Gypsy Spirit Threadworks

I came here to post about September art doings, and much to my chagrin, I hadn’t posted since May! I was working as a full-time nanny to my youngest granddaughter until mid-June. I decided to shift my focus to creating wearables for children, so I’ve been working on that while creating art regularly for two local art groups. Let’s get caught up!

No Words (2016)

I created No Words, a painted studio quilt, for the July First Friday show at Stoneworks Studios, Word Up! I was influenced by the tragic Pulse nightclub shooting. I then entered it in the Ventura County Arts Council show, Surreal: Depictions of the Barely Believable, which is currently up until October 11, 2016.

No Words in Ventura County Arts Council show, Surreal: Depictions of the Barely Believable

In July, I entered my freeform crochet shawl California Wildflowers in the Ventura County Arts Council show, 101 Corridor. (The 101 Freeway runs north-south through California.) It won Second Place and a cash award. The show ran July and August, 2016.

California Wildflowers in Ventura County Arts Council show, “101 Corridor”

I finished what we fiber artists refer to as “a UFO”, which means “Unfinished Object”. In this case, it was the Medici Coat pattern by “free range knitting” designer Jane Thornley. It had been languishing forlornly in a basket. I like it and it fits, but because I live in southern California I might be able to wear it for a month or two this winter.

Medici coat (2016)

The theme for the August First Friday Stoneworks show was The Dog Days of Summer. I don’t have a dog. I have three cats. So I thought of my friend Hugh, who lost his beloved dog Polly last year. I asked him if he would like a quilt made in Polly’s likeness, and he said yes, so I took one of his favorite photos of Polly and transformed it into fabric. This was my photo inspiration:

And this is how I interpreted it:

Polly (2016)

The Altered Artwear group on Facebook had a Summer Challenge, so I transformed this dress into a tunic.

The September theme for the First Friday show at Stoneworks was Change It Up (mixed media, collage, recycle, found object). I created a collage mask, made with torn up magazine paper on a plaster cloth mask with buttons and green coated wire embellishment. I titled it Sleep Study.