Windsor Art Center hosts a new exhibit "Soulful Journey"

It is hard to believe that The Connecticut Fiber Arts Collective (CTFAC), of which I am a founding member,  is celebrating a 5-year anniversary with a new exhibit that just opened March 12th at the Windsor Art Center.

The exhibit, Soulful Journey, continues through April 23, 2016.
Here's the link:  Windsor Art Center - Soulful Journey

One section of the exhibit that received a lot of attention last Saturday evening was the 20"x20" challenge. The members of CTFAC were asked to respond to the following quote by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype (Ballantine Books, 1992):

"Tears are a river that take you somewhere. 

Weeping creates a river around the boat that carries your soul-life. 

Tears lift your boat off the rocks, off dry ground, 

carrying it downriver to someplace new, someplace better."

We had a great turnout for the opening reception on March 12

Antonia Torres with friends Barb and Diane

Our SELF pieces in fabric - finally displayed!

Windsor Art Center
40 Mechanic Street
Windsor, CT 06095
(Please check the website for hours.)

Fabric Collage Step-by-Step: The Making of "Pesce Pesce"

I started Pesce Pesce (aka Fishy Fishy) by cutting interesting shapes from fabrics and glueing them to a muslin base. I used Aleene's Tacky Glue.  I chose cotton batiks for the interesting colors and cut the fins from other fabrics that looked like branches and leaves. 

Some synthetic commercial fabrics were added for little extra glitz.

 The assembled Pesce (which means 'fish' in Italian) was cut out of the muslin base and then I tested different background fabrics to mount it on. Below is a hand dyed cotton that was chosen as the background.

To add a little more depth to Pesce I created a small fabric collage using fabrics texturized using Paintstiks and rubbing plates. I added a few bubbles and underwater plants before free-motion quilting the entire project.  

Pesce Pesce - 2016 - Mary Lachman
All Rights Reserved

Making Art Every Day (Weeks 9-17)

I am making art every day. 

But I have gotten behind on the posting and blogging. Sometimes something has to give!

 So, in this lightening round let me bring you up to speed on some of the things I have been doing.

Stamping fabric paint on my artwork using a found object. (Maybe it needs a little more.)

Making a hat (a modified MaggiKnits pattern and yarn)

Presenting the hat to a friend!

Stamping and fusing and painting on linen just because

Knitting a topper for a sleeveless dress from scraps!

Trying my hand at carving stamps from Artsy printing blocks

Playing with food 

Playing with food and paint and cloth