Tag Archives: Susan L. Feller

Tamarack Foundation Fellowship

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Tamarack Foundation logo jpeg

During Tamarack Artisan Foundation’s 10th Anniversary celebration three Fellowship Awards were presented for artistic excellence and lifetime commitment to promoting and fostering the arts in West Virginia.  I am honored to have been selected by the review committee along with humanitarian photographer Paul Corbit Brown of Oak Hill and sculptor/author Carter Taylor Seaton from Huntington.

Ex Director Sally Barton; Carter Taylor Seaton, Susan L. Feller and Paul Corbit Brown

Exec. Director Sally Barton; Carter Taylor Seaton, Susan L. Feller and Paul Corbit Brown

The support for artists within West Virginia is unique in the United States.  TAMARACK at Beckely was the first facility built as an entrepreneurial opportunity for all art/craftsmen in our state.  Since 1979 a Bi-Ennial Juried Exhibition with $30,000 in awards funded through the Division of History and Culture has acquired for the State Museum contemporary works.

The Tamarack Foundation is extremely important to the proliferation and continuation of art made in West Virginia because it raises funds from corporate and private donors and distributes these by supporting artists to create a national market; grants and awards for juried shows and lifetime achievement; and acts as ambassador and lobbyists for independant craftspeople.

I submitted a project to research the social environment of Blanche and Otha McDonald of Letter Gap, WV during the 1960’s as they created fiber works using hand sewing techniques (including ‘faux hooking’).  The funds will help in travel expenses to catalog stories and images of works from collectors into a publication with step-by-step directions for fiber artists to be inspired to create contemporary works.  Teaching these skills and the story of these two independant women is my goal.

Flowers for the McDonald Sisters, Susan L. Feller

Flowers for the McDonald Sisters, 2013 Susan L. Feller hooked, trapunto, braiding, beads

Juried work in 2013

Haying Stages, Iconic Liberty, Caraway Garden Runner

Haying Stages, Iconic Liberty, Caraway Garden Runner

The studio has offered me organized space to work and explore.  Several pieces were submitted to different juried and invitational shows.

Haying Stages was accepted in 7Stitch shown at Morehead State College in Morehead, KY this summer.  It was a Surface Design exhibit and juried by the President Jane Dunnewold.  It was also accepted in the WV Div of Culture and History Biennial Juried Exhibition to be hung in the Dunn Building in Martinsburg, November 24- Feb 27, 2014.

Iconic Liberty received first place in West Virginia in the national theme American Heritage for the NSDAR.

Caraway Garden Runner was accepted along with Veins of Energy – Coal in the Best of West Virginia juried show at TAMARACK in Beckley, WV.

Summer Bouquet in Wool

This design is finally finished in my eyes.  Thanks to several critique sessions this summer.

Summer Bouquet

Summer Bouquet

 The composition came together easily, an odd number of large motifs, connected with organic (curved) lines to a small vase placed within the outside border to anchor the design.  I used templates from ‘Design in a Box-Frakturs’ and the quirky principles of balance the PA German Fraktur artists had in their repetoire.

Then came bringing the lines to life.  I photographed each of the changes and will highlight some lessons.  Click on the first image and then you can see all in larger format by using the arrows.  During one workshop where I used the images as a lesson plan, a student commented in awe at the multitude of changes I had made.  To me that is what makes a project part of my process in learning.  Kits and following directions are for a goal… completed item.  Working on a design to achieve your knowledge of GOOD is growth.

Best of West Virginia 2013 at Tamarack

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The summer show at Tamarack in Beckley, WV is titled “The Best of West Virginia”.  Juried, 400 pieces were reviewed and 140 selected with awards given for Best in Show, 1st-3rd and Honorable Mention.  The gallery exhibit and SALE is up through August 2.

This year I entered a traditional design inspired by floral Fraktur motifs.  It was selected and hangs as a stunning piece of art right next to the Best in Show photograph.  Guess that is good real estate.  Visit facebook Tamarack WV and look for the photos of opening to catch a glimpse of Caraway Garden Runner over the shoulder of the Best in Show winner.

"Caraway Garden Runner" 18 x 52 designed & hooked by Susan L. Feller 2013

I decided to use a restricted palette of reds and oranges stretching this by including warm and cool members of each hue.  The foliage is dull sage greens, neutral to the flowers.  It has been some time since warm yellow was the background for a design but it lends a bright cheery mood to the feeling of “Caraway Garden Runner”. 

Working from one end to the other, and alternating light and dark values in motifs (sort of), this runner was a delight yet challenging piece.  I found the limiting palette needed some pick me ups and worked turquoise and purples into centers and the central motif.

Originally the edge was going to be a simple 1/4″ of red whipping yarn but that seemed too delicate for the raucous yellow.  Looking back at Frakturs (PA German illuminated manuscripts) I pulled from their border techniques a simple geometric repeat to edge and contain the organic shapes.  Using the yellows and greens I alternated pulling a loop which is a technique called “beading” in rughooking.  It looks as if there are contrasting beads strung around the border.  Still not satisfied that a thin red line would be enough, I played with widths of red fabric, settling on a 1 1/2″ wide one. 

The design is available as a pattern for fellow rughookers at www.RuckmanMillFarm.com Below are some detail images, Enjoy.  Click on the first image to view them larger in sequence.

Working on a Commission

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The following series takes you through an exciting design project.  I was contacted in August of 2012 and the rug was delivered on April 5, 2013.  This design reflects the owner’s creativity in building their home and the natural site they chose.  In retrospect I would call the style Arts and Crafts (my mind and creativity are intertwined with the process).  The size is 40″ x 84″ and I used #8 cuts (1/4″ wide hand cut strips of wool) hooked through a primitive linen.

Steps involved contact from client based on a label on previous small mat purchased four years earlier.  We arranged a visit to the home to see surroundings, meet and discuss site in house, size, color, environment.  Three sketches were sent, the selected one was then drawn to scale and brought to the house with wools for color and approval.  At this point an estimated time for completion was established and deposit put down.  Wool prep including dyeing began and the hooking process is illustrated.  On final delivery the owners walked on the rug, and I photographed it at home.

Juried into 7Stitch: Kentucky Surface Design Exhibit

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Exciting email today, juror Jane Dunnewold, President of Surface Design Association accepted “Haying Stages” into the upcoming 7Stitch: Contemporary Textile Art from Kentucky & the Surrounding States exhibit at Morehead State University, Morehead, Kentucky. 

Haying Stages
side view of braided “hay roll”, continous weaving

Coordinated by the Kentucky region of Surface Design, the collection of 35 fiber works will open on June 1 with a reception from 3-5pm at the Claypool-Young Art Gallery and continues through August 30, 2013.

Hampshire Highlands Studio Tour 2012

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The first full weekend in December for the past 5 years has meant visitors and locals shopping at Hampshire County studios.  DECEMBER 7-9 are the dates this year, and I have just finished some fun items hooked with wool. Hope some of you can come out to Hampshire County on the weekend and visit with us.  This year our log  home is open with my work hanging among the other artist’s pieces we collect, a great opportunity to see Jim’s log house and our working studio. 

IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO COME BY BUT SEE SOMETHING INTERESTING, Email me at rugs2wv@yahoo.com and ask if it is still available, we would ship!

PINS which are 2″ x 3″, each titled and labeled are $25 each.

Push/Pull, Up Hill, Shadows in the Valley, Moonlit Hill

Push/Pull, Up Hill, Shadows in the Valley, Moonlit Hill

 

Starry Night, Fall Road, Fall Stream, Coppery Moon

Starry Night, Fall Road, Fall Stream, Coppery Moon

There are several 8″ x 10″ mats for $90. Many with complimentary mini 5″ square mats at $25.

Coloring Box: 8 x 10 mat

Coloring Box: 8 x 10 mat

 

Orange Flame, Geode, Energy Paths, Hayfield and Sumac

Orange Flame, Geode, Energy Paths, Hayfield and Sumac

 

Nature's Beauty, Apple Blossoms in the Valley, Jewel Light

Nature’s Beauty, Apple Blossoms in the Valley, Jewel Light

Fall Leaves 8 x 10

Fall Leaves 8 x 10

Sky Through Honeycomb 8 x 10

Sky Through Honeycomb 8 x 10

We have a new “designer” BOB (the second female tabby cat named Bob) and yes the first one is still around.

Bob with Layers and Celebrate each $165

Bob with Layers and Celebrate each $165

Best of West Virginia 2012 Juried Exhibition

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Two works were juried into the 2012 “Best of West Virginia” Exhibit in Tamarack’s David L. Dickirson Fine Arts Gallery this summer. The exhibit is open through August 18, 2012 at Tamarack-WV in Beckley, WV just off I64 and I77.

Vein of Energy-Coal, Susan L. Feller 2012

 This piece is 10″ x 40″ created using alpaca yarns spun by Capon Bridge Fiber Works and incorporating as-is wools in the neutral palette of a geological Vein of Energy-Coal, the lifeblood of so many people in our state.  The fibers spoke organically to me as I worked pulling loops of intertwined values to compose the pockets of minerals.  The tactile experience of different fibers slipping through my fingers and rhymic pace loop pulling produces takes me to a pleasurable creative zone both physically and mentally.

 

Fire in the Mountains by Susan L. Feller

  Another neutral palette, this time using hand dyed wool, alpaca and synthetic yarns.  The techinques include fiber hooking, and applique.  To emphasize the foreground and distant skyline I stitched fabric to the linen backing which was the foundation for the entire work.  The backing can be seen as the field behind the treeline.  See an earlier post for the thought process I went through to “finish” the piece.  This piece has sold.

Early American Life Directory 2012

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  It has been a few years since the subject of hooked work I was creating warranted submission to Early American Life Directory of Traditional American Crafts. The requirements include the highest standards of period design, materials, and techniques along with documentation for all these fitting the Colonial period of America.  Well this year I was ready and the jurors thought so too.  I am honored to be included with several other rughooking artists representing our craft at this highly judged level.  A press release published in Hampshire Review details the criteria and jurors. Click here to read Hampshire Review EAL Directory Listing

Friedrich Bandel’s Potted Tree, design Susan L. Feller

 The Shenandoah Valley exhibit last winter inspired motifs and compositions by “new” fraktur artists, along with the documentation in a catalog produced by the Rockingham Historical Society of Dayton, VA. 

This image is a design, inspired by the pen and watercolors of the artist working between 1800-1820 in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Country to City Artists Abound in Philadelphia

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The end of March was an exciting time for Fiber Arts. 

 Surface Design and Studio Art Quilts combined to present a three day conference near Philadelphia, PA.  Off I went armed with business cards, wearing a necklace of punched work by Kira Bacon, and distributing postcards promoting the Schwenkfelder exhibit of hooked rugs just up the road.  The preparation paid off as participants asked what rughooking was about, and I learned much more about the contemporary visions of artists.

The two organizations created a wonderful format with informative panels and individual presentations.  One day we were transported into the city to independantly visit as many of the 50 exhibits featuring fiber arts as we could in 8 hours.  FiberPhiladelphia has grown in venues to a happening every two years.  Plan on your own visit in 2014.

Students and professionals attended the conference.  Eastern Carolina University was represented by graduate and undergraduates in the Textiles program.  These women were invigorating and conversations started about sharing skills in workshops at the University. The editor of Fiber Art Now, Marcia Young co-sponsored the event and introduced herself to members, gathering future topics and writers for the magazine.