Pérez Art Museum Miami

Amelia Peláez

A couple days ago I stood before this piece by Cuban Artist Amelia Pelaez, enjoying roomfuls of her paintings at the Pérez Art Museum Miami. There was also work by Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei and many others. 

Al Weiwei's imposing bronze zodiac figures greeted us. It's impressive… but grandest is the new museum by architects Herzog & deMeuron -- portico and gardens,  galleries and nooks, shaded "secret" windows overlooking the Port of Miami,  and, to the west, the high rises that make Miami new again.

Go if you can; admission is $12, free the first Thursday and second Saturday of each month.

Entrance portico overlooking Port of Miami

I'm standing on a ledge. A screen separates me from the rest of the museum, and the window is protection too, of course.

Present at the creation -- of a book

Teresa sent me this link, knowing I'd want to share. I've shuddered in front of printing presses so big and noisy that they shook the building, but watching this makes me realize publication can also be simple, tactile and aesthetically satisfying: an art. Thanks, Teresa!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas snowballs

I always make these Christmas cookies for Rachel -- and myself! This year I made it twice so there were extras for gifts. I first tasted these at the Miners' house next door in Steubenville (Ohio), when I was babysitting;  they were quite brown inside their confectioners' sugar dusting.  I guess Mrs. Miner cooked them too long. Since then I always cook them longer than this recipe says. Don't burn them, though!

You could still make these for Christmas, because they are easy.

Christmas snowballs

1 cup butter (I use unsalted.)
6 T. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 C. flour
2 C. finely chopped pecans*
Powdered sugar

1. Cream butter well. 
2. Add sugar and beat until fluffy.
3. Add vanilla and flour. Mix well.
4. Add the nuts. 

Take small portions of the dough and roll into 1" ropes on a lightly floured board or wax paper. Break off small, bite-size pieces and roll them into little balls. Place on cookie sheet covered with parchment. Bake at 325° for 8 to 12 minutes or until light brown on the bottom. Remove the pan from oven and sprinkle the whole thing liberally with powdered sugar. Don't touch the cookies because they will break. When they are slightly cooler, you can roll them completely in the sugar. Let them cool and then roll again to cover with another layer of sugar.

*I usually toast my pecans and then grind them in a Mouli mill. This year I bought the pre-ground local pecans at Tomato Land. That was easier, but the other way is better. 

To bind, to face, perchance to Zigzag

How to finish this?

Once, at a craft fair in Asheville, NC, I visited a booth with vibrant abstract quilts. They were framed and under glass -- negating the sensual "touch me" quality I love about fiber art. "Why do you DO this to your gorgeous work?" I asked the artist. "I'd never sell them if they weren't framed," she told me. "That convinces people they are art."

I don't want to put my fiber art under glass, but I do want it to appear professional -- or, better -- beautiful. There are many ways to do this, and I'm looking for finishing techniques that work for me. As I develop my personal style, it becomes easier.

For now, I'll be finishing my art quilts like this:
1 with zigzag or straight stitch
2. mounted on a simple base quilt after edge-stitching
3. faced
4. unobtrusive binding

Here is a how-to using fused fabric binding from Cynthia St. Charles' blog, "Living and Dyeing Under the Big Sky." I like how she prints the binding to extend the quilt print. That way the binding doesn't stand out.

Laura Wasilowski has a slightly different method for fused binding.

New collages

I have made 3 collages in the past couple of weeks, and love the process. The results please me too. 

This is the beginning of one. Working quickly, I cut magazine pages, glued them randomly to 12" x 12" card stock, and stamped at random with a seashell design in black ink. I think I see a newspaper clipping in there too. I covered the entire square with more random clippings and shell stamps. Unfortunately, I do not yet have a photo of this one completed.

Another collage made with magazine cuttings and stamps -- this time stars stamped with acrylic paint.
By chance, the word Wishes is visible.
I mounted it on watercolor paper covered with black gesso.

Detail of Wishes

Detail of Wishes

This is the fabric collage that I showed earlier in its beginning stages.
It seemed just disconnected words and stamps and fabrics.
When I added in layers of tulle across the top third, it seemed finished. The line echoes
the William Powell Bridge leading to the Rickenbacker Causeway in Miami.
The words are from the first stanza of a poem I wrote about that bridge.
It begins "Arc in air."
Bridge, 16" x 20"

Detail of Bridge

Detail of Bridge

Collage on Wood Panel

What do you think about framing and displaying your work?
I am convinced that mounting work makes it look respectable, to the artist as well as prospective owners. And I do make my work to share and sell.

For a couple of years I've been taking notes on how I see art displayed.  I take photos of mounting methods whenever I see something new, and I've filled files and folders. Maybe now I can select a couple of ways that work for me, most of the time. Maybe my research will save you time. Here are two useful sites.

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer shows step-by-step How to mount a collage.

In this YouTube Jane Davies demonstrates a similar method. She does not decorate the sides of the wood panel, while Julie does. 

Blog advice from a pro

I love our great old dining table, but it took me years to realize it's the perfect spot to blog

This week I heard an Interweave seminar on Build a Better Blog with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. Something happened and I couldn't get the video, but I learned a lot anyway. Afterward, it dawned on me that one reason I didn't miss the video much is because I already have a mental image of Julie; I got it from her blog, which is cheerful and full of bright colors.

Maybe you, like me, have wondered how to produce a blog that is interesting and useful to you and your readers. He're are some of Julie's tips, in random order:

1. Think of a real person to write for. (Since the beginning I have been writing for myself; I want -- as Joan Didion has said --  to find out what I think. Often I put recipes in after someone has asked for one. And lately I've been thinking of all my friends who are, like me, searching for their identity in art.
2. Put a link to your blog on your email signature. (A few years ago I rejected this idea as self-promotional. Which is the idea.)
3. You can write posts early and post them automatically according to a schedule you set. Do this when you're going on vacation … or having a baby.
4. Your blog should have a voice, which you can't just manufacture. Or maybe you can, but you shouldn't. Julie (I just can't call her Ms. Balzer … ) Julie says style develops over time anyway, so start a blog and after a few months look back for common strands, and that's your voice. Focus on strengthening/ clarifying that.
5. Post about what makes you you. Let it flow from your life and then it won't be a chore and it will be authentic.
6. Notice which blogs you love, and learn from them.
7. Schedule your posts so you are dependable to readers. (I'm sticking to MWF. .. and if you say you didn't notice, well … I just started.)
8. Use a monthly calendar to plan your entries. 

OK, thank you, Julie!

AND …
If you live in Tallahassee you should know there will be at least one collage artist at the holiday art sale downtown Saturday -- FSU professor Carrie Ann Baade.  Her work unites old masters with mythology and psychology. I expect complexity.

Fabric collage/ paper collage

I am loving collage, and I want to see how the paper techniques stretch to fabric. Here are the first steps of two separate collages -- a paper and paint piece with a Christmas theme, and a work that is mostly fabric continuing my interest in salt water.

Base

I have a base and cotton fabrics to cover it with.

Here are swaths of fabric, instead of paint. 

Words

For the paper collage I used black ink and a calligraphy pen. I wrote random Christmas words, including Peace, Cheer, Holiday...

For the fabric collage I wrote with black thread.  I've written the first stanza of a poem about the Rickenbacker Causeway Bridge. It begins, "Arc in air…"

Below, I've masked some of the paper in preparation for painting. In the next post I'll show the final, fun steps of the pair.

Best lemon pie

I was messing around in the freezer and found a crumbled graham cracker pie crust, a cup of Meyer lemon juice and a bag of puffs of sweetened whipped cream not eaten with Thanksgiving's pumpkin pie. I decided to marry this combo into something delightful and fumbled my way into a recipe for lemon curd in Baking Illustrated (p. 394), a gift from Rachel. You can see it looks humble, but it tasted heavenly -- I'd choose it over Key Lime Pie any day. Just put the Lemon Curd into a pre-baked graham cracker crust and top with sweetened whipped cream, then chill it. You could even double the lemon curd to make a deeper pie. (Who thought up that terrible name: Curd?)

Lemon Curd

1/3 C. lemon juice
2 large eggs and one large egg yolk
1/2 C. sugar
2 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 T. heavy cream
1/4 t. vanilla
pinch of salt

Heat the lemon juice until hot but not boiling. (I used a glass measuring cup in the microwave.) Whisk eggs and yolk in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in the sugar. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the hot lemon juice into the eggs, then pour the mixture into a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until 170° and thick enough to cling to the spoon (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in butter until it is incorporated; add cream, vanilla, and salt.

Three collages

Collage is like my life. The woods where I run has many layers: leaf, twig, insect and sky. Family (as I live mine and observe others) is heart, heartbreak, surprise and pleasure. Christmas is color, light, warmth and longing. 

I seek spontaneity because through it truth rises up.  This is why I've been making collages without thought, inspired by the Linda Israel YouTube from my last post.

My box of colored papers

Stamps

Begin gluing papers randomly. I used 12" x 12" card stock base.
I used Mod Podge Matte because I don't have Golden Gel Medium,

Adding stamps

I just continued until all was covered with glued-down papers and stamps.  I also tried copper foil on cellophane. I pasted it down, but it slipped and slid -- not what I wanted.  It did leave some great metal traces behind, kind of like a the trail a snail makes.  Cheap Joe's Art Stuff told me how to use metallic foil properly: brush acrylic medium on the wrong side, then glue it where you want it. When it's dry, scrape at it and the paper will come up, leaving the metal on the collage.

It was kind of bright so I showered it with magenta spray paint.

Thinking of Christmas

I'm going to finish with metallic paint and/or glitter -- inspired by the gold-speckled nail polish my friend Janice was wearing today.

More collage inspiration

Suddenly, collage!

Pieces placed, thrown, covered up, left alone: isn't that life?

Here are two ways to look at it -- the first playing with design and color, and the second is an overview of more realistic work.





Below, Collage Perspectives at Swarthmore College:

Tearing Watercolor Paper

I wanted to cut up my playful, painted and printed watercolor paper to make a small folded book. I'd never cut watercolor paper before, so naturally I readied a blade -- my Exacto knife, with ruler and cutting board. Just in time I realized that I did not want a crisp edge. Tearing would be better. So I wandered the Internet and discovered this YouTube on tearing watercolor paper. It's a peaceful occupation.