CO Member Spotlight

Ilza Aviks

Ilze is a textile artist living in Durango, Colorado and teaching Studio and Art Theory courses at Ft. Lewis College as well as being a visiting artist at many other colleges around the country. She also conducts wonderful and informative workshops.

Of her current work titled Fix-It, Ilze notes: “The hand-made lace recalls the feminist credo that “the personal is political”. The lace is not perfect, shows evidence of the hand…the digitally-printed paper (target and numbers) is mechanically perfect. The combination can be uneasy–something flawed juxtaposed with something perfect (like Plato’s platonic circle). The visual metaphor of a shape, a number, a painted gesture, insinuating itself from beneath the lace, can be both political and personal. Something pushed back or slightly hidden. The surface may be friendly, but violence or unexpressed emotions exist just below.

FIX IT 24″ x 24″ (framed)

Pigment, ink, cotton thread on digitally-printed Arches paper; finger painting, hand stitching.

DON’T WORRY 24″ x 24″ (framed)

Hand-made cotton lace, discharged silk, pigment on linen, commercial fabric; collaging, hand stitching

Two of Ilze’s artworks were recently selected for the permanent collection of the new United States Embassy in Riga, Latvia. Learn more about Ilze on her web site: IlzeAiks.com.

Regina Benson

Congratulations are due to Golden, Colorado artist Regina Benson. She has been appointed to the SDA Board of Directors as the Director of Fund Raising. Regina will be working closely with Vice President of Development, Bette Levy, to create and implement new structures and mechanisms for increasing financial donations to the organization. Regina is the former SDA Colorado state rep.

In her studio practice, Regina creates large-scale wall hangings and dimensional textile structures using her own surface-designed cloth. Her painterly designs are created by manipulating and intentionally mark-making on silk, rayon, and industrial polyester fabrics. Intricate patterning is achieved by discharging black fabric with soy wax and starch paste resists, followed by overdyeing and rusting the surface with natural, disperse, and acid dyes. The resultant markings are stitched, burned, and waxed.

Regina’s work has been shown in galleries and museums on both a national and international basis.

She is one of five American artists to have their work accepted into the 2010  13th International Triennial of Tapestry at the Central Museum of the Textile Industry in Lodz, Poland.

See more of Regina’s wonderful art on her web site: www.ReginaBenson.com.

Lynne Bruning

Lynne Bruning is an award winning fashion forward designer and innovator who created a stunning entry for the SDA 2009 Fashion Show using blacklight reactive effects. Here is a glimpse of her Fashion Prototype Show as seen on YouTube.

Lynne has written about her invention of weaving cloth with conductive threads and yarns. Go to WeaveZine. Type in Lynne Bruning in the search field. You can also learn more from Lynne about conductive fabric at Instructables.

Go to htttp://www.lbruning.com to see more exciting fashions by Lynne Bruning.

Lisa Call

Art quilter Lisa Call has a solo exhibition titled Dwelling at the spacious Macky Auditorium Gallery on the CU Campus. February 17th – March 17th, 2010. Last week’s snow storm postponed the Opening Reception to Sunday, February 28th from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm. Lisa will give an Artists’ Talk at 2:00 pm that day. Lisa’s art quilt Structures # 11 was selected for the cover of the Quilt National 2003 Catalog. Lisa is also the founder of the Fiber Connection, a small, online support group for textile artists. Congratulations Lisa!

Go to http://lisacall.com to see more of Lisa’s art.

Katherine Colwell

Hotchkiss resident Katherine Colwell is part of a current exhibition “RED” at the new Terra Firma Gallery, 217 Grand Avenue in Paonia, Colorado. It runs through Saturday, March 13th, 2010. 970-527-4993. The next show at the gallery examines the theme “DIRT” with a variety of artists and media. It opens March 19th.

Katherine is a blended-media fiber artist. No matter the finished dimensions of her work, Katherine’s hand embroidery, quilting, and sewing is on a small scale. Her favorite threads are size 50 sewing silk, and single strands of Eterna silk and DMC cotton. Three series have kept her engaged for a number of years: double-sided, pieced monotypes with Cretan labyrinths; three-dimensional folding embroidered books; and embellished silk fusion. Over three decades of plein-air drawing provide inspiration and imagery.

Katherine’s art quilt titled: Sleeping Cedar Luminous Dreams #4 is included in 1000 Artisan Textiles: Contemporary Fiber Art, Quilts, and Wearables.

To learn more about Katherine’s art and the Rivendell Retreat go to: http://www.imaginerivendell.com

Brooks

Noted clothing and wedding gown designer Brooks of Brooks Ltd. in Denver has the honor of having her elegant bridal designs as the focus of a four-page article “Heading to the Alter and Looking Great the Second Time Around” in the current issue Colorado View - words for women who observe – question- aspire – live. Go to Colorado View. Click on Winter 2010 on the right and the use the navigation buttons at the bottom of the page to click through the magazine until you reach page 58-59. Congratulations Debra! You can see more of her beautiful fashions at http://brooksltd.net/. Be sure to watch the video of Brooks talking about her designs.

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Barbara Frey

Barbara Frey started working with textiles as a teenager, sewing and knitting, then moving on to crocheting and embroidering. She learned quilting while raising a family of three and juggling her nursing career. She began making art quilts in 1997. Recently Barb’s work has taken a new direction in creating art garments.

Barb says of her current work: I am excited about exploring how a garment makes a person feel. I am dedicating the next year to the series. I’m curious where it will go. Right now I’m working on a self portrait in the form of a dress style I used to make for myself. Here are a few of the questions I asked myself when I first started this series:
How could a garment transform your imagination just by putting it on?
Would you feel like a different person?
Who would you be in the garment?
Do you feel safe in the garment? warm?
Shape is really important to the series. Arms stretching out in welcome, a flaring shape, feminine shape, powerful shape, soft, flowing shape, etc.
My influences come from looking at a minister’s robe and stole, from kimonos, traditional costumes, clothing I’ve worn, costumes from cinema.
Will some phrases creep in to the series–like who “wears the pants” in the family? “dress for success”?
Will I want 3-dimensional pieces?

You can see Barb Frey’s art quilts on her web site: http://www.BarbFrey.com

Denise Labadie

Denise is an art quilter living and working in her terrific studio in Longmont, Colorado. Her art focuses on expressing the beauty of the magnificent stones, dolmens and ancient sites in Ireland. Denise has traveled there several times to study and photograph the stone formations. She hand paints almost all of her fabric she uses in her work. She is known for her ability to create interesting textures and beautiful skies as backdrops for the focal points of her work. This summer her work will be exhibited in two juried shows.

Shaw Cramer Gallery, Vinyard Haven, Massachusetts
Jul 16, 2010 through Jul 28, 2010
http://shawcramergallery.com/exhibits.php

ITAB: International TECHstyle Art Biennial at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles – August 17th – October 31st 2010 http://www.sjquiltmuseum.org

Denise says of her work:

“I love my stones. when people ask how long I will focus on this, I just tell them that their are so many stones and ruins out there, I can’t get enough. I also can’t get enough of Ireland, although I am longing to go to Scotland as I have never traveled there. For the time being, who knows. With every stone circle, dolmen, stone fort etc. there are new challenges, new shading and perspective to work on and learn from. I absolutely love the challenge that comes with each piece I do. It has been a constant struggle for me to get the shadows and perspective correct, things that have not come naturally to me. I am immensely grateful to those who have helped me to define my stones in more depth and detail. My dream would be to have my work shown in Ireland!”

Denise has worked diligently to evolve her style and techniques. She now shares her knowledge through classes on fabric painting and reverse applique. Contact Denise through her web site for more information and to see more of her wonderful art quilts.

To learn more about Denise Labadie go to: http://www.labadiefiberart.com/

Sara Rockinger

Sara is an MFA graduate of the fiber arts program and Colorado State University. An exhibition of her work titled The Lines That Divide will be on display at the Old Firehouse Art Center, in Loveland from March 12 – April 10, 2010. The opening reception is Friday, March 12th from 6 pm – 9 pm. www.firehouseart.org. 303-651-2787

Sara’s work titled Invisibility consists of five three dimensional figures with video of local people working and discussing immigration projected onto them. My work in this show is an exploration of the contributions of migrant and immigrant workers and their families in Boulder County. This work comes from my need to understand , if only momentarily, what it might be like to be someone else. What is life like for people around me? I am interested in exploring the relationship between current social issues, injustices, and daily life in my community. Using hand-dyed fabrics and my sewing machine as a drawing tool, I layer sheer fabrics, color, figures, line, thread, and image to consider how one experience may overlap with another. Where do we intersect? How do we affect each other? I want to visually challenge boundaries between the notion of “us” and “them,” just as they blur in my life as I create this work.

To learn more about Sara and her work, go to her web site: http://www.srockinger.net/

Carol Watkins

SDA member Carol Watkins lives in Boulder, Colorado. Digital technology has given Carol the opportunity to create deeply personal art. Exploring the possibilities inherent in this new medium keeps her constantly asking “what if.” She creates art quilts from original photographs, digital processes and prints on cloth and other substrates. The printed fabric is pieced, painted, and heavily stitched with free-motion, machine embroidery.

Carol has a genuine connection to and appreciation for nature. Having been raised in urban areas Carol found solace as a child in quiet places. She now lives at the foot of the Rocky Mountains where she hikes renewing body and spirit.

Green Sonata 26 x 27 silk fabrics, digitally printed, applique, free motion stitching

Three of Carol’s art quilts are featured in the newly released publication 500 Quilts. Carol teaches workshops on various techniques.

Learn more about Carol on her web site: http://www.carolwatkins.com.