Ronni Hunter Studios

collage

Abstracting the West

art quilt, collage, Exhibits, mixed media, surface designRonni HunterComment

In January I wrote a post about some pieces I was working on in response to an upcoming call for entry.  The pieces were finished before the end of 2015 but the call for entry didn't happen until spring.  I didn't want to say anything about these pieces until I knew if there were going to be restrictions about posting artwork that was accepted.  Happily, my work was accepted into the show and there are no restrictions, so I'm free to share.  

The Laramie Art Quilters group is hosting a show titled Abstracting the West.   The show will be on exhibit at the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site, which is part of the Wyoming State Parks system. The facility is best known for housing Butch Cassidy during his only stay behind bars. An historic treasure in Laramie, WY, the park welcomes over 29,000 visitors each summer. Their new exhibit hall will house Abstracting the West from July 1, 2016 until September 30, 2016.  The reception for this show will be on June 30th.

These three pieces came together so easily for me that I began to wonder if they lacked legitimacy.  It's funny how we can come to feel that "real" art only happens where there is a struggle involved.  I'm choosing to see this experience as an indication that this type of mixed media stitched work is what really makes my heart sing.  It is hard to tell from the photos, but there is more paper than fabric in these quilts.  

Colorado: Harebell

42" x 30"

(sandstone, blue sky, sunsets, wildfires, India Paintbrush, purple mountains, wildflowers)

Colorado: Aspen

42" x 30"

(Colorado forests of aspen and pine)

Colorado: Columbine

42" x 30"

(columbine flowers, aspens and pines, mountain lakes, starry nights)

Colorado: Aspen - detail

(In this detail image you can more clearly see the white organza applique that I used to create the focal images in all three pieces.)

 

 

Two shows!

acrylic paint, art quilt, collage, Exhibits, mixed media, surface designRonni HunterComment

Everything seems to be happening at once right now.  I have artwork in two different shows that are both having artist receptions tomorrow night.  I am happy to announce that my piece Reflections will be shown at the Art Students League of Denver.  I took at class last year with the wonderful Jo Fitsell, who invited me to participate.  I honored that she thought of me!

Summer of Art: ASLD Students’ Exhibit

Invitational- Faculty & Students
Exhibition Dates: May 25 – June 22, 2016
First Friday Artist Reception:  June 3| 5:30 – 8pm
The Art Students League of Denver is an inclusive and inspiring art community where artists of all abilities are guided by professional artists to reach their highest potential. This exhibit highlights the talent of beginning to advanced students chosen by their instructors to represent our artists’ community at its best!

A couple of years ago I took a class with Katie Pasquini Masopust.  The class was about painting canvas and then cutting it up and reassembling it into painted canvas quilts.  I was so inspired by the workshop that I went home and painted several canvases.  Unfortunately I was not struck by inspiration at the time and never came up with any ideas for what to do with these painted canvases.  Until now!  40 West Arts announced a call for entry with the theme of Drip!  My painted canvas had been largely painted with dripping paint so I knew this was the time to get those canvases out and make something.  The following piece came together and I'm excited to say it was accepted into the show.  It is titled Polychrome Rain.  The reception for this show will be at the 40 West gallery on June 3rd, from 5:00 - 8:00 PM.

24" W x 43" H  Painted canvas and silk, collaged papers, acrylic paint, gold cord.  Machine stitched.

24" W x 43" H  Painted canvas and silk, collaged papers, acrylic paint, gold cord.  Machine stitched.

 

 

Urban Rhythms Show

acrylic paint, art quilt, collage, Exhibits, mixed media, surface designRonni HunterComment

Earlier this year I created this piece, titled All Dolled Up.  This is theoretically part of a series, the first of which is my piece Reflections.  I have in mind an ongoing series about feminism.  All Dolled Up explores the ways in which women feel obliged to remake themselves into perfect dolls in order to be "good enough" in a society that worships youth and has very narrow and unrealistic ideals of beauty.  The number 10 on one of the mannikins probably speaks for itself, but I thought I would explain that the other numbers on and around the other two mannikins are the first several numbers in the Fibonacci Sequence.  I'm no mathematician so I will just say that these numbers represent a ratio that is often seen in nature and is considered visually pleasing.

I'm a bit behind the 8 ball in sharing that this piece was,accepted into an art show being held at the Art Gallery at the DPAC and Backstage Coffee.  The venue is a nice cafe at the Denver Performing Arts Center, which is a really high profile venue for all the artists involved.  There are a lot of high quality pieces hanging in this show.  Between the great food at the cafe and the wonderful art on display I'd say it's very worth checking out!

Theme:  Urban Rhythm

Urban:  in, relating to, or characteristic of a city or town.

Rhythm:  Movement or variation characterized by the regular recurrence or alternation of different quantities or conditions.

The Art Gallery at the DPAC and Backstage Coffee is located at 1000 14th St. 1B-1, Colorado.  The show will hang from April 24th through July 10th, 2016.

Above & Beyond Exhibition

acrylic paint, collage, mixed mediaRonni HunterComment

I'm exited to announce that my piece "Reflection" was accepted into the SAQA Above & Beyone Exhibition which opens at the Lakewood Cultural Center on January 22nd.  The LCC Main Gallery is a really nice venue for an art show and I'm certain that the pieces on exhibit will be excellent.  This show is all about the vast variety of techniques and approaches that art quilters are taking with their work.  I submitted "Reflection" because the techniques include an image printed onto silk with my home computer and printer, unusual materials such as Lutradur and acrylic paint and fabrics that I had designed and either dyed or painted myself. This medium is so exciting and versatile, which is why I love it so much!

Inspired!

acrylic paint, art quilt, collage, mixed mediaRonni HunterComment

Not long after I took that workshop with Deborah Fell, I heard about an upcoming call for entry for a show that will take place in 2016.  I don't want to say too much about this because I'm not sure what the status of  this show is at the moment, but between the techniques I was using after the workshop and the call for entry, I was hugely inspired!  The "theme" I chose to interpret was my personal vision of Colorado.  There was a ton of leftover material from the workshop that I wanted to use, but in the end I had three large pieces in mind and had to make even more materials.  A surface design superstorm hit my studio when I got out the Gelli Plate, stencils, stamps, and any other mark making tool I could find.  When I thought I had enough collage material I painted some canvas and began collaging.  When everything was dry I cut the collaged canvas into 6 inch squares and combined the colors into the background for a quilt.  I forgot to take photos of the original canvases but I did take some of the second round. Here are some pictures of the uncut canvases and one of the backgrounds that I assembled.

Mixed Media Collage

acrylic paint, art quilt, collage, mixed mediaRonni HunterComment

Last September I took a workshop with Deborah Fell.  The workshop was a blast, and while I'm not sure I learned anything new in terms of technique, I did seem to get a lot of inspiration and I came away feeling like I had "permission" to do some of the work I've always wanted to do.  At the workshop I got started on several different pieces, but no where near finished on any of them.  When I got home I continued to work with one piece in particular.  I mostly took apart what I had begun at the workshop and revamped the whole thing.  Something about this process really spoke to me and I completed this piece in record time.  I began with color washes on a piece of canvas.  Then I collaged papers and fabrics on top with glue.  These collage items were created in a frenzy of mark making and painting until I had two tons of materials that I began randomly tearing up.  So fun!  When I had a collage I was happy with I added batting and backing and began stitching.  There is more paper in this "quilt" than fabric, and quite a few layers in some places but I had no trouble stitching it.  I love everything about this process and I'm thrilled with the result, although not so thrilled with the photo, LOL!  Here is the final piece.

BOP Abstract 2015

One For The Road Workshop

mixed media, collage, acrylic paint, art journalingRonni HunterComment

This past July I had the pleasure of attending another workshop with the amazing Lynne Perrella in Taos, NM.  I had never been to Taos before so it was a double treat for me.  The drive was stunningly beautiful!  The workshop took place at the historic Mabel Dodge Luhan House with is a sort of bed and breakfast place near downtown Taos.  I would recommend staying there any time.  The food was fabulous and the atmosphere relaxed.  Our project was a folded book with a travel theme.  It took me about a month to get mine finished.  I'm not thrilled with the end result, but I enjoyed making it.  This is created on red rosin paper with acrylic paint, collage, and Portfolio water soluble oil pastels.

Front Cover

Pages 1 & 2

Pages 3 & 4

Pages 5 & 6

Back Cover