- This event has passed.
Revealing Inspiration with Fiber: Suzy Vance, Kathy Flanagan, Laura Gutzwiller, Laurel Izard, Salvatore Rigby, Kelley Van Dorn, Bonnie Zimmer
GROUP EXHIBIT
September 12th – October 5th
Opening Reception:
Friday, September 12th | 5PM – 7PM
People have used fiber for thousands of years for both utilitarian purposes and, sometimes without intention, for its sheer beauty. From using the wool of sheep, to the materials in nature, to materials woven from cotton, the bounds of creativity are endless. This exciting exhibit highlights some of the most talented local fiber artisans who work in a variety of materials to create extraordinary works of art.
The Artists:
Kathy Flanagan:
After many years of knitting and spinning I found quilting. I made my first bed quilt for my mother’s 80th birthday and have been working with fabric ever since. After sewing many, many patterned bed quilts I began to experiment with my own designs and dying my own colors of fabric. I work improvisationally and sometimes from collage, but there is always a surprise that happens when I am not wed to the design.
Laura Gutzwiller:
My inspiration comes from nature and the beauty all around us. Recreating sunsets, landscapes, trees, plants and animals that I have seen helps me appreciate all the precious things that we can miss if we don’t stop and slow down. Sometimes I’ll find a color of wool at a local fiber store and know immediately what it will become in a painting. Other times I sit in front of my boxes of beautiful colors from a shop called Living Felt in Texas, and suddenly see something fun in my imagination. It feels like being a kid again in art class!
Bonnie Zimmer:
I have always been an artist and maker of many things… I enjoyed a long career as an art educator, teaching at all levels, but now I have the luxury of being a full time practicing artist.
My art work is firmly grounded in my background in woven and constructed textiles, with an emphasis on sculptural basketry. My interests have continued to evolve, branching out into fiber-related sculpture, installation, and, most recently, jewelry and clothing. While nature is my greatest collaborator, providing me with materials and inspiration, my love of reclaimed materials and the pure joy of “process” are all integral to my work and who I am as an artist.”
Laurel Izard:
Laurel Izard is an award-winning artist who exhibits her artwork throughout the country. She currently lives and works in Michigan City with her artist husband Edwin Shelton and three cats. She received a BA from Northern Illinois University, with majors in art and anthropology, and a MFA in ceramics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
After college Izard and her husband started a ceramic business called Izwin, and created colorful whimsical tabletop wares for galleries, boutiques, and department stores throughout the country. After twenty-three years of self-employment, she taught art in numerous after-school and summer programs. Her art-teaching career culminated in nine years as art instructor at Marquette High School. After leaving Marquette she has been living her best life making art full time.
The World Tarot Card ArtHer philosophy as an artist and teacher is that an integral part of being human is to be creative and continues to teach others how to discover their inner artistic resources.
Suzy Vance:
My home is the Earth. It’s the rock on which we all create. The actual process of working with fiber is my way of embracing my journey from beginning to end. Through my creations I hope to imbue gratitude in each of us for all that we are and all that contributes to us,,,each day… every moment…and to inspire us to look beyond the picture…beyond what we see…into the possibilities we haven’t yet acknowledged or even considered…”
Kelley Von Dorn:
In my professional life, I was a graphic designer. I loved communicating through the use of color and imagery. When I retired from my career, I pursued other outlets to express my creativity.
My hobbies included sewing, crocheting, macrame, anything fiber related. So, wet felting seemed like a natural progression for me. It offers limitless possibilities for expression. My art is constantly evolving…from whimsy to nature themed. Often, I start by exploring a technique, and then ask it “What would you like to become?”
Salvatore Rigby:
Salvatore Rigby is an amalgamation of creativity, dreams, and lived experiences spanning twenty-five years, give or take. In the artist’s personal opinion, nothing is more important than art, and they hold tightly the belief that it’s the only thing that matters at the end of the day.
From the Salvatore Rigby Archives:
“Art is the only thing that has and will ever make complete and total sense to me. I’ve tried and failed miraculously throughout my life to find a shred of anything in this infinitely vast and utterly confusing universe that could hold a flame to art. I have come up shorter and shorter every time, which speaks volumes about its significance to life itself. Art is everything, everything is art, and it’s the closest thing to magic we have. Anyone can experience it, so long as they are brave enough to surrender to it. Otherwise it doesn’t really work.”
“Salvatore, what made you want to work with fabric?”
It wasn’t a conscious choice on my part, nothing I do when it comes to art ever is. It simply happens, and I don’t question it.
As a kid, I worked with fabric my grandmother who passed away last year. Cross stitch, sewing, stuffed animals, blankets, quilts, etc. Outside of helping her to finish a quilt for a friend or family member, I hadn’t worked with fabric in many years. While looking through craft groups on Facebook during the pandemic a gorgeous painting of a whiskey rocks glass appeared. It was not, in fact, a painting but embroidered entirely with fabric thread, and was termed ‘thread painting’. In no less than 60 seconds I was rifling through my grandma’s stash of needles and thread, and 6 hours later ‘Morel-y Grey’ came to be.
Fabric sculpting came from seeing a video of someone sculpting with Mod Podge and paper towel. I experimented on tiles to get the feel of manipulating fabric to shape it and maintain form without putting support that isn’t fabric in the piece.
