Tracy McCabe Stewart - Contemporary Fiber

Mt Fuji (c) Tracy McCabe Stewart

I am back from my fabulous trip to Japan.  I had a lovely day getting myself mentally and physically back on this continent:  loads of laundry, grocery shopping, walking my dogs, seeing what’s coming up in my garden and spending some time reconnecting with my husband. 

I checked the blogs I read tonight and came across two really lovely posts from Leslie Avon Miller’s  blog  “Create Your Best Life Coaching”  Her post is about getting back in touch with our power and our dreams.  after just having spent the last ten days taking some risks and fulfilling some dreams of my own, I especially appreciated this.  Check it out here and a really good short video here

I was pining for the fjords today ; thinking about Scotland and surfing the internet.  I ran across this wonderful Scottish painter Ken Bushe.  He does lovely, lovely oil paintings of earth, sky and water.  His website  includes information on technique as well-presented with that quirky Scottish humor.  Enjoy!

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in a workshop with the incredible Mary Hettmansperger; learning metal techniques to combine with fiber art.  I was an action packed two days.  I learned a ton and we had a fabulous time.  Mary is an incredible teacher:  very, very funny and really informative.  I cannot recommend her highly enough.  If she comes to your town, run to take classes with her.

The course was on making mixed media art quilts, but most of us concentrated on learning the metal techniques, rather than creating a finished product.  I started in the art world making jewelry, so some of the metal working stuff was review for me.  Mary uses basket making techniques in her metal work and that was all new (an great) stuff.  Here are some action shots of the workshop:

We learned a great stitching/looping technique for attaching things like rocks.  We worked with bth 26 guage wire and waxed linen.  It’s really beatiful and sturdy when done well like Mary’s pieces:

Looping technique piece by Mary HettmanspergerAnother beautiful one by Mary:Mary Hettmansperger piece

Rock stitching by Cindy Heineman

Twined piece by Mary Hettmansperger

 Here’s one by Shelley:

Twining by Shelley Brucar

Combined twining and looping by Mary Hettmansperger

Stana Marie Coleman used the loop technique on this pretty piece:

Metal work by Stana Marie Coleman

 We all had fun with the torches and hammers:

Fun with Fire

Joan Bratton did some gogeous weaving on this piece:

Gorgeous stuff by Joan Bratton

 Mixed media quilts by Shelley Brucar:

Graffiti by Shelley Brucar

A mixed media mini quilt by me:

Mini art quilt by Tracy McCabe Stewart

 Everyone made peapods.  I can’t remember who did this beauty.  I think it beloged to Sheila Shaffer-Hirsch:

Peapod Mania!

Hi all,

We had a really cool frost a few weeks ago that created lovely formations on the trees, etc.  My pals tell me it’s called a hoarfrost.  Here are some pics of my backyard:

Frosty Willow Tree

 You can’t see it as well here, but my magnolia got some, too:

Frosty Trees

Frosty Chokecherry

I had my Needle Arts guild meeting today and Mary Hettmansperger was our speaker.  She does unbelievable mixed media work:  baskets, jewelry, textiles and a cross over between all media.  Truly gorgeous stuff.  I’m in a class with her for the next few days.  I’m hoping to take tons of pictures.  Check out her work here:  http://www.maryhetts.com/

I drove up to my house today to see a red tailed hawk munching on a squirrel on the sidewalk.  He let me stare from the car, but as soon as I came out with my camera, he flew off.  I sure wish I could have captured him on film, but camera or no, it was definitely an awesome gift for the day.

I just can’t get enough of taking classes from Barbara Schneider.  She’s a fabulous teacher and I always learn something that I’ll actually use in my work.  This class was no exception.  The focus of Barbara’s class was on expanding uses for thermofax screens and silk screens.

We started out by making oversized thermofax screens.  You’re only limited by the width of the machine, but can make them as long as you care to.  We created frames by cutting one side out of two frames and gluing them together for a larger total opening.  I made some great screens but forgot to take pictures of them.

Barbara also showed us some of her experiments with screens past their prime.  Below, she has created a sewing line to add visual interest.  Good for backgrounds.

Revamping spent screensHere are some of her results using this screen:She also showed us some different effects to create with regular screens:Thermofax screens using a sponge application

Combination of sponge and regular applications

Cheap silk screens

wax resist on silk screen

 She also showed us another method using leaves or other objects (they will get ruined) as a resist and spray painting the screen.  You then remove the objects befor the paint adheres them to the screen.

Leaf resist screens

I had to leave the workshop early, so didn’t actually make any work.  That’s also why there’s no pictures of actual work.

I haven’t had any time to play with this stuff. I have been hunkered down working on a that huge heron piece I started a few months ago.  It’s basically done, but I’m not quite pleased with the head of one of them.  Once I fix it, I’ll post pictures. 

I didn’t feel like posting photos today.  it’s a bit dreary in Chicago today, so I thought I’d post something uplifting. 

I absolutely love this organization.  They are about bringing peace through music.    Here’s a great video.  This one featuring musicians from Africa, India, Ireland and the Middle East and probably a few I’m forgetting.  Bono even makes an appearance to do some vocals.  Enjoy!

http://www.playingforchange.com/episodes/8/War_No_More_Trouble

For the remainder of 2009 I will be featuring a piece of my work each day or so on my blog.  Here’s today’s piece: 

“Bark Series I”

51″hx16″w

2006

By Tracy McCabe Stewart

Hand Dyed and commercial cottons, fossils.  Machine quilted.

2010 price $1225

Price through 2009: $915

Email me for more information or for higher resolution photos

I am reducing prices on my work for the remainder of 2009-Read more here

SOFA 2009 continued:

Here are more photos of SOFA 2009:

A beautiful piece by Tammy Garcia represented by the Blue rain Gallery out of Santa Fe, NM:

mixed media piece from Sant Fe Gallery Blue Rain

Another gorgeous piece:

Mixed media Sculpture by Peter Powning

I loved these glass pieces they were beautifully layered.  They looked like they had just been dug up from an archaeological site.

Crusty glass piece by Deanna Clayton

Here’s a shot of the inside.  I LOVE these!

Deanna Clayton

another amazing glass artist:

Cast glass by Charles Miner

and here are some other fabulous wood artists:

George Petersen Wood Carving

and Michael Peterson:

Michael Peterson wood piece

The ceramics below were astounding; carved and decorated with burnt horsehair.

ceramics by Jeff Margolin

I ran into Jeanne Beck while I wa at the show and got her to pose with her gorgeous fiber pieces.  I had to shoot them from an angle:

The amazing Jeanne Beck posing with her work

Finally, I saw these great kites by artist Michael Thompson  from a Chicago store called Pagoda Red:

Kites by Michael Thompson

Here’s another:

kite by Michael Thompson

Here’s a little view to end with of the lake and the Chicago skyline:

looking out the windows of Navy Pier

My pals Shelley, and Leah and I went with some other friends down to the fabulous Sculptural Objects and Functional Art (SOFA) show held at Navy Pier in Chicago.  The show was about 1/4 smaller this year.  They went really heavy on the glass this year as well.  I did manage to see almost all of my favorite artists’ work there.  Here are some pictures.  More to come.

There were a series of these  sculptures- by Keld Moseholm I really liked them:

Mixed Media Sculpture

I’ve seen this next artist a few times  Steffan Dam.  These marvelous sea life creations are within panes of glass:

Sea life creations in glass This artist, Barbro Aberg had the most amazing ceramics!amazing ceramics

I am a huge William Morris fan.  Here is an amazing tribal piece that was included in the show:

Glass by William Morris

This piece made from rusted metal by Mary Giles completely entranced me:

Rust piece by Mary Giles

Here’s a detail:

Another artist I absolutely adore is Gilles Payette:

glass sculpture by Gilles Payette

One of the most amazing artists at SOFA is Lesley Richmond.  She uses a fiber process that combines eating away some of the fabric and then uses metal pigments on them.  The results are exquisite, my picture, not so much:

Here’s a detail of one of her pieces:

Detail Lesley richmond piece

and some gorgeous thread painting by Carol Shinn:

Work by Carol Shinn

Ther was some beautiful wood carving by Milo Mirabelli:

Wood carving by Milo Mirabelli

and some really lovely glass work by Eoin Breadan:

Glass work by Eoin Breadan

I loved this horse sculpture and even talked with the artist for a few minutes.  She does these sculptures with her partner.  The artists are   Kirk H. Slaughter and Elisabett Gudmann

Horse Sculpture

here’s another one of their beautiful sculptures:

Another great sculpture

Here is one of Elisabett Gudman’s  gorgeous metal pieces.  She makes the most amazing colored metal patinas!

etched metal piece

 more photos later!

I had my 15 minutes of fame when my piece, “Herons”  ended up on the channel 7 news or the Sunday version of Good Morning America-I never did find out which.  Very exciting!

"Herons" (c) 2008 by Tracy McCabe Stewart

 It was a fabulous show!  Here’s some of the pieces:

Shelley  put in this lovely piece:

My friend Shelley Brucar's great window piece

Maggie Weiss had a few pieces in the show.  here’s one using sheers and raw applique:

a great piece by Maggie Weiss

The fabulous Mary Jo Bowers working in some new colors on this gorgeous piece:

a wonderful piece by Mary Jo Bowers

I really love the fractured technique that Val used on this beauty:

I love this piece by Val Rodelli

ere’s a beautiful work by Sabrina Cassidy:

Gingko piece by Sabrina Cassidy

I loved the ceramic heads on this great piece by Cathy Mendola:

Mixed media piece by Cathy Mendola

Gerry’s piece got knocked askew by the fans.  I hope you can still tell how pretty it is:

mixed media piece by Gerry Macsai

Roz used every needle technique in the book on this beauty:

a beautiful triptych by Roz DeBoer

Gale Wessel made this piece based on techniques she learned in Maggie weiss’ class:

Gale wessel won the botanic challenge with this piece

as usual, I love this entry by Barbara Schneider-I rarely see anything of hers that I don’t love!

A gorgeous piece by Barbara Schneider

Here's a great piece by Virginia Cruz Carlson

Here’a beautiful piece by Debbie Plato based on cliffs near her home in England:

Here's a fantastic piece by Debbie Plato

here’s a great one from pat Kroth:

Hi all,

We had a fabulous speaker today at my guild meeting:  Chicago fiber artist, David L. Johnson.  David is a fiber arts whirlwind; his pieces combine tapestry, beading and digital image transfer, as well as traditional craft such as crochet.  Check out his website-Urban Wild  to see all of his beautiful pieces. 

 David is a wonderful speaker: informative, funny and immensely creative.  He did a great lecture.  If you get the chance to hear him or see his work, take advantage of it

He was mobbed after the guild meeting with people buying his pieces.  I purchased this amazing piece called, “Bryn Mawr Storm Drain”  It combines digtal priniting on canvas, and beading; including the homemade twig beads that are David’s signature.  It has already found a home on my breakfast area wall.

Bryn Mawr Storm Drain by David L. Johnson

Here’s a detail:

Bryn Mawr Storm Drain detail