I wrote this post during my 21 hour journey home–Pittsburgh-Dallas-Portland -Anchorage– on Sunday, May 8th. And then I got on my hampster wheel for a while. Finally today, I matched images to thoughts. Here we go.

My late night wine induced writing spree  didn’t feel like such a good idea the next morning. I was just in such state that night that I guess had to tell the entire world. So far no one has lobbed a virtual tomato at me, so I will keep going.

The morning started with coffee and a lecture from Tali Weinberg one of the three jurors for the show.

The other two jurors were Chunghie Lee and Arturo Alonzo Sandoval . Weinberg uses weaving to translate the drought in California. I love data and to see it transformed into woven grids was very interesting. I have to be honest, I am compelled to do that sort of work, but I believe the colorist in me would win out. If the composition were not beautiful, I would cheat. I would manipulate the data.

There were so many nice little touches.

This was part of Pop Des Fleurs which was an amazing city wide campaign sponsered by the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh to celebrate fiber last winter.

I should say here that Fiberart International is divided between two exhibition spaces. The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, which is where I was for the opening of the exhibtition and where my work is being shown,

and the Society for Contemporary Craft .

Up next were the artist talks. For the morning, we were at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. The artists spoke in two rounds. The artists in each round, stood next to their work and shared process, inspiration, and technique. It was, as you can imagine, fascinating. Here is Penny Mateer speaking about her best of show piece called THIS Revolution Will Not Be Televised which was made in partnership with Martha Wasik .

And here is Hungarian artist Eszter Bornemisza sharing her process. 

While everyone was eating lunch, I took the opportunity to get a few photos of the layout of the show without people. The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts is a beautiful space.

Next, we loaded up in a school bus and headed to the Society for Contemporary Craft to listen to two more rounds of talks.

I tried my best to wiggle around and get photos of all the works. The place was happening, and the shadows were relentless.

By then end of the day my head was full like a belly after a Thanksgiving dinner.

Andrea Meyers Split Spectrum

Sensory overload. If only the experience could be dolled out in consumable bits. As in we could live in an aritst commune and share and work together.

Jim Arendt Catherine

The atmosphere was a bit like that. We had all fallen in love with each other and our art.

Beth Blankenship Spill, Baby, Spill 

Goofy like a high school prom experience or a mutual admiration society. Love was in the air.

Deborah Corsini  Storm Watch

I really credit the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh and all of their volunteers for cultivating such a positive experience. They were joyful in their efforts to showcase our art and create a collective experience of it.

Steve Totin Plasterra (White)

I know I am a bit of a Pollyanna. I like to see the good in things.

Mary Pal The Drifter< >

Yes, there were small glitches, but who cares? The end result was a sort of like a Woodstock for fiber artists, and I am down with that.

Maja Gecic In Memorian

I got to meet many artist who I have long admired from afar, and I also got to connect with amazing artists from so many dots on the globe.

Pauline MM Nigenhuis Snellandschap Luchtweg (Fast Landscape Airway)

The weekend ended with a lovely dinner celebrating the volunteers who made the event happen. I forgot to take pictures, but trust me it was great.

Dafna Rehavia Cutting 

One of the volunteers described it as a five day wedding party, and I couldn’t agree more. It was truly a celebration of fiber and the artists who claim the medium.

Dawn Williams Boyd  The Artist’s Muse

Thank you Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh and all of its volunteers, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, the Society for Contemporty Craft, and all the amazing artists and their work. I will not forget this experience.

Eizabeth Mackie Ortler Kettles, #2 

I will be thinking long and hard about how to get back to it in 2019.

18 May This entry was published on May 18, 2016 at 11:29 AM. It’s filed under Art in Place, Juried Shows, News And Events, Thoughts and Opinions and tagged Color Grids, Fiberart International 2016, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Society for Contempoary Craft Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh, TRIBE. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.