Arashi Shibori class

Arashi Shibori workshop will start Dec. 4, 2010. It runs 3 Saturdays. It is fun, and a good start for garments, quilts, and art pieces. Fabric will wind with thread and wrap around PVC tube, put in to dye pot. Then,,,,what a wonderful surprise! Please join!

p.s.

I am in Yokohama in Japan visiting my family. I will make a trip to Kyoto. There are so many things to see, to meet friends, museums. I will talk more exh. I will attend some symposium about Chinese Textiles in 14th century.

Hey Hey We're the Sock Monkeys!

What a great time we had making sock monkeys in the Textile Department last weekend.

We stitched and stuffed and stitched some more.  This is Hans below:

It also was somewhat of a birthday party for one of the participants who decided to take her monkey home and embroider all of its features so that it would be more baby friendly.

Even those who swore they could not stitch walked away with a fabulous sock monkey.

Let's do it again!

Just A Reminder

Just wanted to put out a reminder that the Illinois Chapter meeting for the Surface Design Association is happening tomorrow (Saturday) October 30, 2010 at LillStreet at 10am in the Textile Dept. The first part of the meeting will be discussing Surface Design Association business and the second part will be discussing our work and doing some show and tell. Afterward many of us will most likely wonder down to the First Slice Cafe and have lunch. Come see what the Surface Design Association is all about (and bring something you have made to share). I hope to see you there! :)

Call For Artist! Deadline Is October 29th

Artist in Residency. Camille Canales. 2008

Residencies begin January 2011, and are termed from 6 months- 1year. A 6-month evaluation
of the resident artist will determine if the residency will be extended through the end of the year.
Residents must be present in their department 20 hrs/week and do a variety of tasks including
but not limited to assisting students, tech and monitoring work as well as their own artwork.
Additional duties may be assigned.

Residency includes:

Workspace in one of the department classrooms
24-hour access to building
Monthly stipend -$100 for Art Materials
Free classes in any department

Opportunities to teach in Lillstreetʼs programs after 3 months-(paid)
Group exhibition with other department resident artists
Opportunity to curate a textiles gallery show
Opportunity to host artist lecture

Residency does not include:
Housing or food
Travel costs
Purchasing of equipment

Artist in Residency. Eric K. Mercer. 2009

Mission of Resident Artist Program:

Lillstreetʼs resident artist program was established to benefit the Lillstreet community,
as well as the resident artists themselves. The residents in each of our 8 departments
dedicate time to work with our students outside of their classes in order to enrich our

studentsʼ experience by seeing and learning from a working artist. The resident also
serves as a resource for our teachers by assisting in classes and teaching workshops.
We want the residency to be a dedicated time for the artist to develop their work or

produce a specific piece that would become part of the Lillstreet Galleryʼs permanent
collection upon completion of the residency term- to be determined by resident artist
and department head.

Johana Moscoso actual artist in residency. 2010.

Expectations for Resident Artists:
Residents must actively participate in our community and sustain its vitality and unique
character: that is sharing knowledge and enthusiasm for creative expression. Lillstreet
has evolved into a unique creative community because of this shared commitment
among faculty, staff, students and artists. We want our resident artists to support the
inquiries of our students no matter how basic the question is. Residents must be open
and willing to share knowledge with a wide variety of students of all ages, backgrounds
and levels of artistic ability. The residency is suitable for post-graduate artists or
those on sabbatical, although exceptional candidates with other backgrounds will be
considered on a case-by-case basis.

Resident Artist is expected to:
-monitor 8hrs minimum (can be part of 20 weekly hours)
-assist in large enrollment classes
-post scheduled hours in department and blog
-think of a revitalizing project to add/brighten up shared studio space
-maintain personal studio space clean
-contribute regularly to studio blog: www.lillstreettextiles.blogspot.com
-be around for events/open house
-work closely with department head
-participate in group resident artists slide lecture series

Here are some project ideas/suggestions for the Resident Artist to contribute to
studio and community:
-propose new class or workshop ideas
-maintain hallway displays/showcases with student or faculty work
-propose flag installation for rooftop deck ( 4 flag poles over 8 ft tall) or propose outside
installation alongside building on Montrose side
-make self available for critiques
-coordinate w/ dept head and gallery manager for a fiber/textile exhibition in gallery;
curate show

To apply please submit the following:
- 10 images of work completed in the last 3 years- digital images preferred on a disc. No
emails.
- Resume including education, work and exhibition history
- One page personal statement that covers the history of and ideas behind your own
work, what you hope to accomplish personally and what you hope to bring to the
Lillstreet community during your residency. What are your specific skills and qualities
that make you a good fit for the Lillstreet Residency Program?
- Names and contacts of three references.

Send submissions to camille@lillstreet.com. Deadline is October 29th. Notifications will
be sent out before the end of November. Good luck!

At Miss Fix It Studio:

Kitchen and Chicken are the two words that I have been working with. These words have a similar pronunciation for international people. I find it very interesting how words can be so similar but have two completely different meanings. I am interested in exploring what it means be learning a new language and how we deal with similarities and differences in words. I am still fascinated with using the shape of the mouth to represent a sound, but I need take a break with my new projects and come back to the image of the mouth later, once I can resolve exactly how it works with my original concept. I am thinking of possibly incorporating the iconic image of the mouth with other elements such as performance and video in the future. Here are pictures of some of the projects I have done so far involving language and the mouth.

Soon you will see the flags that I am doing for Lillstreet. They will have the same idea of the aprons but they will represent: Lillstreet Art Center Chicago. Another project that I am working on is wearable art piece. I am collaborating with artist Katie Waugh (check out her website www.katiewaugh.com). The concept of the dress will be about private spaces and creating ourown universe. There will be circuits and LEDS involved!!!!

cats and quilts

Anyone who works with animals in their studio space, knows that pets can have a very big influence over an artist's work. My cats always think that I am making quilts just for them to sleep on, and I am in a constant battle with them to keep them from nesting in my work. A few years ago I bought a beautiful wool scarf at a thrift store. I loved the colors and, though I didn't intend to wear it (a little to ratty for that) I thought I would keep it as an inspiration for a quilt I might make one day. Well, I have finally gotten around to starting the quilt, but in the mean time my cats have thoroughly adopted the scarf as their favorite place to snooze. I am much happier that they sleep on this than one of my quilts!


I love the salmony pink and the very pale warm gray of this wool, and I have been collecting materials that fit into this color scheme for months.

I am half way through stitching the top - these strips are about 22" wide by about 95" long. I will make 4 strips altogether and piece them to make a quilt top that will be a standard full/queen size (about 85" x 95").

I won't be finished with this quilt for at least 3 or 4 months, hand quilting will take at least two months. I know that once this piece gets a little bigger the cats are going to want to move in, but in the mean time, the cats will just have to make do with their scarf!

Next Saturday!!! We Will Host A Meeting Of The Surface Design Association!!!!

Who can attend?
All Lillstreet students interested in the world of textiles.

How can I attend?
RSVP to camille@ lillstreet.com

Where I can find more info about the The Surface Design Association?
Go to www.surfacedesign.org

Recent Work by Nora Renick Rinehart

Halloween is right around the corner and, it being the high holy days of our home studio (The Burrow), my roommate and I have been hard at work creating our costumes!

I decided to multi-task and also prep for my upcoming Hoodie Class (look for it in the Early Winter schedule- available soon!), so the costumes are based on a basic pattern for a hooded sweatshirt. Loosely based:

Lucy's going to be a squid!

(People seem to really like how it turned out. Check out the squid costume on the web! On BoingBoing, Super Punch, and Lucy's flickr stream.)

I am going to be a Hammerhead Shark! My costume is based on the same sweatshirt pattern: with a few alterations...

Fins!

Oh man- these costumes are so cozy to wear! They're basically a hybrid between comfy sweatshirts and giant stuffed animals!

Sewing is awesome. Are any of you working on stellar halloween costumes? Let's see 'em!

October work

October means I am making my little sister a halloween costume-she wants to be a wolf this year, and I am providing the wolf tail and wolf-capelet with hood and ears. Other presents leaving the studio recently include Shark Curtains, a large hand-drawn repeat printed on sheer white fabric. The drawings are really too big to look like a toile print (which is what I was going for) but I still like them.



For myself, I've been drawing alot of mountains. Also reading alot of mountaineering books and watching mountain themed documentaries. I have no desire to personally climb a mountain, but I love to think about it.I noticed when looking at images of mountain ranges that it was very hard to tell one peak from another, and I wanted to take advantage of that with a repeat print, making an endless mountain range. I faced the peaks towards each other to suggest the experience of looking up at things that tower over you. I'm not sure yet what final form this will take. I'd like to print enough to line a room, so that the viewer would be surrounded on all sides.
-Amanda

UPDATED OPEN STUDIO SCHEDULE

Fall 2010  UPDATED!!! October 17-November 21

Below is the new, updated open studio schedule for the remainder of the Fall Session.  The main changes are weekend days and times.  Sewing students are quickly outnumbering printing students in open studio attendance!

SEWING ROOM OPEN STUDIO HOURS:

Monday        2-6pm             Nora

                     6:30-9pm        Camille

Tuesday        ----

Wednesday   2-6pm              Amanda

Thursday      2-6:15pm         Frances  

Friday           6:30-9:30pm    Camille

Saturday       4:30-7pm        James

Sunday         ----

TEXTILES PRINT ROOM OPEN STUDIO: 

Monday        2-6pm                  Nora

           

Tuesday        5:30-9:30pm        Kate

Wednesday   2-6pm                  Amanda

Thursday      2-6:15pm             Frances   

Friday           ---          

Saturday       11-7pm               James

                     (except during scheduled workshops)

Sunday         10-2pm                Nora

Upcoming scheduled workshops :

-OPEN STUDIO LIMITED TO MAIN PRINT ROOM FROM 10AM-2PM ON 10/24  DUE TO SOCK MONKEY WORKSHOP

-NO OPEN STUDIO IN PRINT ROOM FROM 10AM-4PM ON 10/23 DUE TO NEJIRI SHIBORI WORKSHOP

-NO OPEN STUDIO IN PRINT ROOM FROM 10AM-4PM ON 10/30 DUE TO SURFACE DESIGN MEETING AND FUN FELT WORKSHOP

   

What I have been working on.

Hi!
Well, what have I been working on? Unfortunately not as much as I would like as I have been having some health issues. But I have worked on a few scarves. A couple of printed silk scarves (one charmeuse and one chiffon):


I have also worked on one Nuno-felt scarf which I have some in progress pictures of but not a picture of the finished product (yet):


Last but not least I have been working in my sketchbook coming up with ideas for textural designs for either printing or for a felt wall-hanging.

I also took a quilting class here at LillStreet (unfortunately I missed two classes) but my 18 inch quilt isn't done yet and I have no pictures yet to show you at the moment. It was a great class and a lot of fun. I highly recommend taking it next session (if you are interested in quilting). I will probably be retaking it to make up for what I missed.
The last thing I have been doing is taking pictures of all sorts of things (looking for inspiration). A lot of my pictures have been taken in my own backyard or around the neighborhood. As a final shot here is a seasonal picture of a weed called Bittersweet which is a member of the Nightshade family. It seem to have proliferated along one of our fences. The berries are a beautiful red color in the autumn (but poisonous to eat unless you are a bird).

Pictures with color and/or texture or a certain basic design make for great inspiration.
Anyway, that is what I have been up too over the last few weeks. I hope you all are having a creative autumn. If you want to share what you have been doing please feel free to leave a comment telling us.

~ Frances

Back to making w/ Camille Canales

It has been a while since I picked up a needle and thread on any of my "works-in-progess".  I was in Texas for a few days visiting family and my new niece, and I had packed all of my art supplies to make work while I was away.  Well, I should have guessed a newborn baby would keep me busy and away from painting or embroidery, not to mention sleep or showering! 

I was having some joint issues from embroidering, so I decided to take up something relaxing- watercolor painting.  I am taking a beginning class at Lillstreet w/Patrick Miceli.  I have to admit that I was bit frustrated with still lives, but I remember why they are so important.  They make you realize the relationships between light and shadow, and how to build up color slowly.  I am finding many similarities to applying dyes and can't wait to apply it to some monoprints on fabric!  Here is what I have been up to in my watercolor class:

 

Now that I have started painting, I realized that my embroidery practice has began to inform my painting practice.  I started a waterfall watercolor painting, and I noticed that I was laying down my water in the same way that I would lay down stitches-line by line, side by side. 

I started looking at them as if they were sparkling beads falling off of a fuzzy cliff.  Then came my "ah-ha" moment- I had the perfect vintage lamp bugle beads to use in the embroidered version of this painting. So this weekend I embarked on making my new waterfall piece on super soft ultra-suede.  As I work on this piece I begin to contemplate why I am drawn to the waterfall image and the many metaphors that come with it. 

Now if I could only get motivated to finish my 85% complete Branch Tree piece.  Hopefully I can bounce between the Waterfall piece and Branch Tree.  This is typically how I work, with multiple pieces going all at once.

I just need to finish the padded satin stitch leaves...

Easier said than done.

Nejiri workshop & Fun Felt workshop by Akemi Cohn

Don't miss NEJIRI Shibori workshop on Oct. 23 (SAT). Twist scarf on a small PVC pipe, then pour dyes (various lovely colors) on scarf. Steam to color set. It is quick and fun! Be ready for the holiday season. http://www.lillstreet.com/class-detail/4395

Fun Felting workshop will be on Oct. 30 ( SAT). Welcome to beginners. Prepare for winter season. The images: Jessica is making a small container, and finished cool felt container!

http://www.lillstreet.com/class-detail/4397