Fibre Arts Take Two

I recently had the honor and pleasure of spending an hour talking with Tara Axford of Fibre Arts Take Two out of Sydney, Australia about my art practice. If you are not familiar with them, you should be. On Instragram they can be found @fibreartstaketwo and their website is: https://www.fibreartstaketwo.com/

When I think of the many organizations that promote the arts that I know of, rarely do they meet the outreach that FATT does. This is a true dedication to connect artists with the public at large in everything related to the art of fibre not to mention the education opportunities that are also available through FATT.

As the Friday, Oct. 4th feature artist, the live broadcast on Facebook will start at 3pm tomorrow afternoon EST (Sydney is 14 hours ahead of us currently) on Thursday Oct. 3rd — the link to this event is: https://www.facebook.com/events/901785465141060?ref=newsfeed — join us if you can!

If you miss the broadcast you can see the video on YouTube @: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQG3_WxJX_M

Many, many thanks to all of you at FATT who have made this opportunity possible.

Color Paper Scissors

COLLAGE. This time honored medium is having a global moment as artists all over the world are incorporating paper into their daily studio work. For my part, I’ve been working in this genre for about five years now and really can’t imagine letting the collage aspect of my work go anytime soon. Indeed, the interest in my collage workshops remains strong as this medium is very forgiving and doesn’t require drawing skills. I’ve even completely rearranged my studio to accommodate the organization of my collage material—this is essential to keeping my sanity as an artist.

Urban Botanical #372

87 x 12.5 inches — various collage papers, acrylic house paint and Irish linen waxed thread on hand stitched canvas. Industrial thread spool armature.

I’ve also begun to work more with hand stitched canvas this year and I’m looking at a more textile approach in my art practice. This is a natural exploration for me as I combine book arts sensibilities with my collage work. I’m still pursuing work on panel, both aluminum and wood, as well as using a lot of vintage book covers as my substrate. There is continuity as well as exploration as I navigate change and solidify my every day practice in the studio.

Urban Collage #373 displayed in the AVA Juried Members show 2024

78.5 x 68.5 inches — various collage papers, acrylic house paint and Irish linen waxed thread on hand stitched canvas. Wood, leather and hex bolt armature.

Urban Collage #330 hanging in TETHER (on the right)—the September show in the main gallery of The Loft in Marietta, Georgia on the square (photo courtesy of The Loft Marietta).

Also, a new era has begun as this year has seen some changes in representation for me—Citron Gallery in Asheville has closed its doors, this summer heralded the end of the relationship with my Nashville gallery, and exciting new representation began with The Loft Marietta. Change is always imminent, especially within the art world, and its best to roll with the punches and embrace new challenges.

The Flying Fruit Bowl — Dialogue of a Creative Journey →

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”

~Thomas Merton

Urban Collage #297 — Available @ A Gallery Fine Art

It’s not often that I look back at the entire creative journey that has brought me to where I am today as an abstract artist, but I recently had one hell of a conversation with Aaron S of The Flying Fruit Bowl. TFFB is both a platform and a podcast series that is DEDICATED TO THE DISCUSSION AND EXPLORATION OF ART AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS. Aaron is based in the UK and brings to you his passion for long conversations that meander around your particular journey with insightful questions that make you see things in a new light. A photographer himself, Aaron understands the sacrifices and demands that revolve around a creative path in modern society.

In a world that is increasingly less private, where can we go to just listen? Finding sources of authentic content has gone the way of the dinosaur—pretty much extinct. Aaron and his team have produced some fantastic podcasts that I’ve listened to on TFFB, and is one source that I will treasure and return to again for creative content that’s worth my time.

If you’d like to listen to my interview with Aaron, it’s been split into parts 1 and 2 — each 1.5 hours of dialogue that dissected my creative journey:

Part 1: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2NZ1UqEnOX2MJzjXEQvuqJ

Part 2: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4THOLHRrQuBMFYQJZnIm0Z