Category Archives: Fiber

jaye houle, lisa renner & cara romano: what do these artists have in common?

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Susan Lomuto • 0 Comments

Three artists. Three different mediums. What do they have in common?

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Jaye Houle, glass artist

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Using the kiln-fired glass technique known as Pâte de Verre, Jaye Houle sometimes adds fibers to the luscious glass vessels, creating pieces that have multiple surfaces and textures. The work begs to be touched. . .

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Lisa Renner, mixed media artist

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Lisa Renner, a mixed media artist who creates work that is texturally complex in an ever-changing color palette, has a full portfolio of art dolls, books and jewelry using polymer clay, wire, encaustic, paper and fabric.

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Cara Romano, jewelry artist

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Cara Romano combines a love of textiles and metal in her jewelry collections. Known largely for her felted fiber and silver jewelry (see previous post here), she recently added a metals-only collection with a focus on geometric shapes.

At first glance, you might think the common denominator is that each artist uses some form of fiber in their work.

While this is indeed true, they share one more thing in common:

All three artists took one of my {diy} Artist Websites classes and created their own beautiful websites with the help of the class!

Jaye and Lisa created portfolio websites, each with a different gallery look, and Cara built a full eCommerce website for her jewelry.

Are you ready to create a showcase for your art and take control over your online presence?

You can do it!

Sign up for the June session of WP Basics

Don’t miss these perks:

If you receive the DAM newsletter you know that a couple of weeks ago I conducted a one day social experiment – a pricing structure that allowed you to choose the price based on what you could afford. I’m extending that experiment to all DAM readers through this holiday weekend.

The price of this class includes the powerful drag and drop premium theme Headway – an $88 value – and a bonus module that I created to give you a HeadStart on Headway! Daily Art Muse, Peace by Piece Project, DIY Artist Websites are all powered by Headway as are the sites of many of my students, including Anne Beach, Melinda Cootsona, Cara Romano, Jaye Houle and Tory Hughes.

When you register for this June session, which comes with 4 Q & A webinars, you get instant enrollment in the September session of the class and an additional 4 webinars. That’s a lot of extra support and time to create your website if Summer fun interferes with your plans to get the job done during June!

Register TODAY for this comprehensive class and be on your way to having a beautiful website like Cara, Jaye and Lisa!

Read more about my social experiment here (scroll down towards the bottom of the page).

Grab your seat NOW because the choose-your-price experiment ends Monday May 27, 2013!

Know someone who could benefit from this class? Forward this post to them.

Are you looking to pay-it-forward? Maybe someone else helped you the way I am helping folks with this social experiment and you are now in a position to help someone else? If you are, and you have an artist friend who needs this class, why not give the class as a gift? Send me an email and we’ll get it set up.

Jaye Houle’s website

Lisa Renner’s website

Cara Romano’s website

chrystl rijkeboer: touching the past with hair

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Susan Lomuto • 0 Comments

Chrystl Rijkeboer worked as a photographer’s assistant, social worker and trained as a school teacher before finding her path as an artist. Rijkeboer, who lives in the Netherlands, has been knitting human hair since 1998.

Dutch Wall Carpet

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Dutch Wall Carpet, detail

The hair becomes rugs, sculptures and Men-Scapes, which speak about our environment as “places where human influence and intervention are clearly visible.” Her work can be seen as dark and thought provoking. . .or beautifully crafted with profound messages. You choose.

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“Everyone knows the lock of hair kept in a medallion or a braid that is kept in an envelope for years lying in a drawer, memories of our childhood or a lost love. They keep the past tangible. Everything perishes except for our hair. By a lock of hair you can literally touch the past”.

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“Blanket: No Matter What, a quilt with a little home sitting on top of it, all knitted out of human hair, is a work about unconditional protection and warmth; the house is safely centered on the blanket.”

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“Home is the house in which I grew up. Compared to the little homes, this one looks big and comfortable, a super nice play environment for kids. But nothing could be further from the truth; the place is oppressing and unpleasant to stay in. The house is limp and provides no support. The colours I have used for the walls and the roof are based on my parents hair colour.”

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Nest Boxes

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Nest Boxes, detail

“Nest boxes with ladders, knitted with human hair. Work about definitive ‘leaving’ the parental home with its standards and values and influence. Dissociate from the parental authority and run your own life. When you can let go the dependence to and approval from.”

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Chrystl Rijkeboer’s website

Filed Under: Featured, Fiber

sara renzulli has a way with the animals

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Susan Lomuto • 0 Comments

Sara Renzulli enjoyed a professional career as a painter for more than 20 years before she taught herself needle felting. She quickly fell in love with the craft and her distinct style of creating animals with natural fibers found a following that continues to grow today. Many of her critters are built around a wire armature and are fully posable. Love.

Asian Elephant, 12″ tall

The elephant above is needle felted onto a wire armature. With a mouth that opens, you can reposition her trunk and ears if you must, as well as the rest of her body.

Lion and Lamb, 15″ long x 9″ tall (Lion)
The lion is needle felted around a wire armature and is fully posable. Whiskers are made from horse hair.

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