New Work

Hope, Peace, Healing

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:44:43 -0400

Recently I was commissioned to make banners for a hospital chapel in a Catholic hospital. There was sufficient money for one set of banners. So the colors that would be chosen would be up year-round. In this case, white becomes the obvious choice for a base color, as opposed to purple, green or red, because it is a place of hope, peace, and healing. At the beginning and ending of life, white is the appropriate color. And so this was their choice.

However, one could argue for a variety of choices for accent colors, perhaps including purple, green, and red stripes, which could coordinate with vestments year-round. This committee chose not to make that safe choice. Instead, after viewing a sample banner in the space, they opted for a glorious blaze of white, yellow, and orange. They would not “tame down” the white, but chose to intensify it by going yellow and orange. And really, it’s just perfect, for what do we seek in a hospital chapel, but light and hope, peace and healing.

See more photos on the Installations page.

Want to learn to make painted silk banners?

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:35:06 -0400

Would you or a member of your community like to learn how to paint silk and sew a finished banner? Join me this summer at the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, NC (Asheville region) at the Liturgical Arts Festival XIV, August 21-26 for a class called “Rejoice! Banners & Fabric”. Register by May 1st to receive 10% off. Click here for more information about the conference.

To see examples of Rejoice! banners, click here.

Designing a Whole Environment

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 06:17:28 -0400

Most of my commissions are for individual pieces or sets of pieces, and fit into an overall design for a worship environment. For a liturgical fiber artist, the opportunity to design a whole environment, from backdrop to banners to vestments, was rare, but welcome. This past June, I had exactly that opportunity at the Visual Artist-in-Residence at the annual Worship & Music Conference held at Montreat, NC. As Artist-in-Residence, I was to design and provide visual art for the worship space, as well as teach two classes a day - a hands on class in which we would make some of the art used in worship, and an overview of the liturgical arts and their use in the worship space.
The theme of the conference was Proclaiming the Mystery of Faith: Daily Living the Sacramental Life. The readings of the Easter season were proclaimed through the week of worship, beginning with Easter Sunday and ending with Pentecost. Thankfully, I was provided with a generous budget for materials for everything I and my students would be making, as well as a purchase offer for the specially commissioned banner I was asked to make for the conference (See Light of the World III below). In addition, I would be allowed to sell everything afterwards to cover the time invested in the project.

There was a special challenge in this commission in that the liturgical color would change on Friday from white to red. Therefore, whatever I planned had to communicate the unity of the Easter season, yet deliver a jolt of the fire of Pentecost. The colors I chose to use in the banner, Light of the World III, would span both sets of colors. The change of color would happen with supporting banners and other elements, which would switch from white to red. Using the same forms, Celebrate! banners and overlays, for these elements would visually link Easter and Pentecost.
When designing something white, additional colors can be used to convey something of the tone of the season. Because Easter begins with the new fire of of the Easter candle and ends in the flames of Pentecost, I like to add golds, yellows, and oranges to the white to evoke the image of flame. The golds and darker oranges could also be used with the red set, further linking the two color sets. I ended up making two sets of Celebrate! banners, 4 in each set, so that one pair could be used on either side of the stage, plus two sets of overlays, 2 for the table and 1 for the ambo. The photos below show the set up for Easter, and the Pentecost.

Easter

Pentecost

The environment now had it's medium sized elements, but it needed both larger scale and smaller scale elements - the backdrop and the vestments. I played with various ideas of how to handle the large scale backdrop, finally settling on a wide pair of painted white silk panels with subtle river imagery in them. The panels would frame and support the cross, frame the sanctuary space, and hide the doors allowing access to the stage, allowing for unobtrusive movement on and off the stage. The table and ambo would be similarly adorned. In addition, we could extend the concept of the overlays used on the table and ambo to the backdrop panels. The difference would be that these overlays would be of painted silk - yellow for Easter, with red layered on top for Pentecost. These painted panels would be the first thing made by my hands-on class.

The vestments - a pair of stoles - would incorporate both types of fabrics used in the space - the painted silk of the backdrops and the pieced fabrics of the banners. They would be worn alone over albs, and so would be highly visible. The shape of this particular stole makes it lies flat around the neck, which is pleasing when worn alone over the alb. The complexity of the piecing provided the presiders with satisfying detail, which was evident even from a distance.

To see more photos from Montreat, including the banners in procession, as well as the wonderful swirling Water banners used on Easter Sunday and the Flame banners from Pentecost, please follow this link:

Working with a Church Community

Wed, 1 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400

How does an artist work with a church community? While different artists prefer to work in different ways, there are some commonalities. Here I will describe methods I use, from direct sale of a finished product to working in collaboration with a community, ending with a specific example of a collaboration. A direct sale is like shopping from a store; you select an item that is right in front of you. Most often a direct sale is made at a show or conference, like Form/Reform, or right after it. These are generally one of a kind items. Depending on the style, I may or may not be able to make additional coordinating pieces for you. If your needs are greater or more particular than what I have available on hand, you can order a what is needed on commission. Checking out my Series in my brochure or website will help you do so. The commission approach also allows you to specify the sizes and coloration that you would like. This can work very well and was the approach used by St Matthais in Somerset, NJ (seen in the Gallery -> Installations).
However, sometimes a more collaborative approach is appropriate. In this case, the client will often send photos of the site or arrange for a visit. When invited on a visit, I bring samples of the different kinds of banners I make and we try them out in the space. The result of playing around and trying things out can be completely unanticipated design solution resulting from collaboration.
The above photo is the result of just such a process. The Environment committee from Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church in Albuquerque, NM needed new banners and wished them to express their unique New Mexican heritage. They invited me to visit and get to know the community. We considered various banner possibilities and ended up with a combination of the painted silk used in the Rejoice! banners and the strips pieced of multiple fabrics used in the Celebrate! Series. Before I left, the Parish Associate and I squeezed in a trip to the fabric store, where we were able to further refine the color concepts. The result is beautifully luminous and clearly reflects the Christmas season and the feeling of New Mexico. To see more photos, go to my Gallery -> Installations webpage page.

Timing a Commission

Thu, 6 Mar 2008 11:45:16 -0500

When should you start thinking about your seasonal decoration? A month ahead of time? The previous season? Here is a thought - Start thinking about next year’s season this year. That’s right. Take a good look at your decoration for your current season and ask yourself how it’s working and what could be better. Are you decorating the whole church? Does the decoration embody the season? Can you tweak things to make it better, or is it time for an overhaul?
Generally we skip the phase of taking stock and evaluating at the end of a season. We’re happy we got it all together and it came off pretty well this year, so we put it all away until next year. We think we’re doing well when we decide to take stock a month or so ahead of time and call our favorite artist. However, by the time everything is settled, your artist If you want to work with an artist