My Morning at the Library

I went to an artist's trunk show this morning at our library. The artist is Virginia Siegel...a  world renowned artist who just happens to live in our town. She's interested in the environment and that is evident in her artwork. She starts with fabric....some tiny bits and strips of material and stitches them into a design with her sewing machine. She dyes and paints all of the material.....even the thread she uses is hand dyed or painted. She laughed when she told us that she doesn't throw away the small bits of fabric that are left from cutting. Even pieces that are shaggy and thready are put to use. She sews strip after strip onto the backing....just maybe a quarter inch apart. When finished with these....she adds layers of other materials and even twigs and feathers that she incorporates into the piece of art. She applies paint and other decorative things to finish it off.

She's a gardener and an environmentalist who enjoys trips to the boundary waters in N. Minnesota. She and her sister backpack and take a canoe into the wilderness every year. She gets her inspiration for many of these wall hangings from that area of our country. The last series that she worked on is called 'The Boundary Waters.' 

I talked to her neighbor and was told that her garden is fabulous. Very eclectic and like a flowering wonderland. I suggested a garden walk....I would love to see this come about. She does many charitable things as well, raising a lot of money for the American Cancer Society.

I loved the program this morning....after hearing her speak and answer questions...we were treated to sweet tea and cookies. A great program...open to the public at no charge. Virginia did the program without charging anything.....almost unheard of in these days.

I put a couple of pictures in this post, but I then removed them because I read about the copyright laws. I don't want to get in trouble for posting them. You can see them if you go to her website. 

Balisha

An update....
http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/
This website doesn't do her work justice. I think that with quilted things the photos come off a little flat and uninteresting. Until you see them in person...you really can't get the "feel" of them