Lesley Riley, Quotable Artist

I'm often inspired by lyrics, poetry, and quotations for my artwork, and was honored to have my art included in Lesley Riley's first two books, Quotes Illustrated, and Inspirational Quotes Illustrated. Here is Lesley's recent article for ClothPaperScissors about combining art and quotes.

(P.S.  I love Lesley's subtly humorous P.S. to the article!)


Five Secrets to Combining Art & Quotes by Lesley Riley

The desire to create a book of illustrated quotes burned in my heart for many years. Once I realized that I didn't have to create all the art by myself (it takes a village ... of artists), I knew the time had come.

Love Yourself  "Love yourself first and everything else falls into place." ~ Lucille Ball. At first glance, the quote appears to be white lace on the dress neckline. It fell into perfect place in the composition.

On January 1, 2013, I put out a call for art to my mailing list and Facebook network. By the end of the year my self-published Quotes Illustrated was Amazon's #1 selling quote book. One year later, in November 2014, Inspirational Quotes Illustrated, an expanded version of my self-published book, published this time by North Light, again became a #1 best seller.

More than 400 artists submitted work, but there was only room for 100 in the book. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do was inform the unchosen. I never use the word rejection. It was important to let them know that "'Not now' does not mean 'not ever.'" We're all always improving and honing our means and methods of self-expression, right? And to do this we need insight on how to improve.

Woods vs Books   "You will find something more in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters." ~Saint Bernard. An image of a woman walking in the woods, book pages, a transferred tree, mica mined from stone, and the overall colors work to convey the message of the quote. The metal stamping technique, size, shape and placement of the quote is balanced with the overall composition.

Quotes hold meaning and magic for so many of us. When you add a visual element to a quote, the words have even more power to inspire and motivate. I wanted to explore what made a successful illustrated quote and in turn, help others successfully combine their art with their best loved quotes.

So how do you successfully illustrate a quote? You will find the answer to this question and more in my latest book,Creative Lettering Workshop: Combining Art with Quotes in Mixed Media.

But for now, while I have your interest and attention, I want to share my most important secrets for success.

Untitled by Katie Kendrick.  "I am in the mood to dissolve into the sky." ~ Virginia Woolf. Katie has integrated the quote into the artwork so well that you are quite drawn into the work to find it. It truly dissolves into the art.

1. Treat the words of the quote as another element of the overall composition, not an afterthought or add-on.

2. The quote should not be the focal point--that would be a quote illustration vs. an illustrated quote. Everything on the canvas/page should relate to and enhance the message of the quote.

3. Integrate the quote into the work. It doesn't always have to be set apart or easily readable.

4. Make it personal. What story, emotion, or feeling does the quote elicit in you? If you connect and convey that raw emotion, others will respond and connect to your art too.

5. Don't be afraid to use your own handwriting! Lettering is a beautiful art form in and of itself but it's not a necessity. Your handwriting is your mark making. The way you form your letters is a mark of your style, a personal imprint, and an impression that only you can add. The emphasis should always be to express your unique self.

P.S. Feel free to quote me! ~Lesley

RITUALS book is now available.

I'm excited and gratified to announce the availability of the catalog for the Rituals exhibit, which is opening this month at the International Quilt Festival, Long Beach, CA., and later to be shown at the IQF in Houston.  Leslie Tucker Jenison and Jamie Fingal (Dinner @ Eight Artists) have once more curated a beautiful exhibit, and Loris Bogue has edited the creation of the book.

Here's a picture of the book cover:

You can order the book here.

A weird post for a weird book

While browsing around on Goodreads.com (my favorite place to get recommendations for what to read next), I came across this one ... Blueprints Of The Afterlife by Ryan Boudinot.  In scanning the reviews, I found a review by the author (who, naturally, thinks it's great!) in which he offers a very cool giveaway ... of a signed manuscript page from the book.

Well, I love quirky, I love science fiction and dystopia, and I love innovative promotional ideas, so naturally I had to give it a go.  Ryan, here's my entry for your giveaway ... great idea!  (Although it's not required for the giveaway, I'm intrigued by the concept of the book, and so have ordered a copy ... can't wait to read it.)  Thanks, Ryan!

From Felt to Fabric - book giveaway!

Since I am not a felter, I thought I would provide the publisher's description of the book:

"Acclaimed fiber artist Catherine O'Leary introduces her distinctive, painterly approach to nuno felting with trademark techniques that make the craft easier to master, more creative, and more personal. Her exciting innovation, nuno pre-felts, integrates commercially printed fabric into the process and then uses these patterned pieces as design elements to create artful wearables and accessories. O'Leary explores principles of art and composition, like shape, color, and texture, and offers aspiring feltmakers inspirational projects plus a gallery of works illustrating the wide-ranging possibilities of her method."

All that is just to say that this looks like an easy, vibrant method of creating art-to-wear without the technical process being too complicated.  The instructions look clear and easy to follow, and there are tons of gorgeous pictures for illustration and inspiration.

As I said, I'm not a felter, so I'm giving this brand-new book away.  If you'd like a chance at winning it, just leave me a Comment below, and I'll have a drawing on Monday.  Good luck!

Masters: Art Quilts Vol. 2

I was excited to receive my copy of Masters: Art Quilts, Volume 2 in yesterday’s mail, and couldn’t wait to review it for you here.

Curated by Martha Sielman, this second volume of “major works by leading artists” has been eagerly anticipated by those of us in the art quilt field, as well as those who collect and appreciate fiber art as Fine Art.

Ms. Sielman is well-known as the Executive Director of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), and has earned her stripes as a professional artist, author, lecturer, juror, and arts administrator, with too many professional credits to name here.  Suffice it to say that she has created another masterpiece with this book.

By limiting the number of artists to 40 (in this 412-page book), Ms. Sielman has been able to showcase a fairly wide range of each artist’s work, along with a satisfying, but not overwhelming, amount of information about each artist and his or her working philosophy and/or techniques.  Each artwork is named and dated, with the size, materials, and techniques also indicated.  (One of my pet peeves about some other books is not being able to tell how large or small an artwork is, so this is a big plus for me.)

The artists showcased here are pulled from a truly international base, and the quilts  reflect the most sophisticated kind of artwork of any genre.  For instance, Emily Richardson’s quilts of silk organza and acrylic paints could easily be mistaken for abstract oil paintings. 

Genevieve Attinger’s graceful portraits and nudes could be straight out of an old master’s studio, with the addition of her delicate stitches.  Pamela Fitzsimons’ highly textured Australian landscape pieces are painstakingly created by hand, from dyeing to stitching. 

For a refreshing take on land- and seascapes, take a look at the collaborations of Gayle Fraas and Duncan Slade.  They combine realistic landscapes with unusual framing elements that make you stop and look again … and again. 

Linda MacDonald enjoys inserting humor into some of her environmentally sensitive message quilts.  Although some see her graphic images as similar to comic-book art, they always remind me of delicate wood-block cuts.

In addition to Ms. Sielman’s introductions to each artist, there are short quotations by the artists scattered throughout each section.  One of my favorites is by Laura Wasilowski:  “Fabric scraps are like starter dough.  The possibilities are endless.”

This book is large enough to allow for good-sized images and a few detail shots, without being an oversized “coffee-table” book.  I do wish there had been room for more (and larger) detail shots, but then the book would have had to be much bigger and heavier!  The paper is very high quality, and the photography is superb.  Highly recommended as a gift or for yourself.   Although I often give books away, I’m keeping this one!

Disclaimer:  I received this book for the purpose of writing an independent review.

A Bad Day for Sorry

Well I just had to get back to the computer in order to share a (new?) book that I just finished, that just tickled me pink.  (I love the cover artwork too.)  Not exactly a work of great literature (nor was it intended to be) ... a bit rough in patches, but well written (hooray!), and very much worth a summer read, especially for women who:
     * have ever been abused or known someone who has been abused;
     * have ever had Justice Fantasies about someone who has hurt them;
     * have a good sense of humor;
     * can handle a little bit of bad language every now and then ... not overdone;
     * have a soft place in their hearts for comfortable, sweet Southern dialect;
     * have ever wondered about unusual ways a rotary cutter could be used (and I don't mean slicing pizza!)

A Bad Day for Sorry:
This little book (280 pages ... anything under 400 pages is "little" to me) was a fast and fun read.  It bills itself as a crime novel, but it's really much more than that.  I won't tell you much more than that our heroine, Stella Hardesty, is a 50-year-old widow who had "dispatched her abusive husband with a wrench" before the story opens, and a few years later, is "so busy delivering home-style justice, helping other women deal with their own abusive husbands and boyfriends, that she's barely got time to run her sewing shop."

I fell in love with Stella, her soft heart and hard ways.  There are other characters who will surprise you, too -- it's not only Stella's own personality that teaches us not to judge a book by its cover!

As soon as I closed the cover on the last page, I immediately started looking for another book by this author, and found out that this was her first novel!  She does have another one out, called "A Bad Day for Pretty", but so far, it's only in hardback, and I must wait for it in paperback ... I'll let you know when that one comes out too.  It's so rare that I find an author that I really like, and Sophie Littlefield is one ... I just wanted to share my enjoyment of this book with you.

I've been loving these past few rainy days in San Antonio ... too gloomy to go outside, just perfect reading weather.  Now back to Studio cleaning!

Book of Secrets

This little Book of Secrets is made from a gallery-wrapped canvas as the front cover/secret box, with paste-papers as the pages. I still haven't inserted any images in the cut-outs ... when will I ever get around to that? But I still love the little book, and it's "secret" charm.

Coptic Stitch Book

A few days ago, my friend Martha (of The Art Girls) taught us how to bind a hand-made book with Coptic Stitch. Here are some shots of my first attempt at this method.

The front cover was stamped with one of my hand-carved stamps onto black matboard. The little book is 3.5 x 5", and 1.5" thick.

I made 10 signatures from different hand-made papers (from Texas Art Supply).

and here is the binding itself ... Coptic Stitch isn't as hard as I had thought it would be, and I'm definitely going to be making more of these.