Fiber and Art Quilt Exhibition at Escondido Arts Partnership Municipal Gallery

I'm excited to announce that my fiber piece titled "Underneath" was juried into the Fiber and Art Quilt Exhibition at Escondido Arts Partnership Municipal Gallery. I am honored to be included in the same exhibit with an amazing group of fiber artists.

"Underneath" continues my exploration of the "Peel Away the Layers" series I started in 2011. All the fabric was hand dyed by me. The top layer is a sheet of used tea bag papers sealed with mat medium. Then "peeled" away in certain spots to reveal the fabric underneath.

The exhibit runs from August 8th to September 27th with the Artists' Reception on Saturday, September 13th 5:30-8pm. I will be at the Artists' Reception and love to see some friendly faces.

Another woven (wild hair) idea

In between working on another large scale piece, I took a moment to create another woven piece using an old cassette tape. The first piece and my process is documented here. The colors of this piece reminds me of Life Savers candies. 

This time I decided to use fusible web on the back instead of a piece of muslin. The paper will stay on the back until I decide my step. I used more warps to add interest. Also, the piece is a bit more symmetrical than the first piece. I'm not sure if I have a series developing or just a fun project to break up the time while working on large scale pieces that I can't blog about yet.

Beyond the Edge Fiber Artists: "Fiber Perceptions" exhibit

I'm so excited to announce the first exhibit of Beyond The Edge Fiber Artists called "Fiber Perceptions". I feel honored to be part of this amazing group of fiber artists. 

My piece called "Rusted to the Bone" is included in this exhibit. My recent work explores the issue of aging. This piece an abstract representation of a rusted bridge, which symbolizes me. I maybe a rusted on the outside but I'm still strong underneath.

"Rusted to the Bone" by Mia Bloom

On July 1st, Eileen Wintemute, Cynthia Catlin, Teresa Shippy and myself hung the show. Here is a small preview:

Photo(s) Friday

This week I ventured out to the Riverside Art Museum. There were 5 exhibits inside the museum that were diverse and thought provoking but I decided to feature the sculptures outside for this post.

"ART" sculpture was created by a collaboration between artists Paulden Evans and Louie Tozer, the Riverside Art Museum, Riverside County's Juvenile Court and 13 taggers.

"Accentuating Impermanence" was designed by Kristi Lippire, Assistant Professor at California Baptist University and CBU Visual Art Students.

Artist Mark Sanchez' winged sculptures.

wing detail

Woven (wild hair) idea

In between working on a large (30"x 50") piece for a group exhibit, I decided to try a woven (wild hair) idea that has been brewing in my head. The idea started because I'm interested in creating more woven pieces along with using nontraditional materials. I came across some old cassette tapes (remember them?) and decided to incorporate them in a woven piece. 

I needed a base to attached the material while I was weaving the piece. I have a piece of insulation form board that fit the bill. I made some registration marks first to mark where I was going to put the cassette tape. The finished size was marked as 7"x 13 1/2". The cassette tape was used as the warp (length). Leftover pieces of fabric with fusible web on the back was used as the weft (width). The fusible fabric solved the issue of how to keep the weaving together. 

Before I started weaving, a small piece of muslin was set on top of the insulation board. The muslin was used a the base that the woven piece will be fused. After all the prep was done, I started by pinning the cassette tape with small sewing pins. I soon found out that the pins wouldn't hold the cassette tape. Second attempt, I tried blue painters tape. Success! 

Then on to weaving the fusible fabric in to a pattern. Sewing pins were used to hold the fabric strips in place.

Once all the fabric was in place, I lightly ironed on top. I used a piece of scrap fabric because I was concerned the iron might melt the cassette tape.

Then trimmed the piece.

Not bad for my first attempt. Here are some things that I learned:

1. Use a color fabric as the base other than white muslin to avoid having it show through.
3. Or substitute parchment paper instead of base fabric. Not having a piece of fabric on the back may give me more flexibility when mounting this artwork or incorporating it with other artwork.
2. Make sure the fabric is cut accurately. As I was trimming the piece, I found it was lopsided. Oops!
3. Next time I will add more warps or use wider material such as reel to reel tapes.

"Discarded" series continued...

I finished another piece for my "Discarded" series called "Discarded: Please Recycle This Envelope". The title is a bit long but it's the only one that really resonated with me. If you click on the image to enlarge it, you will see that I used an envelope that has the saying "Please Recycle This Envelope". 

"Discarded: Please Recycle This Envelope" by Mia Bloom

Besides the "Please Recycle This Envelope" envelope, I used a yellow greeting card envelope, used coffee filters and red leather. 

I have 2 more ideas for this series that I hope to start soon. In the meantime, I need to start working on a large scale fiber piece (30"x 50") for a group exhibit. 

New Beginning and Art

After a six month hiatus, I'm back creating art and blogging. A personal challenge from the last year and a half had taken my focus slightly away from my art and this blog. My life has changed in a way that I didn't plan. The dust has started to settle and now I feel energized creatively.
  
The artwork below is the start of a series called "Discarded". It developed from all the unnecessary paper gathered at my former day job. Tons of envelopes from documents that could have been emailed. Parking violation from the studio security patrol. I wanted to incorporate used coffee filters with this project. It's another element that adds texture while staying true to the premise of this series. 

"Sometimes you have to close one door so another will open."

"Discarded: Book" by Mia Bloom

"Discarded: IBM Envelope" by Mia Bloom

"Discarded: Parking Violation" by Mia Bloom

Perfect Sunday

Aaahhh...a perfect Sunday. Football on TV, fabric dyeing and used coffee filters drying.

Surface Art Association - "Under The Influence" exhibit





October 12th is turning out to be a busy day for me. Besides the NLAP auction that I mentioned in here, there is the opening reception for Surface Art Association exhibit called "Under the Influence" from 2-4pm. The members were asked to create a piece that represents what influences their art. The size requirement was 15"x34" or a sculpture.

Recently, I have been using nontraditional materials in my art. I decided to create a piece that incorporated used coffee filters. I first blogged about this piece here. This piece has inspired me to create a series using coffee filters.



"Interwoven #1" by Mia Bloom



Each member could also enter an additional piece that would included in the exhibit depending on the space available. Luckily, my additional piece was included. This piece called "Renewal" is part of my series called "Peel Away the Layers". 

"Renewal" by Mia Bloom

 



 

New Life Arts Project - "Waterfall"

A few months ago, Deborah Stanley approached me to participate in a charity auction for the New Life Arts Project (NLAP) for Smart Foundation and VSA California. This organization supplies musical instruments to children in Orange County who wouldn't have access otherwise. The artists are given damaged instruments to turn into artwork.

 

I requested clarinet. I thought the shape lent itself to stand on its own without any support. The clarinet I received had some of the keys were missing so, I decided to remove the remaining ones. I thought it would be interesting to explore the relationship of the hard instrument and softness of fabric. Also, I liked the idea painting the clarinet so, it won't be easily recognizable.

 

The first idea that came to mind was to shibori dye silk organza. The light and airy fabric fit the effect I wanted to achieve. I went back and forth on the color to paint the clarinet but ended up with light blue. The final element was adding a bit of orange that my friend, Madeleine, suggested. I'm happy with the piece and hope that it will bring in a good amount of money for the audition.

 

Side note: I realize that I need to work on photographing sculptures.

 

"Waterfall" by Mia Bloom

 

If you're in the north Orange County area on Saturday, October 12th from 5 - 8pm, come on by and check out the amazing artwork.