• Textile Artist.org has an interview with Faig Ahmed. I LOVE  his work! You can check that out here
•  
• Over at the Huffington Post, the Arts & Culture column has an article about chalk art that they breathlessly state will melt your MIND. I don't know if would say THAT, but they're pretty awesome. Have a look here
• Beautiful Decay has a feature about Annastassia Eliaswho creates incredible worlds inside toilet paper rolls. Yup, you read that right. Check that out here
• Mashable has a VERY interesting point of view about when street art meets vandalism. (Something I often ponder myself as see my neighbour's buildings being "decorated" with street art.) I mean, when, exactly, does it become "art", and who determines that? I think about the story of the gentlemen whose wall Banksy painted on, and he had the wall CUT OUT OF HIS BUILDING and sold it. Which totally defeats the purpose of what Banksy does. But is my neighbour, who's freshly painted garage with trellis and ivy that's been (let's face it),  vandalised in the last week going to do the same thing? Anyway - that article is here
• Related, the California Aggie has an article entitled "What is Art?" - in which they ask random people they encounter the eponymous question. Some answers may surprise you. :) Check that out here
• This past week, I've read several posts from bloggers as well as on the (SAQA and QuiltArt list) who are contemplating the question of signatures. I myself have had my framer tell me that I should only sign on the back, others say on the front, some say signature are passé and that "no one signs anything anymore!". Here's an article from Gurney Journey that offers a "definitive" how to sign your artwork! Read that here

• The Boston Globe has an article about street art in Brazil ahead of the World Cup. Really beautiful images! You can find out about that here
• Artlog has pictures of an immensely (!) cool installation done in the Garment District entitled “The Sentinels”  done by artist ChakaiaBooker   . Have a look at those pictures here

• This is a lovely story from Yahoo Shine about a high-school girl who painted her dress for Prom. It’s really pretty (she did a great job!); and the article is well-written and positive.  You can read about that here
• The Las Vegas Review offers insight into how to frame art. You may wish to have a look at that here
•  
• The Advocate out of Baton Rouge has an article about fiber artist Lucy Landry and her unusual treatment of the medium, here
• The Guelph Mercury has an article about a show I really struggled with applying to. I wanted to support their cause but it seemed like such a HUGE donation (the work you submitted would be auctioned off and the proceeds donated to the cause). In addition, I've posted numerous articles that illuminate how I feel about donating art (it devalues the art, it rarely, if ever provides "exposure" of the kind they promise,  and collectors look at it as a great way to get artists' work at deep discounts - none of which is good for you personally, or for artists as a whole); however, the show at the Waterloo Museum was a great success.  You can read about it here

More street art! This time in London and  Cape Town from Faith47.  Read more about it at This Colossal, here


Over at Hyperallergic, there's a post about Artists Still Not Getting Paid - interesting reading...! Find that here

Also at Hyperallergic, there's a post about getting your art career on track and some webinars you can take to forward it. The first one's free. Check it out, here




Did you know that the Sketchbook Project has a Pen-Pal Painting Exchange? They do! This Colossal has a story about it here

Over at Muddy Waters Art Collective, there's an interesting post on committing to your art. I found it helpful, perhaps you will too! Read that here

And Art News.com has an article about the "Changing Complex Profile of Black Abstract Painters".  I didn't know we had our own "movement" (nor did I know that we're apparently sectioned off into a group by ourselves instead of being included with all abstract painters, but there's lots I don't know. *harrumph*). Anyway, the article is interesting and introduced me to artists I didn't know about. Read about that here

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Fiber Art In The News!

The QC Times has an article about "Innovators & Legends" and  "Local Threads" exhibits at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa,  through September 7, 2014



The Westpost Chronicle has an article about the Shattuck Gallery’s show called “ Paint Pattern Print Texture: Exploring the Blurred Lines between Textile and Paint”,  an exhibition of five artists examining the shared language of painting and textile work. The exhibit runs from June 4th through June 29th.   HERE


The Westin Morning News has an article about a nurse-turned-textile artist named Jackie Gale, HERE

The Times Beacon Record has an article about "80 Quilts Around The World", a show opening at the Suffolk County Community College in New Jersey. You can read about that here

The Lansing City Pulse out of Lansing, MI, has an article highlighting, among others, two SAQA shows at Michigan State University, entitled  Color Wheel of Emotions” and “Mapping Memories: Michigan”. You can read about that here

International Fiber Art News!

The Hindu out of India, has an article about a show entitled "Quilted To Perfection" about an exhibit of Kantha Quilts presented by the Crafts Council of India. The Quilts of India exhibition is on view at Lalit Kala Akademi, Greams Road, from June 11-14, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. You can read about that here

I never do this, but there's a first time for everything. If you live in Bainbridge, the Bainbridge Modern Quilt Guild has an open call for entry for a show at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. You can also make blocks for "American Hero Quilts" at that show.  Check that out here

There's an article HERE in the New York Times about fiber artist Hugo Guinness. (I want to be a "decorator's darling" too. Where do I sign up for that? ;) )

The Smithsonian has announced their annual photo contest winners HERE

More news about that art in Detroit story, the Judge has ruled that the art cannot be taken for inspection. HERE

After 13 years as a brick and mortar business, Berman Fine Art Gallery has advised that it will now be online only. Could this be the wave of the future? Here's what it might look like (and it looks good!)  Berman Fine Art Gallery

Kate Themel has announced the opening of a new fiber exhibit entitled "Quilts Then and Now" at the Windham Textile Museum. You can read more about that HERE

I think I've sent you to the Google Art Project before, but I read about it on someone else's blog this week, and I couldn't remember whether I had done so or not, so go check that out HERE.  It's pretty cool - you can look at 345 art collections that showcase the work of 8,541 artists. You can enter an artist's name in the search box to see the work up close and personal, or click on the details option to find out more about the artist. There's lots of ways you can play with it, including curating a gallery of what you love best.  And looking at other art can only make us better, right? :)

The Hampton Roads out of Virginia, SC (rather surprisingly) has an article about that age-old questions, "But is it art?".  The piece they're showing as an example of this question is one I am bemused and amused by myself, so it's good to know I'm not alone! Check that out HERE.

Related, the New York Times has an article about Juliette Binoche's work on Broadway, where she plays a painter. But she actually paints the art in the show, and I've gotta say, it looks like art to me. But without intention, is it art? Before you answer that, think about the Gees Bends quilts, which are certainly sold as art, whether you think they are or not, and the makers never made them with the intention to hang them so...?   Check out the article HERE

Similarly, the Idaho Statesman out of Boise, Idaho also tackles the "Is it art or is it craft?" question, HERE

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Fiber Art In The News!

North America

The Tri-Cities Courier out of Tennessee  has an article about (believe it or not!) whether fiber art is art! They talk to artists and a gallery owner here

The Reedly Exponent does a short interview with the Fletchers about their quilt show at the West Coast Mennonite Central Committee here

Dayton Daily News out of  Ohio has an article outlining various upcoming events, including a show called "Without A Word", quilts by the Art Quit Network at the Zanesville Art Museum featuring quilts by Nancy Crow (!) I would love to see that!  here

Grand Traverse Insider out of   Traverse, Michigan, has a article about a show that features four different artists, one of whom is an art quilter, Robin Webb-Bransky, that article is here

The Baltimore Sun out of Baltimore, Maryland,  has an article about an art quilt exhibit here

The San Francisco Gate has an article about the Oaklands area textile art scene, here

The Great Falls Tribuine our of Missoula, Montana has an article about Bonnie Tarses's show at the Four Ravens Gallery here

International

The Midhurst And Petworth out of West Sussex in the UK has an article about Peg Loom's weaving, here

The Kuna Net out of Kuwait has an article about the Textile Arts Association 15th annual art show, here

And that's all she wrote!

Over at Contemporary Art Daily, there's a post about Heidi Bucher's very elegant fibre art, HERE

And there's an interesting article in the Washington Post about Detroit's plan to "trade" art for pensions. HERE

and

Textileartist.org has an interview with Dutch fiber artist Marjolein Starreveld HERE

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The Quilt of Belonging is going to Manitoulan Island. I saw it myself a few years back, and it's quite something! You can check out that article about it  here

The Mansfield Historical Society Museum in Mansfield, Texas, is opening for the season and have an exhibit of antique and vintage quilts. You can read more about that here

There's an article about Patricia Statzer here,, They want you to pay to join the site to read the whole article, so if you'd rather, you can just go to her site, here.

The Salina Journal out of Salina, Kansas, has an article about Shawn Marie Delker here

The Wayne Post out of Wayne County, NY has an article about an exhibition of contemporary art quilts called "Night and Day" at the Wayne Art Gallery here

The Langley Advance out of Langley, BC has an article about an exhibition of quilts by the Langley Quilt Guild here

The Leader Telegram out of Wisconsin has an article about Chris Daly's (formerly Dye Candy) quilt retreat center  here. (It's really nice to see a former purveyor of beautiful dyed fabric expanding into something new!)

The Cecil Daily out of Elkton, Maryland, has an article about Barbara Tinsman's art quilts with some rather nice photos here

The  Indiana Daily Student has an article about a travelling art quilt exhibit that honours victims of drones, here.

And that's all she wrote! 

Have a great weekend everybody. See you on Monday!

First up. Laurent Lavendar's moon photos. I'm pretty sure every one in the Western World has seen Laurent Lavendar's moon photos by now (lol); but there are some new ones!  You can check those out HERE

Also at This Colossal, I saw the COOLEST thing.  A 3-D PEN!!!  So, you can draw sculpture, or whatever else you want! Check out the video HERE and then you can click over to their Kickstarter campaign and fund them if you so choose. I personally think this needs to be in the world! :)

Have a great weekend! Finished Skull piece on Monday! :)

No pretty pictures this time, it's all talky talky this week.  Good stuff just the same, though.:)

Hyperallergic addresses the question of "What Makes An Artist, An Artist" the answer may surprise you, HERE

Over at Lightstalking (a photography blog) there was an article about the classic rules of composition, which even fiber artists may find helpful. ;)  HERE


My friend, arlee barr linked to a great article about mounting tapestries which could just as easily be an article about how to mount and hang fiber art HERE

I also (somehow) stumbled across a letter from Sol LeWitt to Eva Hesse. You may ask why I'm linking to it - the post is from 5 years ago and the letter to Eva Hesse (among other things, a pioneering fiber artist) written 50 years ago - but I'm linking to it because it's like a manifesto for artists - set everything aside including your own brain stuff and DO!  Caution contains language  - if you're going to get a case of the vapours over the f or c-word, don't click, HERE

Well known black political artist Kara Walker has a show in Portland. Read about it HERE

Related: MoMA hires a consulting curator for Black Art HERE

By the way, I keep meaning to say this - but if you have something you think should be linked, let me know at my handy-dandy contact form below. :)

Yellowtrace blogs about the 'badass embroidery' of Ana Teresa Barboza, and they aren't kidding around. Amazing stuff!  Check that out HERE.



At Twisted Sifter, they're showing Kumi Yamashita's latest portraiture work made from a single, continuous thread, HERE and speaking of thread...

Artist Catherine Nelson composes "paintings" made of hundreds and hundreds of photographs put together, in a series called Expedition. At Colossal HERE


Also at Colossal, artist Irma Gruenholz makes beautiful hand-sculpted clay illustrations. You can find those HERE


Over at Hyperallergic, they're looking at "Indian Space Painters" a

One of the more intriguing and underappreciated of American art movements is the group called the Indian Space Painters. Seeking an innately American response to Cubism and Surrealism, artists such as Steve Wheeler, Peter Busa, and Robert Barrell began in the late 1930s to combine elements of Native American and pre-Columbian art in mosaic-like abstractions. 

I'd never heard of this movement, so I, at least, have certainly under-appreciated it! To my eye, at least, these paintings look extremely contemporary. You can find that HERE  


Kevin Blake at Bad At Sports has an illuminating interview with Molly Zuckerman-Hartung about her paintings HERE

Studio Critical talks to Steve Gibson about his process and problems in his work (paintings on more traditional substrates and drawings on Mylar) HERE

Illustration Mundo has the bright and colourful work of Mercedes Lagunas HERE as well as the remarkable, almost dream-scaped work of Arlo Keo Valera HERE

I often visit One Big Photo (which, as their name suggests, posts one big photo per post) - the photos range from stunningly beautiful to absurd, but I had to share the recent photo of Ponies in Sweaters given my recent chickens in sweaters post. Have a look around while you're there, though. Lots of eye candy HERE

And for your weekly fibre inspirations:

1. Remembering tomorrow has a piece on Kantha embroidery HERE
2. As well as Sashiko and Boro HERE
3. And Textile Artist talks with contemporary abstract artist Raul de La Torre HERE

Have a great weekend - see you Monday!

To start with:

At TextileArtist.org, there's an interview with Yumiko Reynolds about her figurative free-machine embroidery "thread on paper". Really beautiful stuff, and a brief synopsis of her evolution as an artist in paper. HERE


Elizabeth Barton has a post on the importance of focal point in our work, HERE 

Over at Left Bank Art Blog, Carl Belz has a look at Dozier Bell's drawings on mylar - in terms of the pictures, they mylar creates a wonderful photographic effect (it's hard to believe that they're not photographs); the writing itself is also wonderful as an example

 "Bell’s diminutive worlds are exceptional in not actively competing or being social at all. Anchored in nature and observing nature’s rhythms, acknowledging nature as source and solace without reliance on media intervention, her worlds are secure with their autonomy

You can find that review HERE

Sharon Butler at Two Coats of Paint writes an update on a genre that she didn't invent, but did name "Casualism" and further explains why it's a valid form of art. A sample:

The casualist impulse has yielded compositionally awkward work that may seem humble and self-deprecating, and may employ ‘hobbyist’ pre-fab materials like pre-stretched canvases and canvas board. ..... The most compelling casualist work has an anti-heroic, offhand feel and ostensibly shows little attention to craft or detail. Perhaps unsurprisingly, galleries and collectors have been slow to embrace this type of work because it seems too easy...But casualist tendencies suffuse the established art world... Matisse’s casualist leanings were transparent. Picasso’s were more muted, ..."

I quite recommend this article (and the one that preceded it that she links to in her article) - it's very interesting, and educational (!) to read about the birth of a new genre in art.

You can find that essay HERE 

And because you've been saying I've been including  too many links - that's it, today!

Oh, except for this link to me! lol

It's my new online "book". You can find that HERE

Have a great weekend!

It's Friday, so let's get to the links!

There's an interview with Heather Dubreuil at Textile Artist HERE. She is new to me, but I really love her work and the sort of watercolour effect she has managed to achieve: something I tried to do for years and sadly was never able to. lol  She's managed it beautifully. :)

Over at the Wooster Collective, they point us in the direction of Jacob Hasimoto's latest installation at the Martha Otero Gallery in Los Angeles, called "Yellow Giant and Gas Studies". I would LOVE to see this show live and walk through it. It must be amazing! Check that out HERE

At TextileArtist once more, there's an interview with Jacqueline Treloar, about her "Theatrical" textile art.  Her work is really quite amazing - she has a lot of breadth in her work, from narrative work, wearables, abstract wall hangings to ???? lol Mixed media 3D art, maybe? Whatever it is - it's wonderful! Check out the interview and the amazing photographs HERE

There's a new video series on you tube purporting to be the adventures of an "art dealer" named Baroness Von Kohn as she tries to sell work to "collectors". It's like America's Top Model meets art collecting, and Baroness Von Kohn is deliciously cray-cray.

I don't know if I could watch the whole series (she has two episodes out so far) - indeed, I haven't been able to make it through an entire episode (lol). But it's wacky fun. Tell me what you think! - you can find that HERE



With the release of his book "Your Everyday Art World", Lane Releya has been making the rounds. In this interview at The Brooklyn Rail, he discusses "the historical and future implications of DIY, contemporary post-studio practices and the M.F.A. as the 'rising art world institution". It's very interesting stuff and a meaty interview. You can check that out HERE

Over at Colossal, Heather Hanson combines dance and charcoal to make beautiful abstract large pieces (no, dance isn't her subject matter, she dances to create the art!).  You can find that HERE

Then we have Altoon Sultan again, this time, discussing "The Primacy of Things" - the removal of the artist from their own work. Her posts are always a wealth of learning for me - her writing is both instructive and...I don't know what word to use besides "deep" and in there is a depth to it... anyway - I often have to read her posts several times to understand what she's saying, but I love them. :)  Find this one HERE

And a new take on that ever-interesting argument, art vs. craft - this time Kathleen Loomis' take on it over at Ragged Cloth Cafe.  You can find that HERE

If you're ready for it, after the Sultan article, there's another scholarly article HERE by Mira Shor - reflecting on Paul Klee's work. Again, instructive, and a bit difficult if, like me, you're new to art-speak; but I think well worth it. The preface is about the destruction of the quite new (!) American Folk Art Museum, which I mourned (but not as deeply as she does!) to make room for an addition to MoMA - but she gets to Klee (in depth!) soon enough. I only knew him as a Bauhaus artist, so, once again, I learned a lot about he and his work in this article. You can find that HERE

When you need a break from all that reading, you can  pop over to Illustration Friday and look at the pretty pictures - in this case, the rather sweet work of mixed media artist, Johan Thornqvist's altered photographs, HERE

Then there's Aakash Nihalin's tape art for more pretty pictures: HERE

And a wonderful little video called "The Golden Age of Insect Aviation" over at Colossal, HERE. 

There. Does your brain feel better now? Mine does! So, let's have a look at Jonathan Kamholt's review of Rob Anderson's show at Miami University (winner of the William and Dorothy Yeck Young Painters Award) HERE - the brushstrokes in that gigantic baby are amazing.



Rob Anderson’s show coincides with his winning the Miami University Young Painters Competition for the $10,000 William and Dorothy Yeck Award for 2013. http://aeqai.com/main/2014/01/glass-houses-rob-andersons-a-place-in-time-at-the-hiestand-gallery-miami-university/

Then, over at Financial Times, Jackie Wullshlager has a review of Lucy Jones's show "Looking Out Looking In" - and a slideshow depicting Ms. Jones' wonderful use of colour. You can find that HERE

This Isn't Happiness has photos of  Martin Vlach's surreal photographs, HERE

and as his work that reminded me a bit of the work of Parke-Harrison (a favourite photography duo) I thought I'd share some of their work too - you can find that HERE. 

The link is to a section of their work on The Architect's Brother series, which is when I was introduced to their work (it was 1996 I think, when I went to a talk given by Robert at University of Toronto), and still my personal favourite, but check out the whole site while you're there.  

As an aside - Parke-Harrison's work not only introduced me to the idea of photography as an "art" form (up until then, I thought photography was something anyone could do if they just learned how, and never thought of it as "art"); and in fact, taught me to appreciate art as a whole. 

I had always appreciated art as a sort of cultural artifact, and understood and appreciated it from a social/cultural perspective; but never really valued it in and of itself, except as an abstract concept - "We should be exposed to art the same way we should have access to good music, and education, and healthy, natural food" - in other words, as part of the same social contract that middle class people make in exchange for being good citizens, if you know what I mean. 

But Parke-Harrision opened my heart, AND my brain, made the little hairs stand up on the back of my neck, and I could quite literally feel my brain expanding as I looked at these MASSIVE photographs (the ones I saw were large enough that you could step into them and be quite dwarfed by subjects); it was almost literally an immersive experience. 

BLAH BLAH BLAH. lol

And if you can take anymore, check out Robert Genn's stories of YELLOW and BLUE.  Some interesting histories there, written in his inimitable accessible style.


Phew!

I hope you have a super weekend!  See you on Monday. :)

As I "warned" you on Wednesday, I've got lots and lots of really great links this week (I broke my baby toe and metatarsal last Thursday so I had a couple of days in bed) - so I'm just gonna jump right in with them!

Li Hongbo’s stunning, stretchable, paper sculptures, inspired by both traditional folk art and his time as a student learning to sculpt, challenge our perceptions. With a technique influenced by his fascination with traditional Chinese decorations known as paper gourds—made from glued layers of paper—Li Hongbo applies a honeycomb-like structure to form remarkably flexible sculptures.

The Intersections project takes the seminal experience of exclusion as a woman from a space of community and creativity such as a Mosque and translates the complex expressions of both wonder and exclusion that have been my experience while growing up in Pakistan. The wooden frieze emulates a pattern from the Alhambra, which was poised at the intersection of history, culture and art and was a place where Islamic and Western discourses, met and co-existed in harmony and served as a testament to the symbiosis of difference. I have given substance to this mutualism with the installation project exploring the binaries of public and private, light and shadow, and static and dynamic. This installation project relies on the purity and inner symmetry of geometric design, the interpretation of the cast shadows and the viewer’s presence with in a public space.

There's a lot to cover today, so let's just jump right in!

Textile Artist has done a review of "The Fine Art of Crochet" HERE



Illustration Friday has done a tutorial on how to use the colour wheel HERE and also offers nine ways to run a smart creative business HERE

Altoon Sultan blogs about her transition from landscapes to smaller, abstract works HERE
(If you click on no other link, I HIGHLY recommend you click on this one.  Really interesting stuff about the "burden of content".)

Contemporary Art Daily has done an review of the work of Michaela Meise HERE "If there is a common ground to the exhibited objects – a book, furniture, ceramics – it would be the notion of the grotesque" (The "grotesque" as a literary device was something I was very interested in when I was at uni, so its use in art is also interesting to me.)

And in a meta moment, I'm linking to Art Propelled's link post of some her favourite textile artists HERE
Textile Artist has done an interview with Raija Jokinen, a really interesting figurative textile artist HERE

Over at Thought Form, they've done a well-written review of  Marianne Gagnier's paintings HERE

Arts in Bushwick does a review of an outsider artists group show called "Outside In" (on display at Life on Mars Gallery in Brooklyn through March 1st). You can read about that HERE (wish I could go and see it!)

And finally, Clive Hicks-Jensen has a guest artist post by Peter Slight, who says:

In this recent post Clive talked about the importance of negative space and placement within an image. In the comments I mentioned the illustrator George Him who I feel displays a mastery of these skills. 

and then goes on to further discuss and illustrate that HERE. Good use of negative space is something we could all learn from!

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And totally off-topic, but since you all know how much I love fairies, I couldn't resist adding this :  Icelanders are protesting the building of a road because it will disturb the elves.

No seriously! A study in 1998 showed that 54.4% of people in Iceland believe in Fairies, and another paper in 2000 showed the same belief in elves.  I should move to Iceland! Yes/no? ;)

Have a great weekend!