Discussions and ideas about art and textile art
In my previous article, I touched on the subject of geometric art created by women. I had wondered if the repetitive skills of homemaking inspired a love of repetitive mark making by women in cooperative primitive situations as well as in busy modern life.
In contrast, I’d like to now look at the work of three male artists created in solitude by minds that might be considered beyond the norm.
Continue reading ‘Art and the Disordered Male by Linda Frost’
If you are an art quilter and find yourself stuck in the art/craft-which-is-it? vortex, can you even imagine the assumptions people have about doll makers? I have made a few dolls, but don’t think of myself as a dollmaker. Still, I have a fascination with them, being sometimes magical little effigies, sometimes alter egos, sometimes haunting and spooky and more often sweet and cloying. Think of all the “baggage” the whole concept of dolls carries, made even more cumbersome by feminist notions of whether little girls need to play with dolls, especially esteem damaging numbers like Barbie and her cohorts. So, with all this in mind I was hesitant to feature a doll artist here. I can hear June snorting frantically as I write this!
I became aware of Charla Khanna’s dolls a number of years ago. She does not have a web site, so I began saving images, in a folder, when I found them for the simple pleasure of being able to go back, from time to time to enjoy looking at them. I find them quite unsentimental, beautifully imagined and equally beautifully conceived. Like good art should, they seem to me filled with meaning and intention and crafted with joy. I was delighted to see a profile of her in the newest issue of Fiberarts magazine.
Here are a few of the images I have filched over several years:
Since this debate comes up time and time again, it seems clear that no one can win this argument. However, not every argument is meant to be won or lost. I submit that some comparisons are not logical and the argument itself only serves to limit our imaginations and fuel resentments that divide the creative community. It’s not like comparing apples to oranges. “Art vs. Craft” would be like comparing “Cuisine vs. Recipe” – we are attempting to define one exclusive of the other, which is impossible.
Art is not a separate “world” from Craft. These two things are not entities themselves but rather they are specific aspects of all creative work.
Continue reading ‘ART & CRAFT cannot be separated – Kate Themel’
John McQueen, “Beside Myself”
The Textile Museum in Washington, DC, recently had an aptly-named exhibit, “Private Pleasures: Collecting Contemporary Textile Art”, showcasing over fifty pieces of textile art from eighteen Washington-area private collectors.
Thumbnails of some of the art may be seen here. Continue reading ‘Private Pleasures at the Textile Museum (Eileen Doughty)’
A quick and dirty post this morning from June, since Kristin was unable to do one. I would like to have some continuation of a question that Terry’s last post and subsequent comments suggested. The question is — what are the differences between painting media and stitched textile media? Olga pointed out that making curves in textiles is less physical than doing so in paint, and I think that it’s much harder to make curves with textiles than with paint, and that the effect of the finished work differs subtly in the different media. Continue reading ‘Painted and Quilted: Up for Discussion, by June Underwood’
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Ragged Cloth Cafe, serving Art and Textiles 
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