread on yellow fabric?

Could the analogous color exercise be used to design a literal image such as a face? How might this idea translate into a traditional quilt block?

The elements in our final exercise pull it all together. We started by dividing space (anything but in half!), then we added text, black and white elements, printed image, and finally filled out the design to balance it. Think of all the ways you could add these elements with fiber......

April Meeting!

Pat S is one of our most prolific members and she has three of her ATC's (Artists Trading Cards) published in a new book by Patricia Bolton, publisher of Art Quilt Magazine (among others). Go to our "Gallery" to see the inside photo of her three cards. Good work Pat!!!

At Show & Tell she shared some of her latest work with us; the blue fern piece has a photo printed on fabric - twice! The sheer fabric is mounted about an inch in front of the back photo and give the work a very 3-D look. She had seen it in Quilting Arts and had to give it a try.

Another one of Pat's recent pieces; beads and wire on hand dyed China silk.











Another Show & Tell dazzler; Sandy O's denum jacket that she has embellished. Beautiful!

Or meeting was a review of some techniques we've done in the past for our newest members; torturing Tyvek, Shiva Paint Sticks on fabric, silk screening, and a few other things.









But one of the fun events involved Cathy A pulling out her hand-dyed fabrics that were left from her booth at the Chicago Quilt Show last month. They were gorgeous and turned into a "feeding frenzy". No one was surprised except Cathy (and don't you just lover her pink hair?)!

March Meeting!

Our March meeting was fabulous. We unveiled some of the quilts for our "Eye" challenge. Not everyone has finished their quilts (yours truly included) but the quilts that were there; finished, unfinished, and sketches of great things to come, were very impressive. At left is Kay S, Pat S, & Sandy O discussing some of Sandy's incredible work.

We had a great show and tell as well; Many people had the yarns and fabrics they dyed last month and they looked marvelous - sorry I didn't get photos of those - I spaced out!

http://www.sheepyhollowherbs.com/ is a local herb and wool farm that is owned by Jenny D. who did a great demo of Needle Felting for us. She showed us some incredible techniques for needle felting as an embellishment to our work. The wheels are spinning (so to speak) with ideas for adding this medium to our embellishment tool box.

And last, but not least - we hit the big time! This meeting was the 2nd anniversary of our group, two years have flown by and we have grown as a group and as artists. To celebrate we had cake (thanks Kay!) and a reporter from the Tri-City Times of Imlay City come and interview or group. In the March 4th edition we appeared - Cool, huh?

Feb '07 Meeting - Dyeing!

We decided we needed a dye day to play with some MX dye stocks left over from other projects. MX is a fiber reactive dye for cellulose fibers (cotton, rayon, linen, etc) and after it's been in a dyestock solution for several days it loses it's ability to "react". But the experts tell us it can still be used as an acid dye (acid dyes are used on protein fibers such as wool and silk). So.... we are testing this concept!

Linda J is dyeing roving for spinning. Linda K's roving is in the foreground.

The fibers we are dyeing have been soaking in an acid (citric acid) solution to bring their pH down to 5.0. We can then paint our dye stock solution on the fibers and nuke them in a microwave (very carefully, can't set the building on fire!) to set the colors.

Left,

Debra G is painting sock yarn.

Right, Kay S is painting yarn and wool fabric.

Margot L painted lace - yum!

Right, Howard - I mean Linda K has her roving ready for the microwave.

Sandy G is painting silk dupioni!

Stay tuned next month (ish) for the results of our ground breaking and art-world shattering experiments!

Respectfully Submitted - Deb H

Eye for Fiber - Lagniappe!

Hi all,
Lagniappe: Cajun, a popular term in southern Louisiana meaning “a little something extra” – a gift or show of appreciation. This is an extra e-mail to share something with y’all I thought was really cool!
While perusing some of my favorite Blogs this morning,
http://fibermania.blogspot.com/
http://www.persistentillusion.com/blogblog/index.php
http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/
http://www.funkyc.blogspot.com/ this is our own Cathy C; my favorite because it’s almost always good for a deep belly laugh :o) Thanks Cathy!

But, while on Fibermania, Melody Johnson mentioned this fiber artist and I clicked the link, only to be blown away by her work. Stunning!!!
http://www.deidreadams.com/

Enjoy! And see you at our meeting,
Deb H

Eye for Fiber Newsletter - February 2007

Hi all!
Since some of our member's spam blockers consider me a moral threat (just kidding, Barb!) I have posted our newsletter here...

But first, a quick recap. January's meeting was stellar. We were led in another session of machine quilting, focusing on original designs and contemporary quilting. I learned so much and we even got a peppering of Ricky Tim's wisdom thrown in (not in person, obviously ;o). I found the whole thing very inspiring and helpful. Sorry I didn't get any pictures - I forgot my camera!

Next Meeting's Info:
Our next meeting is February 21st at the school at 5 PM (ish). For directions/address/map to the school, check the link in the General Meeting Information section below.
We will be doing acid dyeing with MX dyes. This will be mostly left over dyes from other dyeing projects, but we may try some fresh powder too to see what the different results might be.
Supplies;
WEAR OLD CLOTHES! I can’t tell you how many clothes I have ruined thinking I wouldn’t get messy :oP""
Bring any protein fiber, yarn or fabric to dye. That is wool, silk, soy silk, alpaca (any animal fiber), etc.
If you have a "dye" dedicated microwave or dye dedicated microwaveable containers, bring them too. Also anything you want for a mechanical resist; string, rubber bands (stinky), plastic clips, needle and thread for Shibori, etc.
An idea of what colors you might want to play with.

Cheers!
Deb

December & January Meetings

We had a really great meeting in December. Cathy A. taught us about the techniques of machine quilting. She covered a lot of tips on smooth lines (boy, do I need to practice!) and even bobbin drawing - very cool! Threads, following a design, etc. It was very beneficial to those of us who need all the help we can get in that area (me!).

January (tonight's meeting) will be taking it one step further. Our teacher's quilts are wonderfully full of interesting designs of machine quilting that really complement the design and elements of the quilt they are on. She is going to cover the designing of the quilting that can make your art quilt even better! Another area of quilting that I desperately need!

Did I mention that quilting is not my strong point? :oP""

Deb H

Eye for Fiber Challenge!

Eye for Fiber has decided on a challenge for our group members. Most of us are already working on our mini quilts for those who have not started, here is a reminder of the rules;
The theme is vision; the eye, how you see the world(?), something about vision.
Size is 18” x 24”, you may pick the orientation (portrait or landscape).
It must be an original design by you.
Technique: totally up to you!
Due Date: March Meeting (3/21/2007)
What is the purpose of our challenge?
1) To get us to our fiber stash and working on art!
2) To put together a body of work as a group.
3) To challenge us to work a little outside of our box(s) and grow as artists.

Sew on!
Deb H

Hi All
Hope to see you in January. I had an unexpected Doctor's appointment so I could not come in December. Do you all know about the Knit Michigan knitting, spinning and weaving marathon to raise money for cancer research, for Gilda's Place, Karmanos and others. Check out the http://www.knitmichigan.com site for more information. Have a very Merry Christmas and New Year and Happy Holidays.
Debra Groth

Next Meeting - Dec. 6th

Hi all,
Our next group meeting is really early due to holiday schedules and functions. It is This Wednesday (12-6). We will have a demo/lesson on FMQ (Free motion machine quilting) by Cathy A. We will continue the topic in January with design. As most of you know, my machine quilting skills are seriously pitiful so I am really looking forward to these two meetings. See you all there!

Deb H

Blog update and New group photo album!

I have spent a little time cleaning up our Blog so it reads faster and easier. I also took a lot of the misc. photos and started a new group photo album. The photos uploaded so far are only a drop in the bucket but, its a start! Check it out at http://picasaweb.google.com/EyeForFiber

That's all for now folks!
Deb H

October 2006 Meeting - Altered Books!

Last night's meeting was great fun. One of our new members; Debra Groth
gave a program on the art of Altered Books. This seems like such a good way to do frequent creativity excersises to me. An Altered Book is definately and art form and it lends itself to fabric as well as paper. Since it (at least mine) is going to be an on-going project, I hope to use it as a creativity booster, not unlike The Artist's Way morning pages.




Here is my Start;
"Garden"
by Deb H






Linda J has just been to
Alaska so that was her focus.

And Sandy O must have
been hankering for a
cup of tea!!


They are all a good start but we have miles to go yet!


We have also decided to work on a Mission Statement for our group and several of us are going off to Fabrications next week.

September Meeting

Hey, Everybody! Tonight we'll be talking about how to use this blog. There's a good chance that you are reading this tonight and we are all together standing in front of a computer screen. Rock on!

This Month's Meeting Change!

Hi to all the Eye for Fiber folks! I wanted to reiterate that our meeting for this month was changed from the 3rd week to the 4th week (February only) because of a school conflict - they were having a "do". So if you should up last night - sorry, check your e-mail fist! We will have our gathering next Wednesday (2/22), 6 PM, at the school. Our agenda is Show & Tell, Critique work in progress, show our 1 hr purse challenges off. I see Pat has been at it already - beautiful Pat!!

Scroll down this page a bit if you want to see our Tyvek meeting post and pictures. I only added what I had in my camera so if anyone else has pictures of their Tyvek meeting experiments - please post them! See you next week! Deb H

Purses

Hi, Everybody! Here are two 60 min. bags - well the purple took 70 minutes. On that one I used one of my painted pieces from last Wed. Pat

This will be especially great when we (I) learn to really use it. Pat, the crazy beader

Deb is So Cool!

Hey Everybody!

Deb, what a great idea. Seems to be working for me. I'm posting just to see what happens.

Today, I added more paintstick to some of the pieces from last night. Here's the before and after shots:

The Tyvek Meeting

Meeting 11/16/2005
Tonight's meeting was for torturing Tyvek. That wonderful, weird stuff that some mailing envelopes and other "tough" stuff is made of. Not a paper and not a fabric, it does really cool things when heated.
Our turnout tonight was small. It was very cold, windy and snowy - ugh! But we did great things!
Attendance: Barb Dinneweth, Deb Harowitz, Linda Johnson

We had too much fun torturing more than just Tyvek. Fabrics of all kinds from our stashes were given the "heat" treatment for some really amazing results! We used a heat gun - my favorite torture device, and a stencil cutting tool. Very like a wood burning tool or soldering iron, all will work as well. Most important lesson we learned? It's stinks! Work with good ventilation.

Barb Dinneweth is also cutting and sewing Tyvek to fabric to be abused for the sake of art! It's thanks to Barb (an art teacher) and the Imlay City Middle School that we have such a perfect art classroom for our meetings most of the year.











Linda Johnson is having waaayyyyy too much fun with this. Who knew being destructive could be so much fun?

My creation for the night. While it may not be art - it was a good experiment. Painted and melted Tyvek, scraps of hand dyed cotton, fabric paint, machine stitching, black silk noil. Very fun!

Deb H

Why we are here!

We are the members of an Art Group that works mostly in fiber located in the lower thumb region of Michigan. We decided this Blog was a good way for us to keep in touch with each other and to show other fiber artists what we are up to. We hope you enjoy our posts and if you are a local artist, feel free to join us at our meetings - for more information about where and when you can e-mail us at deb@scarlet-zebra.com
Deb H