From August 29th to October 31st, I participated in a show sponsored by The Surface Design Association, (SDA).  I first encountered SDA in several years ago through its magazine, Surface Design, and reconnected with them in 2014.  The magazine, with its lush, highly-detailed and gorgeously presented photos of fiber in all its myriad glory, is a visual inspiration itself.  The texts that accompany the images are clear and informative about contemporary and historical goings on in the universe that is textile art and artistry.  Joining this organization or even just visiting its site is a great way to leave the isolation of the studio and connect with other professional artists and I urge you to check them out.  Curated by Namita Gupta Wiggers, this members-only group show was titled, Materialities: Contemporary Textile Arts and was hung at The Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg TN, USA.

SDA members offered large and small textile works for exhibition in a broad range of fiber techniques:  weaving, embroidery crochet, appliqué, quilting, batik and various forms of layering.  These were presented in materials as diverse as porcelain and hair; wall-hung, floor-lain and various forms of installation.  This international show was diverse in all ways.  The quality of construction and intensity of artistic engagement can be seen in the catalog which can be ordered  from SDA.  $30 in USA; for international shipping contact the site at http://www.surfacedesign.org

​"Materialities catalog features 91 SDA member/artists.  88 pages of images are accompanied by insightful artist statements... and 4 essays addressing context and evolution of contemporary textiles.  Selected works showcase the breadth and depth of contemporary fiber arts.  They successfully answer the curator's question:  What do textiles/fibers & their associated processes offer artists that cannot be achieved in other media?" __ SDA

My entry was "The Impossible Dream is the Gateway to Self-love."

Last Spring was pretty busy.  Also, before the Tougaloo gig, my work was in a group show at the Site:Brooklyn gallery, located at 165 Seventh Street, Brooklyn New York 11215.  They were hosting a fabulous (I was impressed) portrait show called Face It: The Face in Contemporary Art.  If they still have the video up, check it on their site and see for yourself the quality of the work submitted.
I'm told by curator Denise Amses that attendance at the opening was in excess of 200  -- unusual for a small gallery.  I was lucky enough to win BEST IN SHOW! with my latest portrait.  At that time it was entitled "Unwanted Companions";  now I'm calling it Congregants.

Congregants is about the flow of emotions we experience during any given day.  We live with them like companions.  And unpleasant emotions such as horror, depression and anxiety -- shown here -- are unwanted.  This piece, intended as part of a series, shows those three negative emotions in close company with one another;  when you feel one, others like it are not far behind.  It's best not to encourage them to remain long with you.

Here out in the sunlight, you can easily see the white on white that symbolizes flow.  

Congregants, detail.

This piece was an experimental departure in style for me.   While I still strove for accuracy of form, obviously I ventured out in terms of color, wanting color to represent emotion even independent of facial expression. 

While waiting for the teaching session at Tougaloo College's Art Colony, the Rev. Dr. Alice M. Graham of the Back Bay Mission organization invited me to come and speak with a group of novice embroiderers in Biloxi.  These girls and young women were organized by the local NAACP to stitch a banner for their Juneteenth Celebration.  For those who are unfamiliar with it, Juneteenth, aka the Juneteenth Independence Day, is celebrated in many black communities as a yearly commemoration of the abolition of slavery.  It began in the state of Texas in 1865.  That was a couple of years later than abolition in other states.  Its name is a combination of June and 19th, the day on which it is celebrated.  Years ago, I was told that many isolated rural people hadn't heard about it initially and only knew that it was made official in June on one of the "teenth" days.  So they called it Juneteenth.

For Biloxi 's 2015 Juneteenth, the theme was the history of the desegregation of the beaches of Gulfport and Biloxi which had been reserved exclusively for well-off white residents and visitors to the beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast.  (They're still beautiful and now we can all enjoy them.  Y'all, come on down!)  The young ladies worked skillfully on the lovely blue banner for weeks.  I was invited on the last day to show my art and encourage them to keep stitching in the future. Here we are at the meeting of the East Biloxi Community Collaborative.  Director Carmelita Scott, my contact Elizabeth Englebretson and the girls offered me a warm welcome.

The big surprise there was seeing Julie Kuklinski (2nd row, far right), founder of Biloxi's Women in Construction program.  Julie and I go back to 2009, my second month in Mississippi.  WinC, as it's called, was designed to train low-income women for careers in the construction trades.  (When I arrived, I had NO local income and needed all the training I could get to help with extensive renovation of my house.  WinC, with its stipend for trainees, helped on both counts.  And I'm game to try anything at least twice.  :)

Ms Donna and Ms Sue got some of the gang on board to help me with my house too.  I am truly blessed.  Abbie looks shy here but she and Instructor Zandell really put some muscle into it.  By the way Biloxi is not really close to my house so they had to ride a long way to help.  That's love!

Well... by looking at the dates here, you can see that I'm not REALLY a blogger.  :)  
So much has been going on and, frankly speaking, I was just living it.  But I'm catching up.
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​May 21st was one of the highlights of last year.  Shortly after I moved here, I was in the library reading a magazine about local doings on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  In it was an article about one of Gulfport's premier citizens, "Rip" Daniels, a Renaissance Man and bon vivant, if there ever was one.  Descendent of a family which long resided in the area (after the Civil War?), he knows all the city's history and was a player in much of it including the desegregation of the beaches during the civil rights area.  He's an all-around businessman, housing contractor/builder and owner/main voice of local radio station WJZD.  The article was gushing about Rip's boutique hotel, The Almanette (1514  18th Avenue, overlooking the beach in Gulfport).  I was so impressed, I clipped the article for my scrap book.

That would have been the end of it had not new friends, John and Carole McKellar, introduced me to Rip last spring.  Impressed with my art, he invited me to see the hotel (gorgeous) and eat in its restaurant (best food I've had since I relocated).  Since I told him I'd been hiding out in the house working like a demon on my embroidery and therefore had no social life, he and his wife Dixie hosted a luncheon for me at their home to introduce me to local artists and art lovers.  I said the Almanette had the best food but I have to take that back; Dixie's might have topped it.  We all had a great time.  Thanks, Rip!