Logan preparing a monoprint.
You can see some of her other work on the design wall in the background.
Earlier this year I was contacted by the principal of a wonderful school in our area that works with artistically talented high school students. He enquired if I would be interested in working with one of his students who had an interest in textiles. We arranged a meeting and after 5 minutes I decided that this student, who I will call Logan, was someone that I'd love to have as a student.
Logan is a bright, talented and fearless high school junior. While all of these attributes play a role in creativity and the creation of art, I have to say that her fearless approach to everything we did was what impressed me most. We met twice a month for generally only 1 hour so there was no time for "hand-holding" and no need. I gave her links to work online I thought related to what we were doing, brief outlines for each exercise and off she went.
Each time she came back to see me she had work in hand, ideas of how to move ahead and always great enthusiasm. Due to the very compressed time frame, we were not able to take most of the work to a completed state but I know Logan and know that will happen.
This summer she attended a summer session of Rhode Island School of Design that introduces high school students to the schools curriculum. Her focus was textiles and they worked on the silkscreen process and the process of designing for printed fabrics.
Logan, You were a joy to work with you and I wish you the very best this year as you begin school at the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts. Keep that great spirit and fearless attitude. I know we can expect wonderful things from you.
Here's a little photo diary of some of the work Logan produced here at Studio 24-7.
We began our sessions working with black and white fabric and what might be created with simple sewing techniques. Here she focused on texture by cutting the fabric into strips and sewing back to a substrate.
Logan had some knowledge about sewing but had not done "piecing" before. She immediately understood the concept and created this composition on her own. I thought her use of the diagonal was very successful.
I wish I had a photo of this piece that was ironed as it is a very elegant little composition using tiny bits of fabric stitched to a white background.
One of the most "fun" process we tried was flour resist. Here you can see Logan drawing into one of the pieces which she later painted over with thickened dye. Take note of the concentration.
Here you can see part of the design she drew before adding the dye.
This is the final piece after the dye had set and the resist was washed off. It's one of my favorites!
In addition to using dye we applied thinned down acrylic paint over the flour resist. This will be very nice when it is stitched.
After the flour paste dried, Logan cracked the fabric then applied the dye/paint.
We also did some monoprinting. I do not have am image of this piece finished but it was another really interesting piece of fabric.
In the background you can see another experiment by this young artist. She had rolls of packing material she hopes to use for an installation and this was her first attempt at pinning the paper to a wall.
After each studio session there are always "dishes to wash" and I appreciated that I never had to ask Logan to jump in and help with that part....Good Training Logan Parents!
Logan is now attending The South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and I wish her all the best. I know she's going to have a great year!
Thank you for spending time at Studio 24-7 and I love hearing from you!
