New Work - 52 Ways to Look at the River

52 Ways to Look at the River

 Hurrah, 52 Ways to Look at the River is finished! It was an huge project, challenging at times but also fun and rewarding. I'm so glad I made the commitment and followed through on it. I'm also very thankful for all the support and encouragement I had as I progressed, with so many readers following along. I was very close to being done in the fall when I got waylaid by my involvement in the James Webb Space Telescope project, and the making of Luminosity. Now that that's completed, I had the time to wrap up 52 Ways.

52 Ways to Look at the River, detail 1

52 Ways to Look at the River will be making its exhibition debut at my solo show, Sue Reno: Life Along the River, Narrative art quilts depicting the Susquehanna River and its environs, March 3 - 31, Marketview Arts Gallery, York PA. I hope that some of my local friends will be able to join me for the opening reception Friday night, 5:30 - 9:00.  I will also be giving an artist talk on Saturday, March 25th at 11:00 a.m.

52 Ways to Look at the River, detail 2

 A brief synopsis of the project if you are new to it: I’ve lived near the Susquehanna River for most of my life. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time visiting its shores and hiking the adjacent trails. It occurred to me that there was something new to notice every time. With that guiding principle I undertook an ambitious project to document my observations.

Beginning on the 2015 summer solstice and continuing uninterrupted for a year, each week I visited the Susquehanna River somewhere along its course and took pictures. Back in the studio, I chose an image and interpreted it in a 6” x 12” fiber art panel. 

52 Ways to Look at the River, detail 3

The panels are on a wool/rayon felt base and are primarily needlefelted with wool and silk fiber, with some added applique, and were machine and hand stitched. I wrote about the process and illustrated it extensively here on my blog, and you can track it back at: http://suereno.blogspot.com/search/label/52%20Ways%20to%20Look%20at%20the%20River
or just click the 52 Ways tab in the top header.

52 Ways to Look at the River, detail 4

At the end of the 52 weeks, I began assembly of the panels.  I hand painted fabric and quilted it to form a background. Each panel was appliqued onto black felt and then stitched on the quilt. I added hand beadwork with glass beads and semi-precious stones.  The finished size is 72”h x 82”w.

52 Ways to Look at the River, detail 5

I hope you've enjoyed this journey as much as I have!  As always, thank you for reading and commenting.

Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts Jury 2017

L-R Patricia Bellan-Gillen, Executive Director Rick Bryant, Jim Bové, Sue Reno, Jay Gould, Naomi Cleary

I've just had the pleasure of serving on the jury for the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.  Held each summer in State College, PA, the Sidewalk Sale is "consistently ranked as one of the top outdoor fine art and fine craft shows in the nation...Each year more than three hundred exhibitors offer a wide variety of objects for sale including baskets, ceramics, jewelry, fiber, painting, photography, and wearable art."

Executive Director Rick Bryant, the staff, and volunteers have been running this show for many years, and function as the proverbial well-oiled machine. We jurors spent two days reviewing and ranking the images and information submitted by applicants to the show. This jury panel has a wealth of experience in various fine craft disciplines, and we were very careful and considerate in our deliberations. It's going to be an excellent and well balanced show! The jurors will return in July to walk the show, visit each booth, and award the prizes.  

I was also a CPFA juror in 2011, and was honored to be asked to return. I love this kind of work, and feel that I am good at it. If you are an artist who regularly applies to exhibits and opportunities, as I am, it's good to sometimes be on the other side of the equation. I never take a "declined" notice personally. I can tell you that on every jury I've ever served on, the jurors have been ethical, unbiased, and fair. 

Life Along the River

The Longest Day, detail

I'm having a solo show of my work at the Pennsylvania Arts Experience Gallery at Marketview Arts, 37 West Philadelphia St., York, PA.  The exhibit opens with a reception on Friday, March 3rd from 5:30 - 9:00 p.m. I will be giving an Artist Talk on Saturday, March 25th.

The Longest Day

Sue Reno: Life Along the River, will feature my narrative art quilts depicting the Susquehanna River and its environs. There will be several works making their exhibit debut, including The Longest Day, a celebration of the summer solstice, as experienced by the Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Susquehanna..  It includes wool and silk fibers, cyanotypes on cotton, digital prints on cotton, needlefelting, hand embroidery, machine stitching, hand beadwork with seed beads and semi-precious stones.  Size is 77"h x 49"w.

I'll be posting more of the work that will be in Life Along the River in the coming weeks before the exhibit opens. I hope many of my local friends will be able to attend.

As always, thanks for reading and commenting.

James Webb Space Telescope -Luminosity

Luminosity

I'm pleased to share my finished artwork for the James Webb Space Telescope Artist Project, Luminosity.

Luminosity, detail 1

 In November of 2016 I was one of a group of  22 wonderfully diverse artists selected nationwide to attend the James Webb Space Telescope Artist Event  at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

I had the opportunity to meet and interact with engineers, technicians and other team members from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s next-generation space observatory, tour Goddard's Integration and Test facility, see the world's largest clean room facility, and see the James Webb Space Telescope itself.  I had time to sit in front of the mirror and create, which I spent hand stitching silk hexagons for my representation of the golden mirror. Back in the studio, I worked on creating a large art quilt. I've documented the visit and the work in progress here on my blog. To read all the posts, click on the James Webb Space Telescope tab in the header, or go here.

Luminosity, detail 2

 My official statement for this artwork:
Hexagons are a perennial motif in quilts. I began stitching the silk hexagons representing the mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope on site at NASA Goddard. Cyanotype dates from the 1840s as a pioneering photography process; these and the colored dye prints were developed outdoors using UV rays from the sun. The border image is from the other end of the photo technology spectrum, taken with a fisheye lens on an iPhone and digitally printed. The needle felted center panel is made with minimally processed wool and silk fibers and modern mylar strands. It is my depiction of the early luminosity, going back 13.5 billion years, which the telescope will be able to detect.

Luminosity, detail 3

 The work includes hand-stitched silk hexagons, needlefelting with wool, silk, and mylar, hand beadwork with semi-precious stones, cyanotypes and solar dye prints on cotton, digital prints on cotton, silk and cotton patchwork, stitching.  The size is 60"h x 74"w.

Luminosity, detail 4

All of the artwork for this project will be on display at the NASA Goddard Visitor Center this spring.  I will have dates and details to pass along soon.

And as always, thanks for reading and commenting.