Maggie Dillon Designs

"The Boys"  Batik and Thread Work by Maggie Dillon Designs

www.Maggie-Dillon-Designs.blogspot.com

I am a textile/fiber artist, working exclusively in Batik.

2009 Bachelor of Arts, Flagler College, St. Augustine, Florida
Majoring in Fine Arts

Artist statement:  Celebrating memories with a glimpse of a personal relationship and natural daily life exemplifies my work. My goal, when executing a piece, is to bring a photograph to life, not just recreate the image.

With each batik fabric differing, the tangled pattern is always a mystery. The irregularity of batiks lends itself to the shapes I use in my layering technique. Variances in pattern cause shadow and highlight, giving my work its characterizing appearance. The threadwork blends the stitching around the edges.

Whether it’s a couple sitting at a waterfront, an old man reading his bible, or a family portrait, I enjoy capturing a moment. I use photographic references to create representational portraits of an occasion among friends, a glimpse of a relationship and natural daily life, or a celebration of family; my artistry presents memories.

Location:  Sarasota, Florida, USA

Blog:  Maggie-Dillon-Designs 

Languages spoken:  English

"On the Edge of Darkness"  Batik and Thread Work by Maggie Dillon Designs

Tags:  people, figurative, batik, portraits, children, women, men, scenery, landscape.

Terri Pike

http://www.blindsquirrel.etsy.com

I'm a self taught felter, with an emphasis on nuno felting.  I have taught friends how to felt, and started a tutorial website for learning the basics.  I did it because I enjoy it so immensely and I want people to have as much fun as I'm having! 

When I first tried finding info on nuno felting online, I had little luck, so my videos are for those ambitious people out there who want to teach themselves.  It is a fairly new way of felting so I can really stretch the limits of my imagination on what can be accomplished.  Not everything has been done to death with nuno felting, so inventing new looks is so satisfying because it hasn't been seen before.   I try at least one experimental thing with each piece I create.   I look at other art for color combinations, and ways of really trying to TRANSLATE it into my medium.   I once did a wet felted wall hanging of a painting of a photograph!

I take a lot of time and plan each piece carefully because the best part is having it turn out in an unexpected way.

A little background on Nuno Felting:

Nuno means “fabric” in Japanese (this is not a Japanese technique, it was invented by an American woman named Polly Sterling) so adding any fabric to a wet felting piece is considered nuno felting.

The fabric is laid out and a layer of loose wool is arranged on top and/or bottom.   It is then rolled up in a plastic bundle and rolled on a table for roughly an hour or two.  The wool literally migrates directly through the fabric during this time.  Once it has really worked its way through, it is then shrunk (as wool is wont to do) and it takes the fabric along with it creating lovely wrinkles and texture.  Then it is hand rubbed in hot soapy water.  Lastly it is thrown against a hard surface many times, then rinsed and dried.  After drying over night, the last 3 steps are repeated.

My fabric of choice is 100%  silk chiffon  and my wool of  choice is Merino. Since my pieces are usually touching the neck, I want to make sure it feels soft and luxurious and never itchy.  Other wools would not achieve such comfortable results.  The wool is the finest wool available (Merino) and in the lowest micron count for the softest feel.  I also use other materials such as silk roving, tencel, cottswold wool, mohair yarn, wool yarn, and novelty yarn, but minimally, and for embellishment.

Artist's statement:  I like to fabricate a thing that didn’t exist before I thought of it.  I prefer to use the crudest, most basic raw materials possible, so that I actually construct it.  I like my designs to resemble the chaos of nature.  How clouds form and make random patterns, and rocks and streams and fossils and snow.  Those patterns hold the most interest for my eyes, but my personality type is always pulling me towards order and structure.  Creating a piece that makes visual sense and has the fluidity of freeform is my everlasting challenge.


Location: Orlando, Florida, USA
Online shop: blindsquirrel
Blog:  feltinglessons
Languages spoken:  English

Nuno felted scarf by Terri Pike







First video in a series on Terri Pike's Felting Instructions:

Tags:  felting, felt, felted, wool, silk, nuno, laminated,scarves, scarf, shawl

Katherine K Allen

"Almost Alone" by Katherine K Allen
53" x 60"
Acrylic Paint and Screen Print Inks on Cotton

 www.KatherineKAllen.com

I am an artist who uses painting, stitching, photography and writing to explore plants, birds and landscape. My artworks are inspired by my experiences in the natural world. I spend a lot of time listening to nature while in my kayak, walking the woods, or riding my bicycle.  I believe art can provide a healing, joyful space and fills a fundamental human need.

I am interested in making connections with people who feel that art is the most interesting subject there is, that making things by hand must endure, and that cherishing nature can help to preserve it.

I love working with individual and corporate clients to create site specific art.  I enjoy exhibiting,  making new works, photographing nature and writing about art, art making and artists.

Art may be purchased directly from me at my studios in Easton, Maryland and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  I welcome visitors.  Please contact me to arrange a visit.  Or,  you may contact my gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona, www.cervinihaas.com.

Artist's Statement: My art is a meditation on Nature.   From garden, wetlands and woods I gather the raw materials I use in creating my "soft paintings".  These imaginary botanicals and abstracted landscapes are begun by painting and printing in multiple layers on un-stretched silk or cotton canvas.   With machine and hand stitching I work into and through the painted surface.  Marks made by hand, brush and stitch interweave with natural forms from the earth to communicate memory, emotion and my philosophy of co existence in harmony with nature.  My goal is to create an evocative artwork that nourishes mind, eye and spirit in equal measure.


Locations:  Easton, Maryland, USA and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Online shop: KatherineKAllen
Blog:  softart
Social Media: Facebook, LinkedIn
Memberships:
   Fiber Artists Collective            
   Surface Design Association
   Nature Printing Society
Languages spoken: English

 "Blue Moon " by Katherine K Allen
51" x 49"
Acrylic Paint and Screen Print Inks on Silk

 

Tags: Zen, Graphic, Fiberart, Meditative, Art Quilt, Sumi, Asian, Silhouette, Green, Plantscape

Linda Matthews

http://www.Linda-Matthews.com

I'm an Australian now living in Central Florida and I've been a textile artist in one form or another most of my life. After landing in the US in 2001 I quickly discovered and fell in love with art quilting. I then spent quite a number of years traveling throughout the US teaching creative sewing and art quilting classes and workshops, as well as exhibiting my art quilts.

These days though I prefer to stay close to home in Central Florida where I still teach locally from time to time and where I also self-publish a series of instructional dvds which are full of fabulous techniques specifically for textile and quilt artists. I also get to spend lots more time in my studio where I now work exclusively with digital art and design, as well as processes for printing on fabric, and in particular textured fabric.

I’ve also rediscovered my love of “working small” and have developed methods for preserving my digitally printed textile art so that it becomes durable and workable and suitable for using on items such as handbags, purses and accessories. My current ambition is to produce textile art that is beautiful but also practical; art that doesn’t necessarily need to hang on a wall or sit on a stand to be admired, it can also hang on your arm or be carried about with you.

Working with new technologies that intersect with artisan crafts is challenging and rewarding; new methods melding with old techniques resulting in textile art that is different, fresh and exciting.

Artist's Statement: Making art with fabric and thread is both a creative and an emotional experience for me, and I find my direction changing every so often. The older I get the more difficult it is to let go and move forward, and learning the futility of fighting the muse seems to be my life's greatest challenge. The only constant in my work seems to be the desire to encourage and inspire the creative spark that lives in each of us and ultimately I think, that is enough.

Location: Deland, Florida, USA

Online shops: Linda-Matthews

Blog: linda-matthews

Membership: SAQA

Languages spoken: English

Daisy Art Bag by Linda Matthews

Tags: textile art, fabric art, digital art, inkjet printing, printing on fabric, digital grounds, fabric paper, wearable art

Studio Art Quilts by Valerie S. Goodwin

www.quiltsbyvalerie.com

I am an architect and an artist who creates fiber art inspired by realistic and abstract imagery of maps.

I am interested in making connections with other fiber artists and people involved in fine arts & crafts. I would love to procure commissions in public and corporate settings. In addition, I do workshops and lectures on various topics related to quilting, architecture, maps and design.   I have a studio at Railroad Square, an art park in Tallahassee, Fl.

Artist's statement:  I am fascinated by the language of lines, shapes and pattern. I am drawn to what I perceive to be the symbols and language found in maps and architectural drawings. Many works of art such as the paintings of Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell inspire me.

Maps use symbols such as points, lines, patterns, and color to convey information. As a child I was fascinated by maps, spending hours poring over them, sometimes being intrigued by their beauty. Later on, I noted how architects and other design professional use "maps" to communicate information to contractors, clients, the public and many other audiences.  When I began to make art quilts I was intrigued by aerial views of places. Then I began to refer to my books on urban planning and site plans of places that interested me. Gradually, I narrowed my focus to maps of real and imagined places.

My work is noted for its use of color, emphasis on line and density. My quilts are part of a continuing investigation of ideas that focus on geometrical relationships, patterns and ordering principles found in architecture. I try to convey these ideas abstractly, through the use of collage, layering, transparency, density and improvisation.

Currently, I teach architectural design classes at Florida A&M University's School of Architecture.  I received a Masters degree in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis after receiving an undergraduate degree from Yale University. My work has been widely published and exhibited. I have also lectured and given workshops across the country.

Location:  Tallahassee, Florida, USA

Online store: Quilts by Valerie

Blog: Cartoghraphic Constructions

Memberships: 

  Fiber Artists Collective
  Studio Art Quilts Association
  Studio Fiber Artists
Languages spoken: English

 "African Burial Ground" by Valerie S. Goodwin

Studio Art Quilts by Valerie S. Goodwin on Facebook

Tags: art quilts, map quilts, cartography, architecture, design, art, workshops, commissions

Christine Predd

 

Moments by Christine Predd

www.christinepredd.com

I was excited to begin my journey making art quilts in 2001, after being a traditional quilt maker for over 15 years.  The freedom of expression with fabric and thread has become a passion of mine in my retirement.  I prefer abstract to representational work, working from an idea, a word or phrase, or with nature as my inspiration.  I often use photos I have taken as the source for my work.  My work is directed by colors, textures, shapes and sounds of the natural world.  My best work is done intuitively without extensive planning, and I use paints, dyes, threads, fabrics, and needles to present the viewer my personal interpretation of life as I see it.  I consider any day incomplete in which I have not designed, sketched, sewn, dyed fabric, or in some way worked on a quilt.  My creativity in this way has resulted in exhibitions in various juried shows since 2005. Mostly, I enjoy my daily studio life to a level I could only have imagined many years ago. 

 

Location: LaPorte, Indiana, USA (summer and fall)  

      Anna Maria Island, Florida, USA (winter and spring)

Online store:  Christine Predd  

Blog:   Quilting on the Edge 

Memberships:   Studio Art Quilt Associates,  American Quilter's Society

Social Media: Twitter

Language spoken: English

 SeaGrass by Christine Predd

Tags:  fiberart, textile art, surface design, dyed fabric, painted fabric, quilt design, collage, stencilling, abstract art, nature quilts