IMAGESPARK | a place to store images online

i love my laptop but sometimes it can not do the job i want it to do. this is true in the case of my digital image library, images i look to for inspiration. keeping it in a folder on my laptop does not help sort them into categories easily and limits me to having my laptop around. this is where IMAGESPARK steps in.

IMAGESPARK lets me add images to my account (accounts are free by the way!) and see them wherever i am. they can be images from my computer or ones i found while traveling the internet. the upload tools make it even easier. the nice thing about uploading internet images is that it takes the URL too so you can find the source of the image in the future, should you ever need it. image tags help you sort everything into categories. the best thing is that i can access it from any computer connected to the internet.

sure, some things on the site could stand some fixin' but overall it does a nice job. there is a community component to it but i have found it is hard to find people you know so i really don't use that function. i know there are a bunch of sites like IMAGESPARK feel free to add your favorite one to the comments.

First Time Sewing!

Hi everyone! Nora here...

Just finished another round of my First Time Sewing class this past week: my Tuesday night class had a blast putting together our tote bags and eating tequila-flavored chocolates...

Lindsey wearing her completed apron.

The class with their finished products!

Don't you want a great tote-bag/ apron set? Come and take a first time sewing class with me!

Meanwhile, on Saturdays my Garment Construction class is working steadily on their projects:

Emily tracing her paper pattern shapes onto the fabric for her dress.

So pleasing!

(Check out some more studio photos at my flickr stream.)

There are new classes starting next week- I'd love to meet lots of new people and see tons of familiar faces in my upcoming classes! Hope to see you there!

Lillstreet in Chicago Home and Garden blog

Check out the Chicago Home and Garden's blog and you'll see some examples of Lillstreet student work.  There have been some really nice designs coming out of the studio this Spring, and we look forward to seeing what the students from our Repeats and Int/Advanced Topics classes will display in our hallway gallery. 

Papermaking at Lillstreet this summer

Hello all!  Heather Bella, here.  After a 2-month stint at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, I will be returning to Lillstreet this summer to teach more papermaking and bookmaking classes, and I cannot wait!

Here are a few samples of what I've made while I have been here, and will hopefully give you an idea of types of paper that you can make in the classes.

The first 2 sets of papers were made with recycled linen pulp, fresh violets and fresh dandelions (respectively).  The two sets in the back were made with abaca (in a blender) and fresh violets and fresh dandelions (again, respectively).

In the papermaking classes, we will be able to play with including different materials into the paper for decorative papers, as well as papers for printing.

For any printmakers out there who have thought about papermaking, Tom Lucas and I will be teaching a Paper to Print class, to give you a chance to learn how to make fine handmade papers for printing, using cotton, abaca, and even some recycled fibers.  Keep an eye out for this Saturday afternoon class this Summer!

And here is a small book I made with some of the handmade abaca/violet paper:

Image Making w/ Fabric Collage

Just wanted to share some examples of work coming out of the Image Making w/Fabric Collage class on Thursday afternoons.  I really love how people are using the sewing machine as a drawing tool, creating texture onto cloth for decorative and functional pieces. 

Like what you see?  Register for the next round of classes that start the first week in May.

Maine Home & Design Magazine

Maine Home & Design Magazine publishes their annual Art Issue in April which features great profiles of many artists. This year, I'm so pleased to be featured among them. Also featured are two artists affiliated with my MFA program at the University of Maine, Orono:
Randy Regier
Reese Inman

Open Studio

At the end of April I will have been at Lillstreet for four months, marking the half-way point of my residency. I feel as though I've finished one phase and am entering another, probably a perfect place to be in Spring. I've completed several functional and gift works, a series of quilted color studies, some screen-printed studies, and am nearing the end of bag orders: 100 bags! Much of this work can be seen around the studio and on display in the hallways around the textiles classrooms.

Coming up: I will begin work on some larger scale work, and some installation work.

In the short time that I've been here, I'm consistently struck by the the great benefit of Lillstreet's open studio hours. The ability to come in and make use of the studio facilities, practice new skills and techniques, develop in-depth projects, and interact with other artists is invaluable.

Today, I have been working in the sewing room with Gardiner O'Kain (she is taking Sarah Nishiura's Quilting Projects class). The interaction of sharing ideas in the studio, for me, generates enthusiasm for work and is one of the best ways of discovering resources. Our conversation today:

Ann Wilson
Aki Sasamoto (Love is the End of Art)
Mono-Ha
Gutai Group
Lee Ufan The Art of Encounter
Matthew Caulings
Kanye West
Lil Wayne
Lillstreet Artist in Residence in Metals & Jewelry: Ashley Gilreath
The Art of Manipulating Fabric
Alighiero e Boetti The Thousand Longest Rivers of the World
Hennessey Youngman on post-structuralism

And more . . .

Come to open studio hours.

My hours for April-May: Tuesday 9-5, Wednesday 12-5, Friday 10-6

No Open Studio this Saturday, April 23rd or Sunday April 24th

There will be no open studio this weekend due to the TSHIRT PRINTING WORKSHOP this weekend from 2-6pm. 

Open studio will also be canceled on Sunday April 24th due to the Easter holiday.  We apologize for any inconvenience.



-Lillstreet Textiles

Show in Woman Made Gallery

I am in the show 14th International Open in Chicago at the Woman Made Gallery. It is going to be until April 28, 2011. I got a prize for it and I would love people to visit the show before it ends. For more info visit
http://womanmade.org/show.html?type=group&gallery=international2011&pic=17

Repeats, the Next Generation

Hello all!!

It seems like quite a while since last we met and much has happened since. I had a fabulous opportunity to go to India, and will blog about that soon, including some pic's from the trip. Meanwhile, we'll all have to ogle the wonderful work the Advanced Repeats class is creating these days. I cannot get over the diversity and font of incredible talent displayed in the work of

these students. They are so dedicated to their art and craft, creating everything from intricate mind blowing designs, to using silk scarves as a canvas. The creativity doesn't just flow from these folks, it gushes like a geyser after slowly fomenting, gathering inspiration and collecting ideas. Then wow, incredible bursts of printing beauty shower down around us!

If you want to join after taking your 10 week beginning silk screen class, look for more intermediate and advanced Repeats and Patterns classes to come.

eak

Image Making w/ Fabric Collage

     

Got a ton of fabric laying around your house or studio?  See what students are doing with their piles of fabric in my Thursday afternoon IMAGE MAKING W/ FABRIC COLLAGE class.  Students are making amazing pieces of work with strong visual compositions and a variety of textures.  Quilters, embroiderers and sewers are all utilizing this technique and combining it with other skills- such as silkscreen!  Check it out below....

 

Visit the blog next week to see how the pieces have transformed.  Today we spent most of our time using sewing machines (after I pried everyone from fusing in the print room) as a drawing tool to fix our fabrics together.  We also created contrast textures with different stitches.  I can't wait to share with everyone our final pieces.  This class starts back up again  May 5, click here to register!

-Camille

Felting class

Felting can be found so many possibilities! It is fragille, delicate, yet strong and bold.

These images are students' work from Nuno Felting class and the open house project (making balls and beads). Nuno felting is a combination of silk fabric and Merino wool.

By the way, I've tried to apply my dog's hair incorporate with my felting piece, however, it did not work. Because dog's hair does not contain "scales" to intergrate each fiber in order to make felt. Cat's hair doesn't work either. Wool from sheep does work.

Next felting class will start on May 7 (SAT 2-5 p.m.) for five weeks.

Happy Spring!

Stages of a print

I'm showing various stages of a print. One is entitled Basswood which I recently stretched on canvas stretchers and hung unframed. The colors are warm greens and oranges and the finished stage became a horizontal. I printed it on a beautiful piece of cotton that was once a flour sack from the 40's which my mother saved in a cedar chest most of her adult life. It was a very pretty piece of fabric and I almost just stretched it as is in all its creamy pristine glory. (Well, maybe I'll do that with the others.) I like shooting prints in all the stages of development. Sometimes I like the earlier stage better but it only exists digitally which makes it very special.

Another set is of a piece entitled White pine. I did not include all the stages of this but they were a lot more drastic. I think I should have quit after the first stage but oh well. No can do. I tried arranging these in the proper sequence but I always forget that everything happens from finish to start in blogland. They are actually arranged in reverse order; the bottom one is stage 1 and the top one is the finished print. I just can't seem to reverse this without starting over. Enjoy. I welcome any and all feedback.

the fabric workshop

for those of you who do not know, i am originally from philadelphia. i studied printmaking at tyler school of art and just after graduation i had an amazing apprenticeship at the fabric workshop. it is a great studio dedicated to textile printing by hand and a museum that encourages the use of experimental materials and techniques.

they have giant screens for printing tables that seem to go on for miles, a really precise color lab, and extraordinary artists-in-residence. i learned a lot there as an apprentice and if you are looking for such an informative experience i suggest you apply. back when i was there, they even offered housing to those who came from other places.

take a look at their site and be sure to stop by next time you are in philadelphia! it's on my list for next time i go home.

SPRING OPEN STUDIO HOURS

Below are the new times for open studio in the Textile Department.  Remember OPEN STUDIO is available to all currently enrolled Lillstreet Textile students.  Please sign in and check out with a monitor when using the studio. 

NEW IN THE STUDIO:
-ALUMINUM SILKSCREEN FRAMES -lighter and dry much faster than wood frames.  Also easier to clean inks and dyes.

-FLOOR-STANDING EMBROIDERY HOOPS-  hands-free hoop that allows you to stitch comfortably sitting or standing.  Embroidery, quilting and hand-sewers can use these during class and in open studio.  During warm weather we may be able to have sessions upstairs!

-AMERICAN APPAREL T-SHIRTS AND JERSEY SCARVES FOR PRINTING - We now have fabric blanks from American Apparel available for purchase (and at a good deal).  Students can print on these items during class or open studio.  Here are the items we have available :

The scarves are 100% sheer cotton jersey, so they should be good for dyeing/printing.