We hand treat natural fiber fabrics - cotton, silk, bamboo, rayon and watercolor paper for a nineteeth century photographic technique called cyanotype. This process is also known as blueprinting or sunprinting. Each print created is unique and is archival. (Photo on the left is cyanotype over batik by Linda Stemer.)
Each piece is individually hand-treated, dried and sealed in a light proof bag - ready to print! Full instructions are included with every order.
Mission: The cyanotype process is one of the earliest photographic processes discovered. The first book ever published with photographs was "Photographs of British Algea - Cyanotype Impressions" by Anna Atkins - She is widely recognized as the first woman photographer. Examples of her cyanotype prints from the 1850's are in museums today and they are as clear and blue as the day they were printed!
We are dedicated to preserving this unique historical process and keeping the magic of cyanotype available for children, contemporary artists and educators of history, photography and surface design.
Donna Loraine Contractor was born in Waukegan, IL and came to New Mexico to attend St. John’s College in Santa Fe. Since she moved to Albuquerque 23 years ago, she has won over 30 art competitions and commissions throughout the state and country. Contractor’s work incorporates the landscapes and colors of New Mexico with bold contemporary architectural frames that create depth and optical illusions.
The late Douglas Kent Hall, in The Thread of New Mexico, said, “Contractor combines unlikely dynamic forms with a scintillating palette to achieve an evocative and compelling style of weaving. She utilized traditional....concepts as well as certain graphic constructs that fueled the work of many twentieth-century painters and brings to contemporary tapestry a freshness that is sometimes startling.”
Artist's statement: Why do I weave?
First, I love machines. The loom won out over the pottery wheel with the coming of children. Once I walked into a loom room, saw way it looked, the things it could do, its parts, etc., I was hooked. I now own and weave primarily on an AVL professional 8-harness rug loom with a dobby mechanism, pneumatic tensioning system and a worm gear. See how I love the parts!
Next, I love the materials. From the strong smooth cotton warp to the luster of hand-dyed wools and the sparkle of silks, I continue to be enraptured with the feel and look of textiles. I’m becoming captivated by some unusual materials - stainless steels, paper and UV changing fibers. These will find their way into future work.
Color is a source of constant joy for me and I delight in the full range of its use - bold and surprising color combinations and the subtle gradations of a single color. The colors and the unique quality of light in the Southwest, and the diverse forms of its land and sky scapes, make up a rich and diverse palette.
Finally, I love metaphor. The very act of weaving has become metaphor – the web of life, weaving a tale - and is entwined with my choice of imagery and the use of the window set within a frame, a view to another place, another reality as a motif in my work. I try to achieve a blend of the representational and the abstract and to keep a geometrical contemporary feel in the frames.
ABOUT THE WORK
I usually work on several pieces concurrently. The various themes and motifs of the pieces cross-pollinate each other, the patterns and pleasing ratios found all around us: the golden mean, the spiral of a seed head or the placement of branches on a tree The three specific bodies of work that I am working on concurrently are:
The “Architectonic Series” challenges me to create three-dimensional imagery from a two dimensional plane. M.C. Escher and other optical illusion artists inspired me to create surprising architectonic spaces that seem to change just when you feel you’ve figured them out. Hand-dyed and tightly spun wool, with its particular and beautiful light reflecting characteristics produce a texture and luminosity that no pigment on paper could.
The “Universal Language Series” draws from my background in liberal arts at St. John’s College, and my and studies of Chinese mathematical images. It’s a challenge to make clear what mathematical concepts means without words. Circles, curves and fractal patterns explore the concept of nets or webs, all in order to showcase the principles that order our world.
The “Feng Shui Series” is a meditation on color, balanced energy and finessed design, combining symbols found in the I Ching with geometric forms and vivid hues.
Feng Shui, based on the Taoist vision and understanding of nature, particularly on the idea that the environment is alive and filled with influential energy. The colors in the Feng Shui Series are an expression of one of the five Chinese elements: fire, earth, metal, water, and wood. The I Ching symbols describes an ancient system of cosmology and philosophy that is intrinsic to ancient Chinese cultural beliefs, centered on the ideas of the dynamic balance of opposites, the evolution of events as a process, and acceptance of the inevitability of change.
All the pieces in this series celebrate the precision and elegance of geometric forms and formulas and the beauty of color and balance.
We are ‘our’ journey…
I take great joy in the process of telling visual stories through my quilt art and the transformation of fabric through surface manipulation and embellishment.
I had spent 20 years bringing ATM/POS networking and products to life, and I find it amazing now that I get to share my creative spirit and joy as a quilt artist, author, teacher, lecturer full-time. It has truly been exciting path I have followed since leaving my corporate job in 2003. A path that has let me share my method of quilt top construction, (Fast-Piece Appliqué™) through my first book Dream Landscapes: Artful Quilts with Fast-Piece Appliqué and now brings me even more fun opportunities as my second book, Exploring Embellishments: More Artful Quilts with Fast-Piece Appliqué, is due out in June 2010.
In my earlier Dream Landscapes I introduced the Fast-Piece Appliqué construction method that makes curves and circles easy to sew—opening a world of design possibilities. It set me free from squares and blocks and leaves me lots of time for my favorite activity of stitching and embellishment.
I travel and provide a line-up of related workshops and lectures, and I love to teach Fast-Piece Appliqué™, and designing the world with shapes along with many, many ‘how to’s on using embellishments of all types and using wonderful materials to create surface design and one-of-a-kind embellishments.
I really enjoy that in my workshops I get to help each student find their individual voice by providing possibilities. I do this by teaching fun ways to add color, texture and dimension to fabric and quilts.
My quilt art journey has taken me on twists and turns I had little expected, like appearing on Simply Quilts, or as in June 2009, I appeared on The Quilt Show, with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. Just the other day I was filmed for an episode of Quilts Out Loud! Seeing my work and words in print on websites and blogs and on the pages of personally revered magazines like Quilting Arts, American Quilter’s Society, Quilter’s Home, and Quilter’s Newsletter magazines is really wild. But, best of all I take great pleasure in sharing my quilt art in regional, national and international exhibits, galleries and museums.
In 2009 I had two solo exhibits and a traveling exhibit, Back-Road Journeys: Quilts by Rose Hughes. My personal exhibition journey continues with a full schedule in 2010 and I have quilt art scheduled in exhibits with Studio Art Quilt Association, Quilts on the Wall: Fiber Artists and other group and solo events.
Artist's statement: My mission is to use my personal art, inspiration and teaching abilities to encourage others to enjoy the color and art of life's simple things and find time and opportunity to pursue these fearlessly.
I am a retired nurse who is reinventing myself in my first real interest as an artist. I work primarily in fabric and thread making studio art quilts but I also work with yarn, odd fibres, beads, wood, found objects, etc. I have no set theme for my work. I really love to depict the seashore of Nova Scotia in abstract terms but I also enjoy depicting other aspects of nature and architecture.
Artist's Statement: Over the years I have worked to find my “artistic voice.” I have studied with great art quilters and artists in other mediums throughout this journey and have finally concluded that my work, like my life, is meant to be eclectic and, well, somewhat ADD. While I love working in the abstract as I find it very freeing, making images taken from both nature and man sometimes requires a more realistic approach to convey. Thus, my work continues to evolve and maintain a multi-phase personality that I use willingly and enthusiastically; whatever it takes , both in image and use of materials to get my thoughts and feelings across.
Locations: Chester, Nova Scotia Canada
and Richland, Michigan, USA Brick and Mortar Shop: I have a 600 sq ft. gallery in the Park Trades Centre in Kalamazoo, MI where I sell my own work and the work of several other artists. Currently I have fibre art and hand-made furniture. Blog: Snow Moon Studios- Adventures in Fibre and Thread Memberships:
SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates)- Regional Co-rep for Atlantic Canada
SDA- Surface Design Association
PTCAA (Park Trades Center Artist's Association) Languages spoken: English
Canadian Sunrise: The View from Frieda''s Beach
by Teri D. Springer
Tags: Art Quilts, Fibre Art, Nature, Architecture, Sea, Sailing, Ships, Nova Scotia, Coastal
I am a professional artist working mainly in paint, fiber, paper and yarn. I love all things fiber. I hold an art degree from Cal State Long Beach in California. All my work is personal and influenced by folk art, stories, music and history. I adore ancient civilizations. I incorporate meaning in my work, from the colors I choose to what is depicted on the surface. I prefer to not let the medium dictate what I do, but have it serve the greater meaning of what the piece is about. I'm not a 'gadget' girl, I like direct application of whatever I'm using. It's not about the medium for me, and I do not 'play' when it comes to making art. I am continually amazed at the beauty and talent I see around me.
Artist's statement: Artistic endeavors in paint, paper, fiber and yarn. Art heals in ways we never expect it to.
Auntie Em Dolls were first created to give a smile to a child in need. Over the years of developing my talents, I have given away over 400 dolls to friends, family, and special acquaintances that just needed a smile.
“I create dolls as a way to relax from the stresses of life. Using my creativity, I enter the world of my creations and become best friends and allies in turn affecting the final outcome of the doll. I have been creating dolls for over 15 years, finally coming up with a unique design and look. I create each doll by hand, averaging over 3,500 hand sewn stitches per doll. (I can’t believe I counted either!!!) No patterns are ever used in the creation of a doll, making each design one of a kind.”
Artist's Statement: Auntie Em Dolls is dedicated to the creation of fiber sculpture that shows excellence, uniqueness, and brings out the smile with in! Auntie Em Dolls offers artistic excellence through fiber sculpture and visual art education.
At age 7, I received my first box of 64 crayons. I haven't stopped since. My name is Cindy Wills and I am an artist.
Artist's Statement: Youngest daughter of Western Swing creator Bob Wills, Cindy was born in California. Throughout her life she has lived in Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alaska (where she studied art at the University of Alaska Fairbanks), Florida, and all across Texas. This mixture of geographic and cultural homes has helped expand her view of the world and life itself. This composite view of America, along with her own personal experiences has contributed to a style that is as unique as her life. From mediums such as watercolor and crayon to art quilts, her vision translates into a feast for the eyes, mind, and soul.
Cindy now makes her home in the West Texas town of Turkey, returning to land her family called home in the early part of the 20th century. This environ helped her father shape his unique and truly wondrous style of music, as it has helped her channel her equally exceptional artistic visions; for much in the way that her father was born to create music, she was born to create her own 'music for the eyes'.
Location: Turkey, Texas, USA Online shop: Wills Art Blog: Cindy Wills Facebook: Cindy Wills Artist Membership: International Union of Mail Artists Languages spoken: English
Greetings! My name is Carolyn Manning and I play with string. Oh, and fabric, buttons, beads, lace and sometimes broken color crayons.
While I experiment with many mediums I have found myself drawn in the most by needlework, fiber arts and textiles.
I have been a cross-stitch and needlework designer for the last decade. I stitch all of my own designs as well and am always looking for ways to work in old buttons, beads and various other trinkets I have collected throughout the years. When I package up patterns and include embellishments, rarely will you find two patterns with the same goodies inside. I find charm in all things old and repurposed.
I like simple and uncomplicated. Flawed is pretty to me. A cracked button or a tarnished charm can be perfect worked into a piece. I am currently working on a series of designs that will combine my love of needlework with vintage fabrics. (Something else that I collect along with the buttons and broken crayons!)
My 'Illustrator' side shines through most often in my designing with my goofy-faced, whimsical characters. I think I am known best for my snowmen but I am also influenced by my love of gardens, fantasy and fairy tales. This next year I intend to explore designs that are different from my usual 'cartoony' pieces so that I can satisfy all of my creative urges.
I want to create designs that encourage others to pick up a needle and exclaim, "I can do that!"
Artist's Statement: As long as you have breath, you have at hand all you need to create.
Kreinik the company began when Jerry and Estelle Kreinik made and sold portable needlework cases in the 1970s. They started carrying silk, metallic and real metal threads for fiber arts, eventually opening a manufacturing plant where threads are made. Today it is still a family-based business with son Doug Kreinik as owner (pictured in photo to the left). Kreinik proudly offers silk, metallic, real metal and fusible threads plus embellishments for hand and machine embroidery out of its Parkersburg, West Virginia, manufacturing facility.
Our manufacturing facility is closed to the public. However, we appear at several trade shows throughout the year, including TNNA, CHA, and Quilt Market shows.
Mission: Provide quality threads in a wide range of colors and a variety of textures for people to make the most beautiful, creative handmade items in the world, through their crafts, hobbies, and businesses.
Location: Parkersburg, West Virginia, USA Online store: Kreinik Mall Social media: Facebook, Twitter
Memberships:
The National Needle Arts Association
Craft and Hobby Association
National Costumers Association Languages spoken: English
Threads made by Kreinik Manufacturing Company
Tags: commercial thread, commercial supplies, thread, metallic, small business, quilting supplies, fiber art thread
After spending many years in a room filled with an ever-changing assortment of teenagers, I am now retired from teaching and enjoying the pursuit of my passions, the greatest of which is bringing art quilts to life. I focus on exciting colors, strong designs, and precise workmanship; my pieces are created to enhance the environments of homes and corporate settings alike, and I am available for commissions of all types.
Artist's Statement: I express my passion for color in my art quilts by using hand-dyed fabrics and whimsical geometrics that play with each other and invite me in for the fun. The machine-pieced and appliquéd constructions are layered with cotton batting and backing and are then machine-quilted with rayon threads to add dimension and shine.
I share Danny Kaye's philosophy that "the world is a great big canvas -- and you should throw all the paint you can on it." Music and mathematics are my muses, and I strive to create art quilts that reflect my love affair with color. Radiating motifs are used to create rhythm, the use of symmetry brings harmony, and dramatic machine-quilted curves add lyrical movement.
Location: Schenectady, New York, USA Online stores: DEsigned By Diane Evans DEsigned By Diane Evans Blog: DEsigned By Diane Evans Memberships:
Studio Art Quilt Associates
Professional Art Quilt Alliance
Adirondack Regional Textile Artists Alliance Languages spoken: English, French (slowly)
Threads of Awakening. Stitching Buddhas.
Contemporary Buddhist Textile Art born from Tibetan Tradition.
I make brightly colored sacred images from bits of silk satin and brocade. I carry on the tradition entrusted to me by my Tibetan teachers and experiment with new techniques and imagery.
