ROXANE LESSA

NICHE Award Winner!

Roxane Lessa — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:27:49 +0000

I can hardly believe it. I won the Decorative Fiber category for piece, Bubbles pictured here:

Bubbles

The Niche Award is a competition for all working artists in the U.S. and Canada, sponsored by Niche Magazine. To see all the winners, including moi, go to Niche Awards. There are some amazing pieces in all media.

In other big news, I haven’t been doing much art work lately, since I am getting my house ready to sell. Whew, what a lot of work! I miss working in the studio. Add to that, traveling out of state for my daughter’s college dance auditions. It’s hard to stay balanced physically and emotionally with all that going on. But hopefully by this Summer, I should be able to focus once again on the art making. For now I’ll fit it in where I can!

So what’s new with you? Taking any good classes lately? Working on anything in your life? I’d love to hear…..

Teaching….love it!

Roxane Lessa — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:10:28 +0000

This last week I had the privilege of teaching at the Pamlico Quilter’s Guild in NC and at Thimble Pleasures in Chapel Hill. I loved discovering the town of Washington, NC right there on the sparkling river. We got right down to business and got messy with color. I was impressed with everyone’s courage to move past their comfort zones and create small abstract color studies. Good job ladies and send me those pictures!

Next it was on to Chapel Hill, at Thimble Pleasures, one of my fav fabric stores. Their collection of batiks is legendary. We worked on the Fused Applique and Paint pattern: Morning Glory and Angel’s Trumpets. Everyone was a little timid, but they dove into the painting part after a bit of prodding!

painting begun on Morning Glory

not done, but more paint added

And some more:

Purple M.G.

Blue M.G.

Angel's Trumpets

We had fun and again I want final pictures!

On another note: I finished a red lace shawl for my friend and artist, Marina Bosetti, in exchange for a beautiful ceramic wall tile.

blocking shawl

cashmere, silk, & alpaca lace yarn

A Ship Without A Rudder

Roxane Lessa — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:41:54 +0000

Or what making art means to me. So the Holidays came and went, and all art making ceased. Then the New Year came and went and I decided prior to selling my house, I needed to completely clean, discard, recycle and Goodwill a huge pile of stuff that has accumulated. So, still no art making. I am about done with that project, but I noticed a strange feeling start to creep into my daily life. Can you guess? That’s right! There’s no fun in my day to day. Every day is feeling like the last one and there is no thrill or pride in what I accomplished (even thought it was necessary). Conclusion: I need to make art, cause when I don’t, I bore myself. So what my house is cleaner and less cluttered? Even though, the OCD part of me is way happy right now. Yes, it had to be done, but jeez what a way to live!!!! This just confirms in a big way what I already knew–Suzy Homemaker I’m not.

So what does making or enjoying art mean to YOU???

By the way, is the studio cleanup yet? NO. Saved the best mess for last.

On another note: A brand NEW class I’m teaching at Bernina World of Sewing, ta-da!!!! The Joy of Soy! A 6 hour workshop extravaganza using soy wax resist and fabric paint to create your own one-of-a-kind fabric. It’s a very fun and freeing way to do surface design. I know you will love it as much as I do. Call the store to register and get more info on their website.

Other news: I am teaching my Color Play for Quilters class at the Pamlico River Quilter’s Guild on Jan. 25. That’s going to be fun too!

It’s A Girl Thing, sigh….

Roxane Lessa — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:16:31 +0000

So my oldest daughter had a big school charity dance to go to. We went shopping for a dress, even though she had a perfectly good one in her closet. But that one had already been worn at Prom- so we can’t wear that one! Did we find anything? NO. She went shopping with her friends. Did she find anything? NO. She looked online and saw some candidates but nothing below $80, and who knew if they would fit. Did I mention she is like a size 00? With an over developed sense of style? That’s a nice way of saying she’s uber picky. So long story short, I offered to make her a dress out of some beautiful hand dyed fabric I was saving for a new masterpiece or something. Ya know, nothing important. We were aiming for a knock off of a dress we had seen on Project Runway, that I thought would be simple to make. HA! I made a practice dress and made a pattern from it. Then I cut out the real fabric and made this dress that hung from chains around the shoulder. It actually fit her with many alterations and cuss words. Many hours into this project, she didn’t like the feel of the fit. So I took it apart and tried a one shoulder design. By then this poor fabric was looking tortured and finally became too stretched out as it was cut on the bias. Nothing seemed to work and today after working on it until 1:30 AM last night, I finally threw in the towel. I said the words she was waiting for-Let’s go buy a dress. Which we did, for more money than I wanted to spend (although she is coughing up half). I then spent more time today altering it to fit m’lady. Finally, she has something to wear tonight! Just like Cinderella at the last moment going to the ball. I tried to explain this insanity to my BF, gave up and said- it’s a girl thing. Here’s the dress for those of you who stuck with this whole sorry story! What did I learn from this epic failure? Never offer to make anything for my super picky kid again! Back to making art soon!

A Major Award!

Roxane Lessa — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:13:51 +0000

Bubbles, hand dyed cotton, cotton batiks, paint, 2011, 20″ x 17″, 2009.

That’s right. I did it. I entered and I got (to quote the dad on The Christmas Story), a major award!! I’m excited that I got this the first time around. I will be sending my piece “Bubbles” to the Final Award show, and we’ll see if I win the whole shebang. This piece is hand dyed and stamped with fabric paint, then machine quilted extensively.

In other news, the Piedmont Craftsmen’s Show was wonderful. I sold my latest piece , Mojave Sandstorm, to a collector in Winston-Salem, as well as some smaller pieces. Oops, I have to mark them as sold on my website!

Also, for surface design junkies, I’m developing a class on how to do soy wax batik used with fabric paint. It will hopefully be early next year in Raleigh. I will let you know more on that later.

Don’t let the Holiday frenzy drive you crazy, and try to enjoy the Season!

Two New Quiltlets and the Joys of Soy Wax Batik!

Roxane Lessa — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:48:27 +0000

Have you heard of soy wax batik? It’s way fun. I tried it last summer and want to do some more. Soy wax melts quickly, doesn’t stink and is easy to remove after you’re done. I get it from Dharma Trading Co. I pop it into my veggie steamer in a plastic bowl, and when it’s melted clear, I paint it on my fabric or stamp it on with objects. Oh, and the best part….it dries fast so you can dye and paint your piece quickly-because, let’s face it, I’m impatient. Any where you apply the wax, will resist and retain the white or color underneath it. Then get out your old newspapers and iron the fabric repeatedly, until most of the wax is gone. This is by far my favorite resist to use. I even turned Leni Newell ( a well known batik artist) onto it last year when she came to my kid’s school to teach batik. She had only used bee’s wax.

ANYWAY, I had some small pieces I had made using this technique, so I made them into quiltlets. I love the vertical prayer flag format of these pieces. I did extensive hand beading on “Flow”, and you can see the brush strokes where I applied the wax first. ”Golden Spice” was combined with a gold painted stamped piece done by my friend Sherol Lappala, along with my soy wax batik piece, and some gold silk shantung border which struck just the right note for this art quilt. I hope you get to try this fun technique, or failing that, you can buy these pieces at my upcoming show at Piedmont Craftsmen’s Fair, Benton Convention Center, Winston-Salem Nov. 19-20th. Come visit me, I’ll be in BOOTH K-1!

Flow, 27" x 10", fiber, beads, 2011

Golden Spice, 22" x 12", fiber, 2011

I Dream of Being Like Jeannie

Roxane Lessa — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:48:43 +0000

wrinkly sky

Sometimes I wish I were Jeannie on I Dream of Jeannie. Remember that old show? Ok, now I’m dating myself. See there was this show about an astronaut who found a genie in a bottle, who could blink and give you anything you wanted. All kinds of shenanigans ensue, because it was a silly 60′s sitcom. But the blinking thing! Wow was that great! So, why do I want to be Jeannie this week (ok, every week)? Because I hated the sky on my new art quilt and wanted it GONE! It was stiff and wrinkled and when I quilted it the wrinkles were really distracting. ARGH! I wanted to blink it all away.

So I gathered my courage and cut it off.

Offending sky-gone.

Then, luckily I had saved the other piece I had painted for the sky, which oddly enough didn’t bother me now. I fused it to batting and backing and quilted it separately.

We like much better! I will finish quilting the bottom and attach top and bottom by fusing and machine zig-zag with clear thread. No one will be the wiser, except you of course!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Roxane Lessa — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:35:53 +0000

When designing and making a new art tapestry there are always a zillion decisions to make. Some may be more successful than others. Some make sense from a compositional view. And sometimes you just got to go with your GUT! I often choose my colors that way. I have studied color theory and know some strategies for pleasing color schemes, but usually I don’t analyze why I like something. I just go with it. Hopefully, you have studied about color and how to use it, but ultimately you have to please yourself and try something beyond what the rules tell you. If the colors you have chosen please and excite you, then chances are they will excite others too!

Here’s an example:

choice #1

This version has a blending bush fabric, using similar colors.

choice #2

This version shows a fabric which has a pop of green. I ended up going with the green and scattering it around the piece in smaller bits. Why? It is unexpected, and I liked it.

I have begun the quilting now so stay tuned to see what I end up deciding there!

BTW, here is a fabulous blog I would like to share with you: MarveLes Art Studios. Go check her out, she gives lots of great tutorials on quilting and surface design techniques.

Where do I exhibit? At New Bern Artworks, of course!

Roxane Lessa — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:02:46 +0000

New Bern Artworks

I missed a week of blogging recuperating from my weekend of “yachting”. The weekend was loooooong. I had plenty of practice sharing my work and educating folks on my art tapestries, but no sales. While that was somewhat disappointing, I’m glad I did it. The boat and galleries within were gorgeous. Being on the water was lovely. I always love being near or on water (see my Water series).

And now on to the BIG news: on my way home I went to New Bern ArtWorks.

New Bern Artworks

I had been speaking to the four partners of the gallery since July about showing my work there. This opportunity came about because whilst on vacation this summer, my BF and I went to New Bern, where he used to live. We checked out all the galleries and liked this one the best. TAKE NOTE: if you want to be represented by a gallery- go in, introduce yourself and show and talk about your work. It helps to have a virtual gallery or website, and then FOLLOW UP if they show some interest.

Now, I don’t know if they will sell my work, but I am very hopeful. I will be there on the grand opening on Oct. 28 to meet with the gallery’s patrons and collectors. I’m SO excited!!!! This feels like a huge milestone to me and for my career.

So what’s the take away here? Open your mouth and introduce yourself to gallery owners. Here’s a great resource about this: Starving to Successful. How are you exhibiting your work?

Willy the Wonder Dog

Roxane Lessa — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:35:09 +0000

No I didn’t get a dog. I just borrowed one from my boyfriend, who is watching him for his sister. He is a therapy dog so he gives hugs and plays with squeaky toys. Folks, it doesn’t get any cuter than this. My cat hates him. But we all LOVE him!

Painting fabric

Today, I began pulling out fabric for the next quilt in the desert series. You can see the picture book I’m using for inspiration. Thought I had all the perfect fabric-don’t. So I had to paint the sky fabric. Yesterday it took 3 tries to get the pattern right. And today, it took 2 tries to get the painting done. Actually, once it dried, I decided to redo it with better fabric and darker colors. It is hard to blend the colors with water while still making the colors deep. So it will be 3 tries to paint the sky. I hope this trend isn’t going to continue. Why do you have to make mistakes before you can get it right?

I’m hoping tomorrow the painting will go better. Speaking of painting, come learn from my mistakes in my Painting Your Masterpiece class on Nov. 7 & 14 from 10-1 in Raleigh at Bernina World of Sewing. I’m actually not bad at it and can help you get over your fears of putting paint on fabric.

See? This is one of my better efforts:

Unopened

Unopened, Fiber, 24″ x 33″, 2008

$4000.00