Never underestimate what an entry to an art show challenge
may bring out in yourself. The guild I
recently joined has a small annual show every November, in conjunction with
Cambridge, Ohio’s Dickens Village. They
had a theme for the show – “Mug Madness.”
The explanation, direct from the call for entries was; “A mug is many
things, a large drinking cup or the face of a person or pet. Get creative with faces and think outside the
mug.”
I’m not into doing portraits, but I felt compelled to put
something in the show to support the guild, especially since I am a new
member. So, I tried my hand at making a
3-D, non-functional fabric mug. I dug
around in my box of scraps and found two rectangular pieces of wool onto which I
had felted roving, thread, yarns and fabric bits while I was learning to use my
needle felting machine. The two pieces were
just about right for the bodies of two mugs, one large and one smaller. I matched the pieces up with some of my hand
dyed damasks, and started cutting and stitching. Within the evening, I had two cylinders of
fabric. With added handles, they looked
somewhat like mugs. Off they went to the
show.
This was an all media show.
Drawings, and paintings dominated.
The piece that I thought was the best in the show was a dramatic oil or
acrylic portrait of a man (I do believe he was portrayed drinking from a mug,
thereby capturing both aspects of the theme), done in white and grays on a
black background. There were a couple of
nice ceramic mugs. I was surprised that
there were not more ceramic entries, considering the clay history of this
region and the number of active potters in the area.
To my great surprise, my goofy little green fabric mug, made
out of scraps and my imagination, was selected the first prize winner in the
adult division! My little mugs were the
only textile art in the show. I’d like
to think that I opened some eyes to what is possible with fabric, and
encouraged others to stretch themselves creatively.
