No top menu
<!-- no script -->
|
|
A stitch in time creates fabric designs |
| By
Deanna Woolf |
|
|
Jun 10, 2005 |
|
 |
| “Gossip” by Ellen Leonard |
Ellen Leonard stood surrounded by staff members from the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women. “Can you believe that?” “So beautiful.” “That’s amazing.” They pointed, stared and smiled at the fiber art designs.
Conversing birds, snowy scenes and resting dragonflies came to life as she hung the pieces on the walls. The intricate stitches and multitude of fabrics were overwhelming.
“I sometimes think this is crazy,” she said, “knowing I could do the same thing in minutes with a paintbrush” versus the months spent on some of her pieces.
But her smiles of pride and thank-yous to compliments made it clear that Leonard believes her time is well spent.
Her art will be on display in the exhibit titled “Fabrications” until July 15 at the Center for Women, located in Tucker Hall Room 168.
 |
| “Waterlily and Dragonfly” by Ellen Leonard |
Leonard has been working with fabric for the past six years, after illustrating greeting cards and creating designs for products for 20 years. She traded her paintbrushes and watercolors for needles and threads — “a creatively liberating experience.” “I love how saturated the colors and patterns of the fabric are,” she said. “There’s so much you can do to embellish — to bead or use metallic threads or fibers.”
Leonard’s designs begin as drawings, which may be adapted from her illustrating work. She then re-sizes the drawing to the planned final proportions. Leonard numbers the different areas of the design and cuts them out of fabric. She reassembles the pieces, working with a machine or by hand.
Detailing the designs can be quite labor-intensive, as well. Leonard pointed to “Gossip,” a wall hanging of three tropical birds, explaining that their plumage is made of several different shades of fabric. “I then frayed the edges to get that feathery look,” she said. Another piece, “Frosty Hill,” contains strings of beads to simulate falling snow. She even designed her own snowflake patterns for the border.
 |
| “What Goes Around" by Ellen Leonard |
Leonard said she is challenged to translate her ideas into fabric. “The hardest thing is getting the fabric to do what I want. With watercolors, I could bleed or layer the colors. But with fabric, it is hard to get that blended look,” she explained.
Even though she just started showing her pieces last year, Leonard is enthusiastic about continuing her work. “The whole thing is just joyous. To start with a drawing or painting and have something that turns out better — the whole process is exciting.”
The free, public exhibit is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
For more information, contact the Center for Women at 419.530.8570.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
