By A Thread , part 1

I have the great honor of being part of By A Thread, curated by Nancy Moore at the Ridgefield Guild of Artists, Ridgefield, Connecticut. It is an exquisite exhibition of fiber art. The show runs until June 19 with artist talks each Sunday 3-5 pm.

The gallery is comprised of 3 rooms so I am going to post the art in each room separately, beginning with the room 1. As usual, I will link to the artist's web site when possible and include a full and detail as well as the artist statement, if available.

Before you get started viewing all the luscious art, may I take a moment to say just how thrilled I am that my red boat is in such fantastic company? There's Ellen Schiffman (top left) Kari Lonning (middle) and Amy Bilden (right). Truth be told, I did a little happy dance right there in the gallery when I found out who my hanging mates were.

And now, enjoy!

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Amy Bilden

Stockings

 nylon stockings, 

concrete, cable

Amy Bilden

Stockings, detail

Amy Bilden

Stockings, detail

Amy Bilden

Stockings, detail

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 Juliet Martin

Men I Have Known: Bad Boy (2013)

yarn, fabric, safety pins

  Juliet Martin

Men I Have Known: Bad Boy (2013), detail

  Juliet Martin

Men I Have Known: Bad Boy (2013), detail

For me, every sculpture becomes an improvisation in awkward beauty: clumpy fabric, rough and smooth textures, ragged edges. Because the loom I use has only two heddles, instead of keeping track of a pattern, I can focus on aesthetic decisions. My hands act as the shuttle, guiding the bobbin through the shed. My fingers beat the weft. Manipulated manually, the fabric becomes organic, fluid, personal. As if it has free will, the weft escapes from my fingers. I can't replicate a straight line. Luckily, I don't want to.  Juliet Martin

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 Jennifer Davies

Cast Rocks

pigment on cast handmade paper

  Jennifer Davies

Cast Rocks, detail

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 Arlé Sklar-Weinstein

Mount Koyasan: Ancestors

photomontage, glass beads,

sequins, cotton, thread

 Arlé Sklar-Weinstein

Mount Koyasan: Ancestors, detail

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 Diane Pollack (top)

Whimsy 6

collage, thread

 Diane Pollack

Whimsy 6, detail

This piece is part of a series of collage + thread works that I created this past winter in Tucson. I decided to limit the palette to red, black, gray, and white, which I've been doing for some time with my larger stenciled pieces on paper.

The work poured out of me! Lo and behold, during the six weeks of my stay, I produced over twenty of them!  Diane Pollack

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 Fruma Markowitz

A Little (American-Jewish) Princess

linen, photo transfer,

pearl beads, embroidery thread

This work is from a series called "Daddy's Girl," about my relationship with my father, who died in 2012 at the age of 95. By creating these pieces, I found a way to process my grief by physically associating some mundane objects he kept close at hand every day of his life--his handkerchiefs--with the photographs he took of me as a young girl, an only child who often felt lonely, uneasy, and awkward, yet anxious to please and succeed. Each piece portrays an emotionally charged moment in my early childhood when my father was especially present and influential concerning my awareness of myself as a girl, and at times when I may have subconsciously internalized his silent, but palpable, hopes, dreams, and expectations of me. 

In the photograph I'm dressed to go to synagogue on a spring day. I'm wearing Jackie Kennedy-like white gloves, a decidedly patriotic-colored dress, my best shoes. And I seem uncomfortable, perhaps because the dress is scratchy, or maybe it's the entire outfit that labels me as more American than I felt at that moment. It's a feeling that quite honestly has followed me throughout my life. That as a Jew, I will always be an outsider, vulnerable, and never 100 percent American. 
Fruma Markowitz

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 Jennifer Davies

Snowmoon

string, ink, handmade paper

 Jennifer Davies

Snowmoon, detail

 Jennifer Davies

Snowmoon, detail

Although willing to depart from my original idea as a work progresses, I usually start with a very clear image from nature. So it was with Snowmoon. My unobstructed view of the night sky has allowed me much study of the moon making its arc to the horizon. Always partial to the circle, I often make work that refers to the moon and the darkened edges that so reliably creep across the brilliant sphere.

Somewhat paradoxically, my materials are delicate. Using string or thread, I make a weaving on circular tubing. Then I dip the whole thing into paper pulp, which, when dry and removed from the tubing, results in an open, lacy form. I sewed Snowmoon's equal circles together, off-center, after painting some of the edges black to suggest the moon's shadow.  Jennifer Davies

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 Naomi Kobayashi

Kabu 2000/104 (2000), front

paper, thread

  Naomi Kobayashi

Kabu 2000/104 (2000), front detail

  Naomi Kobayashi

Kabu 2000/104 (2000), back

  Naomi Kobayashi

Kabu 2000/104 (2000), back detail

Kobayashi studied at the Musashino Art University of Toyko, between 1965 and 1969, specializing in textile printing and weaving. Since 1981, she has had many solo exhibitions in Japan and has participated in numerous international group shows. The artist has recently collaborated with her husband, artist Masakazu Kobayashi. They live and work in Toyko.

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Arlé Sklar-Weinstein

Kimono Form 1: VERY LOUD MESSAGE FROM FUKUSHIMA

vinyl tape, cotton, thread, ceramic beads, in cartridge rollers

Arlé Sklar-Weinstein

Kimono Form 1: VERY LOUD MESSAGE FROM FUKUSHIMA, detail

The political arena is not my usual focus in thinking about and creating a new work, as I am more often moved by observed form that seems to symbolically hold spiritual meaning.

VERY LOUD MESSAGE FROM FUKUSHIMA starts with the enormity of the catastrophic nuclear plant failure and its threatening implications for the non-survival of all living beings on earth; human folly at its most dangerous. I used ink cartridge rollers as beads in groups of four to symbolize the failed cooling towers.  Arlé Sklar-Weinstein

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Kari Lonning

Where Sky Meets Water

dyed rattan reed, encaustic medium

(bee's wax and demar resin)

As for most of my baskets, this one began with the colors I wanted to use, then the design unfolded as I worked. My brother had been taking about his love of the beach, the water, the sounds, and the peaceful solitude. His thoughts resonated, and I discovered that I was weaving them into this piece. As I added the orange, I was thinking of a sunset but I discovered that instead, I was adding shore birds... The setting sun was added to the "sky" in the deep blue band above the "beach."It's rare for me to be so literal or representational, but the more I wove, the more I was immersed in the idea.  Kari Lonning

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Ellen Schiffman

Majesty of the Slow White Crawl

Q-tips 

Ellen Schiffman

Majesty of the Slow White Crawl, detail

"Why Q-tips? you ask. "Why not?" is my response. As an observer of the world, I've seen that everything has beauty and that every material can be used to express ideas. It is my challenge as a mixed-media/fiber artist to unlock the secrets of the materials I'm working with. Q-tips, linen tape, ace bandages--these are what I'm currently using to create my pieces, and I'm fascinated by the myriad ways I can manipulate the same medium to express different things. I'm seduced by the way a material can be transformed from what we think it is into something quite different. The aim here is to give even the most mundane materials a voice. Part of my reward is the surprise people express when they realize what material I've used. I hope this inspires them to look at the world with fresh eyes and a more open mind.

The Majesty of the Slow White Crawl emerged as I planned a bucket-list trip to Patagonia. My mind was filled with thoughts and images of glaciers, snow-capped mountains, frigid temperatures--and great expanses of white beauty.  Ellen Schiffman

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Jennifer Coyne Qudeen

The Red Boat

tea bags, digital print of photo taken by the artist, thread

The Red Boat makes physical my memory of standing by the River Tay in Newburgh, Scotland as the tide slowly flowed in, bringing with it the scent and feel of the nearby North Sea. A breeze carried sounds of Newburgh's residents waking and beginning their day. Shore birds called out their morning song while a moored red dingy rocked subtly on the river, mesmerizing me with its gentle rhythm. 

My work with tea bags explored and expands on the concept of memories, whether real or imagined, through the use of marks--the tea's own as well as my handmade marks, direct rust prints, digital prints, and hand and machine stitching. 

The translucent quality of the tea bag paper seems the perfect medium for expressing and storing memories, as with time they become ethereal.  Jennifer Coyne Qudeen

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Lucy M Krupenye

Zen Altar

metal, stone, bone, twine

Lucy M Krupenye

Zen Altar, detail

I created this sculpture as a place of peace and calm. It is meant to be a Zen oasis of offering and tranquility.

The twine is used to embrace the altar and also to dangle a stone that represents balance and serenity.  Lucy M Krupenye

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Nancy C Woodward

Blue Heirloom

ink, abaca tissue, thread, burlap

Nancy C Woodward

Blue Heirloom, detail

I printed the image on abaca tissue, then sewed the tissue to a thin backing paper using a stitch to give the piece its border. I pulled pieces of burlap and thread through the stitch and tied the threads to create the tassels. 

Working from a photograph I took of a tree, a design took shape that evoked memories of an old oriental rug belonging to my godfather, Uncle Burr. As I worked on this piece, the emerging design conjured up early memories of that wonderful man. I had a sense of Uncle Burr whispering familiar words to me: "Awful nice job, Nancy Carol." He was the only person who used my middle name as a term of endearment. Throughout this process, I felt his kindness and support.  Nancy C Woodward

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Francine Even

Save The Planet

linen, wool, ribbon, twine, silk, crocheted flowers, 

beads, bells,buttons, plastic bags,

needle-felted bird's nest (courtesy of Liz Alpert Fay)

Francine Even

Save The Planet, detail

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Carol Ingram

Totem

hand-dyed Finn wool, 

yarn, thread

Carol Ingram

Totem, detail

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*All photos were taken by me with permission from the Ridgefield Guild of Artists and curator Nancy Moore. If you happen to re-post these photos elsewhere, please give appropriate credit not only to myself as photographer, but, most importantly, to artist whose work you are re-posting. Thank you!