Beginning to End

March 16th - April 21st

Art Center Sarasota

Opening Reception March 16th, 5 - 7PM

Beginning to End, the Story

The incredibly beautiful fabric, which was the inspiration for these images,  was hidden in a stack of rolled textiles under a work table at Beginning2End,  the design and upholstery business that had helped to re-decorate my home.

When I spotted it, unassumingly laying, unnoticed along with other rolled up textiles, I begged to have it!                                                                                                                              

The owners, Alan Gravely and Stan Writesel, were generous enough to indulge me. They graciously gave it to me as a gift. It had become totally obvious, even to them, that I had fallen in love. 

To say the least, this particular fabric is a marriage of two extremely different materials. They are complete opposites. The plush glimmer and sexuality of velvet is woven gracefully into the warp and the woof of the coarser strength of the loosely woven linen burlap.                            

Combined they are one glorious pattern.

Somewhat intimidated by the magnificence of the fabric, I began designing very small cards from the tiniest scraps left over from the chair and pillow you see here.

This project begged for exploration, for some daring search for new ways of exposing the sensory delight of the fabric and exploring and exploiting the audacity of its personality. 

Collage was not as familiar to me as painting or printmaking. In fact, I never wanted to do it. But, as I plotted and planned, I became completely charmed and engaged…loving every moment of designing and finishing each piece.

Having a bolt of glorious fabric teased me, but also encouraged me to look back at some of the pieces of art that I had made over the years. Art work that was stored in large drawers with lots of other old work, unattended, unseen…cast aside.

 As you can see, I found some long ignored artwork on paper that happily was given the opportunity to begin a new life with a fantastically beautiful partner.  I searched my imagination to find just the right counterpoint which would encourage viewers to understand the impact of the inherent beauty of the old work as it responded to its unexpected partner and new environment. 

Now the new partners are out of the studio, dancing in public, reinvented as a novel combination, sharing newly found show-off status as they emerge through their re-creation into visual art.

Peppi Elona