TEXTiles exhibit at Kryder Gallery

I got up to the square to visit Kryder Gallery this afternoon.



The finishing touches were being put on the exhibit, TEXTiles, by Jeff Kryder and his art intern from NGCSU. The exhibit will hang from August 1 to September 18; opening reception will be this Saturday, August 2, 1-3 p.m. Maybe I'll see you there!

Here are quick photos I made today of the works in the gallery, posted in no particular order. We five artists in the TEXTiles show (Diane Getty, A.K. McMillan, Peggy McBride, Pat Williams and Tommye Scanlin) have put together an interesting collection of works, I feel. I've known all these women for decades and have found all to be very creative. Each of us has gone in different directions with fiber and fabric work through the years; the complexity of image and depth of concept for works have increased steadily as we're maturing. I invited all four to participate in my "month of May/art a day" process and they took me up on it. We maintained a private blog to share images and thoughts throughout the month--turned out to be a great way to nudge each other along, give mini-critiques, and much encouragement. I found it to be extremely inspiring to work with these women...and to get to introduce some of them to each other. Although I've know each of these incredible people for years, not all had met before the May adventure since we live in different parts of the southeast.

The postcard for the exhibit says:

TEXTiles: woven, rendered & constructed

TEXTiles is a group show of works by five artists who interpret life experiences in fiber.  Many works incorporate text to convey personal narratives.  The show includes entries from the artists' recent month-long collaborative journal on their creative processes.

Works in the exhibit range from straight forward tapestry (Pat's work) to tapestry/mixed media (me) in the woven offerings.  Diane Getty and Peggy McBride both present fabric collage and assemblage; Diane's work uses mostly hand-painted fabrics that she enhances with stitching (both hand and machine stitching) and, in one piece, small objects.    Peggy recycles fabric, metal, paper and other objects while creating her works, several of which are in relief or are three-dimensional.  A.K. McMillan has handmade books in the show, most of which include images as well as her own writings.  Most of the works from both A.K. and Peggy began during the "month of May/art a day" activities.

The opportunity Jeff Kryder has provided for us to exhibit our works is just wonderful!  I wish him much success with his small gallery here in Dahlonega.  The next show he has in the works is a juried photography exhibit, to hang during the "Atlanta Celebrates Photography" month coming up in October.  The theme is "Love vs. Fear" and if you're interested in submitting works, the prospectus for the show is found at this link.