Into the Light

January 26, 2025

This week I’m thinking about light.

I was very pleased to be accepted into an online Exhibition called “Into the Light” by Artfluent. There were 561 entries from nine countries. Sixty pieces were chosen for the online exhibit.

There’s a link at the bottom of this blog post where you can see the exhibit. It’s well worth it. Wonderful variety of styles, mediums and subject matter.

I apply to exhibits that are just for textile artists and also that are all-medium shows. It’s pretty exciting to be the only textile piece among these drawings and paintings.

Here’s the piece I’m exhibiting:

SEEING THROUGH TO THE LIGHT 44.5”h X 41”w

I remember putting together this work, which I created several years ago to enter in a SAQA Global Exhibit, “Light The World.”

It was inspired by original photos I had taken looking into the light and patterns of vines in an abandoned home. I was accepted into the Glocal exhibit, and this quilt traveled to various museums and other venues for about two years. Now, it’s back in my studio.

As I looked at the other works in this ArtFluent Exhibit, it helped me to remember how important LIGHT is in an artwork.

As a drawing student in my undergraduate art classes, I remember how much time we spent learning about how light works. We drew smooth globes and plaster casts of objects and heads with the light shining on them from different directions to learn the properties of light and shadow.

I can see this emphasis on the classical depictions of light in art in the ArtFluent works. A few samples:

My work, “Seeing Through to the Light” uses light differently. It is not in the work as an element to describe objects. It is the subject of the work. The light source would be straight behind the quilt, coming through the windows, and going out into the darkness in an abstract way.

I have created several works where I used light in the more traditional way: as a means to describe objects. I enjoyed the challenge of creating the strong shadows with textile collage.

Two Orange Creamsicles, Please 42” x 42”

I hope you will enjoy taking a look at the ArtFluent Exhibit HERE.

If you are an appreciator-of-art, take time to see the light at work in these artworks. Could the artist have created the same emotional appeal without the emphasis on light?

If you are a maker of art, I hope you’ll see compositions and techniques to inspire you to think about light in your work.

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

The fairytale forest

January 19, 2025

Working my way through my first large work of 2025: A work depicting connected houses.

The composition puts these houses in perspective in a representational way.

But they are symbolic, not realistic. Each house will be a little “off.”

Once all the parts are together, I am hoping for a dream-and-memory emotional tone.

To begin, I’ m working on the background. Where will these houses be – in what environment?

A fairytale forest.

I’ll be creating the trees as monotype prints, using tree stencils I have used many times before. (I cut my own stencils. When you print with acrylic paints, they get stronger with each use, a little coating of acrylic added with every hit on the plate.) These trees are like old friends.

Ready to print: my gelatin plate on the worktable.

In the middle of the print session: things get messy.

Pulling a printed piece of fabric. (This is a piece of opaque cotton fabric.)

I also printed some on sheer polyester to get a more ethereal look.

I created one tall panel with the tree image duplicated for a vertical format. This will be an area off to the right of the houses, and the little girl character will be superimposed on these trees. (Haven’t figured out exactly how to do that yet.)

The whole composition is already drawn on my muslin substrate, and now I’m collaging the trees into place.

After the matte medium – which is what I’m using for glue – is dry, I’ll quilt each tree background section, then proceed onto building the houses.

At this stage things are a little disjointed. It’s awkward looking. But I keep referring to my compositional sketch with all the parts together, so I can keep my eye on where I’m going.

Step by step.

. . . . . . .

Sharing a thought: Tomorrow in America will be a strange and ironic juxtaposition of events: the federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King and the inauguration of Donald Trump, and all that he represents. Words for this day:

“Our lives begin to end
the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

. . . . . . . .

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:

Pulling – Connecting – The Memory Threads

January 12, 2025

I wrote at the beginning of the year that I want to focus my work in the coming year, concentrating on developing the series inspired by thoughts of home.

I am always stirred by images of a home. When I consider the homes I have lived in, the households where I have been a member, there are threads of connections between them.

I want to pull on those threads and see where they go.

Part of this process is thinking about the visual depiction of the homes.

Part of it is being open to the memories and their meaning.

A thing that often happens when I start to turn my attention to a particular subject: I discover poetry that speaks to me on that subject.

I love these words, which I discovered this week.

And these, which I re-discovered this week.

I love the sense of discovery and involvement with the memory in Maggie Smith’s words.

And I love the sense of knowing he is in the place he should be in the words of Wendell Berry. (Berry is a beautiful and thoughtful poet, and the image of a house is the foundation of many of his works.)

The light in the window in the image that I used in this post’s header is very powerful to me. It’s a detail from “Living in the house of Blue Shadows,” a memory-inspired quilt I created last year. It is among the most personal and introspective works I have created.

I am thrilled that it has found a home with a very wonderful patron.

Perhaps, for her, it will also become a book she can read again and again, dog-earing different pages each time.

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:

Don’t Go Hiking Alone!

January 5, 2025

As we’re all mentally prepared to go bravely forth and scale mountains of challenges in the new year, a reminder came to me this week in the studio:

It’s best not to go hiking alone.

I have spent a lot of time alone this week at my worktable in the next stages of my connected houses quilt project. (I look forward to getting back to writing about it next week.) Generally, I enjoy solitude.

But while it was just me and some Baroque chamber music in the background, I had time for thinking while I worked.

I am more grateful than I can say for the groups I belong to, formally and informally. They help me grow. They keep me sane. They offer me feedback. I don’t think the time alone would be the same without the time with others of like mind.

So, I offer these few words of advice for artmakers for this year: be sure to take a few folks with you on your journey. If you don’t have any art camaraderie in your life, work to find some. It means everything.

Each week, I meet with three friends for a writer’s group. (It inspired the portrait below, “Writing The Next Word.”)

A dedicated time to meet. A dedicated activity. Building up both writing skills and trust in one another. I am so grateful for this group.

I also belong to several art groups, and each of them has something happening in the month of January. So, while I tell a bit about each group, I can also do a little promotion for the events.

My longest-running association with an art group is ArtsEtc. I think I counted about fourteen years with this gang. It’s a small , informal group of textile artists and mixed media artists that meets monthly. We go through ups and downs. Sometimes we flounder trying to figure out our purpose. Sometimes we go gangbusters! But we hang in there with each other. I am proud to be exhibiting with them in the City Hall of my hometown of DeLand beginning later this week.

If you live near DeLand, please join us for the opening.

My second-longest art association is with SAQA – Studio Art Quilt Associates. I really don’t have enough words to express what a great INTERNATIONAL organization this is. SAQA is dedicated to promoting the art quilt as a fine art medium. It offers all kinds of opportunities (in-person and online) for growth in your artmaking journey. And, if you are a lover of good art but not a maker, this organization is still the best there is to discover new textile artists and their work. Visit saqa.com. Enjoy looking around. Then join!

Also later this week, I am proud to be part of the Florida Regional SAQA exhibit that will be opening in Stuart, Florida at Elliott Museum.

Here’s the work I am exhibiting, Why I Wake Early.

If you live near Stuart, Florida, I hope you you will make a visit to this exhibit while it’s at the Elliott.

Finally, I am pleased to be part of DeLand’s very fine Museum, the Museum of Art DeLand. When my daughter was in elementary school, she attended more sessions of summer art camp than any other kid in DeLand. She loved it. I loved it. I was on their board over thirty years ago, and I am happy now to be on the board again (OMG! I’m a matriarch!) and working on several committees. So, I’m happy to promote their upcoming event in January too:

For folks in and near DeLand, I hope you’ll plan on attending this dress-up-fancy night out.

OK. That’s the end of the advertising.

No, it turns out I have one more thought to share about not hiking alone.

Aside from the joy of camaraderie, it really helps to have somebody help you stay on the right path. Many art groups get together and share what each member has created since the last meeting. That’s good. But, even better, is somebody to help critique your ideas, your concepts, your beginnings, and your not-yet-completed works to help you see what needs to be done before it’s too late.

It's best if you can find somebody whose work is as least as accomplished as your own or better. (There are only so many pats on the head that are helpful. Beyond that, we all benefit from real critique.)

In my life, my partner John is my best critiquer. It’s wonderful to share the work at its early stages and I respect his artist’s insights. I have others I share with too. Finding an honest sounding board helps every artist be better.

Now . . . March forth and create!

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:

Envisioning. Prepping. Beginning.

December 29, 2024

Here, at almost the beginning of a new year, I am in the almost very beginning of a new quilt project.

It’s not the very, very, very beginning.

That happened several months ago, when I began deciding what I want the focus of my work to be for the next year. I know I want to take a deeper dive into two themes I have explored before: 1.homes, and our connection to them, and 2. trees as patterns.

(It’s possible there will be some overlap. But that’s not my plan so far. The Homes-Connections works are more about memory and story, even though a tree or two may appear. The Trees works are about pattern and surface design.)

So here I am beginning the first new work in the Homes-Connections series. . . How do you like it so far?

Isn’t it beautiful?

Maybe only to me, because this is where I can begin ENVISIONING. From my photoshop sketch and mockup (part of it is shown in the header for this post) I am now beginning to actually touch the materials and to get a sense of scale. The simple act of cutting out lengths of fabric starts my ability to see the finished work.

Now for PREPPING.

My studio workhorse fabric is plain unbleached cotton muslin. That’s what I will use for the substrate of this work. Generally, I like to stiffen up the fabric a bit. I don’t want to use a heavier fabric like canvas; I want muslin. But with a little more heft and stability.

I use a fairly light wash of water plus latex acrylic exterior house primer as my gesso. The coverage is not too critical yet. I just dip my big brush in the water container, then in the can of paint, and back and forth as I get a light coat of paint over the fabric.

I will construct this work in three sections. Here they are hanging out to dry.

I will not be a multi-panel work in its final presentation.. Overall, my plan is to make the piece about 50”H x 60”W. That’s a large work for me, and definitely too big to do the quilting all in one section.

It may seem strange that I found even these blank panels on my fence inspiring. But I did. It was my first glance at what the finished size will be. This will be a complex composition, and I just couldn’t envision it small.

After I finished photographing the panels, I sewed them together to make one big piece. I will keep the panels sewn together through the sketching of the composition and through some of the collaging. Then I’ll rip out the seams to do my backing and quilting. Then I will sew them back together at the end.

I look forward to sharing more of my thoughts and process and the two series I am planning for 2025.

And, since, this is the last post before the end of 2024, I just want to extend my sincere thanks to those who follow along, and those who take time to write with a question or a word of encouragement. It makes me feel connected to a community. I am very grateful.

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:

Celebrating the Messages of Birds

December 15, 2024

I was thinking about what to write this week and the robins gave me my answer.

We don’t have robins all the time. They are here in DeLand, Florida as part of their winter migration. And it is beyond wondrous.

We spent time this week just standing at the door just watching their antics in the birdbath. Very sociable. Very raucous. Very big on splashing. Dozens of them at once.

Birds function in my world the way fairies and invisible people function in the world of children. They fire up my imagination. There is a lot I don’t know about them. I sit patiently and wait to hear them.

And I love depicting them in my artwork. What’s important to me is not accurate depiction. I am interested in their presence and personality.

*Promising Herself This Flight* Matted Collage

In small collages, like the ones above, the bird may be the star of the show.

In larger quilts, the birds may appear as a minor character. Perhaps they are the messengers.

Perhaps they are the watchers.

Perhaps they are the sign that good will come of this story.

I am reminded by their increased presence this week that small things in your life can be wonderful, and can help you to remember that wonder exists.

May some small wonderful things be present this week for you.

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:

Composition Study

December 8, 2024

Something Big. Something Small.

Something Dark. Something Light.

I have heard art instructors condense everything about composition down to those four elements. If each work has those elements, good composition will be accomplished.

I think it’s pretty good guidance: a test to ask yourself as you are working through a composition.

But interesting compositions generally have more to them. I was looking at some recent paper collages in the studio this week and re-discovered this one: Deep Convergence. I think it has some good composition lessons.

When I look at this work, it’s pleasing to me. It looks balanced but not static. And it does have shapes that are big, shapes that are small, elements that are dark and elements that are light.

Here’s how it began:

I had created this image of limbs as a hand printed monotype on rice paper. I like the delicate intricacy of this image. It was not in a semi-circle before I started. I cut that shape to build the composition around it. And, I confess: I got the idea to do this by studying some works created by other artists whose work I like. I don’t use circular shapes a lot. I decided to try.

Now for contrast. (Light next to dark) I set the semi-circle with limbs against a darker rectangle of fabric. (It also has some interesting, but more subtle, linear elements in it.)

I wanted to carry through the element of the semi-circle. So, I cut another one but placed it upside down. Now the shapes are talking to each other. That conversation is enhanced by the screen-printed limbs black-on-olive, which connect the two semi-circles.

Now for a bit of energy.

I collaged into place a piece of fabric with hand-written text on it. I almost always like this effect. It’s neutral, but still has something going on. I stenciled the shape of the honeycomb on top of it. That provides a new small shape. And the color balances that olive green rectangle with the branches.

One more area of energy:

These strips cut from screen printed fabric have a nice lightness. The shapes are interesting. The rectangles themselves are smaller than the three big elements in the collage, and the imagery consists of more small shapes.

All the parts together:

One of the greatest things about working in collage is that you can experiment before you commit. Gather together some elements that you think may work, and move them all around your working space. Change your mind. Move them around some more. Re-order the layers back-to-front. Somewhere along the way something will say “stop!” You’ve got it.

Begin with some basic rules or guidelines (like the big-small-dark-light idea) and then experiment from that as a starting place.

And enjoy the process!

. . . .

If you’d like to learn more about Deep Convergence, it’s on my website 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:

Look at your own art. And Learn

December 1, 2024

Last week I was writing about all the prep that goes into doing a street festival.

So tonight I’ll cut straight to the good news . . . I had a wonderful weekend. Good crowds, good art conversations, good sales, and I won a very nice award, an honor to be chosen from among 150+ artists in all mediums.

So. What now?

This is a recurring question to any artmaker who works toward specific goals, projects or events.

There are periods of high productivity, and periods of wondering – wavering – deciding – contemplating about the work you create.

Both phases are useful.

During the Festival, I spent a lot of time sitting in my artist chair across from my booth full of work, looking at it. I listened to the responses of attendees. I considered what I had made that I really like and am proud of. I considered the work that’s not so important to me.

Right now, I have only one firm deadline requiring new work: a juried exhibition with work due in July of 2025. Plenty of time.

At the Festival, I had the amazing affirmation of selling two large works that are in the category of work that’s meaningful to me to create.

I know that for the foreseeable future, I want to concentrate on doing those things. I will probably create less work. Each will probably be larger. I am not going to shy away from emotional storytelling content.

At any given time in your art life, you may look at your own work and come to other conclusions. I’ve experienced this one: “Everything I make is crap. I hate my work. I’m not even so crazy about myself right now.”

( I have had MANY experiences of being at an event and bombing completely. Being the brave little trooper keeping your chin up as you realize you’ve gone about it all wrong. It stinks.)

I get it.

And I’ve experienced frustrations with my methods, when I look at other work I deeply admire that’s made with different techniques. So I’ve experienced this one too: “Wow. I really need to do something different.”

I get it.

Just don’t be afraid to do the looking. Over and over when I talk to other artmakers, I sense people struggling with some sense that there is a kind of work they want to create, that they believe it’s possible, but what is coming out of their hands is not what they envision.

Yes. I get that.

Wherever you are in the process, a good first step is take a good look at what you make.

And don’t give up!

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:

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

How It Gets There

November 24, 2024

When I sit to write about artmaking each week, it helps me to sort through ideas about artmaking.

I’ve written about color, printmaking, the process, and sources of inspiration, and many other elements of creating work.

In all of that, it’s important not to overlook the obvious: At some point, if you are serious about what you make, you need to show it to somebody. And, if that process of showing involves a Festival, or a gallery showing, or shipping work to exhibit elsewhere, it involves a lot of STUFF.

STUFF: All that goes into showing work AFTER the actual art is made.

As I am preparing to exhibit at the Fall Festival of the Arts this weekend, a few takeaways:

STUFF involves finishing. Here’s work on my table I’ve prepared to show at this weekend’s Festival. This week I spent time finishing the hanging rods, (in which I get to have fun hand-sawing and using the Dremel drill), mocking up a booth layout that matches up the width of available walls with the dimensions of the work I want to show, sewing labels on the back of each work, making title/price tags for the booth, then rolling up all the work and getting it in the car.

STUFF involves a lot of non-art supplies.

Here’s some of the stuff I still need to get in my car:

Here’s the back of my car with what’s already packed:

I am very grateful that years ago I purchased a second-hand tent that is still working well and that I also purchased a set of second-hand display walls that I’ve now used for about 15 years. They were both great investments.

STUFF involves early rising! At this Festival, artists can’t set up the night before. So, much like the elephants setting up the tents in the early morning hours before the circus, artists will be out on the streets of DeLand at 6am unpacking their cars and vans and creating a Festival of art-filled tents out of an empty street.

There is a HUGE army of dedicated volunteers behind every good street festival. I am grateful for all their work to get things ready and to help it run smoothly.

BUT – as every exhibiting artist knows, and as we hope Festival-going patrons know also, artists work hard!

I have no complaints nor whining – I choose to do this and I enjoy the hard work. But, a casual Festival attender may well not understand the process. I’ve had well-meaning Festival attendees ask me if the City or the Festival provided all these tents for us, or how much they pay us to be in the event. (Answer: No. Artists provide their own display materials. And each of us has paid at least several hundred dollars in exhibit fees, plus travel expenses for those far away.)

So . . . here I go. I am writing this post on Friday before the event begins, and by the time it goes LIVE on Sunday evening the event will be over. I’m sure I’ll be pooped.

But also glad to be a working artist and glad to be able to do this!

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:

Theme and Variations: Blue

November 17, 2024

This will be an “in-between” week in the studio.

This past weekend, I completed the online exhibit with Artburst Studios. (Many thanks to the patrons who took home my artwork from that event.)

This coming weekend I will be exhibiting in-person in downtown DeLand (my hometown) at the Fall Festival of the Arts DeLand.

My car is packed. The work is ready except for finishing touches.

So this seems like a good week to take a look at a recently-created work.

This is “Knowing What Is”

“Knowing What Is” Art Quilt (37”H x 26”W)

I was pleased with the outcome of this piece, and I think it offers some interesting things to discover and learn.

WHOLE CLOTH CONSTRUCTION

Generally, I work in the method of most quilters: I create small sections and then sew them together. On this work, I wanted to experiment with creating the look of a quilt created in sections without actually doing that. So, I started with a piece of muslin the final size and sectioned it off with masking tape as I created each section. I found that it made me very aware of composition as I progressed.

COLOR AND ITS SURROUNDING

One of the challenges I gave myself in creating this work was to explore ways to work with a single color and still achieve variety. In the section above, the background color of the top (grassy-shapes) section and the circles section below is the same color. They look different because of the color that is next to them.

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE

I used the same grass forms on my printing plate as stencils, but reversed the colors. In the top section above, I started with the darker blue on my fabric then printed the lighter over top as a monotype. In the bottom section, I painted the lighter color as the background then printed the darker over top as a monotype. Same image. Different applications of color.

The stripe in the middle is one more variation. The teal background is the same as the teal in the sections above and below. The shape of branches is screen printed on top, using the same teal color with a lot of white mixed in.

HELLO BIRD

The crow was the final addition to the work. I screen printed the branches. Then I painted the bird directly on the almost-finished quilt with semi-transparent paints. I frequently use birds in my work. Sometimes, I cut them out of painted fabric and collage them as raw-edge applique pieces. This allows me to move them around the work to find just the right spot. It is less prone to mishap.

In this case, I knew where I wanted the bird to be, and I wanted it to allow some of the background to show through.

Finally, when I step back and look at the finished work, I see how important color is to a work. I love color and I love mixing colors. Varying the patterns, values, and the side-by-side neighbors of a color can create a work with both harmony and variety.

. . .

If you would like to learn more about this art quilt, it is on my website HERE

. . . . .

This is my last opportunity to invite you to DeLand’s downtown Art Festival. If you are near Central Florida, I hope you will drop by. (I’m right at the center of the Festival layout, booth 133.) It’s a wonderful Festival in a delightful downtown.

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:

Thoughts from the Interior

November 10, 2024

Hello, Art Friends

In a week of profund disappointment in the decision made by the majority of voters in America, I can only offer this:

This is not, for me, a time for light-hearted revelry. But it is a time to continue on. I am pleased to create work that invites introspection and the expression of a whole host of emotions and thoughts. (This is “Interior Revelations.”)

What I’m trying:

As soon as I can, as much as I can, I am going on with the things in my life I consider important.

Look for ways to make a difference.

Wait for what opportunities to present themselves.

Find peace. But not complacency.

……………

I offer you upcoming opportunities to experience art with me:

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2024 – IN OCALA, FLORIDA
EXHIBIT OPENING – THREADING THE NEEDLE

Webber Gallery – College of Florida
3001 SW College Road – Webber Center Gallery – Ocala, FL 34474

This is an exhibit of 30 art quilts. Bobbi was the juror and will be awarding the prizes. Bobbi will be giving a gallery talk at 12:00 noon. Arrive before that to browse the show then attend the talk.

THURS NOV -14 THROUGH – SATURDAY NOV 16
ONLINE EXHIBIT: 3-DAY SHOW
Bobbi plus 18 other artists are showing their work in “Fancy That,” a pop-up exhibit by Artburst Studios. It’s free to click in and browse. There’s lots of interesting art to see. Find it here:

https://artburststudios.com/

The show is in “countdown mode” now. You can go to the site any time to see more about it.

SAT AND SUN NOV 23 – 24: DOWNTOWN DELAND
FALL FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS DELAND

This is a great art festival. Approx 165 artists. In the heart of downtown.

Bobbi is exhibiting: booth 133 (right outside the Museum Store at corner NY-Woodland: then 1 booth North) See ya then!

More information: https://fallfestivaloftheartsdeland.com/

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

Harmony and Differences

November 3, 2024

This week I feel the need just to look at some pictures.

Something pleasing and soothing.

Not so many words.

Here is what’s in-progress on my easel now.

Because it’s a work-in-progress, there are still elements of the story not yet completed.

I know the whole will comprise elements that are different from one another, but that can work together. If it is interesting and worth looking at, it will be because of the interactions of the parts that are different.

These are thoughts I want to hold onto tonight.

After months of many many many many words, on Tuesday the United States will vote for our next President and myriad other representatives. That day, John and I will be working for our local supervisor of elections and will be checking in and assisting voters in the process from 6am till after 8pm.

I hope to come home after that day’s work, listen to news and find reason for celebration – that we are NOT going back!

Best wishes to you all. — Bobbi

After the Fire

October 27, 2024

Some losses are just unimaginable. Natural disasters create windows for those of us not affected to see into the experience. People being interviewed next to a slab that was their home. Or their town.

People discovering some small remnant – a household item – as all that’s remaining.

I was thinking about these “after” moments when I created a work for an upcoming SAQA Global Exhibition, “Primal Forces: FIRE.” Artists were asked to respond to the concept of fire in some way.

I chose to give voice to the sense of loss after a fire has unleashed its fury. My work, “Nothing Remains but the Loss,” was accepted and will travel as part of this exhibit for two years. Here’s the completed work.

Nothing Remains But the Loss Art Quilt 40.5” x 48”

Here is the text I submitted as part of my application:

“In the burned house I am eating breakfast. You understand there is no house, there is no breakfast, yet here I am . . . everything in this house has long been over, kettle and mirror, spoon and bowl . . . ” After the fire, the structure is a memory. The artifacts of daily life within the structure are a memory. The raging violence of the fire itself is a memory. Nothing remains but the loss. (Quoted text from “Morning in the Burned House,” Margaret Atwood.)

Backing up from the completed work to the process of creating, I have to admit that this one did not come easily at all.

I had a very strong concept of the way I wanted it to feel, how I wanted the power of fire and the emptiness afterward to co-exist on the surface. The haunting poem by Margaret Atwood was a strong part of my inspiration; it is a poem I know well and I thought of it immediately when I read the call to entry.

In the early stages, I was very involved in creating the parts.

I created fire.

I created dark areas representing the charred home. And I created the kitchen bowls.

(If you are interested in reading more about the early stages of creating the dark brown and black sections, I posted about that on my blog in February. You could read it here.)

The house was not part of my original concept, although now I see that it is the essential heart of the story. I had thought that the charred bottom section would approximate the remains of a home. But once I had it all put together, without a more concrete depiction of a home it had no emotional appeal at all. Just contrasting sections. As soon as I added the house, everything came together.

In addition to wrestling with the devastating emotions surrounding loss of home, adding the image of the house was technically tricky. It is all created by paint, rolled on in various values after the main quilt was already constructed. It had to be a lighter value in the top half to show up against the flames; it had to be darker in the bottom half to show up against the charred sections. It was a scary, make-or-break stage of the work.

I am grateful for the chance to show this one to audiences as part of SAQA’s traveling exhibit. I hope it will stir in viewers thoughts of the power of fire, the temporary nature of all we have, and the place in our hearts of “home.”

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:

Talking about art

October 20, 2024

How nice to have a chance to talk about art!

If you follow this blog, you know that I WRITE faithfully about artmaking every week. I don’t get nearly as many opportunities to TALK about artmaking. When the opportunity does arrive, it’s always meaningful.

Yesterday I recorded an artist interview with Artburst Studios. The link is at the end of this post, and I invite you to take 20 minutes to listen if you can.

We talked about all kinds of stuff! Colors and palettes. How I go about building up layers. The power of stitch as a design element. We even flipped a work over to show the hanging pocket on the back and talked about how important that is. It was fun!

(Note: This was my make-up interview, because the one I was scheduled for and promoted for ten days ago was postponed when Hurricane Milton ate our internet for a few days. I’m first in line, then two additional artists are interviewed – Jeweler Kim Harrell and Painter Gregory Gorham - also well worth a listen.)

Whether or not you are able to listen to the interview, I’d like to share just a few takeaways about art talking.

Talking about your artwork is good for artists! Putting thoughts into words helps you clarify your ideas. Putting your process into words explains things that might be obvious to you but are mysterious to art lovers. Patrons and collectors really enjoy learning more!

Listening to talks about art is good for art lovers! Attend art talks whenever you can. Ask questions of artists you meet at Festivals and openings. Don’t be afraid of asking dumb questions. Artists understand that the meaning and understanding of work improves with knowledge. Almost all artists are gracious and happy to explain things.

Practice helps! If you are an artmaker and have not had much opportunity to talk about your art, it can be intimidating. Just like any other speaking. The best preparation is practice. Writing about your own art is helpful. And if you can’t find an audience for your talking, practice talking to yourself. Really. It’s a great way to occupy your mind while taking a walk or while working in the studio. Don’t just think the words inside your head. Actually form the words and say them out loud. In time you will like what you say more and more.

During the interview, I showed two works I’ve created for the Artburst Show. Holding up a piece of art to the camera in a zoom call is not the very best way to view artwork. So, I’ll preview them here in an easier-to-see-the-details environment.

*The Dance of Change* Acrylics on Fabric 34”H x 18”W

*Moonlit Dream Excursion* Acrylics on Fabric 25”H x 13”W

Finally: many thanks to Jennifer Steck from Artburst for scheduling this re-do for me and for being such a thoughtful and engaged interviewer.

OK. Got your popcorn popped? Enjoy the interview. View it here:

https://vimeo.com/1019045542?share=copy

. . . . . . . .

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:

Contrasts and Connections

October 13, 2024

What a week of contrasts this has been!

As I enjoyed welcoming the morning from my porch today — air cool and clean, sun breaking through trees, birds alive and active — it is actually hard to imagine that only four days ago we were in hurricane countdown mode. And that then it hit, with rough wind and rain all through the night.

And then it moved on.

Many areas in Florida are still dealing with significant damage and loss. I am grateful that here in our neighborhood everyone fared well and stayed safe, without loss of power or much more than fallen limbs to chop up and cart to the street.

Being able to get in the studio felt calming and therapeutic.

And nothing says art therapy to me quite like working on paper collaged works.

Every stage of these works is pleasing to me. I enjoy going through my bins of scraps (which I set aside just for this purpose) to find small pieces that speak to me, and then to find others that might connect with that one. I love the warm watercolor wash of burnt sienna across the sheer fabric screen print of black limbs on yellow. I began with that.

Frequently throughout the composing, I will put on the cut mat that will eventually be used for displaying the work. It helps to see what’s going on and to be sure nothing is closer to the edge than I want.

I found a mix of materials to work with for this one. The sheer fabric piece, a piece of monotype-printed tissue paper (the large green leafy section) and a big solid triangle shape printed on upcycled brown kraft wrapping paper.

When you are beginning a project intuitively, I think it’s best just to look at what you have and respond. Are the parts speaking to each other? I think these are.

Then, if I step back to analyze with some art principles, I will probably discover the reasons why. The colors are connected: all appear organic, a color that could occur in nature. And, because I mix all my colors from a limited range of basics, I know they actually contain the same base hues.

There is also interesting contrast. Ripped-shapes. Straight edges. Fabric. Thin paper. Thick paper. It’s not so much alike that there’s no energy.

About ripping paper:

When you print with paint on thin papers (like rice paper or tissue paper) the difference in surface tension between the unprinted part and the printed part creates an “edge” where ripping happens well. In this picture, In my left hand is what I am ripping off. I use the thumb of my right hand to guide the ripping along the printed shapes. This process can create organic edges that are much more interesting than cut edges.

With fabrics, it’s harder to rip in shapes. But, when a ripped straight line will work, it will also have a little different character than a cut straight line and it can be more interesting.

Here’s what I’ve got so far by the end of the weekend:

What’s glued down: the top part of the green, the fabric screen printed piece top right and the brown triangle.

What’s TBD: The bottom of the green and the smaller fabric scrap in burnt sienna are just laid on top for now. Maybe they will stay. Or be moved. Or added to.

I’ll enjoy seeing how it evolves.

. . . .

To Florida friends in the path of Milton: I send wishes for safety and peace as you tackle whatever cleanup and restoration you’ll be going through.

. . . .

Upcoming exhibiting for me in November:

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:

Discovering What is There

October 6, 2024

My studio work this week has involved discoveries in the surface of a quilt-in-progress.

(This is the continuation of the work I wrote about last week, adding an architectural element and an old truck to a large surface filled with patterns of water and rust.)

Here’s the work as it’s on my easel now: almost done. (It’s about 38”H x 55”W)

I think some interesting things have happened.

First, most obviously, is that the quilt is now more clearly “about “ something. Before, it alluded to the elements of water and metal creating rust. But the process wasn’t applied to anything big to see in the picture plane. I did not have a visual anchor. Now it’s about specific things rusting: the barn and the truck.

Second, there are more layers to discover. I did not want the barn and truck to just be plopped on top of what I’d already done. I wanted to integrate them into the layers. As I worked, it was almost like the experience of a natural force (like rusting) being applied to an image. I was trying to push these new elements in the background.

The roof line of the barn intersects elements around it.

The truck is both in front of and behind other elements around it.

To be there. But not completely there.

Waiting to be discovered.

Finally, a surprise that pleases me. There is now more movement through the work. Movement is important in a viewer’s experience of a work, and sometimes difficult to control. You want there to be a way or a place to enter the work. And want some flow of movement once the eye is in the picture plane.

I’ve created several possible entry points.

Maybe the first place you look is the barn. If so, then there are elements to guide you up and around n a counterclockwise circle: the blue gear is in movement. It connects to the larger gear above it, which draws your eye up to the top right where the other gears are in motion, leading you down finally to the lower right and the intense blue water.

Maybe the first place you look is the truck. Following the direction of the hood, it’s almost pointing like an arrow down to the lower right and the water, then up through the gears sections and around in a clockwise motion to the barn, then back to the truck.

I was thinking this week about art that is powerful. I realized that, in my own appreciation of other artists’ work, a simple test is if I can remember the work later. If I’ve discovered enough in it that I can remember what spoke to me.

I am hoping that this re-working takes images that I liked and has re-connected them in ways that do that more.

. . . . . . . .

Do you enjoy listening to artists talk about their work? You might enjoy listening to my upcoming artist interview with Artburst Studios. (It’s a it of PR for the online Artburst show I’ll be part of in November.)

**THURSDAY OCTOBER 8 6pm (MT) = 8pm(ET)**

You can register at this link and Artburst will send you an email reminder and a zoom link the day before.

https://artburststudios.com/artburst-live/

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:

Reimagining a concept

September 29, 2024

To the artmakers: When you’ve finished a work, do you ever just have a nagging feeling that something is not right?

Something is bugging you. It didn’t quite accomplish what you had hoped.

I’ve had that feeling about a work I created about three years ago that had elements in it I just loved.

I enjoyed exploring the theme of water and rust. I made all kinds of varied fabrics for this work. I loved how they spoke to each other. And I submitted it to a SAQA global exhibit “Opposites Attract.” It was accepted and the work travelled, exhibiting for over two years. But, whenever I saw pictures of it on display, that nagging sense that I hadn’t gotten it right would bother me.

The composition wasn’t strong. And I didn’t like the construction and binding.

So. Now the work is back from its exhibiting travels. And I have cut it up to recreate it, to reimagine this concept.

Here’s a look at the section I’ll be reimagining.

I love that photo transfer of the rusted metal siding with the window in it. (And I remember discovering that by the side of the road and photographing it.) It got lost in the composition.

My goal is to re-create this as a focal point.

I got some advice along the way. I took the work in its old version to my art group last week and they encouraged me to cut it up. (Tactfully, my friends were telling me it could be better.) Then I hung up the parts in the studio and looked at it critically with John, my best critiquer.

My decision was to add a large image of actual things that are rusting, and somehow blend them into the existing surface, adding a new layer. Quite a challenge!

Here’s the image I decided to use. This is from my sketchbook, a drawing about 8” x 10” depicting a rusting barn and an old truck.

Now for some nuts n bolts: how to get this little sketch onto the quilt surface.

I needed to enlarge it to the final size to go on the quilt, about 400% of my sketch size. I marked out an enlarging grid and drew it freehand the new size.

To get the image on the quilt in the right place, I traced my enlargement onto vinyl, pretty roughly. Now I have something I can hold up to the quilt, move around and even rotate to find the best place for the added images to go.

I decided I wanted to add the new image to the existing quilt as a painted stencil. I’ll be stenciling a linear outline, which in some places will be enough, and in some places will act as a guide for where I need to add new fabric or more painting to flesh out the barn and truck.

The paper I used for my enlarged drawing is freezer paper, which will be my stenciling material. (You can draw on the un-shiney side like any paper. ) Then I cut it out.

(I used the see-through vinyl to figure out where to place the image. The drawing on freezer paper was then placed in that spot and ironed down on the quilt. The back side, the shiny side, sticks to the quilt during the painting process. I still can’t believe this works. It’s magic. Then you just peel it off.)

A lot more has to happen with this project: Refining the painted/appliqued image of the new elements, add stitching all around the new elements. Then whatever else I discover isn’t working right – tackle that too.

I have a sense that I’m doing the right thing to this artwork. It needed some re-imagining.

I’ll share more as the project progresses.

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:

A “Yes” and some “Maybes”

September 22, 2024

The pleasure of a project beginning: “Yes!”

This is my studio, mostly picked up form the last batch of work, and one small fabric piece glued up in place on my worktable.

This will be a 14” x 14” work, depicting a small boat on water, which I am completing for a commission. Nothing too big or complicated.

But here it is a thing of beauty: Collaged fabrics drying, nice and smooth with no wrinkles. Aaahhh! Yes!

The substrate is white kraft felt, taped down to the board. On top of that I am collaging a piece of sheer white polyester that I monotype printed with subtle blue water patterns.

(I collaged with matte medium. Slathered onto the substrate. Then I laid down the printed sheer polyester into the medium and worked it out flat with a wide paintbrush.)

I did not add a lot of texture or patterning to the fabric as I monoprinted it; mostly, I let the natural imperfections of my homemade plate (which I have now used for a number of months) create what I consider interesting patterns.

This is a “yes” for me. Because it represents the beginning of a new project. Everything is still possible. And so far the technical aspects are working as they should (good collage – no wrinkles.)

Then today I spent the morning with my local artmaking group. Part of my time was spent ripping apart a quilt I’d completed some time back and now want to reconstruct, and part of the time was spent sorting through my pile of recently printed fabrics. As I’ve been working on other projects, I’ve kept my eyes open for some interesting blues and greens that I can use in an upcoming work.

I had not been thinking about these pieces as I put them in the plastic tub. Today I was pleased to see that I’ve created a pretty nice stash, good “maybes” for future work.

For now they also represent possibilities.. and the hope that as a group they may in the future represent a “yes!”

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:

Art-Thinking Inspiration

September 15, 2024

Two art-thinking experiences this past week have stirred up my creativity.

First, I rediscovered a book on my shelf I had forgotten I had. A delightful serendipity. I went to the bookshelf for the dictionary, looked down, saw the watercolor book and pulled it out. What wonderful hours this provided! I spent hours on the porch, feet up in my favorite reading place, remembering how much I love watercolor and how much it has to teach every other medium.

Powerful watercolors rely on freshness and contrast. The artists in this book share a lot of their specific how-to methods of achieving this.

I am still working through how these lessons can inform my own work in textiles.

Takeaway: It is always time well spent to look at and be inspired by great art, whatever the medium.

The second art-thinking experience was presenting a talk to a local art group, primarily painters.

Takeaway: It helps to talk about your work.

Just as people who teach will describe learning a subject best by having to teach it, I realize that I understand my own work best when I take time to condense my thoughts and describe them to somebody else.

(So… THANK YOU those who read my blog. You give me this chance every week!)

To introduce my work, I prepared this PowerPoint slide:

We spent some time on this idea—which should be obvious. But it was not obvious to me when I began artmaking. I recalled (and shared) my early attempts as a student watercolor artist when I thought my task was just to depict what I saw. I hadn’t given any thought to the “about” part: what interested me in a certain subject matter? What emotions did I hope to evoke? What memories might be stirred?

I like this image from Becoming One With the Night because I thought I did some things right. I did have a model sitting on my porch to use as a starting place and this is a representational work. But I did not just depict what I saw. I used it as a starting place to create an emotional experience.

The works from the watercolor book that blew me away this week – even those that address very traditional subject matter:landscapes, lighthouses, still life – all clearly also communicated an “about.”

I developed the presentation more with this:

This is a detail from Seeing Through to the Light. It is a work that combines a detailed photo with abstract color blocks. I definitely intended it to communicate an idea.

But, the technical “how-to” is a strong part of the work too. The creation of my own surface design. A controlled palette. The creation of layers.

Recalling the images in my watercolor book, I am amazed at how many are nearly monochromatic in their palette choices. And many of the artists had mastered using the transparent paints to create depth and layers.

I’m inspired by my art thinking this week. The idea wheels are turning towards how I might use these thoughts in my work next.

If you’d like to read more about the two quilts I’ve referenced in this post, you can find them on my website Here:

Becoming One With the Night

Seeing Through to the Light

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:

Kicking Leaves

September 8, 2024

Being able to see the whole arc of a creation… from concept to completion.

Sometimes it’s just a nice experience.

Back in March I was in the beginning stages of a memory piece built around the images of swirling leaves and a home.

I wrote about some of the technical aspects of creating the leaves at that time.

A few months later, I completed the work: “House of Leaves.” But I had not shown it anywhere yet because I was not sure whether or not I would enter it not an exhibit.

Friday I was guest speaker at a local arts group in DeLand. I was able to talk about creating fiber art to a group who are primarily painters. I brough “House of Leaves” and used it as an example of some of my artmaking methods and principles.

Then, when I got home, I received an email acceptance from the Schweinfurth Art Center that this work was accepted into Q=A=Q, what I consider one of the finest national art quilt exhibits. They chose 70 works to exhibit from work entered by 278 artists.

Woo Hoo!

I am thrilled, and happy now to share the work.

House of Leaves. Art Quilt. 59.5”H x 74”W

This is the statement I wrote to go with the work:

During middle school I walked home in autumn through leaf-filled sidewalks. It is a complex memory – written on yards of muslin incorporated into the quilt surface. A girl’s longing for freedom and a touch of rebellion was part of it. Swirling emotions -- the pressure of events threatening our home -- were also part. Depicting a home in pieces, askew, overwhelmed by leaves, as if it could be buried by them, gives voice to memory of that time and place.

And here is a look at each panel alone, to show more detail.

I am proud of this work. It went through a lot of difficult stages and the way out was not always clear.

But I got it done. On this one, the process is a pleasure.

Q=A=Q will exhibit at the Schweinfurth Art Center
Albany, New York
Nov 2, 2024 – January 5, 2024

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: