The Artist Statement

Please indulge me just a little longer. I want to share my artist statement. This is written to go with the Giggles. I find it necessary to make a statement about each series. To write one statement to encompass all seems daunting and not quite relevant to the moment. Striving to be in the moment.

My work is born out of sheer play with fabric. I call this series Giggles. Giggles started as an exercise of letting loose and getting back into creating artwork. The exercise grew into a thoughtful process of merging color and pattern to create tangible joy in a pleasing design.

I work in cotton fabric, batting and thread. I alter commercial and hand-dyed fabrics with paint, bleach and thread to create a fabric that is more of my statement rather than the fabric designer’s statement. I also seek to recycle as much fabric from other projects as possible. I employ traditional and non-traditional quilting techniques with contemporary designs to create these quilts of fun. The more I made, the more I laughed. The laughing was infectious and people started purchasing Giggles to have a colorful, fiber laugh to take home.

This work is all about sharing the laughter.

The great thing about this, I didn't set it in concrete. It can change. I am sure it will. I grow, the work changes, so must the statement that goes along with it. If you are having issues writing a statement ( I told Alicia I would rather have a root canal) she said something perfect...start with small thoughts and then link them together into larger thoughts. Perfect. Small is a great place to start. Now that I think of it, the Giggles started out at 3" x 3". Now they up to 12" square.

Perfect for the moment.

Out in the World, Part 2

The Giggles are out in the world again. This time at the Gardner Ale House, www.gardnerale.com/

Giggles are on display from May 11 through June 22 with a reception on Sunday, May 17 from 3-5pm.


This picture has three new pieces. I am loving them, especially the middle piece. It is called 'Your Turn'. Reminds me of a game board. The piece on the right, 'Escaping' is employing some of the techniques of the larger pieces I am working on. Bleaching, attaching other fibers etc. What fun.

As I venture to put this work out into the world more and more I searched for a way to really connect to the community they are displayed in. To that end I have decided wherever the Giggles go I will be donating ten percent of the sales to that community's food pantry. Recipient of ten percent of Gardner Ale House sales is the Gardner CAC, http://www.gardnercac.org/home.html .

More on the larger pieces next time. Also, getting ready to submit an exhibition proposal to a gallery, been a long time since I was on the submitting end. Thankful I have had the opportunities to be on the reading end of things. I should ace it, right? Pressssssure.

Out Into the World

Giggles are getting out of the studio and going to Greenfield. I will be there as Laughing Fibers-Linda Ruel Flynn. I am happy to be re-connecting with old friends. Extremely talented potter Lydia Grey, see her work at www.lydiagrey.com, invited me to participate in the Greenfield Green Fair, www.greenfieldgreenfair. com with other artisans to promote their work as well as buying local when needing a gift, home decor, clothing etc. If you are in the Pioneer Valley this weekend, come check it out. Lets see how it goes.

In Process

I really like sharing pieces that are in process. Glimpsing the unfinished, the unresolved. Here are couple of pictures of my most recent piece. I am continuing with the mapping series. I am enjoying the whole cloth approach to these pieces. Painting on the fabric, cutting, applying stitching, inserting imagery. Creating a map of our everchanging landscapes.

We Can Use This Map

We Can Use This Map, copyright Linda Ruel Flynn, 2009.
(Please do not use this image without permission. It is not nice. Just ask.)

This is the piece I sent off to the Surface Design Members' Exhibit in Kansas City, MO. I began a series of 'whole cloth' quilts that are grounded in daily news reports of loss of land mass, polluted water, displaced species etc. I began to think about the need for our own maps. What would we use to guide ourselves when the cartographers can't keep up with the ever changing landscape? This piece is a glimpse of what the other quilts look and feel like. A map made by an amateur cartographer, used by a community, folded, torn, changed on a whim. It is a tool. I take great inspiration from the American slave quilts used as maps and communications during the underground railroad.

The argument to just keep going

I am going to channel asparagus energy from now on. I bought asparagus about five days ago. Recut the ends, like you are supposed to, put the bunch in a couple inches of water until we were ready to eat it. Well, it is growing. Check out the asparagus sprouts. Now I feel like I can't eat it. It is growing. Now, I don't have any trouble going out to the garden and cutting whatever I want for dinner. Somehow this is different. It just doesn't want to go gently into that good night of sauteed leeks and garlic. At the same time, those new shoots are probably going to be mighty tender.

So the next time you think-that is it, I give up, think of the asparagus.

Going Bigger

New Work
The last pieces were small, 3 and 4 inches square. This piece is 12" square. This piece incorporates a new technique I have been using. Painting on fusible webbing. It has rocked my world. As always photography is a stumbling block for me (so thanks to Jim dear for taking pics) Just wanted to show some new work. Some topics I will be talking about soon...oblique strategies and the surface-not necessarily at the same time. Absolutely Fabulous.