Wednesday, November 17, 2010

a feel good type of thing to do

I'm happy to say that I just delivered my piece for the 2011, Textile Museum of Canada, Shadow Box Auction. This is my fifth year of donating to this very worthy cause. The pieces will be auctioned off next March, with all proceeds to benefit the Museum. If you're in the Toronto area, please join us on February 23rd, 2011 for the Artist Reception and Public Preview. The actual auction is on March 10th and tickets will be available from the Textile Museum. I promise that you won't be disappointed by the wide array of tiny, but exquisite art pieces.

A somber pallette for me, but one that I feel is both classic and sophisticated. Of course, I just had to include some hand and free motion machine stitching, recycled fabrics, a little bit of acrylic paint and shiny, sparkly beads!



More detail from the bottom section.



I originally intended the piece to be just sky and land, but the tree was quite forward and demanded to become a focal part.

The rocks are hand ruched fabrics in silks, velvet, cotton and mixed fibres. The beading includes stacked and free-form filler stitches. The sky is strata pieced and has been accented with free-motion straight and zigzag stitches, machine couching and hand stitching. Acrylic paint was scraped on after the machine and before the hand stitching. The tree was a last minute addition and let me tell you, it's not easy free motion machine sketching a tree AFTER all the beading had been done! Needless to say, more beads were added to cover up the fact that the tree was floating in the air. Giggle!




"The Sentinel"

I spent an entire evening collaging little tiny pieces of Citra Solve, dissolved, National Geographic pages on to the unfinished pine shadow box. I started by wearing gloves, but when they started sticking to the piece, I ended up using my bare fingers to smooth it all down. Thank goodness for wet wipes and nail brushes! I'm happy with the results though, because I feel that the box actually looks like it's made out of marble.





Do you believe that I started this last Friday night and finished it on Sunday evening? Am I crazy, or what? Needless to say, no cleaning or cooking was done in my house last weekend!! The things I sacrifice for my art!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your picture is quite beautiful. I love the colours. The tree is perfect. I can't believe you did this in one weekend, what a lot of work. I think you're an amazing artist.

Judy

Sara said...

Last week, I heard some doctor on one of the morning shows say that we are far to clean & sanitized; without exposure to some dirt and germs, we are risking our immunity systems. Therefore, not cleaning your house was actually *healthy*.

With the multitude of non-cooking choices - from salads to frozen meals to takeout - why would anyone *ever* cook?

Exquisite work. I wish I could see it live and up close.

Beth@IHaveANotion.com said...

Yes, no sacrafice to great for art... the dust bunnies, toads and dogs live another week and the dishes remain undisturbed in their neat stacks... the pizza delivery guy got a nice tip... and the museum wins... I think you have done your part(s) well!!!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful work as usual.

Penny Berens said...

Awestruck!

kaiteM said...

oh my, you've done it again, it is beautiful.
the frame certainly looks as tho it's marble and the tree reminds me of those very ancient lino cut drawings.
it will certainly hold it's own at the Textile Museum's auction. well done, k.

Gypsy said...

Oooohhh - ahhhhhh! Love it! I would rather see those colors on my wall than out my window! And all the texture gives much to be appreciated. Good luck!

brandi said...

~i am speechless...exquisite is this piece...sigh...how one can created such from fabric and beads and bring it to life is unbelievable...the color choice is like a black and white portrait...i say i wish you well at the auction but i don't think such words are needed...how wonderful to be apart of this event...funny the preview is three days before my birthday and the auction is on my husbands birthday...hehehe!!! after reading your older post on citra solve i have been on a mission to find it but so far no local stores have carried it...may have to bite the bullet and just order it...its such a fascinating process and leaves really a remarkable look afterwards...may your inspiration and creativity remain in you each and everday that comes forth...and cooking...cleaning...what's that!?!? sounds like my weekend a few weeks back...warm wishes and brightest blessings always be with you~

Dolores said...

Wow. That is a wonderful piece. Thank you so much for letting us in on the process.

gerfiles said...

It has a Caspar David Friedrich kind of atmosphere...

Fibreartist said...

Fabulous Anne Marie! Great use of those National Geographic pages. I've been playing with Citra solv too, very stinky stuff but lovely results!!!!

Magpie's Mumblings said...

This is one of those pieces that I would SO love to touch!! The texture looks so inviting and it's hard to believe so much detail could be in such a tiny piece of art.

Anne Marie - Toronto said...

Wow, so many comments! Forgive me, but I'll just give a blanket thanks this time. I holed up by myself all weekend, so I wasn't sure how other people would feel about the piece. It's funny, because the muse just seemed to take over and I wasn't even conscious of time or the steps involved. Except when I was less than a quarter of the way through collaging the frame and I realised how much longer it was going to take. I like to work fast and it just wasn't possible in this case.......good thing there was something on TV!

One comment to Ger - I had to look up Caspar David Friedrich. He did such interesting work.

MA - if you come to the artist's preview night. I'll distract the museum people and let you touch the piece. Giggle!!

arlee said...

testing--you pass :)

Penny said...

I'm late getting in here -- but had to offer my praise for this beautiful piece. It looks like winter and is wonderful. The tree was the perfect addition. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

SuZQ, back to basics granny said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lisa said...

Your shadow box is gorgeous! I love the beads and the tree... everything. Lucky person who gets this one!