Detail from "Rain Dance," an original quilt by Sherrie Spangler

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

More desert art: Mad hats and raku PJs

"Mad Milliner" Della Goheen and some of her hats.

Sorry I'm so far behind on posting more La Quinta Arts Festival photos, but I've been REALLY busy sitting in the sun and eating Mexican food! But now I'll get back to business for a little bit and show some more fun stuff from the show.

Above is Della Goheen, the mad milliner from Olympia, WA, less than an hour from me back home. Della's hats are like fanciful birds about to take flight. She dyes banana fiber into the most luscious, rich colors and shapes it into lightweight graceful swirls and curves that seem to float around your head. I wish I could have afforded about a dozen. You can see better photos of her hats on her blog: http://madmilliner.blogspot.com/


Collage artist Agnes Copeland.

Next is Agnes Copeland, a collage artist and painter from California who sported this saucy hat and flower. Her art is pure happiness. I bought some cards featuring her sunny colors, and the one below is titled "Over the Beach."



Here's a quote from her brochure that might interest those of you who are artists:

"I've found that one way to grow is to repeat the same subject. I've done this one composition (buildings with steps) more than 100 times. It's a challenge. At first, I'm looking at an object ... but then the object is in my mind. As you replicate it, you simplify. Or you correct or figure out a better way of doing it. If you repeat it over and over again, you KNOW your subject." -- Agnes Copeland

Hasuyo Miller of Temecula, CA, and her raku pajamas.
Sticking to my apparel theme, here is artist Hasuyo Miller with some of her "Raku Pajama" pieces. You can read about her techniques and see much more of her work at her web site, hasuyo.com.



Inspired by my two days of art in the flowered and grassy park, I pulled out my embroidery project and posed a block with the petunias on the condo patio. Nothing like California sunshine and flowers to rejuvenate the creative juices! (I hear it's STILL raining in Gig Harbor.)

Miss Lizzie wanted to get into the action, so here's a photo of her looking better than in the last post:



Have a colorful day

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Lovely, Sherrie! And now when I go visit my sister in Oly, I'll have to go and visit Della Goheen as well!

Lisa

Carol said...

Enjoy that sun! I enjoyed reading about the artists. Those 'naked pyjamas' are wonderful. I want to feel their texture.

Ladybug said...

Well! Miss Lizzie is simply too, TOO precious!

THANK YOU for sharing the SUN and all these artists. It's wonderful to be inspired all over again by looking at their various works... loved the quote by Agnes, also.

Yeah, rub it in about the rain... Poulsbo has sun today, & more forcast through the weekend - won't talk about next week's forcast tho.

Continue enjoying all the sun & art down there - looking forward to seeing how all this inspiration plays out in YOUR future art...

NancyD said...

Well the artists are wonderful as are all the colors, but Miss Lizzie is certainly at her best in this picture!!

Judy Ferguson said...

Hats are a particular favorite of mine. I used to make and sell them in one of my former lives. I have a while closet full of display hats and I wear them all the time. I also repeat a particular subject in different forms. Paint and fiber. I think it helps you to expand your interpretations.