Tulip Time Poster Entry
This piece was among the top 20 entries from which this year's Tulip Time Poster was chosen and will be displayed in one of the business venues downtown Holland, MI during Tulip Time - May 3-10, 2014 for Viewer's Choice voting.

Primary Tulips  © Lynette Williams

One of Three

I am excited to get going on the 3 textile fusion (aka: fabric collage) art pieces I must finish by Nov 22.  I am re-creating for the St Joseph Oakland Mercy Hospital 3 pieces I had originally completed in smaller sizes.  The new ones must be 20" x 30"  and the reason I am so excited is that I have the chance to improve them.  The first one I am working on was completed , I think,  in 2009.  I believe I have grown as an artist in the last 4 years and hope that these pieces will reflect that.
Here is the original.

Girl On Beach - Fabric Collage
© Lynette Williams

And here is the new piece currently in progress.

Girl On Beach 2 - Fabric Collage
© Lynette Williams

The original holds a certain charm for me even though I may think the second one has more detail or is more technically proficient.  Maybe it's like a favorite song that has been re-done.  I often don't like the re-makes as well even though they are more advanced in recording or instrumentation.  Who can explain why that is ?  It just is.  I guess we must conclude that they are just different -  the one not necessarily better or worse than the other.  Products of a different time.

More updates soon !

LW

That Time Already

I can't believe its time to think about next year's Tulip Time....as in the poster competition for it.  I almost didn't enter this year because of time constraints, but I got an inspiration and ran with it.  I cannot share the entire image but I will hint that I have gone in a bit of a different direction than previous years.  Here is a sneak peak :)

fabric collage by Lynette Williams

lynettelwilliams.com

To be continued......in February, 2014

LW

Lifespan

It's been a slow year for collaging, much to my chagrin.  But I have recently been working on this piece of my mother.  I wanted to show the transitions of life....how we change but also retain a part of who we were.  I obviously had a complete  photographic record of my mother so she was an ideal subject to use.

Lifespan ©  Lynette Williams

I have faded one image into the next and found it quite a challenge at times to find just the right color fabric to use.  I used sheer fabrics as well which can also be very challenging.  My purpose in doing so was to explore the process of taking bits of our former selves with us as we transition to the next stage of life.  I found this piece very rewarding, not only because it was my mother and I contemplated someone that I knew so well, but also because I was stretching myself as an artist to explore a different way of using fabric to exhibit the idea that was in my head.

Next challenge is to reproduce 3 previously completed pieces for St Joseph Oakland Hospital in a larger size.  Updates to come !

LW

Tulips On The Rise

more @ www.lynettelwilliams.com

Beneath the white blanket of snow, down under the brown cold earth are the beginnings of glorious tulips.
Even now they are going through their yearly cycle of growth that will burst into wonderful colors and shapes in April and May.  Tulips are really big in this area.  Tulip Time in Holland, Michigan is one of  the country's largest tulip festival and plans begin early to celebrate this exquisite flower and the Dutch culture it represents.  Every year the festival highlights one particular image of the tulip on a poster and other items. Until very recently this image was commissioned from a particular artist.  Three years ago the process changed to a competition whereby artists can submit their interpretations of the tulip and the festival.  The top 20 artists' images are chosen and announced.  Then the jury has the difficult task of choosing one image for that year.
I was honored to be among the top 20 artists again this year and last night enjoyed dinner and the company of the local arts council members as well as local sponsors and the Tulip Time board members.  Highlights included the details of the upcoming festival in May and the unveiling of the winner - Maggie Schultz and her beautiful watercolor - "Clothed In Splendor".  The other 19 images will be displayed in downtown Holland during Tulip Time  when the people's choice event will be held.  Viewers of all the artwork can vote for their favorites and awards will be given for the top 3 .  It was a wonderful display of local and regional talent and I love seeing the variety of artwork that comes from this event.

~LW
www.lynettelwilliams.com

Up in the Frigid Midwest

This time of year is the perfect time to do indoor projects.....including hobbies and art.
And as the beginning of the year seems to make
 us more introspective,  what a great time it is to exercise our creative muscles !

 If you are a painter, writer, musician, filmmaker or artist of any kind,  take advantage of technology by finding podcasts about your particular area .  But also think outside the box and explore other
disciplines.  For example, I sometimes listen to podcasts about film because the verbal description or critique of a film can conjure up images for my artwork.  It is also a means of inspiring me to create when I find myself in a slump.  And I don't mean watching a movie !  I find it is a great exercise  to listen to words about something to stimulate creative ideas.  They have a far different effect on creativity than watching a video.  Listening to a book on audio can have the same effect.
I am a firm believer that all of us have more creativity than we think we do.  We often don't think we are creative simply because we are not open to the idea that we can create something.

    "Think left and think right and think low and think high.  Oh, the thinks you can think up                  if only you try."  ~Dr Seuss

All it takes, in some cases, is to just try something, however small, and keep trying.  The key is to start, and then build on your successes. 

So on this last day of the first month of a new year...... I encourage you to create something... be proud of it ...and continue to create things!  It can be a very satisfying occupation of your time.

"Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up"  ~  Pablo Picasso

Guest Artist - Christine Penna

There is so much variety in how we all see things and how we interpret what we see.

Unique styles of expression are very interesting to me. That is why I am always excited to find other fabric collage artists who are willing to share their work.  

 Today I am showcasing the work of Christine Penna from Redding, California.  Her style is very loose, which I like, and she uses surface threads and stitching which adds another dimension to her pieces.  She gets her inspiration from paintings and from life.  Locally, they call her the  "scrap lady"  because she goes around the quilt shops on sew days to collect all of the scraps that the quilters would otherwise throw away -  a woman after my own heart :).

I will let her explain how she began "painting with fabric"

"When I started learning to quilt, I very quickly decided I didn't like the "traditional quilting and piecing process"  I admire them but don't have the patience for the preciseness of the process and I tend to get bored!

Years and years ago there was a article in Good Housekeeping about creating pictures using fabric and it stuck in my brain.  After I started looking for another way to use fabrics, I found the wonderful world of "Art Quilts" and got hooked!  Living in a rather small town I didn't have access to taking classes so I just starting reading everything I could find on the Internet regarding threadpainting, collage work, fusible applique, etc....................

The Memorial Quilt of my dog was my first attempt at putting together a collaged piece!  I printed the picture of the dog and fused it to the background piece and then just started cutting, piecing and sewing!  (the yarn on the tree was the result of working late at nite after a few glasses of wine!  I just call it "whimiscal").  It was also my first attempt at threadpainting which I enjoy!

Fabric Collage by Christine Penna

The other pieces were the result of trying to recreate some paintings I came across with fabric and thread!  I tend to try to do pieces that draw the viewer in a little deeper..........................

                                                             Fabric Collage by Christine Penna

With each piece, I try to explore different techniques and styles.  I really enjoy the challenge of creating a fabric and thread piece as if it were a watercolor or oil painting.

Fabric Collage by Christine Penna

Fabric Collage by Christine Penna

My next project will be a landscape using all those hundreds of little pieces of fabrics I've been collecting the last year!  I think I will try to use the process where you slice up a bunch of fabric into spaghetti-like pieces and group them into little color piles and then using Bonash powder, fuse them down on a background piece."

I look forward to seeing that particular project.  Thanks, Christine for being willing to share your artwork !

Keep up the great work ! 

 

LW