A Favorite Chair Revisited

I am working my way toward completion of a large art quilt this week and wanted one more element to finish the storytelling in the work. A ladderback chair seemed just right.

I have written before about ladderback chairs. They are a favorite symbol for me. Depicted empty, they connote memory. Who was there? What do they remember?

And the first ladderback chairs I remember seeing as a child were in the dining room of a school friend, a home I associated with laughter and rules a bit less formal that my own home.

So, I like these chairs.

I pulled one of my trusty large ladderback chair stencils (I have several sizes) from the shelf and traced out its basic shape onto muslin. Then I collaged a mix of fabrics onto the muslin. Then I stitched them down.

Now I could put the stencil on the top, moving it around till the different fabric colors and patterns hit in the spots I want. Then trace the shape.

Then I cut out the shape of the chair.

My end product is a cut-out chair ready to place on the quilt, collage into position, then stitch into place and quilt.

I am very happy with this chair. I like the way the colors blend and seem to suggest light on a form.

Just one problem.

It doesn’t look good on the quilt I intended it for. I did try out the fabrics against the quilt background, and I did think through what the chair colors would be next to.

But, when I placed it, it was just too much. It disappeared  into the background. I could not tell it wasn’t quite right till I’d created it.

Shoot!

Time for some new chairs

My next plan is to create the chairs with more of an all-over brownish hue, and less pattern.  (I’m creating one lighter brown and one darker brown, just to be sure I get one right.) I hope the second time is the charm.

Since I don’t have a nice “Ta-daaa!’ finished product to show you yet, I’ve pulled out a few artworks-with-chairs from my files to show you. These works are all on my website, where you can find out more information about them.

SECRET GARDEN An art quilt I created earlier this summer
If you would like more information about Secret Garden, click HERE

HOLDING ON – LETTING GO  A smaller work mounted on a wooden box frame.
If you would like more information about Holding On Letting Go, click HERE

OVERGROWN CONVERSATION – An art quilt that also includes some detailed photo transfers of windows.
If you would like more information about Overgrown Conversation, click HERE

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

BLOG POSTS  - once a week:  Mostly about what I am creating in the studio. If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail, please subscribe here:  I post and send by e-mail each Sunday evening. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

NEWSLETTER – about once a month: Mostly news of exhibits and my way of introducing new work. You’ll get FIRST LOOKS at new artwork and members-only discounts. You’ll hear from me about once a month.  NEWSLETTER

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Some unexpected monotypes

I received my second covid shot on Friday. (Or “Jab #2” as they say on the BBC.)

Yayyy! (As we say here in the states.)

It meant most of the weekend I felt a little like I was walking underwater. A price I am happy to pay. I took many naps and just puttered in the studio. No big projects brewing.

But I did have a little serendipitous printing on paper to share.

I had spread out a large vinyl drop cloth to protect my worktable from some wet fabric painting. When I lifted the wet fabric off there were wonderful puddles.

I recently cleaned out and rearranged the storage under my table to make room for a stack of packing boxes. It was a refreshing exercise. I threw out all kinds of old scraps I’ll never use and put the pieces that really interest me in a big plastic bin with a good lid that I can get to easily.

It’s a little thing, but I’m very proud of cleaning out underneath my worktable. Amazingly I added a lot but made more room!

So, when the puddles appeared. I popped open the plastic bin and pulled out a few sheets of tissue paper. For paper collages, tissue paper is magic. It picks up the most delicate images with just the slightest pressure. Little cracks and textures that other papers would miss are well defined.

I thought these puddle snippets suggest water nicely.

I can envision them in an abstract landscape with some sky and water. Maybe a wading bird.

Pressing the paper into the puddles took less than three minutes. But, now those delightful, random shapes are in the bin waiting for me.

(Warning – while I sing the praises of tissue paper, I must also admit it rips and falls apart just by looking at it. Learning to incorporate it into work is challenging.)

……………..

A few things coming up that I look forward to…

Art Event April 24. I’ll be showing work at this event sponsored by the Guild of the Museum of Art DeLand. It’s a small pop-up show (approx 20 artists) in a beautiful setting under a pavilion at Select Growers, on US 11 just north of DeLand. If you are in driving distance of DeLand I hope you’ll stop by.

Lightning Talk at the SAQA Global Conference. This year the Global conference is all virtual. I submitted a proposal for a Lightning Talk. (20 slides x 20 seconds each = 6 minutes and 40 seconds.) I’ll be speaking about What Poetry Can Teach Visual Artists. I’ll have my practice recording session later this week. For readers who are SAQA members and will be at the conference, I hope you’ll mark your schedule for Friday April 23  8:15 pm.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

How I keep in touch:

BLOG POSTS  - once a week:  If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post and send by e-mail each Sunday evening. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

NEWSLETTER – about once a month: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories, as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts, I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.  You’ll hear from me about once a month.  NEWSLETTER

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Artmaking from the gut

This image of abandoned row houses has stayed with me.

If an image speaks to you powerfully — if it stays with you after you’ve turned away from it — I think you should listen.

When I look at my own work critically, I find that I am generally most pleased with pieces in which I have some emotional investment. Deeper gut reaction can be the beginning of deeper artwork. So, I now have several large pieces (each just in its beginning stage) that have started with a powerful gut reaction.

Painting touchups on the photo I transferred to fabric

This one is about houses in a row.

I grew up in Baltimore and spent my earliest years in a row house neighborhood. This was not a slum and it was also not a fancy townhome neighborhood. It was the kind of neighborhood in which young families were in their first starter home. There were kids around. Each house had a small, fenced back yard that opened out onto the alley.

When I was in high school my family moved to Florida. I remember noticing right away that the houses and the neighborhood just didn’t feel the same. Florida homes don’t have basements. The interiors have different wall finishes and different windowsills.

Everything felt “off.”

This photo of rundown houses in downtown Baltimore just speaks to me. It has a beautiful subtle palette. I like the simple shapes. And it speaks of loss and decay. (I discovered it online, referenced to a magazine publication from 2014. I contacted them and received permission to use the photo in my quilt.) I will be adding a character (a little girl) to the story and incorporating other fabric elements alongside this photo too.

Mixing some neutral grey tones for touching up the photo

Recently I presented a program via zoom to a quilt group in California. Most of the talk was about thinking through concepts and ideas – all the things to do before creating an art quilt. (Or any kind of artwork.) To me, this is where there’s important work to do.

The image that speaks so deeply to me might not speak to any other artist. All OK. Some are inspired by a peaceful beach in the early morning, or a hibiscus flower with amazing hues, or a piece of family memorabilia. Also all OK.

What I think is important is to listen to that strong gut reaction to an inspiration. Then start figuring out what to do with it.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

PS - Last week I was sharing some anxiety over our US election. Today… Aaaahhhh! So much better. I am filled with relief and hope for the future. Thanks to you for sharing your heartfelt responses.

BLOG POSTS: If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post blogs once a week. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

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What is the color of light?

This week I’m in the beginning stages of a new quilt dealing with the subject of light. (I will hope to submit this to SAQA global exhibition about LIGHT due at the end of November.)

Light is not so much a color as an experience.

Light is not s much a thing to depict as an effect on the things it touches – or does not touch.

Light is ethereal and changing.

I am returning to a favorite photo of vines and light and shadow viewed through the window of an abandoned house. (I shot this image in rural South Carolina.)

My vision is to create original printed and painted fabric to enhance the feel of that light and to serve as transitions from the photo to a section of darkness.

(I know. This is a pretty ethereal vision. But I’m all in now!)

I’m beginning with a translation – changing the experience of light into a hue. Working from the photo, I’ve discovered a pale celery-green with a tinge of golden yellow that I want to work into my coordinating fabric.

Here’s the palette set-up: Black + Yellow+ white.

Black + Yellow = olive green. Go heavy on the black and it’s deep olive green. Add white to that to get a range of  celery tones.

Black + yellow with a heavier concentration of yellow = mustard yellow. Add white to that to get a range of creamy yellow tones.

I’m going to sponge this onto muslin to get an all-over tone. Then the texture and pattern will be created by subsequent layers of a slightly different hue.

Just a thought about entering exhibitions: I find this very inspiring. I like responding to a specific theme, and I even like it when there are specific size restraints. (This one’s pretty open. I can be from 30”-46”H x 34-60”W.) But I have learned from experience only to enter exhibits in which the piece I create is one that would have interested me anyway. It should fit into a body of work or have other interest to me in case I am not accepted, or if the work comes back to me after the exhibit.

Just a thought about repeating elements from one quilt to the next: I’ve decided that I like doing this. I have returned to the photos of the vines in the windows for several works. Each time I use it a bit differently. Because it’s an original photo, I now consider it part of my working vocabulary, like a favorite hand-cut stencil or relief print bloc.

Here are two other previously created quilts that incorporate this photo:

This is the Way to Get In” This quilt was in Florida Craftsman’s Contemporary Fibers Show earlier this year and is now in the Q=A=Q exhibit at the Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn, NY. On my website, HERE

“Something Else Will Grow There.” I created this as part of my  “Home is What You Remember” show at Arts on Douglas in 2018 . On my website, HERE

Just one more thought about Exhibitions: Sometimes they bring nice surprises. I was thrilled this week to learn that my quilt “Overlooked” (below) won FIRST PLACE at Material II Fiber Exhibit at d’art Center in Norfolk, VA.  (Whooo-Wheee!) The gallery made a nice video of judges remarks so I was able to watch watch on You Tube.. You could learn more about this quilt on my website, HERE

THE WEEK AHEAD: Early voting begins in Florida this week. I  signed up to volunteer as a poll-watcher. I’m looking forward to being a small part of the whole process.

Stay well. Happy creating.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

BLOG POSTS: If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post blogs once a week. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories, as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts, I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.  You’ll hear from me about once a month.  NEWSLETTER

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Thank You, cream cheese and butter

As if we needed any further reasons to love cream cheese and butter…

The little cartons in which they are packaged are just right for hand-cut small stencils. The boxes are a nice thin card stock, with a bit of waxy or plasticized coating so they hold up to a bit of paint or other liquid. They cut easily.  And it’s just a weird little pleasure to open up the seams of the box, flatten them out and have them waiting for the work that requires a small shape.

These stencils are for small branch-like shapes that will be part of underground roots. I am using these as a positive shape. (That is, the shape I see cut out in the stencil is the shape that will receive the painted image.)

One of the great things about a stencil is that it can also be used as a negative. If I put this little limb shape down on the fabric and then painted over it, the paint would go onto the background, and the limb would show through as the color of the fabric underneath.

The cardboard stencils are opaque, so I use tracings of the shape to position over the place I will be printing. That way the stencils will hit in the right spot. Position the tracing, then put the stencil on top, then pull out the tracing paper (I usually use wax paper,) tape or hold down the stencil, then apply the paint. Experiment with different brushes, sponges and rollers to see what you like best for paint application.

Here’s how the little root ended up in underground rocks-and-root quilt:

I did not start out to be a fan of stencils. It’s just something that has happened as I have worked out many studio experiments and come up with surface design methods that work for me. So, a few things I’ve learned:

Using stencils helps you to think about positive and negative shape.

Using stencils allows you to create mirror-image shapes: Print from one side, then turn it upside down and print in the other direction.

Using stencils can help you to develop your own personal vocabulary of textures and shapes. I think it’s fine to use commercially produced stencils for learning. My preference for creating art is only to use my own hand-cut shapes. They will be uniquely mine.

Stencils allow a mix of precision and looseness. Get a tight fit between stencil and background, control the paint amount closely, and get a nice clean edge. Or, try sponge painting wet over the shape for a looser look.

These fabrics show the result of wet over-paintng, plus using the stencil to create a wheat paste resist in a pattern.

Creating artwork in fabric is important and very rewarding to me. I love the creative methods of high-tech, photography-based imaging that are available. I also enjoy very low-tech methods that allow me to mix things up.

And, of course, the excuse to enjoy a nice Everything Bagel with cream cheese!

PS – If you would like to look at more details of works I’ve created that use a lot of stencils, I invite you to browse the fabric-and-paper collages on my website. You’ll find a variety of color, patterns and subject matter. HERE

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

BLOG POSTS: If you would enjoy receiving blog posts by e-mail,  please subscribe here:  I post blogs once a week. BLOGS-BY-EMAIL

NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories, as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts, I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.  You’ll hear from me about once a month.  NEWSLETTER

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Art-Looking. Art-making. Different. And the Same

First of all, each requires a commitment of time.

From my artist’s chair this weekend as an exhibitor at the Maitland Art Festival, I looked at a lot of people looking at art. I know it was an investment of time for the artmakers: studio time to create the work, travel, set-up, two 11-hour days plus a 6-hour-day, then breakdown and travel home. But I was grateful also to see the investment of time made by art-lookers, too. Lots of people arranged their weekend schedule to allow time to come look at art. Many people entered my booth and traveled the perimeter slowly, taking time to absorb and to understand. (Thank you!)

So nice when art-lookers take time for a slow, thorough look at works!

With art of all kinds, a lot is lost if the art-looker only gives a cursory look. Be willing to give work time to speak to you and to reveal its complexity. This quilt was displayed in my exhibit this weekend. A lot of people looked at it. I was pleased that many people looked at it closely.

“What the Waterlilies Sing”

A closer look would reveal this detail.

Another detail a closer look would reveal.

(If you’d like more information on “What the Waterlilies Sing,” it is on my website HERE)

“Sleeping on it” can also be a good strategy. In the studio with a work-in-progress, I have often felt the need to set it aside for a night. During sleep, unresolved issues sometimes are worked out. I can come back to the creative work with a new perspective. An art-looker shared a similar experience with me. She walked into my booth and immediately pointed out a work to purchase. I was very pleased – and surprised. “That was a pretty quick decision,” I said. “No,” she answered. “I had seen this work yesterday, but I just wasn’t sure I was ready for a purchase. My budget is small and I have to spend it carefully. But, during the night, the image of this work came back to me, and I knew this was the right decision.” I could not have been more honored!

For both art-makers and art-lookers, creating and experiencing artwork enriches and deepens the experience of life!

One more Festival for me this year. If you are nearby, I hope I’ll see you in DeLand - my hometown!

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

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NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories,
as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts,
I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.

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GRASSY INTRICACIES

In my studio this week, I’ve been looking a lot at close-ups of intricate grass patterns.

I use natural forms – roots of grass pulled from my lawn, small twigs and tall grasses – to print my monotypes on rice paper and fabric. This is one of the first images I discovered when I began printing monotypes by hand around 2011. I still enjoy the infinite variety of the patterns. And, along the way, I feel like I’ve learned to use the characteristics of the printing plate – positive, negative, wet, dry – to enhance the images I create.

Here are a few from works-in-progress in the studio now.

These grass shapes are in shades of deep-blue to gray. I like the way they suggest being underwater.

This grass-in-shadow pattern was printed on a satin-like fabric to achieve more intensity.

Printing bright green on sheer fabric so the white behind makes the color “pop,” and over-collaging with some sun-dappling shapes.

Collaging sheer grass pattern over a blush of sky color.

One of the first large collage-on-board works I created is “Living Deeply.” I was inspired by the vertical pattern of grass shapes. I created an underground environment of rocks to suggest a sense that these roots were reaching down deeply underground for… Water? Life?

“Living Deeply” textile collage (Detail)

In 2018, as part of my series “Home is What You Remember,” I created the art quilt “And All that’s Gone Before.” I was, again, inspired by the root-like patterns I had created with natural forms. The blue patterns all around, underground, dig into the depths of memories, and the roots reach to that. I enjoyed contrasting this with the photographic images of branches and twigs inside the house.

“And All That’s Gone Before” art quilt

A recent quilt that incorporates grass patterns is “What the Waterlilies Sing.” In this one, the grass-printed monotypes are black and purple, working as a pattern to pull all of the imagery together.

“What the Waterlilies Sing” art quilt (Detail)

The rest of this week is Festival-prep work. I look forward to exhibiting at the Maitland Festival Under the Stars November 8-10. If you are nearby, please visit and say “Hi.” I’m in space #168. (I’ll have some of my new matted monotype collages with me, as well as some larger pieces.)

If you’d like  more information about the works I’ve detailed, you can find them on my website:

Living Deeply
And All That’s Gone Before
What the Waterlilies Sing.

Thanks for reading!
I always appreciate questions and comments.
Bobbi

bobbibaughart@gmail.com

Grey, Grey, Soft Grey, Grey

Grey, grey, grey. That’s been my mantra this week In the studio as I’ve been working on a new abstract landscape.

I did some other work lately with very vibrant colors. I felt compelled to stay in a soft grey palette. But, I admit it’s hard for me because I’m often drawn to more color.

I started with an above-and-below composition, a blank space along the horizon line. I used grey-grey in the sky and grey with a slight green hue below. I liked the wash look and I was happy with the overall color. Not much composition yet.

I added a block of squares, introducing a little grey-blue. My thought had been that this would function as window. But it stayed on my easel for a number of days without suggesting what to do next. I made some paper sketches and some Photoshop sketches and didn’t like anything I came up with. And then I thought of my tree stencils, and ideas began to come together.

I blocked out an area to stencil a tree shape with the tree as a resist. I let the grey background show through the tree form and added a darker value to the background. Then I added in some looser tree forms with stencils and wetter sponge work.

Just a word about wonderful grey hues.

I almost never use grey from the jar, and almost never create grey by mixing black and white. The best studio resource I own is my detailed color wheel, which I learned to make a number of years ago as an exercise in an oil painting class. (I hated oils, so I did mine in acrylics.) The most wonderful greys and neutral tones occur when you mix across the compliments (in this work, blue plus orange) and then add either umber to deepen it, or white to go to grey tones. So much richness in the colors! And, since other parts of this work will contain blue, I know that when I mix the greys with a blue base, all the parts will speak well to each other.

I’m adding a little line work to this piece for visual texture. Almost done with the composition.

NOW IT’S TIME TO WORK ON FESTIVAL PREP!! I loaded up my car with my tent and display panels from the place I store them, and started today with washing tent parts and organizing all the “stuff” associated with an outdoor art festival. I’ll be exhibiting in three festivals October and November. This weekend is Winter Park. If you are near, I hope you’ll stop by and see the work I’ll have on display.

Thanks for reading.
I always enjoy questions and comments.
Bobbi

bobbibaughart@gmail.com


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NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories,
as well as FIRST LOOKS at new works and members-only discounts,
I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.
You’ll hear from me by e-mail about once a month.

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Enjoying the big (tedious) reveal

I’ve been writing about a quilt I am creating based on Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Morning in the Burned House.” It began to take shape this week.

I am very much in experimentation mode. I love the poem, and I have a vision of how I want the finished composition to feel as an emotional statement. I have a hunch that working as a mostly whole cloth creation will be an interesting way to get there. But I really can’t tell until I’m pretty far along in the process.

This week I printed all the sections using acrylics and wheat paste resist. Here’s how the revelation proceeded.

At this point, I had already masked the fabric with wheat paste resist and painted over it to define pattern and design elements. I’ve soaked the fabric in water for a few hours to get the wheat paste softened. Now it’s time to get the wheat-paste-acrylic sludge off.

A plastic worktable cover helps. This will be wet and messy

I use large metal spoon to scrape off the bulk of the wheat paste. (Remember that by now it’s mixed with dried acrylic paint. It’s a plastic-filled gunky mess. Definitely scrape up all the sludge and dispose of it in a garbage bag, not down the drain.)

More patient scraping gets almost all the sludge off. After that, I took it outside to the garden hose to remove the remainder.

Now – for the first time in the process – I can see the composition taking shape.

Here’s a detail of the foreground – a kitchen table with checked cloth. I like the way the crackle of the resist gives this a look of age and texture. That fits the emotional tone of this work.

Next I’ll be adding the stitching, and working on surface design patterns to tie all the parts together. Stay tuned!

LOOKING AHEAD: I’ll be exhibiting in three Central Florida Festivals this year. If you are nearby, I hope you’ll stop by and visit.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

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NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories,
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I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.

You’ll hear from me by e-mail about once a month.

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Working backwards as a creative process

I am almost always a sketchbook-kinda-gal. I record ideas. I re-work them all different ways. I go back through the sketchbook. Then, when I am finally ready to put together a textile artwork, I create the pieces I’ll need for the work and create the piece based on my sketches.

Yes – surprise and serendipity happen along the way. But, for the most part, I’m following a plan.

But not in the new body of work that’s been occupying me in the studio recently.

To create abstract landscapes, I’ve created yards of fabric and rice paper, just going with what happens in the surface design and working for a rich mix of colors. Then – (which is the stage where I am now) – I gather the fabrics and let them tell me where to go.

I recognize and admire many other artists who work this way all the time. But for me it’s a new path – and a feeling of working backwards. And I like it!

Work-in-progress on my easel, stretched and taped flat to a plywood board

A little prep work first: I prepare my muslin base by “gessoing” it with exterior house paint primer both sides and stretching it out on plywood panels.  I’ve also glued a sturdy interfacing to the back. These panels serve as movable easels around the studio when multiple pieces are in the works. My goal is for these finished pieces to have a certain amount of rigidity when they hang. (Though they will be backed and have a pocket like any art quilt.)

Here’s how things have looked in the studio lately.

I’m going through the stash of my recently printed pieces to find ones that suggest a loose  landscape composition.

Fabric is adhered to the stretched muslin with matte medium, brayered to get a good bond.

Fabrics on my worktable. I just get lost in the soft washes of monotype printing created wet-on-sheer. And I love the way it contrasts with more intense muslin pieces.

The work on my easel (above) is further along. It also has some drawn elements. I’ll be adding a little bit of stitching to this.

So far—lots in the works. I should have some finished ones soon.-

_____________

WOOF – just for fun, I’m exhibiting in a summer group exhibition of dog-themed artwork at Wendy Tatter’s Gallery on St. Augustine Beach. The opening is this Sunday, July 28, 4-8 PM. Drop in.

TRAVELIN’ – I have work in a few other juried group shows around the country. If you are near any of these exhibits, I hope you’ll take a look. (And send me some pictures!)

Endless Summer – Arts on Douglas Gallery in New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Exhibiting August 3 – 31, 2019.
Opening Reception  Saturday, August 3  4-7 PM

“America Is… “ - Touchstone Gallery, Washington DC
An all-media show of juried artwork
August 2 – 29, 2019”

“Perspectives” – An exhibit of work by members of SAQA Florida region
Exhibiting July 19 – August 31, 2019
LeMoyne Arts, Tallahassee Florida

“Fiber Fusions” – at the Whistler House Museum
August 24 – October 26, 2019
Lowell, MA

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

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NEWSLETTER: If you enjoy more detailed behind-the-scenes stories,
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I hope you’ll become a Studio Insider.
You’ll hear from me by e-mail about once a month. 
Subscribe here:   STUDIO-INSIDER-NEWSLETTER

This is a test. Only a test. (But it’s a good one!)

Yup. This is about constructive criticism.

I recently received an e-mail written to all exhibitors in the 62nd Annual National Juried Show at the Maria V. Howard Arts Center in Rocky Mount, NC. I’m pleased to be in this show. (It has 276 submissions from 82 artists, with 58 pieces from 45 artists selected for exhibit.) And I like the work I created that was juried for inclusion.

The e-mail was an announcement of the award-winners. (I did not receive an award.) But I especially appreciated reading the criteria used by the judge.

For readers who are art-makers: I think these thoughts from the judge are good words for self-evaluation. For readers who are art appreciators, I think it helps to know how art professionals evaluate work. (Especially if you’ve ever had the “What! I completely don’t understand this one!” reaction, as most everybody has.)

Judge Amiri Farris, a professor at Savannah College of Art and Design, wrote about selecting works for the show and deciding on the award winners.

Does the artist push boundaries and try something different?

Does the artwork resonate with me or an audience?

Does an artist’s work or piece invite me to explore its deeper meaning?

Is the style unique to the artist?

Would I like to see more work by this artist?

These are helpful words of critique. And good critiques make us better artists.

Here’s a look at the work I am exhibiting in the Rocky Mount show.

I was interested in the ethereal quality of these windows when I created the work, and I still find them intriguing. (It’s a photo transfer -- altered a bit -- from an original photo of a window in my sister’s home.) I have a work-in-progress now that will feature this photo enlarged and used as a focal point of the work. I hope to learn from what I liked about the first piece that used this image, and dig into how it can be even more interesting and communicative in the new work.

Recently I was in my studio with two close artist friends whom I trust for advice and critique. I showed two other pieces I have in the works. And I was truly bummed  by their reaction.  (I was not bummed at my friends. I was disappointed in the work I was producing.) What I thought was working successfully did not speak to them at all. I do trust my own gut. I do listen to my own instincts. But, I admit that sometimes I can get too close to my own process and my own way of seeing a work, and I miss some obvious things that would be better if changed. This is what makes it so valuable to receive good critique.

The work-in-progress that I showed my friends has undergone significant changes. And it’s better.

We create. We learn. We create more.

If you’d like to know more abut “Sometimes You Can’t See In,” it’s on my website HERE.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

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Three Projects Brewing in my Studio

Studio inspiration sometimes comes in spurts and sometimes In waves. I must be in a wave now. I have lots of ideas that interest me and lots of projects brewing. Here are three that are coming along in my studio this week.

PROJECT #1… The brown and black village: This will be the base of a quilt I am designing for a SAQA call for entries, “Aloft.” This is a 2020 traveling show, with entries due June 30.

The concept is two girls in a flying armchair in the sky over their village. Everything in the village will be dull, and the sky will be built of deep layers of brown. But there will be a magical element to the story – and that will be the splash of color. (I’m not ready to reveal yet.) I created a good batch of monotyped sky today, and I like the way it interacts with the opaque muslin of the village.

PROJECT #2…  “Overlooked.” Here’s the next stage of the girl in the garden with windows.  (I posted some about this piece on April 25 with more detailed photos of the sun-filled windows.)

 Now I have created the character of the girl. I was pleased with how her layers went together. There is an under-drawing on muslin, with some collage applique of sateen for her dress and sheer for the skin tone, and a little more top layer drawing with oil pastels and some acrylic washes. And I got her to blend in with the garden photos in a way that pleases me.

PROJECT #3… For “Perspectives.” This piece is what I’ve been working on for the Florida SAQA summer show. (Deadline June 1 for this one.)

 And, though I started it with plenty of time to get it completed, it has taken unexpected turns. I had a composition for this one and I followed the plan. But, when I got it all put together… well, it just wasn’t done. What I thought would be a completed work ended up feeling more like a background. The stage set, but no characters. So I’ve been living with it for a few days, and I just got the inspiration for the way to pull it all together.

 I’ll show more when it’s further along.

 (Re-reading this blog post, I realize that I have mentioned SAQA several times. For readers who are not familiar with this organization, it’s Studio Art Quilt Associates. From their website:

“SAQA is an international non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the art quilt and the artists who create them. We are an information resource on all things artquilt related for our members as well as the public. Founded in 1989 by an initial group of 50 artists, SAQA members now number more than 3,400 artists, teachers, collectors, gallery owners, museum curators and corporate sponsors.”

This is a wonderful organization and I am happy to be one of its juried artist members. You can learn more about SAQA at SAQA.com.)

THANK YOU for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

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Trading Aprons

I laugh when I look at pictures of myself in the studio and see that I wear the same clothes all the time. My favorite is my artmaking apron. It’s a terrific apron, made from a pair of denim overalls. I won it in a Christmas gift exchange in my art quilt group several years ago. I have added a good crunchy layer of paint to the front of it, built up in layers and from many days of artmaking.

Today I traded in this apron for my cooking apron, the one my daughter created for me. It has great big pockets, a dinosaur across the bottom and it is lined in a pattern of screen printed fish. I was chopping and stirring today, part of the kitchen team with my Rotary Club, preparing to feed over a thousand guests tomorrow and raise a lot of money for local causes in our annual Wild Game Feast.

What different enterprises. Working alone in the studio. Working in a team with a service cub. I like them both.

Things that are completely different can both be interesting and pleasing.

In my studio, I go back and forth between playing Mozart or Beethoven and Elton John or Paul Simon.

I am drawn to vibrant, intense colors. And sometimes a simple, subdued palette of grey and white will just take my breath away.

I love abstract art. It simply fascinates me. But it’s not what I create. And I can completely enjoy a simple, well-rendered still life of a tea cup.

I work well alone, and — if circumstances keep me away from my studio work for a few days —I long to be there creating, all by myself. But I’m also fulfilled by working in the fast-paced, close contact environment of a first grade classroom, or the shoulder-to-shoulder camaraderie of a service club project.

We are diverse and intricate creatures. We are filled with different and seemingly conflicting needs and desires. We are both curious and complacent.

Before stopping to compose this post, I was reading a great book of poems. It has filled me with appreciation of details and diversity and depth and rhythms.

And tomorrow morning I will put on my dinosaur apron and head back to the feast site and immerse myself in that very different kind of creative endeavor.

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This blog post ended up being more words than pictures. If you are in the mood to look at some pictures, may I recommend my you-tube videos? There are a number to see and they show works in progress. I hope you enjoy!

Becoming One With the Night  (My newest Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3t8B_17flM

Bobbi Baugh Studio Channel w Multiple videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHLOZMw29FpPrgr0cyBbxrw

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A Little Video... Art Quilt "Becoming One with the Night" step-by-step

I recently put together a little video about the making of this art quilt.

I believe that people appreciate a piece of artwork more when they know what goes into its creation. So, I have tried to address both the inspiration and the step-by-step process.

I remembered one particular part of making this quilt as I reviewed the images:

The underlying structure of squares in tension with the overpainted trees.

I remember that after I had printed and collaged all the individual squares, as I was laying them out in various patterns to finalize the composition, I almost didn’t go any further. I loved the squares. The colors were delicate and the patterns were interesting. I just wanted to look at them.

But, at that stage the piece did not accomplish the emotional goal I had for it. There was no reason for a character to enter the scene if it was just pretty squares. So I proceeded to the overpainting and the final composition.

Now, however, I know they are under there. It is one of the interesting aspects of creating textile works in sections. Even when the sections are not an obvious part of the final design, they are an underlying structure. They are in communication with, sometimes in tension with, whatever layers are on top. All of this adds depth and interest to the work, even when the viewer is not—at first—aware of their presence.

I enjoyed sharing this work in person with visitors during my recent studio tour. I hope you enjoy watching the video.

(The video should show below automatically.

If not, you can find it on You tube, here: )

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Making Connections... Does it Matter?

In the first grade class where I volunteer, the teacher lavishes praise on students who make a connection. If the kids are reading about a figure from history in a non-fiction text, for example, and one points out a similarity to a fiction story they’ve read, that’s a good sign of putting ides together.

This evening I’m thinking about some different recent connections.

Over the weekend, I opened my studio to DeLand’s Annual “Off the Beaten Path” Art Studio Tour. What a great weekend. The two days were filled with conversations, and visitors having the chance to get a behind-the-scenes view of my artwork. Touching a stack of printed yardage and seeing a brayer and a bottle of matte medium are everyday occurrences for me. But, for the visitor, they are a way in to an understanding what textile collage is all about.

At my worktable during the studio tour, surrounded by some of my favorite image-making stencils.. (Thanks for photo Ken Naigus)

When I first started showing my artwork locally, I was nervous about displaying and hoping to sell my work to people I knew. I thought they or I would be embarrassed, and that it was better to sell to strangers. Not true!

The lessons I had learned during my career in the printing business, working primarily with customers in my local community, held true with presenting my art as well. People like to do business with people they know. Learning that was important. If you are an artist: find opportunities to introduce yourself to patrons. If you are an enjoyer-of-art or a patron: don’t be afraid to ask questions and to learn more about an artist and her work. It will help you enjoy the artwork more. (And the artist will be thrilled!)

During the tour, several of my visitors were members of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) and my local Surface Design Group, Arts. Etc. During those visits, we got to talk tech a bit. Being in a community of like-minded artmakers is essential! I enjoy the diverse methods and creative paths I’ve discovered from companionship with other artists. Some of my art buddies are my best encouragers.

I enjoyed the visit from SAQA member Pamela Burns during the studio tour. (Thanks for the photo))

During the tour, the laundry room was converted into an art gallery when I set up my display panels. “Becoming One With The Night” greeted visitors into the laundry room gallery.

Finally, I am learning that connections with people far away work too. I always enjoy the questions and comments I get from my blog and from website visitors.  And, just today, I was featured in this article in TextileArtist.Org.  I was honored when they asked me to do the interview, and pleased with the presentation they put together. Already I’ve had some nice e-mail correspondence with some of their readers.

Let’s connect! I hope you’ll find time to put your feet up and have a leisurely read. (Or even just enjoy the many pictures.) Here’s the article:
 http://www.textileartist.org/bobbi-baugh-an-expert-in-hand-printing-fabrics-for-mixed-media-collage-design

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There's Blue. And then there's BLUE!

I used to think I didn’t like using blue in my artwork. I am very drawn to warm earth tones . I love terra cotta and orange. (And I actually do have a real aversion to pale baby blue.)

Then, I took a look at my body of work. There it is: lots of blue. And today, working on several very different projects in my studio, I rediscovered the ranges of blue I use, and my reactions to them.

This is a fun series I created several years ago. I am updating the presentation. I had mounted these on birch panels with a raw-edge muslin fringe, which I later concluded was quite a  mistake. They have lived on my shelf for several years. There are four in the series. I really like the soft watercolor-like images of the palm fronds and the backgrounds. (All monotype prints on sheer fabric.) So I’m adding a punch of very bright color as a frame. (These are also monotype printed, but on cotton muslin.)

This in-your-face very very blue is an unusual choice for me. It can overpower everything else quickly. On this lighthearted series of collages, I think it works. I’m enjoying these.

A few feet away on my easel is a work I’ve just completed that is part of my series focusing on home and memory. Again, there’s lots of blue. And, some is printed on sheers and some on muslin. But so different from the fish pieces!

(Detail - “Looking Through to the Memory”)

Adding finishing detail - “Looking Through to the Memory”

I’ve found my blue home when I mix phthalo blue with varying degrees of burnt umber, or — sometimes — raw sienna. This range of color is magical to me. It moves nicely into lighter, washy hues. It is wonderful when it’s heavy and deep. I also like this range of blues as a connecting color in landscape/nature-based works.

Looks like I relate to blue more than I believed.

Detail of another blue monotype in my studio now. I’m still formulating a plan for this one.

AN INVITATION: This weekend, I will be one of 22 artists in the DeLand area opening our studios on the Off-The-Beaten-Track Studio Tour, Saturday and Sunday 10-5. If you are in the Central Florida area, please accept this invitation to visit my studio. The tour website is FloridaArtsTour.com. That’s where you find artist information and a map. If you are not a DeLand resident and haven’t discovered our wonderful downtown, that’s another good reason for a day trip adventure. Explore art, meet artists, and enjoy lunch or dinner downtown. A perfect day!

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Work in Progress… Surface Design to get the fabric talking

I’m in the middle of a new art quilt that will be 40” x 40”. I’ve printed all of the parts and have begun the composition.

I’ve been working this one in sections, quilting as I go.  These sections will function as background, intended to be part of the emotional storytelling. So, I want to get an overall harmony, while still creating splashes of interest that warrant taking a second look, and maybe a sense of surprise.

It’s about “talking to each other,” or that’s how it feels a I create. The pieces don’t have to match, they just have to talk to one another across the whole composition.

Stitching across the patterns: This block has five pieces, and each one is a pretty strong color pattern. The surface stitching here has a unifying effect. The strong diagonal lines criss-cross the different blocks, giving them a texture that’s in common.

Theme and variation:  I relief-printed this squiggly line pattern on two different fabrics.  They are not right next to each in the quilt. But I like the harmony created by their same-but-different appearance.

Stitch and spatter: This block of three also has very strong patterns and I used two ways to bring them into relationship with each other. The stitched pattern is again long connecting lines, but this time in long arcs. I also spatter painted the sections after stitching, creating another unifying element.

Some of my favorite spattering supplies.

(Confession: I just love to spatter. I take the fabrics to the cement area outside my studio, lay them down on the ground, grab my favorite little spatter-producing brush and go for it. I am generally barefoot, and often wear the spatter pattern on my toes and feet for a few days.)

I love the spontaneous and unpredicted things that happen as part of printing and painting fabric. It’s  where the delight and surprise happen. For the overall piece - I am a planner and a sketcher. I definitely have a finished composition in mind when I begin. These small parts will work together to accomplish the quilt’s concept — I hope.  Or they may introduce something new I hadn’t planned.

Thanks for reading. I always welcome questions and comments.

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Life Unseen – Life Unexpected

I did some studio cleaning last week. And so I rediscovered a newspaper clipping I had saved in 2011.

It has re-appeared in my creative life at just the right time.

I remember being captivated by this little science snippet

“It will illustrate once again that somehow life finds a way to survive in the strangest and harshest places.” True for microbes. True for human beings. True for hopes and dreams.

When I first started creating textile pieces, I focused on natural scenes and images. What was most interesting to me was the concept of life beneath – life unseen – the mystery of what there is beyond the visible.

For the past year, as I have focused on works about home and memory, what interests me is much the same. What one sees from the outside is not all there is. Inner life is rich, textured, vibrant, layered, full of mystery.  It’s my hope that the works have spoken both to the reality of facades and the reality of resilience.

I have just begun the process of thinking through some new works. I am filling pages in my sketchbook. I am interested in images of water, and juxtaposing them with non-organic patterns and abstract shapes. It’s another way to get at the idea of there being more that’s real than what we see.

I have begun some transfers onto fabric of enlarged text from this news clip, to incorporate into the new pieces. Even if it becomes obscured , I will know it’s there.  “Scientists keep finding germs in places where they don’t expect.” We find life even where it does not seem it should be able to survive.

“Living Deeply” explores the unseen world beneath the surface. On my web site HERE

“Sometimes You Can’t See In,” (DETAIL) suggesting life that is hidden within the home. On my web site HERE.

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The old neighborhood... (and the CHAIR - Part II)

Looking through my studio files today I found myself looking at this work. This is where life started for me and it’s the place of my earliest memories: a neighborhood of row houses in Baltimore. My family lived there from the time I was born till I entered second grade.

For those who have not lived in row house cities — Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston or others throughout the country — the neighborhood may need some explanation. It is not a tenement or slum. It is not a fancy affluent neighborhood of Brownstones or Townhouses. It’s just a family neighborhood. Each block has six to eight houses with no space between them, and then there will be one “end house” that has a side yard and a little bigger back yard. All the houses have street parking out front, no garage, and a small fenced back yard with a gate leading to the alley. The alley is where kids ride bikes and play ball.

As I worked to capture memories of home in my artmaking this past year, recreating the feeling of a row house neighborhood in fabric seemed like a good fit. I had printed a number of fabric pieces with lively colors and patterns, and they spoke to me of the varied lives and stories inside each home. I also created photo transfers of actual windows onto muslin, and I liked the mix of the photographic reality with the printed fabric. I added the suggestion of leaves and trees.

Like the neighborhood itself – the whole work is one large unified structure. But it’s made of all kinds of pieces. Lots of lives. Lots of stories

“Every One Has A Different Story” - Art Quilt - more information on my web site here:

bobbibaughstudio.com/home-is-what-you-remember-gallery/every-one-has-a-different-story

THE CHAIR – Part II

I’ve done a little more on my chair project to be auctioned at an event in January. (Chair creations by local artists will be a fundraiser for public arts projects here in DeLand.) Today I started some structural fixes. The seat had been cracked and glued back together. Extra reinforcement seems like a good idea. So I’ve sanded the bottom, cut a piece of plywood to fit the bottom, and will glue and screw it in place. I will probably cover all this with felt.  Next: Beginning the fabric printing of the upholstery.

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Monotype Printing on Rice Paper and Fabric… What a great Sunday morning of printmaking!

All week I’ve had some monotype concepts cooking on the creativity back burner. Today was the day to jump into some spontaneous monotype printing — mostly on rice paper, some on fabrics, and all with acrylic paints. Among the many things I like about printing monotypes is that the results are just about always useful, even when they don’t fulfill the vision with which I begin. I can incorporate rice paper into abstract collaged paper or textile works and art quilts. This freedom means I begin a several-hour printmaking session with a nice feeling of enthusiasm.

Today I am inspired by a grey-yellow-white palette. Two pieces I recently created in fabric for my “Home is What you Remember” series used this palette. It’s not a combination I have focused on much before, but I really enjoy it. Mixing yellow and black yields some wonderful olive tones. Adding the white brings them into a subtle range of celery to gold to cream. And the delicacy of monotype printing lets those colors hold detailed textures.

Another thing I like about hand printmaking: it’s very low tech, but not limiting. It is possible to make work that’s gaudy and un-artful printing by hand. It’s also possible to create work that’s interesting and well executed printing by hand. It’s never really about the method.  The same is true, I believe, regarding oil painting, acrylic painting, quilting or drawing with crayons. It’s not the medium alone that dictates the value or content of the outcome.

This morning I ripped to size 8 sheets of rice paper. I am experimenting with creating more of the overall composition through multiple hits of a sheet on differently inked plates. Acrylics dry so fast! It’s not hard to put a sheet back down for a second hit almost right after printing the first.

At the end of my morning I had created a nice stack of images. Now I think I”ll let these simmer for a few days in the creativity cooker to see what mark-making, collaging, sewing — or something else? — comes next.

And here’s a little gift: I am counting down the days till my solo exhibition at Arts on Douglas. It represents a year of concerted thought and artmaking. To celebrate, I’ve created printable note cards using images of some of the quilts in the exhibit. They are FREE and the download is easy. I hope you enjoy using them. Just click HERE.

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