Louise Bourgeois - The Fabric Works - and the need to share the wealth..

This post has no pretense to be original as there is plenty on Louise Bourgeois' work all over the blogosphere, but I recently got the book "Louise Bourgeois - The Fabric Works" and it is SO good I have to share some of it... It is the catalog of the exhibition that started in Venice, then went to London and finally New York where it just closed a couple of weeks ago. Sadly I didn't get to see it but luckily the book is amazing...  It includes mostly her later work and some we hardly saw before the exhibition / catalog.  It was hard to pick from the images in the book and I tried to pick some that are maybe less shown:

Through the numerous reproductions you see how much she kept pushing her work further and further, especially with the swirly/spiral shapes and the fabric book compositions.  You can see how it evolved into these 3-dimensional doodles too:

If you like her work, I highly recommend the book. See more of her fabric book work too in on my older post here, or on Kathryn Clark's blog there, and on MyLoveforYou blog there (among tons of others...)  Sorry if it's a bit redundant but her work never ceases to inspire me.

Last but not least, a huge thanks to my friend Lari Washburn for a nice post on my work today: I'm really thankful for the continuous support.

 

Henry Moore (English, 1898 - 1986) Textile Designs

This week, I'm trying to go back to doodling using pens and pencils instead of thread, and it hasn't been the easiest thing... This textile design by Henry Moore is a good reminder of how fun and playful it should be..



Caterpillar and Insect Wings, 1947 - Serigraphy in 3 colors on rayon, 330 x 650mm



These other two might be less playful yet they are very lose which I envy:



Four Heads, Half Figures and Animal, c. 1946 - Serigraphy in 7 colors on rayon 320 x 720mm





Figures and Symbols, Page from a Design Notebook, 1943 - 203 x 165mm

 See more of Henry Moore's textile designs in this book.

One 9B Pencil = One Drawing

I wish my pencil doodles would come out like that...




Alejandro Almanza Pereda - Out to Lunch - 2008 - one 9B pencil



Richard Lippold Wire Sculptures at Moma

I went to MOMA a couple of weeks ago and loved - among other things... - these little wire sculptures by Richard Lippold (American, 1915-2002):

A total delight - as some Brit I know would say...  Loved their lightness, apparent simplicity, shadows - all of it!

There were quite a few more inspiring pieces which I'll post shortly - stay tuned..

Marian Bijlenga: Horsehair, Fishscales and Threads

Dutch artist Marian Bijlenga is one of my favorite Flickr finds... she makes these stunning installation drawings with thread, horsehair, and machine embroidery:

She also has a whole body of work made with fishscales:

All photographs (c) Marian Biljenga

Her Flickr page shows much more of her work as well as beautiful photographs of her inspiration.
Some of her work is also included in the current exhibition  Traces: Mapping a Journey in Textiles at the Gregg Museum of Art and Design in NC.

Thread doodles

A couple of weeks ago I decided to go back to doing some daily doodles but this time using thread instead of ink or pencils. What was supposed to be quick daily sketches extended into several days.. and I only have those two so far:

That last one took less time, being more of a collage, but I kept reworking it to add stitches or sequins.

I envisioned to have them very subtle and minimal but I seem to want to keep adding onto them...