Catherine Kirsch

Grids

I am fascinated by the endless opportunities to explore the convergence of color on the grid of cloth.

I love working with linen as the weave is very reminiscent of the grid and offers a satisfying visual and actual texture.

I begin each piece with a single layer of color applied with fabric dye to manipulated linen. Then the cloth tells me what happens next. What color works? Is there to be another grid? What kind of grid? A folded one, created with discharged lines, or one that is painted.

Then the painted color is added. And again the cloth directs the process. I spend many hours deciding what color choice is best for the cloth. I use color wheels that I have carefully painted in various color combinations based on color theory to reach a final decision.

My images are elements I have designed related to the grid, and then generated as silk screens, thermofax screens or temporary stencils. I use these tools to print the paint, transferring my imagery onto the cloth.

Biography

Textiles have played a prominent role in Catherine Kirsch’s sense of identity from childhood into adolescence and young adulthood. Sewing, weaving and quilting are doorways into relationships and work. In 2001, this culminated in a solo art quilt exhibit in Worcester, Massachusetts. In February 2011, Kirsch exhibited recent art cloth pieces in the Surface Design Association show opening in New Bedford, Massachusetts. When she is not in her studio, Kirsch is a clinical social worker in private practice in Worcester, Massachusetts specializing in marriage therapy.

chk1@charter.net

Catherine Kirsch

Joy Lavrencik

Continuum I

I have been fascinated by movement since I started dancing as a child. The body is a continuum of movement and music my inspiration. It is my passion to bring this same sense of rhythm and movement to my mixed media art.

I discovered that large gestural patterning, applied with commercial and handcrafted brooms, is the instrument that brings this to life in my work. I am transferring the elements of dance, the flow of the body, and a stream of music into the layers on the cloth.

I delight in co-mingling gestures of the human body and strong visual imagery with soft sensual cloth. Whether it is the music I am listening to or the sweep of a dancers arm, the layers on the cloth are the record of that moment in time.

Biography

Joy Lavrencik has always had a strong connection to music and movement. Her years of dance and music lessons solidified this passion. Since discovering fiber in the late 1990’s, Lavrencik’s goal has been to bring this sense of rhythm and movement to her mixed media artwork, employing surface design techniques and collage. She currently works in her home studio in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. Lavrencik’s art work is available through the TLD Design Center and Gallery in Westmont, Illinois, and is exhibited in juried shows across the United State.

joylavrencik@comcast.net
http://www.joylavrencik.com/

Joy Lavrencik

Lynn Luukinen

The Guardians

In this moment, I create art cloth to explore, experiment and problem-solve in order to produce a result. It energizes me, provides me with a sense of pride and brings fresh delight into my life--and yes, frustration as well -- as I study, learn, struggle, and eventually feel a hint of success. I hope to use the acquired techniques and eventual competency of the tools to connect with other people on an individual as well as a community basis as the mysteries of my creative inner world surface and transform.

I began working with silk because I love the feel of the cloth, the strength found within the apparent fragility of the fiber and the way it thirsts for and absorbs color. At this point in my development as a fiber artist, there is not one technique or process that I would call ‘mine’. I have not found my voice. However, I have found a word that inspires and guides me. The word is ‘path’.

The word ‘path’ can evoke images that are literal (as in stepping stones), directional (path of a hurricane) or course of action (path to higher education). Currently, I am drawing upon my experiences from a trip to Kyoto, Japan and the visual and emotional connection I had to the gardens, bamboo forests and the Japanese sense of balance between ease and tension with a sprinkle of the unexpected. I am inspired to create art cloth that has the characteristics of a literal path through a Japanese garden....light that reverberates, layers of color and texture and different visual experiences dependent upon whether viewed coming or going.

As I moved forward I hope to hold onto the “beginners mind” as I add richness (authenticity) and depth (truth) to my art both as a visual and emotional expression. “The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” This is my path and this is my first step.

Biography

Lynn Luukinen began her fiber art studies in 2005. Since then, she has enrolled in a variety of fiber classes/workshops/textile tours in a myriad of disciplines to broaden her skills and appreciation for surface design. She is primarily interested in fiber art techniques that incorporate silk, wool and wood fiber with wax, dye, and discharge agents. Lynn is the Secretary of the Surface Design Association Board of Directors and is also a member of several professional affiliations. During the spring of 2010, Luukinen left her long-time residence in the Seattle area for Kerrville, Texas where she now resides.

luukinen@bainbridge.net

Lynn Luukinen

Liz Napier

Sassy Thistles

My pilgrimage in the art world centers on the spiritual and physical dualities of nature, growth, connections, and journeys. Parallels in my personal life have transformed this destiny. Every twist and turn of the path creates a new avenue of discovery and artistic vision with commitment and mindfulness to art. This quest and curiosity to delve deeper has informed my identity.

As a tonal colorist I explore the layered richness of dyes, the multi-textural aspects of papers and fabrics, the wide ranging dimensions of printmaking and my emotional response when creating. Various fabrics and papers transition through multiples processes with dyes, over-dyes, print techniques and the introduction of photography and digital elements. Each step proceeds from an intuitive emotional approach based on years of self-directed study whereby colors became the catalyst. Hard, soft, and blurred edges combine to form layers of color using dyes, paints and inks. The response to color creates the freedom for tones, shades, values and hues to develop. Surfaces are completed with hand and/or machine stitching. Every process builds on the previous process and manifests a new creative vision.

In traveling the full circle from beginning sketches and ideas to completed art there is a deepened connection with new spirituality and consciousness.

Biography

Liz Napier’s art journey initiated when she undertook postgraduate art classes at the University of Houston, Houston, Texas in the 1980’s. She shaped this foundation with study from masters in the areas of color, design, fiber, and through printmaking classes and workshops. Areas of intense study for the last 30 years include color, design, surface embroidery, fiber dyes, numerous print techniques and, recently, the use of photography and digital elements. Napier’s work is included in private collections and public commissions in both Texas and New Mexico. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Gregg Museum of Art and Design, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina. Napier’s art is available at the Dragonfly Gallery at Rosedale, Austin, TX and the Fredericksburg Art Guild, Fredericksburg, Texas.

lizlnapier@gmail.com
http://www.liznapier.com/