This is Art- Five in Fiber

The Five in Fiber exhibition is up and ready for the the opening reception tomorrow Saturday, October 26, 2013 from 3-5 pm at Gallery 37 in Milford, Delaware.

Five artists working with plant, paper and/or synthetic fibers, each of us with different sensibilities and yet noticing the threads (can't avoid that pun) that connect us to each other aesthetically and conceptually.

Here's a shot of me putting the finishing
touches on my window installation

My work address what we catch, what we release and how this shapes our identity. Wire and netting are shaped and formed, then dipped into vats of over- beaten pulp that dries over the form like a taut skin. These “nets” are used, along with pages from old books, fabric, dried plants, and other found objects- including pantyhose, (growing up with a father in the millinery business,) to catch the “stuff” of our lives. Once castaways, these vessels serve as filters and homage to time and memory. 

I love walking along the beach and find beauty and mystery in the odds and ends of humanity and nature intertwined and washed ashore, as much as I appreciate coming across a bird's nets using strands of plants and found scraps of paper. 

Deborah Johnson hung her dream like fiber and cast glass spirit boats in the window on the other side of the front door.

Delainey Barclay drove up in her mini cooper (you can even see it in the photo, between Deborah's boat and the wisps of turquoise and violet fiber sails) filled with her string balls. Here she is below installing her airy and celestial sculptures suspended on thin wire on the back wall...

opposite of apparel artist Marilyn Mitchell piece.  And then suspended more in the back gallery juxtaposed to Linda Celestian's cascading green work that feels like waves of an elegant algea. 

And whether you can make it tomorrow or not- just remember...

On the Same Remarkable Spiritual Journey- Artist as Collector

Artist Deborah Johnson is this week's guest blogger for our Artist as Collector Series.

Tangeri Dreaming
©2013KrisVermeer

I was happy to be able to share this piece from my collection.  I traded one of my small raku sculptures for this small print by Kris Vermeer. Writing this post gave me time to re-examine why it is so important to me and placed in such a prominent spot in my home. 

I usually sit on the sofa for a few minutes in the morning while I wait for the coffee maker to do its thing and contemplate this piece which is directly across the room.  

Kris Vermeer is a friend I often showed with in Seattle.  Her work is very spiritual and often incorporates imagery from surviving works of First Peoples.  Kris uses many methods to communicate her love of ancient cultures.  She works primarily with glass and steel, but she is also a very accomplished printmaker. This print is one of my favorites.  I feel it speaks to the heart of her work.

I love the warmth and richness of color, the slight shine of the ink against the matt paper, and of course the imagery which seems to move against the background…these are reasons enough to appreciate this piece, but the reasons go a little deeper.  I feel Kris Vermeer’s combination of ancient imagery with contemporary means of mark making allows her work to transcend time and place. 

When I look at Tingari Dreaming it reminds me that we are all connected as humans on a fragile planet, we are on the same remarkable spiritual journey, no matter where we are located in space and time.

Deborah Johnson is adept in fiber, glass, clay, and paint. Her work is meant as a meditation on the beauty and fragility of our world. Techniques and processes which take years to master honor something about what it means to be human and are as integral to her work as the content. Currently, she lives and works in Delaware. 

Shots from Artist Reception at JCC

The reception for Beneath the Surface, and Into the Fold-folded upcycled books by Delainey Barclay was last Thursday. It was great fun to see friends- both ones I have known and others I got to meet for the first time- in person.  Siegel JCC ArtSpace committee member Phyllis Aerenson was everywhere snapping away. Here are some of her shots...

"Fishing" will be going home after the show closes on May 9 with
its new collector- Carol Levin.

Katie Glazier on left, made sure there was enough food and beverages to keep everyone happy.

It takes a village.
This committee of amazing artists- and art lovers make up the
Siegel JCC ArtSpace
(l-r: Katie Glazier, Kerin Hearn, Phyllis Aerenson, Carol Balick, Bobbi Levitt,

Judy Topkis,  Maura Golin) 

Spriha Gupta, an interior design student at DCAD, took a Monotype class with me there, and came with her sister in law and niece visiting from India... with a lovely bouquet of tulips!
Reminded me of all the beautiful leis given when you have an exhibition in Hawaii. smells soooo good and you feel like a queen!

Spriha Gupta, and relatives from India

Kathy Hrenko, friend, art therapist and executive director of
the Kennett After- School Association After the Bell
program.
Love working with her students as well...

Ellen Semple (l) came up to be with a big smile and
told me that she is one of my collectors!- she bought my
Red Hot Red I painting from my Walks thru Life Series
as Cindy Pettinaro's COCA event last month.
That's sculptor Stan Smokler on right.

and my new friend, amazing artist
Deborah Johnson who has a studio
at the DCCA.

Off to the show where photographer Dain Simons will be shooting the work in situ .... more to share soon.

Thanks for visiting!