Featured Artist: Kristina Woodall

During the seven weeks of 'Daily Fiber Intake' we'll focus on individual artists here on our blog. Every week, several artists will be featured. Today, we're pleased to introduce to you: Kristina Woodall.

"Felt Brain Map Embroidery"

Ever since I was a little kid I knew that I wanted to be an artist. It all started with a crayon and coloring book. This eventually transformed into using a needle and thread, coloring in the lines that I stitched. Over time, I found that art was not just fun but a great way to express myself and voice my opinions. My work is usually lighthearted. I try not to take things to seriously and that can be seen through my imagery.  The messages and stories that I share are usually about my life experiences or thoughts. I also tend to relate many ideas to those experienced with my family and friends. 

College gave me the chance to explore many different mediums. Very quickly my interest in Fibers became clear.  I was first introduced to embroidery. I learned the simplest of stitches and from there I knew it was something I wanted to pursue. I was fascinated by  the way I could  create various textures by using the same types of material. I loved the transformation that a piece of thread goes through from an ordinary object into a work of art. Fiber Arts brings a whole new aspect and detail to my work. It comes alive with every stitch!

"Felt Brain Map Embroidery" Detail 

Featured Artist: Andy Vasquez

During the seven weeks of 'Daily Fiber Intake' we'll focus on individual artists here on our blog. Every week, several artists will be featured. Today, we're pleased to introduce to you: Andy Vasquez.

"Tee Chair"

It is said that furniture creates the set for the on-going play we live out. I believe as a furniture maker it is important to be constantly experimenting with different forms and materials to adjust to the “play” as the plot changes.

"Tee Chair" Detail 1

With Tee Chair, I set out to go about upholstery in a way that used recycled materials, as well as related more closely to the potential users of the chair. Tee shirts seemed like a sensible material to use with this chair being that they are often discarded, easily available, and have a character of their own. Using the graphics of the shirt became important as a way to show the tee shirts’ past stories beyond just their color.  Tee Chair is a functional chair, that provides comfort through the fabric’s softness, and visual interest through their arrangement.

"Tee Chair" Detail 2

Featured Artist: Lindsay Ketter-Gates

During the seven weeks of 'Daily Fiber Intake' we'll focus on individual artists here on our blog. Every week, several artists will be featured. Today, we're pleased to introduce to you: Lindsay Ketter-Gates.

"Renewal"

I combine my love of textile techniques, fashion design and everyday materials to create works of texture and grace. Necklines, fasteners, ruffles, pleats and decoration of traditional costumes as well as textile patterns from around the globe inspire me. My obsessive nature draws me to the repetitive looping of knotless netting. One piece informs the next and the cycle repeats. I aim for the viewer to find the finished works both elegant and curious.

*Lindsay is a studio artist working out of Milford, PA. She was awarded a 2005 Individual Creative Artists Fellowship by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, administered by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. Her work resides in the permanent collections of several museums including the Museum of Art & Design, NYC and Racine Art Museum, WI. Lindsay’s work has been featured on the cover of Metalsmith Magazine and on the pages of American Craft Magazine, FiberArts and Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot Magazine, Surface Design Journal, FIBERARTS Design Book 7 and 500 Baskets. 

To learn more about Lindsay and her work, please visit www.lindsaykgates.com

Featured Artist: Nicole Jones

During the seven weeks of 'Daily Fiber Intake' we'll focus on individual artists here on our blog. Every week, several artists will be featured. Today, we're pleased to introduce to you: Nicole Jones.

"Corpus" 

"Corpus" Detail

My current work has transpired from an attraction to exquisite materials and sophisticated processes. I am drawn to nontraditional materials to function within textiles. I enjoy challenging an object’s expected function to provoke a greater investigation, revealing a deeper connotation within the work.

"Flightless"

I use nontraditional materials with intent to expose the hidden beauty within. Utilizing a variety of materials such as window screen, paper, and nails allows me to enhance and connect the context within the piece. Stylistically, the work exudes a prevailing delicate and feminine driven character even with the use of these unusual surfaces.

"Flightless" Detail 1

Currently I have been exploring couture fashion in a sculptural approach that deals significantly with conceptual purpose. Each design addresses complex states of mind in which a woman can feel or be confronted with at certain moments or stages in life. I have been using “the dress” as a symbolic and relatable symbol that could be utilized to be interpreted beyond its expected function.

"Flightless" Detail 2

Featured Artist: Sarah Jefferis

During the seven weeks of 'Daily Fiber Intake' we'll focus on individual artists here on our blog. Every week, several artists will be featured. Today, we're pleased to introduce to you: Sarah Jefferis.

"Oil Rig"

Growing up in a military family had many ups and downs.  Moving to different environments has made me very aware of my surroundings. It created the feeling of being an outsider to the U.S. civilian culture. 

I use embroidery to complete the mental picture of the world I see around me and its contents. I consciously combine traditional and experimental techniques.

The piece I am entering into the 'Daily Fiber Intake' exhibit is a large embroidery on handwoven fabric. My intention with this piece was to voice my critical view of an environmental issue: oil extraction off the coasts of continents.

This piece shows two different scenarios. It is either showing the viewer a visual example of what the artificial oil islands are damaging or it shows that the population of sea life greatly outnumbers anything we have put in their environment. They could ultimately ban together to destroy what humans have created.

"Oil Rig" Detail

Featured Artist: Stephanie Hassler

During the seven weeks of 'Daily Fiber Intake' we'll focus on individual artists here on our blog. Every week, several artists will be featured. Today, we're pleased to introduce to you: Stephanie Hassler.

"For A Good Time Call..."

I am a designer and artist living in Berks County, PA.  This coming fall, I will be attending Misericorida University to pursue my master’s degree in occupational therapy.

"For A Good Time Call..." Detail 1

"For A Good Time Call..." Detail 2

In “For a good time call…”, I wanted to exploit the mundane and draw special attention to the layering of patterns and textures.  The first layer consists of fabric with imagery transferred from a local phone book.  Next, I plaited the strips to add a twill pattern.  Finally, the embroidery on the surface ties everything together and adds another dimension to the entire piece.  To best view this piece, look at it both up close and from afar to see each layer and how they affect each other.

Featured Artist: Liz Hamilton

During the seven weeks of 'Daily Fiber Intake' we'll focus on individual artists here on our blog. Every week, several artists will be featured. Today, we're pleased to introduce to you: Liz Hamilton.

"Scorned," "Centered," "Reluctant Contrition"

As a contemporary fiber artist, I strive to tempt traditional aesthetic to achieve imagery that has not been seen before but is familiar.  I work predominantly with the female figure, which is readily accessible and suggest ideal preconceptions.  Despite these derived connotations, I tend to use the female form as a vessel.  Layers of suggestion are built into the form.  To achieve the breakdown of these concepts, I begin with a very broad category and recall all of the associated emotions.  These words take on their own life in a dynamic and intrinsic struggle within the piece.

"Scorned"

In my final product, both emotional aspects can be seen and felt.  The familiar female vessel acts as a vehicle to dismember overwrought dichotomies in our culture.  I feel as if these figurative forms offer a subtle view into the delicate conceptual dichotomies of being a human.  During the process, by using the human form to directly apply both painful and beautiful techniques, it greatly maximizes the intensity inherent within human emotion.  Generating and capitalizing on the viewer’s emotions is the ultimate goal of my work.

"Centered"

"Centered" Detail

"Reluctant Contrition"