UPCOMING CRAFT SHOWS

NOVEMBER 20    DIY Trunkshow, Chicago, IL

 

NOVEMBER 27    Art vs. Craft, Milwaukee, WI

NOVEMBER 4-5   Detroit Urban Craft Fair, Detroit, MI

NOVEMBER 4-5   Renegade Craft Fair: Chicago, Chicago, IL

DECEMBER 5      HoverCraft, Milwaukee, WI

What's on the lines in the textile room

Just wanted to post some work I see coming out of the textile room. I shot them and paired them up. From animals to patterns to abstraction they tell us that people are having fun at Lill Street studio. Keep it coming.

my exhibition in Tokyo, Japan

I am in Tokyo, Japan for a solo exhibition. It opens tomorrow! I installed today. The new pieces are used washi (Japanese rice paper), dyed in indigo, then hand cut with a knife. The gallery is in Ginza, Tokyo, and it runs for two weeks. As a custom, I stay in the gallery everyday and talk with people!!! It is good to observe their reaction and hear some comments, but I would be exhausted by the end of the show. The image is "Cycle of Renwal #3". Dyed japanese rice paper in indigo, painted cutch and black oak. Put them together with a scroll technich. Hand cut out with a knife. Red paper was added. (by akemi cohn)

Hello everyone!

I'm Alexandria Eregbu, (or Ally) a newer addition to the Textiles family this year and I'm so happy to be a part of it. So far at Lillstreet I have been able to monitor in the sewing lab and work as a teaching assistant for the First Time Screenprinting on Fabric class in August. All of it has truly been a great experience. One of my favorite traits about this art center is the wide range of diversity that seems to traffic in and out of the space. I've also really enjoyed the laid back and relaxed nature of the studios and classrooms. This quality seems to allow room for experimentation and making mistakes, which helps shape and facilitate growth and creates a comfortable and dynamic learning environment for students, first-timers... and especially art makers.

So I'll tell you all a little bit about myself...
I am a junior studying my BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in performance and fiber and material studies. My work investigates social identity through exploration of the body and attempts to understand how my role functions within any given environment. I am interested in interpreting the body as a spectacle and the relationship of the gaze between myself, as an artist and my viewers. Currently, my performance is investigating a recently observed role that I have acquired as what seems to be a commonly perceived “sexually attractive” young Black woman and how this new identity works and serves purpose within my own community. Public response, outside of the institution, has been essential to my work because it has allowed for me to more accurately develop a critique of this connection.

In my fiber practice I am working on a series of glitched Hip-Hop music videos images that will be translated into a quilt using screenprint, image transfer, and dyeing techniques. Prior to this new content, I was working primarily with hair, making sculptures and installations that provided several narratives from different memories that progressed from my childhood and into becoming an adult.

For more examples of my work you can visit either of my websites:
Alexandria Eregbu
vimeo


Looking forward to being on board with you all and anticipating the fall season,
xoxo
Ally

The Inaugural Steamer Run!

Just yesterday, the students in Screen Printing with Thickened Dye class got to be the first to witness our brand new Bullet steamer in action! Huzzah!

Printing with dye is a lot more tricksy than printing with ink; instead of sitting directly on top of your fabric, dye needs to be chemically bonded with the fibers. Dye powders are mixed with a thickening agent (sodium alginate) to make it print-able but, once the fabric is washed, the only thing remaining attached is the color. Your fabric ends up as soft as it was before you printed on it!

The shiny, new bullet steamer comes into play after you're done printing but before you wash your fabric. All of those chemicals that make up the sodium alginate tend to cause the colors to bleed when you submerge your fabric in water... but with the steamer, the chemicals are STEAMED out! Here's a little slideshow about how we did it in class:

In order to protect our images, we wrapped our fabric in newsprint.

The fabric is fully encased so that it doesn't end up touching other parts of fabric or the metal steamer insert!

Then we rolled the wrapped fabric around the insert so that the paper won't touch the inside of the steamer silo. (Water condenses inside the steamer- but if our fabric gets wet, the colors will bleed before the chemicals have a chance to evaporate!)

After 35 min in the steamer, we remove our fabric and machine wash it in cold water with some tide and a color-catcher. Throw it in the dryer and done!

We will be doing tests throughout the session to figure out the absolute best condition for the steamer to do it's job.

In order for students to be able to use/take advantage of the new steamer, you will have to take a dye printing class (check out the winter catalog, when it becomes available, for next sessions classes) or the upcoming Steamer Basics Workshop: Saturday, October 1st, 2-5pm. Hope to see you there!

--Nora

www.fiberistanora.com
www.fiberistanora.etsy.com
http://fiberistanora.blogspot.com

FALL OPEN STUDIO SCHEDULE POSTED -> Check sidebar for schedule!

Schedule subject to change ...Always check sidebar for updated schedule.

 

Let the Repeats Begin!

Day one of the Repeats class and the students are off and running, quite literally as seen in this playful unicorn print!

We begin with a straight repeat exercise to get everyone familiar with the basics and from the looks of the results, these folks will be mastering the technique in no time. You can see how some images are more suited to a looser repeat, the unicorns, while

both the circle patterns don't require as much space and can be much tighter.

Both the coral drops and the blue trees could be repeated tighter or looser, depending what the desired end use is and whether there is to be another image in the negative space that's left.

We'll keep you updated on our works as the class progresses. Stay tuned for more visual delights!

eak

AT OxBow

OxBow!

I am very glad to be at OxBow School of the arts. Here are some pictures:

This is the entrance of the studios at the Bogart building where some arttist have their studios

My Studio has two windows!

The Turtles!!!

More info go to www.ox-bow.org

Pattern making at Lillstreet

Its time to share some work from the Pattern making and Fashion Design class this summer! We had a great time. All the skirts you see here are completely original, one of a kind designs made to fit perfectly!

A-line skirt in jersey, with attached waistband and sash.
A-line skirt in pale green linen, fully lined in cotton.

This skirt was designed with a yoke, so that the pattern of trees would always face up

I'm sure there's many more to come- once you've finished a pattern, of course, you can make more! And once you know the basics of pattern making, you can alter patterns or make new ones for endless variations. Keep your eyes out for more pattern making classes at Lill Street- its a great way to advance your sewing skills.

Quilted Projects

Fall is the perfect time to start a quilt project (or dig out an old project that was just too warm to work on in the summer). I spent my summer making samples: Curves, Petals, Cathedral Windows, Seminole Piecing, Paper Piecing, and more, and I can't wait to share them with you. There's still time to sign up - join us!

Quilted Projects begins Saturday, September 17 - 10 am to 1 pm for 10 weeks - hope to see you there!

Greetings everybody!

Hi all,

I introduced myself briefly a few weeks ago, but now that the sessions are starting, I wanted to give everyone a little more of my background. 

I am originally from Seoul, South Korea.  While living in the U.S., I've lived and studied in both San Diego and Chicago.  I graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with an MFA in Fiber & Material Studies.

In my process, I mix textiles and fibers with everyday materials to create narrative work.   My narrative is an exploration of how people interact with each other in daily life.  In order to achieve that, I created a single character that appears in each piece.  The character represents humanity in the most general way possible.  This character could be old or young, male or female, big or small.  The most important element is the context in which that character exists for each piece.  

While at Lillstreet, I am going to be adding more elements of repetitive pattern making to my work.  I'll be attending Beginning/Advanced Screenprinting on Fabric, and Garment Construction.  It will be nice to have facilities to use toward this end again, so you will be seeing a lot of me!

In the immediate future, I am making final preparations for an exhibition coming up next week at the O'Connor Gallery at Dominican University, out in River Forest.  It is a two person show featuring myself and Amy Honchell, who is one of my former grad school professors at SAIC, and is curated by Angela Bryant.  The opening reception for the show is on September 21st from 4-7 p.m., and I will be taking part in an informal artists' lecture that day at 3 p.m.  The show runs from September 21 through October 26.

Watch this space for further updates on my progress.  Talk to you soon!

COME VISIT US AT RENEGADE CRAFT FAIR THIS WEEKEND!

Lillstreet Art Center is excited to be part of Renegade Craft Fair this Saturday and Sunday!

Stop by our booth (#224- between Honore & Wolcott on the southside of Division Street)....look for the flags screenprinted by the textiles department :)

There will be workshops, demonstrations, and special class discounts for Fall classes! Textiles will be doing demos Saturday and Sunday from 1:30-3:30pm. Check out our Facebook page for more info.

First-Time Screenprint on Fabric classes start Monday!

Monday is the beginning of our Fall session at Lillstreet Art Center.  There's still time to get your last minute registrations in for our First Time classes.  Here are the two options:

Monday evenings, 6:30-9:30pm starting September 12
Sunday afternoons, 2-5pm starting September 18

Click here to register! 


This is the last full session of the year!  Want to have access to the studio for a weekly rate?  Take classes this Fall to become eligible for open studio on a week-to-week basis during our Early Winter Interim session (November 28- January 8).

Halloween and the holidays are right around the corner!  Prepare yourself by screenprinting awesome prints onto fabric for your costume.  Or be an early bird and start printing t-shirts, tote bags, onesies, whatever for your friends and family.

Lillstreet Textiles at RENEGADE CRAFT FAIR this weekend, Sept 10 & 11th

Visitors can explore the finer side of fiber with textile workshops and demonstrations all weekend provided by Lillstreet Art Center, who has been supporting artists through residency programs, gallery and studio space, and education since 1975.

 

Visit Lillstreet Art Center at Renegade Craft Fair to see workshops, demonstrations, and special class discounts for Fall classes! (There's still time to register, classes start next week!!)

Saturday, September 10:

11am-1pm: Digital Pinhole Photography Demonstration
1:30-3:30pm: Screenprinting Hankies Hands-On Demonstration
5-7pm: Glass Fusing Demonstration

Sunday, September 11:

11am-1pm: Letterpress/Relief/Etching Hands-On Demonstrations
1:30-3:30pm: Fabric Dyeing Demonstration
5-7pm: Band Rings & Bracelets Workshop

http://www.renegadecraft.com/chicago

Stop by and say hi to Nora and Camille who will be performing the demos....  Hope to see everyone there!