Monday, January 24, 2011

Fiber, Paper and Sewing Machines

A recent Art Propelled post provided a lot of creative fodder for me, as usual. One of the artists that resonated is Kathi De Jonge. I was very inspired by the papier maché pieces on her website.

I've been looking for some images of roughly sewn canvas and burlap, however I haven't found much by googling so I'll just show you what initially attracted me to Kathi's work. Can you tell I'm really liking the rust these days?

Kathi De Jonge 'Scraps 1'Oil, Mixed Media on Panel 30 x 30 x 6

Isn't this gorgeous?

Lately I've been thinking about sewing--a lot! In fact, that's probably the creative activity I've been doing the longest. Since I was around 7. Actually, I stopped for the past 10 years or so, but now I'm ready to start up again. I've been tuning up my trusty Kenmore. I learned here that any vintage Kenmore with a 158 in the model number is a very good machine. So I will keep mine 35 more years! It spent around 15 years in the tropics, on a sailboat for a while exposed to salt air. Then it got to live ashore (as did I) but still had to run off a transformer for all that time. What a good little machine, it's had its quirks but don't we all?

This is one of my new fiber collages. In keeping with some of my other work, I mixed refined (the netting and the sparkly flowers hehe) with distressed (the recycled vintage dishtowel at upper right). I'm trying to source some more rough, gnarly fabric, or maybe I'll distress some. That sounds like fun actually.

6 comments:

  1. I see that your regular blogger commenting is back!
    My comment about the rust and sewing machine was supposed to mean not neglecting your sewing for so long that the machine or your skills become rusty but it came out all awkward in the telling in my email.
    Anyway, things look back to normal here. have a great week,
    xoxo Kim

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  2. Oh, I get it now! I think sewing is like riding a bike, it never goes away. I'll keep you updated though! Thanks for coming back and recommenting.

    I'm still working on getting the comments back to this post and the one before it. Disqus was not kind to me, for anyone who's thinking of trying it out for managing comments...

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  3. I can see why you like her work- grungy. Sewing is such a buzz- your machine sounds like a real trooper. Look forward to seeing your creations.

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  4. There are some exciting pieces on Kathi's website aren't there?! Great new piece that you've done and I'm drawn to the mixed media piece in your sidebar. (thanks for the mention :-)

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  5. I like your fabric collage- the mix of grunge and lace is very cool! I also like Kathi DeJonge's work; the piece with the sewing and rust is yummy!

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  6. Don, your sewing posts are very timely and are contributing to my sewing fever! Both my machines are now fixed and ready to go.

    Robyn, glad you like my small piece--I love all you do to bring us new eye candy :-)

    Sharmon, "hybrids" are fun aren't they? And so is rust!

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