Terry Jarrard-Dimond and the Art of Spatial Awareness

Illustration: Terry Jarrard-Dimond. Crush.

The work of textile artist Terry Jarrard-Dimond is one of precision both in colour and in line. It is not surprising to learn that the artist worked 3-dimensionally as a sculptor for many years before coming to textiles, as these five pieces by the artist shows. Each composition has a level of understanding and consideration for real penetration of the surface level, giving a natural feeling of depth rather than that of a superficial and stylised interpretation of 3-dimensions. It is fair to say that a creative artist with sculptural experience has a better understanding of spatial awareness and an intrinsic feel for dimensions and planes.

Illustration: Terry Jarrard-Dimond. Little King.

Jarrard-Dimond does not clutter her compositions with any unnecessary creative 'furniture', but keeps the work simple with shapes, colours and textures all adding their own significant contribution towards the overall composition. Rather than fill the space with a number of small elements in order to catch the eye, the artist has led with a series of large and simple incursions, many often sliding into the composition from an area outside of view.

In a number of pieces, colours and shapes have been dramatically reduced to a minimum and are often limited to two or three. However, instead of giving the compositions a near monochromatic appearance, or producing little for the eye and imagination to grasp hold of, she instead produces a highly powerful focus, creating a genuine feeling towards the macro, rather than the micro. Everything appears to be on a large and open scale, leading to a composition that is intriguing to both eye and imagination.

Illustration: Terry Jarrard-Dimond. Behind the Veil.

Jarrard-Dimond is open-ended within her own personal interpretation of the origins of her work. She states that each composition could be triggered by an initial response to a creative colour, song, or word, but equally the trigger could be something that catches her eye through everyday living. This open-ended approach also encompasses the viewer who the artist invites to make a personal interpretive contribution.

This invitation to personally explore Jarrard-Dimond's work cannot fail to produce suggestions and interpretations that are unique to the individual. However, the work can also be enjoyed on a number of levels from the enjoyment of surface qualities of abstract colour, form and texture, to that of a much more emotional level, where shapes, planes and dimensional depths can be explored. The choice as far as the artist is concerned, is with the individual.

Illustration: Terry Jarrard-Dimond. Quietly Red.

Terry Jarrard-Dimond has a comprehensive website where much more of her work is available to view. She also has a number of exhibitions and workshops available for both 2010 and 2011. To follow the creative pathways of the artist it would be wise to take a look at her regularly updated blog where links can also be found to a number of interesting and related sites. Both links to website and blog can be found below in the reference links section.

Illustration: Terry Jarrard-Dimond. The Encounter.

All images are reproduced with the kind permission of the artist.

Reference links:

Terry Jarrard-Dimond website 

Terry Jarrard-Dimond blog

Helene Davis and Hand Dyed Artwork

Illustration: Helene Davis. Black Rain.

Probably the most fundamental and guiding principal that colours, literally, the work of textile artist Helene Davis is that of her passion for hand-dyed fabric. Davis, after using bought quilting fabrics for a number of years, moved into the process of hand-dying her own fabrics, making each quilting project a much more personal and individual process.

Illustration: Helene Davis. Black Rain (detail).

Hand-dying is an exciting but often less than accurate medium in which to work. It takes a lot of skill, time, and patience in order to arrive at a range of fabrics in colour-ways, tones, and scale that can easily be worked with. The fact that the images shown in this article have arrived at that point, is easily evident. Davis is in control of the medium from start to finish. By producing her own dyed fabrics, she is able to forge a link between colour and texture that is both personal and individual, something that can never be truly said for bought fabric.

Illustration: Helene Davis. Flight to the Future.

The abstract process and the compositional layout allows the artist free reign over colour balances, textural juxtapositions, and tonal harmonies that seem effortless to the viewer, but are obviously hard to produce creatively without appearing indistinct and in many ways incomplete.

Davis is well aware that her coloured and textured fabrics have to balance compositionally, optically, and even emotionally. Each of these compositions has areas that are cut up into smaller sections of light and dark, placed next to areas where the dyed fabric is allowed to expand over much larger sections of the work. This carefully balanced juxtaposition helps to break up the colours and textures and allow the eye to roam over the composition, picking out small sections and details of interest.

Illustration: Helene Davis. Infrared.

Close ups of Davis work show that the stitch-making is also part of the process, as it is in many art quilts. However, by looking at a close up detail of Black Rain for example, it can be seen that the artist has also added a whole section of beading work as part of the textural and tonal process. This added mark-making process produces yet another layer of textural quality to the piece, allowing the work to be seen from a distance or close up, producing a different quality and experience every time.

Illustration: Helene Davis. Nexus.

These abstract pieces of artwork have been created by using a number of the processes found within the hand-dying craft and that of quilting. However, the way they are re-used and re-combined allows the artist to produce an extraordinarily tactile and sensory experience of colour, texture, and tone. Each piece is a balanced use of these processes, and one that cannot be re-conceived or re-connected after its creation.

Illustration: Helene Davis. World Upside Down.

The work of Helene Davis can be found on a number of sites on the Internet. Some of her work can be seen here. There is also a site, which can be found here, where many more of her hand-dyed fabrics can be seen.

All images are used with the kind permission of the artist.

The Creative Artwork of Cynthia Corbin

Illustration: Cynthia Corbin. Permeable, 2008.

It is sometimes difficult to categorise Cynthia Corbin's work as it is so much more than the title of quilting or even textile art can do justice to. The techniques used in order to produce the resulting textural and painterly aspect of her work could very well be seen as on a literal par with some of the best efforts of fine art abstract painting.

The fact that Corbin does indeed work with fabrics and stitching and not oils, acrylics or pastels is all the more remarkable as all the fabrics used are individually painted with dyes, rather than bought or dyed en masse. This attention to detail, taking each separate fabric as a project in its own right, allows Corbin to build up a unique library of artistic moments which gives her a perspective towards quilting that is much deeper, more personal and certainly more creative than most.

 Illustration: Cynthia Corbin. Blocked, 2008.

It is the mark making techniques and textures that have added a completely new level of richness and singular creativity to her work. These elements, which often seem more reminiscent to that of fine art printing or pen and ink drawing, create a surface that can be explored in its own right. That Corbin could easily be satisfied with that singular result is obviously not part of her creative makeup as she then applies the technique of building up multi-layers that take their strength from the traditions of quilting. However, she also challenges the formulas and preconceptions of that tradition, asking us to see beyond the limits of the craft and accept in full the compositional use of a whole series of techniques of surface and much deeper textural formulas that take this work well beyond both quilting and textile art.

The work that Corbin produces is worth seeing purely for its unique and therefore personally artistic and creative approach, but it also has an elemental sense that takes us out of ourselves and allows us to explore the fundamental use of colour and texture on an emotional level, rather than an intellectual.

Illustration: Cynthia Corbin. Removed, 2008.

Cynthia Corbin teaches various classes and workshops, is a lecturer and has exhibited her work widely both inside and outside the US. She has a full calendar until at least 2011 and it seems there is very little that Corbin has not achieved or is willing to achieve within her discipline. There is also a comprehensive website where you can see much more of Corbin's work and includes more information about her lectures, classes, workshops and exhibitions. The website can be found here.

All images were used with the kind permission of the artist.

Illustration: Cynthia Corbin. Storm Door, 2008.

Reference links:
Cynthia Corbin Website

The Free Flowing Work of Peggy Brown

Illustration: Peggy Brown. December Ice.

Peggy Brown approaches textile art from the perspective of a watercolour artist. She produces fine art painting on both paper and fabric and is able to drift between the two mediums without the usual barriers that are often thrown up between textile and fine art painting.

As far as textiles are concerned, Brown applies watercolour paint on to white fabric and then builds up layers of intensity of colour and texture as the mood takes her. These painted fabric pieces are then used within a built up collage composition. She also regularly uses paper within the composition as well as fabric, paper giving a different textural quality to that of the fabric.

 Illustration: Peggy Brown. Another Form.

Interestingly Brown uses the organic and free flowing quality of the watercolour paint to emphasise that very fact, that water is both free and fluid in its seemingly random journey across both fabric and paper. However, she also manages to give this free flowing quality an element of containment. All the pieces shown in this article have at least one area of the composition, sometimes the majority and sometimes a small fraction that features an angular bordered off area. In the piece entitled Echoes for example, it is difficult to judge whether that free flowing element of the watercolour medium, is flowing into the ordered geometric area in order to obliterate it, or in fact retreating in order to make room for a very different element.

Illustration: Peggy Brown. Echoes.

The free form coming up hard against the contained is an interesting and clever concept. To use both the image of the free and seemingly independent organic flow of a natural element like water and the obvious constraints brought about by the use of a human right angle throws up some interesting questions and observations about the world we inhabit. It is this uneasy juxtaposition that now seems to dominate how we see the planet, but is also part of the complexity of our relationship with nature. It is inevitably up to the individual as to how this unlikely relationship between the organic and the artificial construct is interpreted.

Illustration: Peggy Brown. Collaboration II.

By balancing the allure between both the independence that is summed up in the element of free flowing water and the security that can be obtained from self containment, Brown has produced work that reflects who we are, who we want to be, and perhaps who we will never be.

Peggy Browns work, both fine art paintings and textiles, have been seen across the US in various exhibitions. Her work can also be seen in a number of public and corporate institutions including universities, banks, museums and art centres. She also has a comprehensive website with a much wider selection of her work on show. The website can be found here.

All images were used with the kind permission of the artist.

Illustration: Peggy Brown. Winter Water.

Reference links:

Peggy Brown Website

Terrol Dew Johnson and Contemporary Basketry

Illustration: Terrol Dew Johnson. Form Over Function #1.

Terrol Dew Johnson started basketry weaving at the age of ten. He soon learned that he was a born natural and found that it was one of the few things in life that he found intrinsically effortless.

Johnson is a member of the Tohono O'odham nation of southern Arizona. The Tohono O'odham have a long history of basket weaving using a whole variety of techniques using natural materials and dyes. These are all used in order to tie the basketry in with the local landscape colours and flora, making the baskets part of the community and of the larger landscape.

Illustration: Terrol Dew Johnson.

The traditional basketry weaving techniques that Johnson learnt at such an early age, have allowed him to expand into the world of contemporary fine art basketry, while still keeping hold of his traditions, which he uses as a foundation or anchor point for his subsequent career as an artist.

Johnson has definitely turned the craft skill of basketry into an art form. His basket weaving techniques now see him producing work that is sculptural in form, with the pieces quietly but confidently filling their internal and external space. His basketry creations have extended one of the earliest human learned skills, much beyond its original practical remit, and although his creations do still maintain some of the traits of a traditional basket, as much of his work still has the appearance of the functional containers that were woven by early humans, he has been able to play with that notion and that traditional form, producing pieces that although serving no practical purpose, are still able to pay homage to the rich local and wider planetary history of basket weaving.

Illustration: Terrol Dew Johnson. Basket.

Terrol Johnson is now one of the most popular basketry weavers in the United States. His work has won major awards and has been seen in various exhibitions across the country. A number of prestigious museums and galleries are now eagerly procuring examples of his work for their collections.

Johnson is now a respected artist who has been able to expand his interests into other creative areas including architecture and photography, but it is his commitment to basketry weaving and more particularly how that can be used to help his Tohon O'dham community, that will perhaps be his greatest legacy.

Illustration: Terrol Dew Johnson. Basket.

Terrol Johnson has his own website, which can be found here. There is also an interesting article by Loretts Gallery of Tulsa, Oklahoma, which can be found here.

Johnson is involved in a number of pressing issues and enterprises concerning his Tohono O'odham community, all of which can be found at the TOCA (Tohona O'odham Community Action) website, which can be found here.

Reference links:
Terrol Dew Johnson
Lovetts Gallery
TOCA (Tohono O'odham Community Action)

Deborah Lacativa's Dreamscapes

Illustration: Deborah Lacativa. Clubbin, 2007.

Illustration: Deborah Lacativa. Clubbin (close up), 2007.

I was actually looking for work by another artist altogether today, when I came across the intriguing work of Deborah Lacativa. I have become an instant fan and therefore decided to write a post dedicated to her instead of the original artist that I had been looking for.

Lacativa is an American artist from Georgia (the state not the country). She deals very much in the genre of textile art, using dye discharge techniques, along with free form stitching, to produce pieces of art work that are really not meant for anything but display purposes. This is not a criticism, as I personally believe that textile art deserves a place in the fine art pantheon. Unfortunately, it is very often either dismissed altogether by those with a vested interest in the narrow confines of the fine art definition, or placed within the large undefined world of craft.

Illustration: Deborah Lacativa. Kodamas I, 2006.

Illustration: Deborah Lacativa. Kodamas I (close up), 2006.

Lacativa's work uses an extraordinary use of colour, shape and texture with much of her work appearing more like a primal dreamscape than that of an exercise in colour and texture. It would not be hard to draw certain comparisons and analogies to the imagined mythical and magical spirit journeys of early humans, though Lacativa has definitely been able to create her own vibrant coloured world in which to inhabit.

I have only given a small sample of this extraordinary woman's work. The examples shown are my favourites, though it is quite difficult to choose between them. I am particularly fond of the richness of colour and deep primal qualities of these compositions. They are also intriguing when seen from a distance or in close up, which is definitely not an easy feat.

These art pieces are so much more than what I have always expected from quilting, even in its loosest description and designation. There are many more examples of her work that are available for sale on her comprehensive website, which can be found here. She also has a number of blogs highlighting various new works and directions. These can all be found at the reference section at the end of this post and are well worth a visit, if not bookmarked.

Illustration: Deborah Lacativa. Exubera I, 2008.

Illustration: Deborah Lacativa. Exubera I (close up), 2008.

Although very loosely based on traditional quilting techniques, Lacativa's work goes well beyond the confines of that discipline. However, having its roots in the quilting genre her work has been able to give that discipline an artistic outlook, stretching the genre of quilting to its very limits. Perhaps some traditional quilters would not see her work as sitting comfortably within their genre, but I think this unlikely as quilters tend to be a fairly flexible bunch of people who allow all sorts of directions and innovations within their discipline.

Lacativa has shown her distinctive style of work in various exhibitions and venues across the US. It can only be hoped that it is only a matter of time until, at some point in the future, her work can be seen in Europe.

Reference links:
Deborah Lacativa website
More whiffs, Glimmers & Left Oeuvres blog
Random Acts of Dyeness blog
Like Hotcakes

Illustration: Deborah Lacativa. Window I, 2008.

Illustration: Deborah Lacativa. Window I (close up), 2008.