A Good Week for Cheesecloth

I am working madly on a second piece to submit to the Taiwan International Quilt Exhibition - it's a departure from my usual work - I am creating an Inuit portrait and using cheesecloth I dyed a warm brown to do the reverse of my usual technique: instead of having the cheesecloth represent the light reflected off a face, I am using the cheesecloth to fill in the shadows.  It is being placed on a white buckram landscape with a river shaded in with water-soluble wax pastels.  I am awaiting formal permission to use the photo so can't show the piece here yet.  And if I don't receive permission, the piece will be exhibited solely in my living room, never to see the light of day.  Stay tuned.

Yesterday I taught seven of the most delightful students how to do cheesecloth portraits at Dragonfly Fabrics in Ottawa. We had so much fun together and they quickly became comfortable pushing glue-soaked cheesecloth around to resemble the image taken from a photo by Chalmers Butterfield that I have always been quite taken with. I took a picture of their works in progress with my phone (at right).

Based on photo by Leon Pavich (Photo: R Pilon)

And I was rewarded for a week of hard work to learn that "Musing" has been juried in to the Fantastic Fibers exhibition in Paducah at the Yeiser Art Center. The juror was Luanne Rimel, whose incredible textile works (especially of human hands) I have long admired.  I am honoured to have my name on the list of some very big names in the world of fiber art.

For now, I must get back to work on my arctic piece - hope I can share it here one day!

Little Teaser

Today is my first experiment using my iPad to blog - with the use of the Blogpress app. I have been working on a piece for an upcoming book, and so far have only sculpted the face but not stitched it down yet. Here is a sneak peek at one section.




Today I am working on another submission for the TIQE - Taiwan International Quilt Exhibition. The deadline is in nine days, so I am rushing.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

First Post

I have at long last succumbed to the world of blogging.

My initial reluctance hinged on my interpretation of the medium as a forum for extroverts or for people with too much time on their hands.  My opinion changed - as I saw blogs of artists I have deep regard for who generously share their ideas and their processes - as I lost all my website files and could no longer update the world about my work - and as I faced several months of world travel and sought a simple way of sharing my adventures with friends.

Sizing Up - 12x12 inches (Photo: Ray Pilon)

In terms of my art, I am concurrently working on four pieces (mostly in my head at this point) but I have many deadlines looming.  The first is the SAQA online auction - and the piece to the right is my entry for this year, "Sizing Up," based on a photograph by my wonderful photographer friend in Tennessee, Clint Colbert.  He has an incredible eye for subjects on whose faces the stories of their lives are etched.  Once a sleeve and label are sewn on (always my nemeses!), I will pop this piece in the mail and it will either be selected to sell in Houston or at the online auction this September. I'll know which venue it will sell at in July and will post that info.

On the travel front, I'm gearing up for a trip with my entire family in March to first, Beijing, and then Taiwan, where my oldest son is studying on a special scholarship.  I'm travelling light: carry-on only, for 10 days.  Hence the need to get blog-active right away.  My plan is to take pictures with my iPad and blog whenever I can find a wi-fi zone.

So if you've read this far, Welcome to my Blog!  I look forward to sharing my art and travels with you over the coming months and hope you'll find something of interest here each time you check in.