Fiendish Fiber Art~~Posted Before, Worth Repeating

I know people who have followed my work for a while have seen this piece (okay, more than once), but with new followers, being totally wound up in the commission and--well--just because I want to and can, I am reposting the photos of one of my favorite pieces.

These are pretty large files and I recommend checking out the larger size to see the details.

I used to do a lot of smaller fiber work until I started the liturgical hangings. In fact, this piece was only 14" x 15" if I recall correctly. I liked seeing what I could do with a small area--how to make it work, how to fit the most in for what I wanted without having so much that everything was a blur. Working with positive and negative space, pushing things forward and backward visually~~playing with the viewers eye. Make it interesting. Make it real.

I think, truthfully, this piece was started because I used to save all my used bass strings and then I came across this great bag of skeleton hands around Halloween. Hmmmmmm......how can I put those both together?

Only one answer....portrait piece, Jerry Only--bassist for the Misfits.

However.

What do I do next? How do I get the feel and the look and oh-my-gosh it's absolutely got to have leather and spikes and studs! (if that needs explanation, Google photos of the band)

The portrait section, shown below, is dimensional.

Yes, that was a real little jacket that I cut of leather and sewed, real zippers, real studs, real spikes, synthetic hair stitched over the portrait to get a good Devil-lock going......

So much handwork; couching bass strings around the leather studded border, fancy threads laid in carefully for dimension in the background, a stencil made to get the ghostly Fiend Face painted in just so, layers of tulle to build up sheer images of the bass (and repeating it as strictly a design element)......beads, beads, beads.......

This small thing was HEAVY. When I would hold it, I had to be careful to support the whole so that it would not flop over and have a bass string pop off. (they're pretty wicked if you get slapped or cut by one....)

This was when my art quilting started to take on a mixed media feel. I may post a few more pieces I have that I feel were leading to what I choose to do with my spare time now, providing I can find photos.

Some are gone as presents, some were purchased, some began slowly disintegrating after being out on tour in shows. It happens; you can't control how they're handled on the road compared to hanging in the studio or in storage.

Maybe at the end of the day we just need to enjoy our art in the Here-And-Now.

Every day, whatever you do.

Make it, love it, "One last caress...."