JUNE 2012 DRA SHOW - ART on the EDGE

For this all-media "edgy" art show, participants were asked to extend the limits and to break their boundaries,. The curator asked artists to "go beyond the fringe" to explore peripheries of the unfamiliar.

I used this call to showcase my second favorite creative process which I learned from a fellow artist during a JAMs meeting. The JAMs or Judy's Altered Minds is a group of women who meet monthly at Judy Gula's store Artistic Artifacts. We share our art, create and laugh and learn together.

Thread lace is another form of recycled art and since I spend so much time sewing and manipulating fabric, I have lots of extra thread. As I sew I snip the thread tails and save them by the color. When I'm ready to create a new piece I sprinkle these thread scraps onto water soluble stabilizer being sure to leave open spaces to fill in later with ribbon and other embellishments. I then top the threads with a second piece of water soluble material and pin the three layers together to form a sandwich. To create the lace I free motion stitch the sandwich together using a variety of complimentary and contrasting threads building layers and creating random shapes as the bridges of threads guide. The final layer is usually metallic or decorative threads. When I feel the lace is finished, I then wash away the stabilizer.

Once the lace is dry, I select a background fabric, I entwine thread and add embellishments of beads and seed pearls. (Note: Title tags from show on pixs below are reversed)

Brown thread scraps stitched together to form recycled lace. Embellished with free motion metallic thread, metal dragon flies, seed pearls and ribbon. Mounted to cotton fabric over laid with recycled onion bag that has been quilted together. Framed in recycled thrift store frame.