Three Projects Brewing in my Studio

Studio inspiration sometimes comes in spurts and sometimes In waves. I must be in a wave now. I have lots of ideas that interest me and lots of projects brewing. Here are three that are coming along in my studio this week.

PROJECT #1… The brown and black village: This will be the base of a quilt I am designing for a SAQA call for entries, “Aloft.” This is a 2020 traveling show, with entries due June 30.

The concept is two girls in a flying armchair in the sky over their village. Everything in the village will be dull, and the sky will be built of deep layers of brown. But there will be a magical element to the story – and that will be the splash of color. (I’m not ready to reveal yet.) I created a good batch of monotyped sky today, and I like the way it interacts with the opaque muslin of the village.

PROJECT #2…  “Overlooked.” Here’s the next stage of the girl in the garden with windows.  (I posted some about this piece on April 25 with more detailed photos of the sun-filled windows.)

 Now I have created the character of the girl. I was pleased with how her layers went together. There is an under-drawing on muslin, with some collage applique of sateen for her dress and sheer for the skin tone, and a little more top layer drawing with oil pastels and some acrylic washes. And I got her to blend in with the garden photos in a way that pleases me.

PROJECT #3… For “Perspectives.” This piece is what I’ve been working on for the Florida SAQA summer show. (Deadline June 1 for this one.)

 And, though I started it with plenty of time to get it completed, it has taken unexpected turns. I had a composition for this one and I followed the plan. But, when I got it all put together… well, it just wasn’t done. What I thought would be a completed work ended up feeling more like a background. The stage set, but no characters. So I’ve been living with it for a few days, and I just got the inspiration for the way to pull it all together.

 I’ll show more when it’s further along.

 (Re-reading this blog post, I realize that I have mentioned SAQA several times. For readers who are not familiar with this organization, it’s Studio Art Quilt Associates. From their website:

“SAQA is an international non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the art quilt and the artists who create them. We are an information resource on all things artquilt related for our members as well as the public. Founded in 1989 by an initial group of 50 artists, SAQA members now number more than 3,400 artists, teachers, collectors, gallery owners, museum curators and corporate sponsors.”

This is a wonderful organization and I am happy to be one of its juried artist members. You can learn more about SAQA at SAQA.com.)

THANK YOU for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

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Trading Aprons

I laugh when I look at pictures of myself in the studio and see that I wear the same clothes all the time. My favorite is my artmaking apron. It’s a terrific apron, made from a pair of denim overalls. I won it in a Christmas gift exchange in my art quilt group several years ago. I have added a good crunchy layer of paint to the front of it, built up in layers and from many days of artmaking.

Today I traded in this apron for my cooking apron, the one my daughter created for me. It has great big pockets, a dinosaur across the bottom and it is lined in a pattern of screen printed fish. I was chopping and stirring today, part of the kitchen team with my Rotary Club, preparing to feed over a thousand guests tomorrow and raise a lot of money for local causes in our annual Wild Game Feast.

What different enterprises. Working alone in the studio. Working in a team with a service cub. I like them both.

Things that are completely different can both be interesting and pleasing.

In my studio, I go back and forth between playing Mozart or Beethoven and Elton John or Paul Simon.

I am drawn to vibrant, intense colors. And sometimes a simple, subdued palette of grey and white will just take my breath away.

I love abstract art. It simply fascinates me. But it’s not what I create. And I can completely enjoy a simple, well-rendered still life of a tea cup.

I work well alone, and — if circumstances keep me away from my studio work for a few days —I long to be there creating, all by myself. But I’m also fulfilled by working in the fast-paced, close contact environment of a first grade classroom, or the shoulder-to-shoulder camaraderie of a service club project.

We are diverse and intricate creatures. We are filled with different and seemingly conflicting needs and desires. We are both curious and complacent.

Before stopping to compose this post, I was reading a great book of poems. It has filled me with appreciation of details and diversity and depth and rhythms.

And tomorrow morning I will put on my dinosaur apron and head back to the feast site and immerse myself in that very different kind of creative endeavor.

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This blog post ended up being more words than pictures. If you are in the mood to look at some pictures, may I recommend my you-tube videos? There are a number to see and they show works in progress. I hope you enjoy!

Becoming One With the Night  (My newest Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3t8B_17flM

Bobbi Baugh Studio Channel w Multiple videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHLOZMw29FpPrgr0cyBbxrw

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Overlooked. A Story Waiting to be Told

When I saw this picture, I could feel my creative wheels begin to turn. And now it’s a work-in-progress.

 (It was sent to me by my sister, who wondered if I was interested in having the windows for my home. I was not interested in the windows. But I was intrigued by the image!)

So much is going on here.

They are discarded. Overlooked. The windows seem to have been out in the garden for some time, because the weeds and vines are growing all around and through them.

The frames contain intriguing reflections.

It is a naturally defined composition – areas of dark and light.

It made me think of The Secret Garden – an untended garden, long forgotten but full of potential. (And filled with a sense of both magic and mystery.) The Secret Garden made me think of a little girl. So, now, I am creating a work that puts those things together: The abandoned windows. The abundant growth. The little girl. The sense of being overlooked. A bit of mystery.

It’s in-progress in my studio now.

So far, I have been working on the background. The quilt will be 42” x 42”. I tiled the photos to enlarge them as laser copies, then transferred onto muslin. I’ve assembled them in a random, haphazard pattern. filled with oblique angles.. Yesterday I had a wonderful morning of fabric printing. I layered greens, using stencils and wheat paste resist, to create fabric with the sense of lush growth I want the final work to have.

I set up my fabric painting station outdoors. Beautiful day. Lots of room.

Two fabric patterns I created during the paint session.

The little girl, so far, is just a pencil sketch on muslin. I love the challenge of blending more than one kind of reality in one work. The windows are a photo-based reality. The greens of the fabric are a surface design reality. The girl will  be a combination – some drawing, some layering of fabrics. I will probably need to do some watercolor-like painting (I work with acrylics) to unify the girl and the background.

As these images go together, I am “listening” to them. What story will they reveal?

Generally, when I create storytelling works I begin with the concept or idea that interests me, then create a composition to convey it. In this one, I know that the combination of the girl and the garden is emotionally compelling to me, but it it not all resolved. This one will evolve and grow.

Like weeds in a garden.

If you would like to see more storytelling works, please visit
the galleries on this website. Here are places to start:

HOME IS WHAT YOU REMEMBER GALLERY
JOURNEYS AND STORIES GALLERY

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Thanks for reading! — Bobbi

THOUGHTS ON ART "GOTTA-DO'S" … AND CHEWING ON PEAS

Things I am making myself do

Begrudgingly, haltingly, always up for any excuse to get out of it… I go to the gym for treadmill + strength exercises three times a week and Zumba once a week. I get no halos or gold stars for this; I spend every minute looking at the door and counting down the minutes. My favorite part is walking out into the parking lot and singing, “We’re done! We’re done!”

I just know I have to do it. I’m almost 65, and I want however much longer I am on the earth to be lived as free of health problems and aches and pains as possible. This is what I have to do to make that happen.

My studio practice has “gotta-do’s” also. The studio work itself is just about always a “wanna-do.” I could live happily in my studio creating all day and every day. I generally have more ideas than I have hours. (Right now there are three major works I am just itching to begin.) But, because I take my artwork seriously, and because I want to have opportunities for it to be seen, I make myself do a certain amount of marketing and promotional work regularly. This year, I set a for myself a goal to apply to more juried exhibitions, both those in the quilt community and all-media shows.

Applying to exhibitions is a lot of work.  The works need to be photographed. The digital images need to be organized. Supporting documentation (size, medium, methods, price) for all works needs to be up to date.

And did I mention artist statements? If I just heard a thunderous “ugh,” it would be from any artmakers reading who understand the difficulty of writing and keeping artist statements. I have them in different lengths for different purposes and adjusted slightly for different audiences. Creating these is a lot like being made to eat your peas. (As a kid, I used to suffer mightily over eating peas. I think I sat at the dinner table chewing a single pea for an hour once. Oddly, I now love peas of all kinds!) But, the process of writing artist statements really is satisfying once it’s done. It’s been very helpful to me to clarify thoughts about my work and what it’s about. (Sometimes in only thirty words!)

So, I am truly proud to have had some success this year with exhibition entries. I made myself do it! I have applied to six. One rejection. Five acceptances. At the end of this post I’ve listed the places I will be showing. If you live near any of them, I invite you to the shows to take a look at all the artwork. Each exhibition should be interesting.

Now I have one more gotta-do for this weekend: building two shipping boxes!

Thank you for reading! Writing my blog is a “wanna-do” task for me, mostly because of the people who are nice enough to read along and then to send me such interesting questions and comments.
THANK YOU!
-- Bobbi

Spring 2019 Exhibits

PADUCAH, KENTUCKY
Fantastic Fibers 2019
Yeiser Art Center
April 10 – June, 2019
Accepted work: “From the place Where we Landed”(on my website, HERE)

HEALDSBURG, CALIFORNIA
Reflectivity – Artists on Climate Change
Healdsburg Arts Center
April 20 – June 2, 2019
Accepted work: “End of Eden”  (on my website,  HERE)

FREDERICK, MARYLAND
2019 National Juried Exhibit – The Delaplaine Art Center
May 4 – June 16, 2019
Accepted work: “So It Will Not Break in Two”  (on my website, HERE)

ROCKY MOUNT, NC
62nd National Juried Art Exhibit – Maria V. Howard Arts Center
May 3 – August 18, 2019
Accepted work: “Sometimes you Can’t See In”  (on my website, HERE)

HILTON HEAD, SC
Biennale 2019 – Hilton Head Art League Gallery
May 7 – June 1, 2019
Accepted work: “Because That’s Where It All Begins”  (on my website, HERE)

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There’s life on the edge!

I spent the morning in the studio doing hand sewing and listening to NPR.

Sewing by hand is not my normal mode. I don’t use handwork in the body of my works or as added embellishments. The only hand work I do is attaching binding edges.

So as I stitched and listened, I thought about the edges as a chance for creative decision-making..

Painters who work on cradled boards have discovered this. Once it became acceptable for gallery-hung works to display without a frame, painters began to use this space creatively. Some wrap the image around the edge. Some leave the edge a natural wood color or paint it white or black. It’s a nice way to tie a series together.

For quilts, I generally use a strip binding edge, or strip binding combined with facing the quilt, and I try to do so creatively.

Here’s one edge of the piece I was working on this morning.

I painted this fabric strip to match other areas of the work. I attached it by machine, trimmed the seam allowance to ¼” edge, then turned the strip so that it would show on the face of the artwork. That’s the top. On the side, I turned the binding to the back so the cream color went off the artwork edge.

I did not want this work to have a boxed-in look with a contrasting binding on four sides. Here is the lower right hand-corner. I have incorporated the black-teal fabric to function visually as a border in the lower corner, although it is actually a part of the face of the quilt. On the bottom edge, I have sewed on the binding strip so that it shows.

Along the side edge, I turned the strip to the back as a facing so the shapes and patterns of that portion would go off the edge of the piece visually, without being “stopped” by the binding. This work, “Growing Unseen” is 99% done. I’ll be posting it on my web site soon. (Stay tuned.)

Here’s an example of one I completed last year that has no visible binding. “Sometimes you can’t see in.” I feel like this work has a painting-like complexity, and I wanted everything to go off the edge, no stops. (This work has been accepted into the 2019 Juried Art Show at Rocky mount NC, and will exhibit there May 3 – August 18)

I like the way this one looks on the wall.

(More info on “Sometimes you Can’t See In” HERE)

In “Every One Has a Different Story”, I added a visible binding on the bottom edge only. (I remembered this one as an example because it is currently hanging in my home, right above my computer screen. As I was typing I looked up and thought “Now there’s a good example!) The colored blocks along the bottom function almost as a sidewalk, and the strip anchors it.

(More information about “Every One Has a Different Story” can be found HERE)

Now on to some new projects. I have about six sketches for new work ready to tackle. Hmmmmmm. Where to begin?

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Hieronymous Who? And where is he going?

A work I co-created that addresses global warming is headed to an exhibit in Healdsburg, California. Here’s its story.

I first met Hieronymous Bosch in art history class. I thought he was weird.

Detail - “Garden of Earthly Delights” Hieronymous Bosch c. 1504

Hieronymus Bosch WAS weird – or, certainly, the images he created were weird. He worked in the late 1400’s creating altarpieces and commissions for patrons, but filled them with mages that skewered civic leaders and church leaders. He also filled his works with contrasts: pastoral scenes next to surreal depictions of debauchery, licentiousness and vulgarity.

Hieronymous Bosch “Garden of Earthly Delights” C. 1504

I met Hieronymous Bosch again in 2014 as part of the creative process for developing “End of Eden,” a textile artwork created in the form of an altarpiece. The work is a collaboration between myself and artist John Lewis, made to submit to SAQA’s exhibit, “Piecing Together a Changing Planet,” which traveled to 20 National Park welcome centers 2014-2016. We were pleased to have the work accepted and to keep track as it traveled to parks and was viewed by over two hundred thousand people.

It is my firm conviction that the dangers of global warming are self-inflicted, the result of human folly, public policy that is unable to grapple with real events, and corporate greed. So, John and I wanted to make a piece that poked hard at leaders of all kinds and would provide viewers with food for thought. We looked to Bosch as our guide.

A pastoral portion of “Garden of Earthly Delights”

The fountain. “End of Eden” Bobbi Baugh and John Lewis. 2014

(Just a little note here about collaborations. Phew! Whatever the artmaking spectrum is, John and I are at opposite ends of it. I work fast and intuitively. John is methodical and a fastidious planner. Between us, we managed to create the PhotoShop images of characters and scenes and make all the photo transfers. John painstakingly pulled all the burlap threads to create the sense of water. I sewed the gold fabric into the “altarpiece” frame.)

So, when you see our work, you’ll see some of Bosch, some of John Lewis, and some of me. Our next stop is the Healdsburg Center for the Arts in Healdsburg, California, to exhibit in “Reflectivity – Artists and Climate Change.”

Detail, “Garden of Earthly Delights.” Hieronymous Bosch

Detail “End of Eden”. We’ve added the CEO of BP and the oil spill to Bosch’s ship of fools segment, and translated one of Bosch’s gluttons into David Koch,.

A scene of hellfire from “Garden of Earthly Delights”

The scene of hellfire from “End of Eden”. The water has diminished to a single drop - not even enough to fill a thimble

My recent body of work has been focused on inner stories and inner journeys. This is still important to me. But, neither I nor any other artist lives in a self-contained bubble. We’re part of the real world. I am pleased to be part of this work and part of this exhibit that asks artists to address a critical world issue. Bon voyage Hieronymous!

Preparing End of Eden” for shipment to California.

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In honor of Women’s History Month… Thinking about Expectations

What else was there beyond the alley, beyond the neighborhood?

What else was there to be?

I was not taught to ask.

I was not taught to wonder.

I was not taught to dream.

I was taught to soldier on, to be good, and —apparently — not to expect too much

And so, asking, wondering, dreaming, and taking steps to follow my own path came to me late in life. But, hurray! I made it.

I volunteer in a first grade classroom twice a week, and I look with wonder at each little child in my class. They are shining gems, little treasures of possibilities. I don’t know what kinds of homes or families they go home to each day. I can easily imagine the obstacles, hardships and inequities each of them will face as they grow. For each of them my hope is wider expectations, the ability to look, hope and dream beyond whatever smallness may define where they are now.

A few years ago I created “Small Expectations.” I’ll just go ahead and admit that it’s one of my favorite works. I created the image of the two girls in the center, dressed in their go-to-Sunday-School dresses, from a family photo of myself and my sister.  

Behind the girls, I have created a background suggesting their diminished expectations. The words from a mid-twentieth century etiquette book fill the fabric behind them. The symbols of birds indicate the innocence of the girls. The alphabet border and ABC blocks give the work a feel of simplicity and elementary school lessons. Yet, these real and implied life instructions were serious business.

For you, little girls… GREAT expectations!

(Small Expectations is 33” x 24”, mounted on a birch panel and framed from the back so the work appears to float 2” from the wall. It is available, on my website HERE.)

In 1987, Congress declared March as National Women's History Month in perpetuity. A special Presidential Proclamation is issued every year which honors the extraordinary achievements of American women. President Jimmy Carter's Message to the nation designated March 2-8, 1980 as National Women's History Week.

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Thanks for reading. I always enjoy receiving questions and comments.

— Bobbi

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Simple forms – Complex ideas

Today I submitted “So It Will Not Break in Two” to a juried all-medium show in Maryland. (It will be a few weeks before I know if it’s accepted.) But it caused me to look at this work again, (I created it in 2018) and to think through what I had in mind when I created it.

This is a very simple piece. It’s more than simple – it’s child-like in construction. The three little houses are like the houses children draw. I wanted to use this viewpoint as a way to enter the concept of houses – homes — that break apart.

By its nature, idea of a home broken in two will stir up memories and emotions in viewers. Yet, I wanted the work to be interesting and thought-provoking, not depressing. A story-telling approach seemed like a good way in.

Things are amiss.

The houses have trees growing inside them.

The horizon line is slanted, not straight.

There are windows that appear to open into the interiors, but the images inside the windows are mostly scenes of outdoors.

At the same time, I have included visual elements that I just love to look at.

The deep teal blue of the sky is wonderful against the bright red roofs. The layered trees in the background are built from delicate stenciled washes of color, unified with a spatter pattern. It suggests a fairytale forest. Each house contains a splash of intense phthalo blue; what a color! And the diagonal lines in the foreground create energy and movement.

I think one of the things I most enjoy about creating storytelling works is that they have more to reveal after the first glance. When somebody selects a work to welcome into their home, I want it to be a source of new discoveries for many years.

“So It Will Not Break in Two” is available for purchase. It is on my web site, HERE.

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Thanks for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.

—Bobbi bobbibaughart@gmail.com

A window into art (and the heart of the artmaker)

Again I am thinking about windows.

This is not new for me. I have been incorporating windows into my compositions for awhile now. They are connected to my thoughts about home and my thoughts about one’s journey. (Which starts at home. And ends up wherever it ends up. Probably a new home.)

A discarded door by the side of the road a few doors down in my neighborhood caught my eye. It has inspired me to think how to incorporate it into a new work. I shot a few reference photos. I like the way the light is reflected in the panes and I like the way the light and shadows make patterns on the door portion. This is very emotionally compelling to me. A door should be an entry. But it’s been discarded. Is the portal closed? Is there still a way into meaning?

Two works in progress in my studio have windows too.

The work in progress show above (photographed on my worktable) is a dream and memory piece. I have inserted water and abstract pattern into the window panes. The strong windowpane pattern invites one to look through. But what’s there is unexpected.

This one is not as far along. I am thinking about developing it into an entry for a Florida SAQA juried show in June, “Perspectives.” It’s more compelling visually than emotionally to me – so far. The strong sense of light on the windows conveys warmth. These windows were also discarded. An invitation to look inside, but set aside from that purpose.

I just completed a large art quilt with a window at its center. “Look Through to the Memory.” (2019 – 42” x 42”) I worked to make the window a source of the invitation to enter the story. The character (the little girl) is connected to the window, and the dream-like contents of the panes connect visually to the dream-like environment beyond the window..

(Above: detail, girl sitting on the window frame. You can see the whole work – “Look Through to the Memory” and get more information about the completed piece on my website, HERE.) 

The work below, “Sometimes You Can’t See In” includes multiple windows. It was inspired by photos I took of an abandoned house on Hwy 301 in Central Florida. The boarded shut windows, obviously, prevent one from looking inside. That made me think about windows in homes generally. Can we see through them to the lives inside? Might the life within be obscured by the façade? How can you enter and find out what’s really there?

I’m so pleased that “Sometimes You Can’t See In” has been accepted into the 62nd National Multi-Media Juried Art Exhibit at the Maria C. Howard Arts Center in Rocky Mount, NC. It will exhibit there May 3 – August.

(You can see the whole work and get more information about the completed piece on my website, HERE.)

My purpose in working with window images is
to offer an invitation to the viewer.
Look inside. Try to see through.
My thoughts and my heart as an artist
are in these works. Look. Look again.

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I always enjoy questions and comments. Thanks for reading!

Bobbi
bobbibaughart@gmail.com

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Meanwhile, back to Square Two

Exhibiting at the Tarpon Springs Fine Art Festival this past weekend, I enjoyed the chance to talk one-on-one with a lot of festival-goers about my process of artmaking.  It’s great when people are interested enough to ask questions about how work is made!

I heard myself saying this a lot: “Much of the art is created BEFORE I put the whole work together.” I may –- and frequently do –- paint and stencil additional imagery on a piece after the parts are assembled. But this is not the primary stage of artmaking.

That happens at “square two” -– creating the printed yardage. I have come to use this stage as an integral part  of the design, development and composition process.

(First a note about “square one:” working out concepts and designs in my sketchbook. That always comes first. I am happy when surprises occur along the way, but I don’t create yardage or collage fabrics randomly. I always plan where I’m going and make all the parts to accomplish a specific purpose.)

Meanwhile, back at “square two.”  I work exclusively with acrylic paint on fabric. As I have concentrated on this medium for several years, I have worked to get the richest possible range of colors and effects. I mix the variables of what surface I am printing (rice paper, or sheer fabric, or cotton muslin fabric) with the quality of the paint (un-diluted straight from the jar, thinned with water or medium, or used wet-into-wet.) Most of my surface design techniques are very low-tech. I love that! I like the challenge of creating complex and subtle effects with simple methods.

Here are some work-in-progress shots from a large work I am developing in the studio now.

From my sketchbook… notes on a current work in progress

Square one: the sketch. I will create this work in a square format about 42” x 42”. I want a work that stirs emotion, dream and memory. I envision a soft overall effect, and some sense of aging or things past. (There is no title for the work yet. It will come to me at some point during the creation process.)

I decided to combine stencil painting with some wheat past resist. This is one of my favorite mark-making techniques. The first step is to mix up a batch of wheat paste. It’s just flour plus water. I mix it  till about the consistency of pancake batter, then pour it all over the fabric., then use a credit card to pull the batter out to a very thin coating over the whole piece of fabric. If I get the thickness of the paste just right, I’ll scribe marks in the surface that will eventually print as marks on the fabric. Then I go away a minimum of 24 hours or till the paste is very very dry. It will start to crackle.

Wheat paste dried on fabric - a natural crackle pattern

Wheat paste dried on fabric - with marks made in the paste

Next, I crinkle the dried fabric/paste well to create more cracks, then spread acrylic paint over the top of the paste. The goal is to force the paint down into cracks. Again I go away for awhile to let the paint dry.

Fabric pieces with wheat paste plus paint, out in the sun to dry.

Wheat paste on fabric, with teal blue paint. The paint will go down into the cracks.

When it’s time to remove the paste, I fill a bucket with warm water and let the wheat paste get mushy so it can be cleaned off. Then I scrape it off and hand wash the fabric. (Generally, I do this outside in the garden hose.)

Here is some of the recent yardage I’ve created.

Now, I can begin to see the whole work take shape in my head. The sketch gave me a general sense of layout and proportion of parts. Now, I am inspired and interested in putting these parts together. The simple process of printing the fabric has become an integral element in the final work.

NOW for just a little tooting of my own horn:
I was honored to receive a $1,000 award of distinction at the Tarpon Springs Festival. I appreciated the thoughtful questions and decision-making process of the judges.

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Thanks for reading.

Bobbi

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A Little Video... Art Quilt "Becoming One with the Night" step-by-step

I recently put together a little video about the making of this art quilt.

I believe that people appreciate a piece of artwork more when they know what goes into its creation. So, I have tried to address both the inspiration and the step-by-step process.

I remembered one particular part of making this quilt as I reviewed the images:

The underlying structure of squares in tension with the overpainted trees.

I remember that after I had printed and collaged all the individual squares, as I was laying them out in various patterns to finalize the composition, I almost didn’t go any further. I loved the squares. The colors were delicate and the patterns were interesting. I just wanted to look at them.

But, at that stage the piece did not accomplish the emotional goal I had for it. There was no reason for a character to enter the scene if it was just pretty squares. So I proceeded to the overpainting and the final composition.

Now, however, I know they are under there. It is one of the interesting aspects of creating textile works in sections. Even when the sections are not an obvious part of the final design, they are an underlying structure. They are in communication with, sometimes in tension with, whatever layers are on top. All of this adds depth and interest to the work, even when the viewer is not—at first—aware of their presence.

I enjoyed sharing this work in person with visitors during my recent studio tour. I hope you enjoy watching the video.

(The video should show below automatically.

If not, you can find it on You tube, here: )

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Making Connections... Does it Matter?

In the first grade class where I volunteer, the teacher lavishes praise on students who make a connection. If the kids are reading about a figure from history in a non-fiction text, for example, and one points out a similarity to a fiction story they’ve read, that’s a good sign of putting ides together.

This evening I’m thinking about some different recent connections.

Over the weekend, I opened my studio to DeLand’s Annual “Off the Beaten Path” Art Studio Tour. What a great weekend. The two days were filled with conversations, and visitors having the chance to get a behind-the-scenes view of my artwork. Touching a stack of printed yardage and seeing a brayer and a bottle of matte medium are everyday occurrences for me. But, for the visitor, they are a way in to an understanding what textile collage is all about.

At my worktable during the studio tour, surrounded by some of my favorite image-making stencils.. (Thanks for photo Ken Naigus)

When I first started showing my artwork locally, I was nervous about displaying and hoping to sell my work to people I knew. I thought they or I would be embarrassed, and that it was better to sell to strangers. Not true!

The lessons I had learned during my career in the printing business, working primarily with customers in my local community, held true with presenting my art as well. People like to do business with people they know. Learning that was important. If you are an artist: find opportunities to introduce yourself to patrons. If you are an enjoyer-of-art or a patron: don’t be afraid to ask questions and to learn more about an artist and her work. It will help you enjoy the artwork more. (And the artist will be thrilled!)

During the tour, several of my visitors were members of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) and my local Surface Design Group, Arts. Etc. During those visits, we got to talk tech a bit. Being in a community of like-minded artmakers is essential! I enjoy the diverse methods and creative paths I’ve discovered from companionship with other artists. Some of my art buddies are my best encouragers.

I enjoyed the visit from SAQA member Pamela Burns during the studio tour. (Thanks for the photo))

During the tour, the laundry room was converted into an art gallery when I set up my display panels. “Becoming One With The Night” greeted visitors into the laundry room gallery.

Finally, I am learning that connections with people far away work too. I always enjoy the questions and comments I get from my blog and from website visitors.  And, just today, I was featured in this article in TextileArtist.Org.  I was honored when they asked me to do the interview, and pleased with the presentation they put together. Already I’ve had some nice e-mail correspondence with some of their readers.

Let’s connect! I hope you’ll find time to put your feet up and have a leisurely read. (Or even just enjoy the many pictures.) Here’s the article:
 http://www.textileartist.org/bobbi-baugh-an-expert-in-hand-printing-fabrics-for-mixed-media-collage-design

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There's Blue. And then there's BLUE!

I used to think I didn’t like using blue in my artwork. I am very drawn to warm earth tones . I love terra cotta and orange. (And I actually do have a real aversion to pale baby blue.)

Then, I took a look at my body of work. There it is: lots of blue. And today, working on several very different projects in my studio, I rediscovered the ranges of blue I use, and my reactions to them.

This is a fun series I created several years ago. I am updating the presentation. I had mounted these on birch panels with a raw-edge muslin fringe, which I later concluded was quite a  mistake. They have lived on my shelf for several years. There are four in the series. I really like the soft watercolor-like images of the palm fronds and the backgrounds. (All monotype prints on sheer fabric.) So I’m adding a punch of very bright color as a frame. (These are also monotype printed, but on cotton muslin.)

This in-your-face very very blue is an unusual choice for me. It can overpower everything else quickly. On this lighthearted series of collages, I think it works. I’m enjoying these.

A few feet away on my easel is a work I’ve just completed that is part of my series focusing on home and memory. Again, there’s lots of blue. And, some is printed on sheers and some on muslin. But so different from the fish pieces!

(Detail - “Looking Through to the Memory”)

Adding finishing detail - “Looking Through to the Memory”

I’ve found my blue home when I mix phthalo blue with varying degrees of burnt umber, or — sometimes — raw sienna. This range of color is magical to me. It moves nicely into lighter, washy hues. It is wonderful when it’s heavy and deep. I also like this range of blues as a connecting color in landscape/nature-based works.

Looks like I relate to blue more than I believed.

Detail of another blue monotype in my studio now. I’m still formulating a plan for this one.

AN INVITATION: This weekend, I will be one of 22 artists in the DeLand area opening our studios on the Off-The-Beaten-Track Studio Tour, Saturday and Sunday 10-5. If you are in the Central Florida area, please accept this invitation to visit my studio. The tour website is FloridaArtsTour.com. That’s where you find artist information and a map. If you are not a DeLand resident and haven’t discovered our wonderful downtown, that’s another good reason for a day trip adventure. Explore art, meet artists, and enjoy lunch or dinner downtown. A perfect day!

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Rain-soaked sculpture… and 3 art tips we learned

Today is studio Monday. I’m working on a new large collage of transparent colors

But yesterday was a day for sculpture and learning.

Two things impressed me Sunday morning. First: Eleven people were motivated to show up in rainy weather to walk around downtown DeLand to learn about our public sculptures. (I was the tour guide. But I will give more credit to the motivation of the after-tour brunch that was planned.)

Second: that we actually have a well-established and interesting public sculpture program in DeLand, Florida to visit — a tribute to our City government’s support, an active museum committee and lots of volunteers and supporters.

As we walked from sculpture to sculpture, I hoped to fill the rainy adventure with a few art take-aways. When you walk up to a sculpture, or any artwork, and it doesn’t immediately resonate or speak to you, how do you respond? I believe people sometimes feel intimidated by viewing work in a Museum. If it’s there you figure it must have some value. But what if you don’t get it – or don’t like it?  Out on a sidewalk art feels more accessible.

So, at each step, our group talked through a 3-step process.

Step 1: Just react with your gut. Some works are an immediate “Yes! I love this!” Some are works are a “Hmmmm, I’m just not getting anything from this.” And some are a “No. I have an immediate negative reaction to this work.” Any of those initial gut responses is acceptable and permissible.

One of the sculptures in downtown DeLand: “Continuacion” by Jiminez Deredia. Its massive form is evident next to a City worker during the installation.

Step 2: Try naming the elements. Elements of design are found in varying degrees in all artwork. Color. Line. Shape. Volume. Positive-and-negative space. Values. Direction. Rhythm. Pattern.  Working your way through an artwork, looking for these things and identifying them, is a way to become more involved with the work beyond the initial response.

A few times on our walk there were some “Aha” moments. “Look at that line, how it goes up on a curve. I wonder why the artist did that?” Asking the questions and wondering about the answers can help a work start to make more sense.

Step 3: Find out what you can from the artist’s statement or other resources. Even the title of a work can add insight. Knowing that an artist was once a biology teacher, for example, might explain a work’s relationship with nature. Descriptions of materials and methods help too. Imagine the experience of carving marble. Or imagine the process of welding steel pieces. All this background information can deepen the understanding of a work.

On our tour we had a few “Hmmm I’m not sure” reactions go up to a “Yes!” after reacting more with the work. (We didn’t get much change on the “No” reaction.)  All OK. I enjoy living in a City where our downtown allows the chance to interact with art.

Now it’s back to the studio for me.

This is Bobbi with another sculpture from downtown DeLand: Three Point One” by Alex Mendez. This photo was taken on a nice sunny evening during the opening event, when the work had just been installed.

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Original. Or not.

An exhibit of works by Robert Indiana has left me thinking about originality. What’s original? What’s not?

Indiana is best-known for his iconic LOVE sculpture and graphic design, which was featured on a US postage stamp. The exhibit I visited in the Tampa Museum of Art featured his 3-D assemblages, largely wood plus found metal and machine parts. It’s part of his body of work I had not experienced before.

Throughout the exhibit, there were “identical”sculptures side-by-side. (Like the steer skulls shown above, which were full size and mounted atop a large wooden tree-like column.) The teaching materials explained that he created cast bronze duplicates of some of his sculptural assemblages then painted them to match the original. Seeing the two side-by-side was fascinating.  Technically fascinating. Artistically intriguing.

The whole idea of a cast bronze is the opportunity to have more than one of a work created. But, I generally think of sculpture of that type as something created for the purpose of being replicated, created originally as clay or stone and then molded and cast in hot metal. Indiana’s replicated assemblages were far more complex.

Artists who create two-dimensional work for sale, I believe, struggle with decisions about creating reproductions. Of course, it’s just flat-out unethical to pass off a reproduction (generally a digital print) as an original work. But, if the artist clearly marks the reproduction as such, and the collector knows what he is purchasing, all OK?

I surely can’t fault any artist who creates reproductions as a way to mix price points and to create a sellable range of artwork. Artists have to make a living. But, I do think every artist has to think the issue through. Cranking out too many reproductions can diminish the value of the original image.

One of the things I enjoy about creating my textile collaged works and art quilts is that I do not feel tempted to reproduce them as giclees. A flat canvas, even one reproduced well, would be clearly completely different from the original. Seeing the layers, textures and stitches is part of the experience. So, I only create and only sell one-of-a-kind-works.

My struggles and decisions about originality are more internal. Am I creating a work that is authentic? Am I expressing thought or emotional content that is born from my own unique life experience?

Those are the things that reproduction technology can’t duplicate. It’s what makes art: art.

Here’s a detail of “Sometimes You Can’t See In,” a collaged art quilt from 2018. It incorporates my own photos hand-transferred to fabric: a kind of reproduction. My hope is that I have incorporated them into a work that is unique and personally expressive.

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The Little Paper Doll Girl goes on a journey

Hello little friend. It’s nice to see you again.

There’s a large wall space above my computer desk, and I spend a lot of time there. Periodically I switch out works from my storage shelves to the wall so I can see them and think about them. “We Remember It In Pieces” is visiting there now.

So, there just above my desk lamp is the little paper doll girl. I created this stencil in 2010 as I was beginning to experiment with monotype printing and using hand-cut stencils. One of the things I love about stencils is that they can provide a personal vocabulary – images to return to.

This simple shape speaks powerfully to me. First, the classic shape of the feet, where the slot between would hold a piece to make the paper doll stand, immediately transports me to a different time. This is how the paper dolls were made when I was a girl. I played with mine for hours. I created clothing for them and then created adventures for them.

She represents an innocent little soul. She is a rule-follower and an accepter. Who she is and what she does will be dictated by the outfits that are made for her — defining the roles she will assume.

When I first created works drawing on the concepts of journey and the interior life, the paper doll girl appeared in the works.

This is “Shallow Soil.” It was one of my first monotype collaged works completed and framed, and it is still a personal favorite. (Several years ago it hung the DeLand’s Museum of Art during a juried members’ show.) I like the juxtaposition of a growing girl next to a growing plant form. Both need nourishment to survive.

This is “Portals,” created about a year later. The landscape is more complex now, but the journey is still evident. I sense choices in this environment, and some scariness.

Since those early works, I have depicted girls and young women in larger textile works as more complex drawn figures: seated, contemplative, ambiguous.

Then, last fall as I was completing my series “Home is What You Remember”, I felt like I wanted a character to inhabit this neighborhood remembered. The paper doll stencil was pulled from her storage drawer and used to print her image again. In this work, she is a small part of a complex image, and not immediately obvious in the scene at all. (As is often true for little girls.)

I am enjoying spending some time with her while she is here on my wall.

These works are all available, on my web site. For more information:
Shallow Soil
Portals
We Remember It In Pieces

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Work in Progress… Surface Design to get the fabric talking

I’m in the middle of a new art quilt that will be 40” x 40”. I’ve printed all of the parts and have begun the composition.

I’ve been working this one in sections, quilting as I go.  These sections will function as background, intended to be part of the emotional storytelling. So, I want to get an overall harmony, while still creating splashes of interest that warrant taking a second look, and maybe a sense of surprise.

It’s about “talking to each other,” or that’s how it feels a I create. The pieces don’t have to match, they just have to talk to one another across the whole composition.

Stitching across the patterns: This block has five pieces, and each one is a pretty strong color pattern. The surface stitching here has a unifying effect. The strong diagonal lines criss-cross the different blocks, giving them a texture that’s in common.

Theme and variation:  I relief-printed this squiggly line pattern on two different fabrics.  They are not right next to each in the quilt. But I like the harmony created by their same-but-different appearance.

Stitch and spatter: This block of three also has very strong patterns and I used two ways to bring them into relationship with each other. The stitched pattern is again long connecting lines, but this time in long arcs. I also spatter painted the sections after stitching, creating another unifying element.

Some of my favorite spattering supplies.

(Confession: I just love to spatter. I take the fabrics to the cement area outside my studio, lay them down on the ground, grab my favorite little spatter-producing brush and go for it. I am generally barefoot, and often wear the spatter pattern on my toes and feet for a few days.)

I love the spontaneous and unpredicted things that happen as part of printing and painting fabric. It’s  where the delight and surprise happen. For the overall piece - I am a planner and a sketcher. I definitely have a finished composition in mind when I begin. These small parts will work together to accomplish the quilt’s concept — I hope.  Or they may introduce something new I hadn’t planned.

Thanks for reading. I always welcome questions and comments.

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Four lessons from art masters: Windows

I am beginning a new series of art quilts and I am thinking about windows, working out compositions in my sketchbook.

I discovered the appeal of windows as I created my “Home” series in 2018. Almost all of the works incorporated a shape of a house. But, as the series developed, I also became increasingly interested in the windows.

A window invites one to look inside.

A window may reveal, or it may obscure the interior.

I like the rhythm of panes in windows.

So, as I am looking ahead, I want to draw on what I am discovering about windows, and see if I can take it further or explore in some new ways.

To get my thoughts rolling, I’ve been studying windows that I’ve discovered in the works of master artists to see what I can learn.  Here are four I’ve noted in my sketchbook.

Windows as Depth– This is “Spring Fed” (painted in 1967) by Andrew Wyeth. (1917-2009) The subject matter is sparse and the colors are muted. The first place my eyes go is the darkness of the water and the trough. Then that vertical black shadow in the water leads up to the vertical center of the window. Once at the window, I look through to the next room, and then through the smaller window and out beyond the wall to the animals in the yard. The window is the way into the journey beyond the foreground.

Window as Composition - This is “The Open Window” (painted in 1917) by cubist painter Juan Gris (1887-1927). I enjoy the distorted perspectives of cubism and the interest in seeing a thing in more than one way at one time. In this work, the window is a strong unifying element. It is holding together all the different shapes and objects.  Both the still life objects inside and the natural elements outside are contained by the window frame. The shape of the window is the strongest and the simplest element in the composition. (Yet, there is still the opportunity for playful mixing up of space. See how the clouds/sky come in through the window onto the shutter?)

Windows as storytelling device - This is “Night Window” (1928) by Edward Hopper. (1882-1967) (One of my favorite artists.) The windows are interior frames, revealing or suggesting a story within. The overall painting is dark, but inside the windows is light. The windows reveal the breeze, with the single curtain blowing through the window. And, of course, there’s the very intriguing backside of a woman revealed.

Windows as balance – This is “Cottage Interior with Woodburning Stove and Geraniums on the Windowsill” by Andrew Wyeth. Wyeth’s seemingly simple depictions of interiors sometimes just take my breath away. This one has a very strong emotional pull to me. The only character is the woman, but she is all the way over on the edge of the picture frame and partially hidden. Balancing her, all the way over on the other side of the image, the light-filled window is a contrast. I find myself going back and forth between them: left to the woman, right to the sunny window, then back over to the woman. They balance one another and provide a dynamic quality to this very quiet, immobile interior scene.

For me, the process of developing an idea may proceed on a different route for each concept. I like the windows element in my work. I’m hoping a combination of looking at others’ works and sketching out my own ideas will lead to a body of work that accomplishes what I envision. Stay tuned. I’ll keep working on this idea and write as I go.

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Water Magic

I’ve been thinking about water, and about incorporating more water images into a new body of work.

Over the holidays, I took a photo-shooting walk in a beautiful preserve near my home to capture images. My goal was a group of shots for transfer to fabric.

I was amazed, first, at the richness of imagery available in just the smallest bodies of water. Almost puddles, small ditches beside the walking path held wonderful surprises – colors, reflections, a sense of depth.

In one spot, the water had a current. What a difference! I am still amazed when I look at these pictures. They look like molten glass, or like I have applied some PhotoShop effect to the image. This is just the delightful, amazing look of water in motion.

These leaves are photographed through about 6 inches of clear water

And I was surprised by the number of pictures I shot that will not work for my intended purpose at all. When I stood directly over the water, looking straight through it to grasses and leaves at the bottom of the ditch, the water was so clear that in the photo it became invisible. These are interesting natural textures, but they do not look like water.

(It seems to me the lesson here is about more than just photography. About the process of looking through. Seeing beyond. Allowing a barrier to disappear as we see what is behind it.)

When images of water are captured with some motion and bit of angle, they are – to me – just magical. They make me want to stop, to see in, to wonder about what is going on below the surface. Water in movement is a wonderful thought-provoking addition to works where I want to urge the viewer to look more deeply.

(Here are some detail shots of works I have created previously that incorporate water images.)

“Once She Could” art quilt. Water detail. The whole quilt can be seen on my web site HERE

“And All that’s Gone Before” art quilt.. Water detail. The whole quilt can be seen on my web site HERE

“Sometimes You Can’t See In” art quilt. Water detail. The whole quilt can be seen on my web site HERE.

“Where it is Strangely Like Home” art quilt. Water detail. The whole quilt can be seen HERE

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Two Unanswered Questions

The rhythm of printmaking by hand lends itself to contemplation. Once I am in printing mode, I find that I am both working with my hands and going elsewhere inside.

December 23 was a printmaking morning for me, and also a day of thinking. Thirty two years ago on that day my daughter was born. How has that passage of time and the accumulation of experience and memory occurred?

I do not write this in the sense of, “Wow! Time sure does fly!”  That, of course, is something we all experience.

I am wondering about the mechanism of memory and time. Are there specific cells in my brain which hold specific pictures and sounds? As all of our body cells are dying and recreating constantly, how, then, do we retain those memories? Where are they?

Thirty two years ago my daughter was a wonderful new being — warm, squirming, fascinating, and, as I realized I actually knew nothing about babies, a little terrifying. Today she is a warm and wonderful young woman. Such transformation, such experiences.

Exactly how all this occurs is my first unanswered question. (Admittedly, a large and vague question. The stuff of science.)

What to do with it is the second. (The stuff of art)

I take my artmaking seriously. I believe I am doing my best, most interesting  and most meaningful work when it digs at least a little below surface and aesthetic considerations and touches meanings or memory and experience. Each of us, when we create, is bringing to the work all that we are, all that we know, and all that we don’t know.

Can my work be both visually compelling and thought-provoking?

Can I create work that touches memory and experience in another person?

Does the work need representational subject matter to do that? Can abstract forms and colors communicate as well?

The unfolding and continuing of this second question is what keeps me interested.

Below: A few works that felt, as I created them,
drawn from inner experience.

“Find Something Real to Remember” (DETAIL) On my web site, HERE

“Where You Have Long Since Forgotten” On my web site HERE

“Neither Up Nor Down” on my web site HERE

“Flight of the Magical Lawnchair” On my web site HERE

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