Natures Mimicry

Autumn Earth Mandala Art Quilt - $80.00
Hand-dyed fabrics by the artist; measures 13 inches across

Indigoluna based in Silverton, Oregon has been a fiber artist for 15 years, having done one kind of art or another all her life, her work has appeared on the cover of the 2005 Quilting Arts Calender, in Artella Magazine, Art/Quilt Magazine, Fiberarts Design Book 6, as well as many juried shows.

You can tell by her style that she has grown up with a love of nature. As a child she walked in the woods, picked wild mushrooms, and played in the blackberry bushes, captivated with the tree-covered landscape and taking in all the beauty that was around her. She mentions in her Etsy profile studying moss. Take a look at this art quilt devoted to exactly that.

The Secret Life of Moss - Art Quilt Collage - $95.00
Photographic printed transfer on cotton fabric; 8 X 10 art quilt embellished with yarn

Many of her pieces are inspired by natural forms and even the textures look almost like they came from the bark of certain types of trees or based on the fur of animals.

Her colors incorporate a lot of greens, reds, yellow, orange, and blue used together to give a rich depth to her pieces, and they are almost all punctuated by beautiful textures, with lots of frayed natural torn-looking edges and layering of one type or another. These business card carrying cases are really clever and quite beautiful! She has several currently available, but I really love this one.

Magic Pop-Up Business Card Carrying Case - $16.00
Cards fit snugly down inside and when you pull the beaded ribbon, they pop up like magic!

She is energized by trying things that are uncharted to see if they will work. This one below is fantastic and I’m sure she had to think outside the box to complete it!

Fiber Art/Mixed-Media Vessel - $85.00
Triangular vessel was created from the artist’s hand-dyed/rusted fabrics fused to Timtex and embellished with funky fibers, copper mesh and carnelian beads. It stands 10 inches high.

For those of you with a miniscule amount of money to spend, you can still have a tiny piece of art from Indigoluna for a very reasonable price; in fact she is nearly giving away these inchie lapel pins. They are so well-made and are created from beautiful and unusual fabrics you can’t find just anywhere. Yes, they are small, but fine! At this price you can afford to get a nice gift for your boss and all the office staff.

Beach Trip Quilted Inchie Lapel Pin - $10.00
1.5 inch square quilted mixed-media pin embellished with beaded wire dangles

See her Etsy store here:
http://Indigoluna.etsy.com

and to learn more about the artist, read her blog:
http://indigoluna.typepad.com/indigo_luna/

A Tale of Beaded Tapestries

The artist behind A Rose By Name has been creating beadwork for 10 years and started experimenting with beads with her children, creating beaded animals. Over time she progressed to more and more refined designs of greater complexity.

Her tapestry-like style uses mostly flat Peyote and some Circular Peyote Stitch and she graphs intricate designs in tiny Delica seedbeads. Among the items she has made are votive candle covers, lip balm-case-covers, business card cases, and a variety of jewelry.

This Watermelon Plaid Cuff bracelet is so neat and precise, and the button used as a closure really tops it off and gives it an elegant look. These colors are beautiful and perfect for Christmas. They remind me a lot of that ribbon candy I used to eat as a child. The width of this cuff makes it all the more impressive!

Then there is this Rolling Waves Cuff that is equally beautiful but made of circular cylinders or beaded mesh attached at either end with a thin strip of bead-weaving that holds all parts together. The colors graduate from blue to green, and the button is a lovely translucent pink which creates a nice contrast against the blue and green. I just had to show two views of this one so readers could get the full impact of it, as it looks very different when open from closed.

Another ocean-inspired piece is Linked By The Sea. This necklace is actually a chain made of flat Peyote Stitch in short segments linked together to look like rolo chain. It is a shimmering blue-green with a sort of iridescent surface.

This artist belongs to Etsy Beadweaver, The Cleveland Rocks Etsy and BBEST-Boomers & Beyond Street Teams. For something truly lovely and high quality, go to her Etsy online store at: http://arosebyname.etsy.com

and to learn more about the artist go to:

http://arosebyname.blogspot.com