Art Quilt added to the Visions of the Susquehanna River Art Collection

In Dreams I Flew Over the River

I am very happy to announce that In Dreams I Flew Over the River is now a permanent part of the Visions of the Susquehanna River Art Collection, housed in the Zimmerman Center for Heritage.  It's been on loan to the collection for several years, while funds were raised for its purchase.

That purchase is now complete, thanks to the efforts of Rob Evans (l), Curator, Mark Platts (r), President, and Betsy Buckingham, Development and Outreach Director.

I truly can't imagine a better home for this artwork.  The goals of the Zimmerman Center are perfectly in tune with my goals and aspirations in creating my river-themed pieces.  The Center has recently been designated by the National Park Service as a Visitor Contact Station for the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, adding to its prestige and visibility. The other works in the Visions of the Susquehanna River Art Collection are magnificent and significant, and I am both proud and humbled to have my work join them. If you find yourself in the Lancaster/York County part of Pennsylvania, be sure to view the Collection, hike the trail, and check out the other attractions that comprise the Susquehanna Heritage.

Above is the Zimmerman Center building, with its great view of the Susquehanna; below is a fisheye image of the river with choppy ice forming.

Below is another fisheye image of some cattails growing on the banks of the river:

And here's a panorama of the Susquehanna, with chunky ice and swooping clouds.  Click to enlarge for maximum appreciation:

Did you know--In Dreams I Flew Over the River began as a literal dream?  I've lived near the Susquehanna most of my life, and it apparently features heavily in both my conscious and subconscious mind.  I woke from a dream one day with this imagery and theme very vividly apparent, and was driven to stop everything and make this art quilt.  You can track back the story by clicking here.

As always, thanks for reading and commenting.

Visions of the Susquehanna River Art Collection

My fiber artwork In Dreams I Flew Over the River is joining the Visions of the Susquehanna River Art Collection.  Housed in the historic Dritt Mansion at the Zimmerman Center for Heritage in York County, PA, the collection is curated by artist Rob Evans, and is the first-ever permanent collection of Susquehanna River art.  My work is on loan while funds are being raised to complete the purchase.
I can’t imagine a more perfect setting for this piece.  I’ve written before about how the idea and imagery for it literally came to me in a dream, and I felt compelled to make it.  I've lived near the Susquehanna  most of my life, and this work is a distillation of my experiences and observations of the river in its many moods.  To have is hanging with other river art by artists I deeply admire is something of a  dream come true.

The Dritt Mansion was built circa 1740 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places  It has been extensively and beautifully restored, along with the grounds. There’s a wealth of information about it in this Visitor’s Guide. It’s a fabulous setting for the artwork, and well worth a visit if you find yourself in the area.  There are guided tours available.
The view from the mansion is of the river and the newly built marina.
I took some fisheye photos when I visited; the skies were cloudy and dramatically lit (the purple tones are a photographic distortion, a combination of the lens on my iPhone and the light and reflections off of the clouds).

Behind the mansion, a trail leads up through the woods into the Native Lands park, which was once the home of the Susquehannock tribe.  The 4 acre cleared area at the top of the rise, with a distant view of the river, is the site of their last known village.  A stockade wall once enclosed 16 ninety-foot longhouses and was home to about 900 people.  Today it is a serene and reflective place. The greens and golds of the surrounding fields are echoed in my work, along with the myriad blues of the river. 

I am very happy that my work has found such an appropriate and prestigious home.

Exhibit at the PA Arts Experience Gallery

I would like to extend an invitation to visit the Pennsylvania Arts Experience Gallery, 37 West Philadelphia St., York, PA, for the November exhibit.  I will be exhibiting Recent Works, including some new pieces shown for the first time, and Karen Paust will be showing “Edge of the Meadow”. 

The opening reception is this coming Friday, November 1st, from 5:30 - 9:00 p.m., in conjunction with York’s First Fridays event.  If you can’t make it then, perhaps you can come for my Artist Talk on Saturday, November 9th at 11:00 a.m.

The Pennsylvania Arts Experience is a non-profit arts organization promoting the arts along the scenic river valleys of southeastern Pennsylvania,  committed to establishing an internationally recognized arts destination.  I’ve been a member since its inception years ago, and am very pleased to be exhibiting in our beautiful gallery space in the renovated historic Marketview Arts Building.

Interviewed by Wendy Edsall-Kerwin

One of the perks of the artist’s life is meeting other artists.  I volunteer a bit of my time and talents for the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, an excellent organization, and I’m convinced that I get as much or more out of the relationship than I give.  Through the Guild I’ve come to know Wendy Edsall-Kerwin, a jewelry and metals artist.  She is doing a series of interviews with artists who were included in this year’s Art of the State Exhibition at the State Museum in Harrisburg, PA, USA, and she has done me the honor of a feature on her blog today. You can read all about it here, or follow the short link: http://wp.me/pdz32-1Dw

Wendy’s entry in the exhibit is her bronze, nickel and brass riveted bowl, Ebb and Flow, part of her Super Bowl Series. 

Also be sure to  check out the wonderful jewelry at Wendy’s Etsy shop

The Susquehanna as Muse Exhibit

This exhibit seems custom-made for my newest work, In Dreams I Flew Over the River.  I am very happy that it will be a part of “The Susquehanna as Muse”, an exhibit by Artist Members of the Pennsylvania Arts Experience.

In Dreams I Flew Over the River

The exhibit opens this week at the beautifully renovated Marketview Arts Orientation Gallery in York, PA.

I am very fine company, with some of my personal favorite artists exhibiting their paintings featuring the Susquehanna River.

Do yourself a favor and take some time to check out their websites:
 http://www.robevansart.net/ 
http://www.patierno.com/ 
http://carololdenburg.com/
http://www.markworkmanart.com/ 
http://www.glennblue.com/splash.html
http://www.stevenheffnerart.com/
http://lancastergalleries.com/artists/john-david-wissler/

In Dreams I Flew Over the River, Detail 1

Due to a prior commitment, I will miss the grand opening on Friday, June 7th, but I will be there for the Patrons and Members Preview on Thursday the 6th.

For any of my local and regional friends, it will be well  worth your while to visit.  The exhibit runs through July 2, concurrent with the fabulous “Visions of the Susquehanna” exhibit in the Gallery Hall, on loan from the Zimmerman Center for Heritage.

As always, thanks for reading and commenting.

New Work - In Dreams I Flew Over the River

I’m excited to reveal my latest work, In Dreams I Flew Over the River.

In Dreams I Flew Over the River

It’s the culmination of a lifetime spent living near the Susquehanna River.  It kept appearing in my dreams, so I transported it into my waking hours with textiles.

In Dreams I Flew Over the River, Detail 1

It’s all there--the visible surface currents, the treacherous undercurrents, the many rocks and small islands, the wide variations in depth and breadth, the beauty on a calm day, and the tremendous destructive power when it floods.

In Dreams I Flew Over the River, Detail 2

Some of the shores are lined with productive farmland.  When I was a kid in central PA, I had an uncle who owned an island.  One summer when the river was very low, he drove an old International tractor across the shallows, and kept it in a shed on the island.   He grew corn and other garden crops there, and fished from the banks. 

In Dreams I Flew Over the River, Detail 3

Here in southern Lancaster County, the banks rise into my beloved River Hills, which enfold my favorite hiking spots and the landscapes that provide much of the inspiration for my botanical work.

I began this work by needlefelting the river, layering wool roving and silk snippets and fibers to build up the depth, textures, and transparencies of the river.  The banks are also needlefelted with silks and wool, and couched lace.   The borders are silks that I free-form pleated and manipulated.  I then layered it with batting and a backing fabric, and heavily quilted and stitched it to add even more texture, depth and movement.

The size is 54”h x 43”w. 

Thanks to all my readers and friends for your ongoing support and encouragement.

In Dreams I Flew Over the River - Work in Progress, Update 2

After completing the main body of this piece, I auditioned fabrics that I could use to extend and visually frame it.  To emphasize the effect of sunlight sparkling on the water, I chose lustrous silks.  To evoke the landscape of woods and fields, I used an earthy silk tweed.

I am usually very controlled in my use of silk.  Because one of my objectives in this piece was to experiment with a looser style, I allowed the silk more latitude, letting it pleat and fold as I arranged and stitched it. 

With the borders stitched onto the felted work, I layered the piece, added thread embellishment, and quilted it heavily. The interplay of all the textures--the wools, the silks, the lines of the quilting, the layered stitching--is pretty wonderful. 

See the previous post about this work here.

And as always, thanks for reading and commenting.

New Work in Progress - In Dreams I Flew Over the River

There’s a thousand and one things I could and should be accomplishing right now.  So I started an unscheduled new project and am obsessively exploring new ground.

My lifelong fascination with the Susquehanna River has been escalating lately.  It’s been showing up in my dreams.  I wanted to explore the ideas of flow and undercurrents.  I wanted a procedural vacation from my usual well loved techniques and modes of expression.

I started with six panels of wool/rayon felt.  I began laying out wool roving and slivers of wool and silk fabrics to block out areas of color and pattern.   I worked with a machine needle felter to meld the layers.  The felter looks something like a sewing machine.  The working part is a cluster of felting needles, which are very slim and are tipped with small barbs, that move up and down to interlock the fibers passed underneath them.  It’s faster than hand felting, but still picky and laborious.  It’s fascinating work, because different fibers and fabrics react in different ways.  Some of the silks stay cohesive, and some practically dissolve into the background fabric, and it’s fun to play around with the effects.  The wool roving can be fluffed out into a thin layer, or concentrated in denser areas.  All these decisions were made on the fly.

Once I had the river and the island delineated, I added to the banks and the fields and the woods running alongside it.  I have been saving the threads that unravel when I pre-wash my silk fabrics, and some of them were perfect for the foam and windblown wavelets on top of the water. 

I joined the panels and added more felting along the joins.  At this point it's roughly 26" high by 42" wide.  Upon  consideration, I flipped the orientation of the piece.  The majority of the felting is done, and I’m starting to add other elements.  The brown lines are vintage lace, temporarily held in place with white-headed pins.  There will probably be layering and quilting, but I honestly don’t know where I am headed with this one yet.  It’s just what I needed.