Absence of Color!

Those of you who know me and my work would say that a post on absence of color is almost laughable! You have heard me say emphatically, "I don't do black and white"! OK, so I'm eating my words! Who would have thought it would have come to this. I AM DOING BLACK AND WHITE! (GASP!)

Now that you all have composed yourself, I'll try to explain why I am doing black and white. Ever since I had my own apartment after graduating from college I've had this "thing" or "need" to be devoid of color after the Christmas holidays. I love all the holiday colors and lights but by January I am in color sensory overload. So when all the decorations are put away, the only color I want to see is white! I put out white candles, white accessories, and for years I would buy white carnations to start the new year. It was a cleaning of all the clutter and chaos of color! A fresh start! By February color would creep back in by putting out pink candles and maybe a pink table runner or placemat. March brought the color yellow and daffodils on the scene. April got more colorful with pastels and tulips. Get the picture? By October all the colors of fall leaves, mums, and pumpkins were taking over!

This year has been different. It seems that my soul is needing the absence of color. Maybe it's age. Maybe it's the world today. Maybe it's the political climate. Or maybe it's the need to do something new and unexpected. A friend of mine recently used the word "Purity". I thought about that for a minute. I liked the idea that it might be a kind of purity that I was seeking. What better way to find that then to begin with my work. Simplify! Remove the color and all the millions of possible combinations. Limit the possibilities. Use only black and white.

Note cards by Judy Connor Jones©

Note cards by Judy Connor Jones©

I began thinking about how I could create black and white scarves. I purchased some black silk and began to ponder how to use white with it while not be boring.  A few weeks ago I was able to dye some white silk with black dye. I diluted the dye to produce various depths of gray and used a Shibori (fancy Japanese term for tie-dye) technique to dye the cloth. I have to say the depth of, dare I say, "color" that I got was exciting and extremely satisfying. Who knew Black and White could be so challenging and interesting!!

I started weaving by using an off-loom weaving technique. I chose to weave opposites. One scarf primarily black. The other white. Both have shades of gray. I never thought I would get excited using such a neutral and limited palette but every time I wove a new strip across the piece, the pattern became more and more interesting. WOW! The black became very theatrical and dramatic. The white more subtle. I'm in LOVE!

Scarf by Judy Connor Jones©

Scarf by Judy Connor Jones©

Scarf by Judy Connor Jones©

Scarf by Judy Connor Jones©

   

I'll be doing a few more in upcoming weeks. Don't know how long this phase will last. I have to admit, the idea of maybe, just maybe, the addition of a "wee" bit of color creeping in is looming in the back of my mind! What do you think?

"There's No Business like Show Business"!

Getting ready to do a show this weekend in Wilmington, DE. As a Master Artisan in the PA Guild of Craftsmen, I will be exhibiting my work at the PA Guild Fine Craft Show at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington Delaware.  This is a beautiful air conditioned facility with plenty of parking  and plenty of artists!

Come see me at booth, #316, on July 25 & 26.  Hours are Saturday, 10 - 6 and Sunday, 10 - 5. You can get directions and admission coupons for $1.00 off at the guild's website, www.PACrafts.org.

Hope to see you there........................................Remember, fall is just around the corner! I can help with those cool breezes that begin to blow!

              Jessica says Hi and is wearing my Ripple Scarves which are made of silk and wool.

A Different Vision

For the last 8 months I've had the pleasure of working on an exhibit called "A Different Vision".  It is sponsored by the Plymouth Art Guild in Plymouth, MA, www.plymouthguild.org. The guild sponsored this exhibit in 2010 and then decided to do it again in 2013. A Different Vision is a tactile, innovative, and exciting art exhibit where the blind and the visually impaired as well as the sighted can enjoy the art.  Everything is touchable. Really, it's all touchable!  No please do not touch the art signs here, only Please Touch!

So my job was to help publicize this event by starting A Different Vision Face Book page.  You can find it at www.facebook.com/ADifferentVision.  It's been fun to connect with a whole new group of people on the page.  As administrator I am trying to get the word out to people who might not have heard of this event, artists and folks who would enjoy the show.  My goal is to have 100 Likes on the page by the opening which is May 11 at 7pm.  So stop by the page and give us a "Thumbs Up".

As an artist I was challenged by this exhibit to make something in my medium.  My normal wearables, while they feel very soft to the touch, were not going to be the thing that got them accepted into the show.  So I looked at the yarn on my shelves, put my weaver's thinking cap on, and decided to do something totally different than what I normally do. I knew I was going to create a scarf but it had to have a lot of texture and something special about it that a visually impaired person could see with their hands.

Yarns used to sample

I remembered taking a workshop one year at Convergence (Handweavers' Guild of America's biennial conference) on Shibori.  Normally Shibori is used as a resist dying technique.  But this workshop used it as a resist technique for texturizing cloth!  (find out more about Shibori at http://shibori.org) So when I was thinking about ways to texturize my woven piece for the exhibit, I thought about creating bubbles in handwoven wool cloth by using the Shibori technique. Wool shrinks and fulls (felts) so the resist would cause the bubbles to form. Then my mind took it one step further.  What if I made the bubbles spell out the colors of the scarf in Braille!  Oh sometimes the creative mind gets us into all kinds of trouble!  After trying several methods (round marbles, flat marbles, thread) for creating the bubbles, I settled on a method which used very tight elasticized bands. This proved to be the best tool to use. 

After much sampling (several 1 yard samplers) I realized that making the bubbles spell out the Braille words was just not going to work effectively in a scarf.  It was hard to scrunch up the fabric in the correct line that it needed to be in order to be read. Each time I applied the band to one area it threw the cloth out of line and I couldn't see if the next bubble was going to be in the right place. So scratch that!  Back to the drawing board.  I thought I had a good idea using the Braille but how was I going to make it happen?

Ah Ha! BEADS! Oh those wonderful glorious beads that come in all sorts of colors! That would do it.  So I wove beads into the scarf at the beginning and end to spell out the main color of the scarf.  It worked beautifully.  I was able to line the beads up in the correct place for each letter. One scarf was Blue and the other was Purple.  I decided to put the Shibori bubbles throughout the scarf which gave it a funky very textural feel.

Drawing up a pattern guide for placement of the beads. This spells purple.

Weaving the beads in place.

I added beads to the fringe and twisted the ends together to form a loop scarf.

I have to say creating these scarves took me out of my "box" and comfort zone but I love the chunky, funky look of these scarves!  

"Bubble Wrap" - blue

If you live near Plymouth, make sure you stop by the Plymouth Center for the Arts and visit the show.  Let me know what you think of my "Bubble Wrap" Scarves. 

"Bubble Wrap" - purple

Inspiration and Stretching!

I came across a website recently that talked about inspiration and how it showed up in designer and artist's work. It was mostly pictures so you could definitely see the inspiration and how it manifested in the work.  It could be color, drape, patterned, texture, or any other element that drew the artist in. Here's the site if you want to take a look, http://www.dazeddigital.com/blog/article/15837/1/the-rage-in-eden#.UT8MA8c_t-Q.facebook.

I've mentioned before how artist's work or designer's work has inspired me. Barnet Newman, abstract artist, influenced my "zip scarves" ( http://studiojottings.blogspot.com/2009/11/november-skies.html ),  Christo influenced the Ecclesiastical installations I did with my church
( http://studiojottings.blogspot.com/2010/03/ecclesiastical-installation.html ), and many years ago I won an award at the Philadelphia Guild of Handweaver's Annual Exhibit for yardage that I wove inspired by a Fortuny gown. Unfortunately I don't have any good pictures of the piece to show you.  I was inspired by the colors which used Lavender and Peach together, not a choice I would have made on my own.

"Zip" Scarves by Judy Connor Jones

Lenten Panels at First Baptist Church, Plymouth, MA

The point is, other artist's work not only inspires the work we produce but forces us to stretch and go where we might not have gone.

So what work has inspired you?  How did it stretch you as an artist?  Would love it if you shared your experiences and inspirations in the comment section.

Here's hoping today will bring inspiration to you!

Mandala, hand dyed silk by Judy Connor Jones

Woven Rectangles Become Garments

Most ethnic clothing is based on simple design. Take a simple rectangle and you can make many different garments with either no cutting or only a few cuts for neck and arm openings and have beautiful results. The colors and design of the fabric becomes the emphasis, not the intricate cutting and sewing.  While I love watching "Project Runway" ( and I have to say that "Project Runway All Stars" was "FABULOUS  Darling")  I still marvel at the simplicity of using a rectangular piece of fabric to make a beautiful garment.

Check out this video on just that concept.  The Sari is just one long piece of fabric wrapped around the body. No cutting or sewing is involved, just a beautiful piece of cloth!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQbZ011qy6w&feature=share