Chicago Artists Month-2008

Greetings All,

Next month is "Chicago Artist Month" and this town will be jumping with all types of events. Yesterday I install pieces for the Phantom Gallery Chicago at Murphy Hill. Works by Gwen McGee-Boyd (below), Gwen Jones. Also there will more fiber artists, painters, installation artists, and sculptures. Opening reception is October 4, 4008 from 1 to 5 pm.

Last night I hung some of my own works (below) at the Bloomingdale Arts Building, 2418 W. Bloomingdale. This show will also be an extention of the Phantom Gallery those participating are in this venue are Alpha Burton, Benyamin Maccabee, Jennifer Scott, Debra McLendon, John Song just to name a few. Opening reception is October 4. 2008 from 6 t0 10

October 18 & 19 is the annual quilt show of Needles and Threads Quilters Guild. They are one of the oldest African American quilting guilds in Chicago and this is quilt show year "Quilting in the city". I have several of my pieces (below) in this show along with at lease a 100 others. The show is at Fernwood Park fieldhouse at 10436 S. Wallace St.

I also have several of my piece (below) at an exhibition at the Urban Art Retreat at 1957 S. Spaulding. "U.A.R. encourages people to learn from each other’s differences while overlapping our similarities through examining issues of violence and inequity in our society. " Opening reception is October 4, 2008 from 1 to 5 at the Liz Long Gallery.

I'm so amaze that I will have so much work on display at the same time. I also have some works that are going places that I didn't know about. Two of my pieces (below) are on their way to Ohio. I have three of if my pieces that are in shows around the country and 3 of my coats being sent off to a show in Texas for next month. This is truly a busy time and if you are in Chicago at all during these events do come out and support the arts/artists.

Silver Bass/The piece of the week.

Greetings All,

The piece of the week is another small wall hanging that was created from some left overs from my evil trilogy. I painted the back side of the pieces with some silver Lumiere fabric paint and sprayed the fronts with a 50/50 solution of bleach/water to add some discharging and that reviled some small polka-dots that looked like scales to me. The piece is an open construction and it reminded me of "Silver Bass" (right) and that I mades me think of my dad. I also use some fabric stiffener by Plaid to add some rigidness.

Gateway/The piece of the week.

Greetings All

For this week I have two pieces in honor of three women that I look to for inspiration from time to time. Makeba Kedem DuBose, Sonji Hunt, and Judy Coates Perez. Earlier this year I went to an exhibit at Concordia University celebrating Women's History Month With Art that featured Makeba. She had some prints she had done and I think they were called triptych. I made some fabrics that I printed onto using that type of process that I used to make my first vessel (left). It has some wonderful Sonji Hunt hand painted/dyed scrapes fused onto it and with the left over from that I created a small work called "Gateway" (below).

Northshore Quilters Guild

Greetings All,

Yesterday was my first on the road trip. I did a trunk show/lecture. at the Northshore Quilters Guild in Milwaukee, WI. They were so very kind and had great questions about my work. I had them laughing and crying. I'm looking forward to my next engagement. The only draw back I had was I didn't allow for road construction and toll ways. This was the first time that I went out of state by myself and so I was very confused about the tolls. But you live and learn.

The second part of my day was spent with someone who I admire very much and that person is Sonji Hunt (right). Sonji came and met me afterwards and took me to her home. I had never seen her work up close so for me this was a treat. I was just blown away by seeing her work and picking her brain about her process. To see the colors, sights and sounds. I know you are wondering was her house noisy? No but when I look at her work I hear music and it's just awesome. Sonji.

I came home with one less piece (The Lawn - left) but I also came home with more art for my collection. Sonji bestowed on me 7 of her small works(below) and I am in awe. I love you and thanks of sharing. I have six of Sonji's note cards and you can check them out on her Etsy Store. They sale for 10.00 each and I'm not sure if I will send half to family or friends and frame the rest. She also gave me one of her tiny wall hanging (bottom) these are just little gems. I got the best of this deal because I also got some of her pack of hand painted/dyed fabrics that she uses to create these wonderful works.

Evil/The piece of the week

Greetings All,

I've finished the final piece in my "Evil" trilogy (left) and I've added to the other two pieces. I did like creating this series of pieces because I used not just cotton seersucker fabric, but vinyl window screen, Tyvek and I burnt the sparkling organza fabric to add to the distress of the theme. Also to some of the photo transfers I sepia toned them and that added an aged look of those images. Today I tied on too the final piece some hanging figures that I painted with Lumiere by Jacquard Metallic Silver to symbolized wealth that could be dispersed with as a teaching tool as to who was in control. I have added little effigies to a previous quilt, but this time I made sure that some of them resemble women in to again honor Laura Nelson who was lynched along with her son in Okemah, Oklamona in 1911. This images came to me when I started this project. Strange fruits of evil. This trilogy dose not have a pleasant theme, but I do like the effect of my affords.

Evil/Piece of the week.

Greetings All,

Last week I made the 2nd piece in my "Evil" series. It's simple in its construction all though it's heavily quilted. I did use some of the same materials, window screen (plastic), cotton, paper, and organza. I also change the word evil around to live because for the whole week I kept seeing it that way and when it came time to place it on the piece I could not place as the other had been done. The word took on a life of it's own. I'm off to start on part 3 which will be the final piece is this trilogy.

The End of a Decade.

Greetings All,

For the last 4 days I've been working with the "Nubian Quilters" at one of Chicago's largest festival "The African Festival of the Arts". The weather was great. The music was awesome and the art fabulous and I came away with the knowledge that this was my last time doing this event in this type of manner. It has been a informative 10 years and I thankful for having been a part of it's history. I have met so many people from all across the country because of this opportunity. The Nubian Quilters will continue on with the tradition of quilting and what we as African in America bring to the art format and for that I'm truly grateful and I will stop by from time to time and say hello when they are in session.

This event for me has been like a family reunion. I see some people only once a year at this time and others several times a year and then there is always the possibility of making new acquaintance or re-establishing old ones. I learned a great deal during these times and will celebrate them for the rest of my life.

Several of my piece found new homes and that's always a great thing. "The Vendor-I" (below left) has a new place in Indiana. "Wow" (below right) and "The Door of no Return" (below center) went to St Louis, Missouri and "Hope Change Vote!" is gone to Wisconsin to hang in a classroom at an elementary school to inspire young people dream the impossiable.