Show opening this Saturday!

My solo show at Etui Fiber Arts will open this Saturday 4-6pm! 

Link here.

                       Chesapeake Color                                                  Lorie McCown

Dress series continues

New art dress entitled "Sackcloth and ashes'' Hand dyed fiber, discharged fabrics, hand and machine sewn, embellished.

About 65" long. 

waterdress

waterdress, a photo by Lorie McCown on Flickr.


One of 4 art dresses I've made based on the 4 elements of earth, fire, air and

water.  Made of hand dyed fabrics and fibers, each one took me over 2 weeks

to make. Hand and machine sewn, embroidered and appliqued. This dress is a

bit 'fish' shaped, with positive and negative kelp and fish shapes all over. 

It's over 70" long and wearable. I have made hangers for all of them as well.

Here's a detail shot of the dress..

Maybe a 'wave' dress next..

encroachment

a bit about this piece...

Slowly but surely, the suburbs are coming together, like tectonic plates, moving toward the center. Houses are built; shopping centers are placed on top of hallowed battlefields, erasing all that once was. Abstracting two aerial views of my area, I've synthesized a coming together of the worlds. By enclosing the wild areas of our world, we are corralling the wild into the tame. I am again, striving for a meaningful piece of art, which encompasses my current concerns, as well as striving for an interesting and beautiful piece of art to view.

New work at Studio A

It's always a sense of relief and unbelief to hang a show.  All those hours of work, all that over thinking. Then it's hung, and pray to God it all looks good. My new solo show opens up tomorrow, Sept 2, at Studio A, in Fredericksburg Va.

It's been a summer of extremes, but at least I've made my studio time a priority. Fall is always a busy time with shows, art festivals and such. It pays off to be consistent in the studio.

"Lily"  acrylic on wood  14x14"

Besides pricing, I think keeping the mojo going when all your work seems to be in the 'ugly' stages is the most difficult. Staring at a painting or fiber piece looking for it to start to 'sparkle' is agonizing sometimes.  I feel most insecure about my paintings (today, ask me tomorrow). Maybe because it is what I was trained in, or maybe because painting has been so over analyzed, but it takes me as long to make a good painting as it does anything else.

'Moonrise'   fiber   37x23"

If you are interested in any of the pieces, let me know, I've priced them very reasonably, and have a good supply on my hands. I'm also going to be participating in the Baltimore Inner Harbor Art Festival this month, check the side bar for more information.

up close and personal..

Hand dyed and commercial fabrics. Hand and machine stitched, appliqued, quilted and embroidered. Going 3-d for these latest pieces.

June Library Show

Next up is my show at the Headquarters Library in Fredericksburg. .. Lots of new work going up! Here's a sample..

Acrylic on canvas 36x24"

Mixed media on board 18x18" Paint, fiber, thread, fabric.

..and of course some poetry!

When I kiss your face to make you smile, my darling,

I surely understand what pleasure streams from the sky in morning light,

and what delight that is that is which the summer breeze brings to my body

---when I kiss you to make you smile.

Rabindranath Tagore

The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef

The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef exhibit in D.C. is coming to a close next week, still time to see this beauty! It's at the National History Museum.

An amazing display of nature and art coming together..

Words cannot describe the work done here. Hours and hours of crochet. With every type of fiber or non fiber you could imagine. Cassette tape, twist ties, every sort of yarn possible.

Color color color

These 'towers' were treasures. Fiber sculpture. Unbelievably beautiful.

All iridescent beads on this one

And a 'toxic' reef all made of plastic stuff, bottle tops, beer cans, netting, all types of trash.

Ends April 24th..

"Viewpoints" National show entry

New piece that was juried into "Viewpoints" National show at the FCCA, here in Fredericksburg. Looks like a lot of great art. I'm looking forward to First Fridays!  "Do as I say" is about 36x52", fiber and fabric, hand and machine quilted, appliqued and embroidered.

thankfulness..

I'm loving Valerie's 'Thankfulness project' what wonderful, tactile way of  expressing our thankfulness.

Read about it here

More moving water

"A story is like water"  fiber  hand and machine quilted,stitched and embroidered. 37x30" available.

in the studio

After a bit a of taking care of health, hearth, and home, I have moved to the studio for some cloth and thread therapy and dreams.  Of wide open spaces, clear blue skies and fields as far as the eye can see. You have driven past them all your life, haven't you? I have.

And the rivers, streams, brooks and creeks, wending their way around the earth. All the elements moving, moving and moving. We tend to think of them as static and unchanging, I think. But water, in particular, is such a force, even when still on top of a lake.

yes, even in the quiet shushing of the shoreline wave. Still moving moving moving.

the process

I have been experimenting mounting the fiber pieces on a stretcher bar/canvas.. It definitely gives the pieces stability and creates a definite 'edge' . A problem I run into very often when deciding how to hang/finish a piece..

This started as a painting and then fiber/beads/thread and ribbon were added.

I received a 'yes' last week to a show submission to a gallery (yeah!) and was provided with the the 3 juror's comments along with the result. It was very interesting to see the comments written. Of the 5 pieces submitted, each judge like a different piece. I know that is no surprise to the other artists that read this. Subjectivity is something one must accept. No matter how much we kid ourselves. One judges' " like" is another's "hate". Comes with the territory. I did agree with a very thorough review one judge offered. More on this subject soon..

tomorrow!

At WideRiver Gallery in Colonial Beach, VA!!

peter

The craft fair went well, I'm amazed at how creative people are with ordinary objects. I love the whole found/recycle idea people have. Making something creative and artistic out of stuff people discard. Bottles, cans, etc.. really amazing. Is there a separate category for these people? Green crafters, or such?

Anyway, here's some detail of a piece from a mixed media series I'm doing on the apostles. This is part of Peter, he who was a fisherman, who became a fisher of men! Mounted on canvas, it's fabric, netting, beads and paint... 24"x24"

quilt

A quilt I started at a handwork reatreat way back when. All hand stitched, quilted and appliqued..a touch of embroidery work too.

almost finished

I think I posted this a while ago, and lo and behold I am almost finished with this soon. It really doesn't look much like this anymore. My gallery here takes submissions for solo shows only 2 weeks a year, first two weeks in July. I think it's as much a practice in discipline as well as art content. Anyway, I plan to submit, and this piece is going to be part of it. I'm taking pictures of a bunch of stuff today and tomorrow, so hopefully will have a load more of finished art + craft. It has been a very productive Spring.

This is hand dyed linen, cut and resewn, with embroidery floss and appliqued cotton. It is now part of an art quilt, and is entitled the promise land .

I don't plug too many things, but I've been listening to this music lately, so lovely and wonderful..makes me want to take piano lessons..

grace

Oil, pencil and fiber on canvas, 18 x 20"