Fiber Arts Show

Last night I went to the opening of a fiber arts show called "The Uncommon Thread" at Vermont Institute of Contemporary Art.  It totally renewed my passion for fabric and stitch, which has been waning over the last few years.  I knew several of the artists represented in the show from an encaustic workshop I took last January through North Country Studio Workshops.  These included Sandy Gregg, Marilyn Gillis, and Wen Redmond.  Great to see Sandy and Marilyn there, and also to meet Elizabeth (Betsy) Fram, whose work was breathtaking.  I also particularly liked the work of Karen Kamenetzky.

Here are a few samples:

Betsy Fram

Karen Kamenetzky

Marilyn Gillis

Sandy Gregg

Wen Redmond

If you are anywhere near Chester, Vermont, check out the show.  It is up through October 21.

Collage Journeys in Vermont

OK, here is my real post about the workshop last week.  Collage Journeys in Vermont is a five day workshop I do here in Rupert, Vermont, my home town, in August.  This year's group was awesome, and I think a good time was had by all.  We were very lucky to have Julie Fei-Fan Balzer among the participants.  Not only is she an accomplished artist and teacher herself, but she takes pictures of EVERYTHING, and very good pictures.  So she is responsible for the photos in the previous post.  AND, she did two, yes TWO blog posts about this workshop, so I'll just send you over to her blog.  While you are there, check out her line of stencils.  She brought a load of them to share with the class.

Meanwhile, here are a few more pix taken by other students:

This is Julie staring at The Blank Page.  It did not stay blank for long!

painted papers and a few collage studies

Cathy (with a C)'s gorgeous large piece, 22"x30"

A collage painting by Lu

Mona's piece

One from Elizabeth

Most of us.  Joan is still down at my house drawing my chickens.

Definitely check out Joan's Flickr site.  She's not in the picture above, but see her on Julie's blog. If you want to join us next year for Collage Journeys 2013, make sure to get on my mailing list (above, right), or e-mail me.  I'll be opening registration in the fall.

Pix of Collage Journeys

I'm still in Chicago teaching at CREATE, so I don't have time to do an extensive post.  Here are just a few examples of students at work:

Coming Soon!

I have not posted in a while because I've bee REALLY busy teaching this month.  Check out the schedule.  My Collage Journeys in Vermont ended yesterday, and it just could not have been better!  Several of the students took loads of pictures so I'm going to wait to get those before posting more details.  Next year's Collage Journeys is scheduled for August 13 - 17, and registration will open on November 1.

Just prior to Collage Journeys, I was in Phoenix teaching at Art Unraveled.  I taught Fabric-Paper and Plaster and Wax, and had fabulous groups of students in both.  I LOVE going to Phoenix in August!  The heat and the landscape are so exotic to someone from Vermont; it really feels like a world away.

My next teaching adventure is on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, when I'll be teaching at CREATE in Chicago.   Wednesday is Fabric-Paper; Thursday is Unbinding the Visual Journal, and Thursday evening is Scribble Paint.

After that I'll be at Random Arts (see previous post) in Saluda, NC, near Asheville, teaching three workshops, Friday - Sunday, September 7 - 9.  CHECK OUT THIS INTERVIEW WITH RANDOM ARTS OWNER, JANE POWELL. 

And don't forget Art and Soul, coming up in October.  I'll be teaching October 1 and 2.  More on that later.