Landscape

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Wooded Mountain

I love to be in the mountains, in nature where all sound belongs to the Earth and her creatures…from the wind shooshing through the pines high above to the nestlings of the moles and bugs below.  In between are the streams, pouring down the mountain’s flank, the smell of loamy soil and dry lichen rising under the heat of the sun’s kiss, my own breathing.  My soul opens up and drinks nourishment through my body.  It is a blessing. 

Creating these pieces in my studio takes me back to this communion in nature.  So each piece is infused with that loving nourishment and peace.  It’s a joy to create them.  Pay Pal & Checks.

 

"Wooded Mountain" roughly 18" x 7" $60

 

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Wedding commission

This small commission (approx. 14″ x 20″) was made as a wedding gift for people who love hiking and nature.  Reports are it was received with delight.

This slide show offers some of the creation process, as well as the completed piece.

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Illahe Gallery Show This Friday, February 4

These two are accompanied by photos and poems.

(Click image to see in larger window.)

Come and see the whole show! 

They are more striking in person, when you can absorb the kinesthetic quality of fiber.  This Friday, February 4th, from 5 -8 p.m. at Illahe Gallery at 4th and “B” St., Ashland, OR.  www.illahegallery.com  I’ll be there and offering a demostration of one of my techniques.  I’d love to see you.

Artist Statement

All creative expression comes from the same source.  The blessed gift of being creative is my experience of “flow,” when time stops and joy is like a stream burbling within me.  One of the places in life where I experience this is in my studio. 

I had the fortunate misfortune to be felled by serious illness at 28 years old.  Homebound and needing something to do as I moved from bed to couch, I reached for long-forgotten skills taught by my grandmother, mother, and aunt.  This began a journey into my own artistic soul.  I am blessed to come from a lineage of female artists.  Through the grace of the calling inherent in my illness, to reform my life in better synergy with my soul, I began creating according to my inclinations as a kinesthetic human being.  I operate by touch, smell, visceral sensation.   Thoughts, ideas and emotions have “feeling,” color, image, & sensation for me…a kind of visceral experience.  Fiber allows me to integrate my emotional and spiritual “felt” sense with my physical love for touch and texture. 

My art is inspired by my sense of the spiritual, my love for the creation that is this earth, and my desire to express healing visually.  My creative process is one way I commune with myself and with the larger Creation that Is.  As a friend once said, “My way of talking to G-d is to go to my studio and make art.”  My designs come to me from dreams and dream-like visions, from nature, from the souls I meet, and from my own healing and evolving journey as a human being.

https://stephanieknead.wordpress.com/                         

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What the creation process looks like…

This is a slide show of “Antelope Canyon‘s” “birth” process.   I hope you enjoy this glimpse of the stages and layers to creating a piece such as this.  Believe me, this is the short form!            Stephanie

 

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Featured Artist February 2011 at Illahe Gallery in Ashland OR

Wonderful news this week!  I have been invited to be a featured artist at Illahe Gallery www.illahegallery.com this February. 

I will be creating 2 – 3 pieces similar in process to “Antelope Canyon,” below.  I begin with a photo or photos of a place in nature; I create an initial design of about 18″ x 24″ and a final design of about 3′ x 5′ with much greater detail. 

I love this process.  I feel myself on the inside of the inside as I commune with the heart of nature that the image yearns to bring forth.  I experience a deep communion with the place and qualities of the earth I am rendering.  It nourishes my soul, and I emerge from hours in my studio with a happy heart and a light spirit.

I am in the process of choosing my images for the show.  I will perhaps choose a further image from the Slot Canyons…very different from “Antelope.”  I have also long desired to create a tide pool image.  And I have wonderful images of snow creatures, trees and snow, that I would love to create in fiber. 

I’ll keep you posted!

“Antelope Canyon” 3′ x 5′ Slot Canyons of the America SW, where floods have worn deep, narrow canyons. Sunlight overhead casts deep shadows onto the sandstone walls, creating dramatic colors and contrast.

Commissions accepted.  Please contact me at sknead7@aol.com or call 541-292-9390. 

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“Lightening Storm”

Photos at last.  I am sorry to say that I forgot to photograph it in my studio, where I have excellent natural light to capture the true colors of my work.  These photos were taken at the gallery after “Lightening Storm” was hung, so the color isn’t perfect.  You’ll notice the difference between the photos.  The close up has the truest colors. (see my Gallery…button at top of page)

I decided against the wire and beads once I started them.  They made the piece too busy and weighted it too much.  I decided to leave it with the lightening bolts in thread and fabric speaking for themselves.  I think you can hear the thunder crash.

I hope you enjoy it.  If you are interested in purchasing it, please contact me.  sknead7@aol.com

"Lightening Storm" I love thunder and lightening storms!"Lightening Storm" up close...smell the ozone, see the rainbows in the bolts!"Lightening Storm" up close...smell the ozone, see the rainbows in the bolts!

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“Antelope Canyon”

My latest work.  A private commission.  Check it out in my Gallery…larger image if you click on it there.

An image in fiber of lower Antelope Canyon in southwester U.S. These slot canyons are formed when floods pour through sandstone, carving deep and glorious channels through the earth. When the sun is directly overhead, the light bouncing down the slot creates rich, saturated colors and texture that is magnificent from below.

This commission is based on a photo of lower Antelope Canyon in Arizona, one of many slot canyons of the Southwestern United States. I hope soon to have a slide show posted of its creation process.

 Copyright 2010, Stephanie K. Nead

I am available for commissioned work.  Please feel free to email me directly with inquiries at sknead7@aol.com.