Two Fibre Artists present:

DREAMBOATS
Fables - Parables - Epigrams
and
Pendelton Plains Indian Dolls

May 4th through May 25th
Meet and greet session May 22nd at 4:00 PM

The Tompkins County Public Library announces the opening of an exhibit featuring the work of Ithaca fiber artists Liese Bronfenbrenner and Elizabeth Mount.

On display in the Library’s Avenue of the Friends from May 4 through May 25, this exhibit will include a selection of exquisitely designed and crafted dolls.

Bronfenbrenner’s exhibit, “DREAMBOATS—Fables, Parables and Epigrams,” includes pieces depicted with miniature boat-like structures formed on a Cayuga Lake driftwood base. While some represent serious issues, many of Bronfenbrenner’s pieces have a whimsical, imaginary theme.

Mount’s exhibit, “Pendleton Plains Indian Dolls,” derives from her childhood experiences growing up in the Pendleton, Oregon area. From time spent in and around the Pendleton Woolen Mill and the annual Pendleton Round-Up Rodeo and her interest in Native American costumes, baskets and gourds, Mount uses her experiences and collection of Pendleton wool to create colorfully-crafted dolls which reflect the culture of the Plains Indians.

The artists will be available for a meet and greet session during the opening reception for “Still Life—Portraits,” the Library’s second exhibit in its Art Behind the Scientist series, Saturday, May 22 at 4:00 PM in the BorgWarner Community Room.

FIBRE ARTIST - Liese Bronfenbrenner

I am a fiber artist and my basic medium is fabric, which I sew, embroider, quilt, stuff, and alter with dyes, paints, and a variety of transfer and printing techniques.  I have also included a variety of papers and wood, particularly drift wood, in some of my recent work. All this was made possible, in part, by outstanding teachers and mentors, beginning with an excellent Ann Arbor High School art teacher and continuing with Peter Kahn, Norman Daly, and visiting art instructors in the Cornell University extra-mural and summer session programs. This training was augmented by courses and workshops in quilting, book binding, surface design, and related subjects at Quilting by the Lake, the National Association of Embroiderers' workshops, and at the Haystack, Arrowmount, and Penland Schools of Arts and Crafts. Important too has been the assistance and advice I have received over the years from other fiber artists and members of the Ithaca Textile Arts Guild.

I draw from a variety of sources for inspiration, including folk tales, legends, nature, and places I have visited, as well as current events and issues. Some pieces have evolved from experimentation with alternative and different materials and techniques such as photography, transfer printing, and surface design procedures.

Recently I have been working on a new series of structures - DREAMBOATS - FABLES - PARABLES - EPIGRAMS.

The dreamboats are usually miniature boat like structures with a whimsical, imaginary theme, such as the Moonbeam Catchers or The Time Savers. Some pieces such as The Unwanted, The Bearers of Burdens, or Much More Than Terrible (Haiti 2010) are based on more serious issues. The pieces based on proverbs or fairy tales also often deal with significant subjects, such as the pieces in the Grim-Grimms Series: The Forgotten Password (The pot that would not stop boiling over), The Fisherman and His Wife, The King's Soup, or The Grandfather and the Grandson. On the other hand The Mermaid Princess on a Shell ( based on The Princess on a Pea) is a more lighthearted piece.

A piece of Cayuga Lake driftwood or a piece of wood usually forms the base of a piece, which is then enhanced with sticks, grape vines, beads, sumagachi marbled paper or fabric. The human figures and animals are in most cases made with soft wire and fabrics and attached permanently to the base.

Ithaca, NY May 2010

DOLLMAKER: Elizabeth Mount

Raised in Pendelton Oregon, Elizabeth Mount's interest in doll making benefitted from living in this small western town. Every year, cowhands came into town after harvest, ready to celebrate and race in what became the Pendleton Round-Up (rodeo) in 1910. What was unusual was that the nearby Indian tribes - Umatilla, Nez Perce, Cayuse, Walla Walla and others - also came to town with their families to live, dance, parade and compete. For a week, Pendleton was alive with horses in traditional trappings, men in headdresses, and women and children in their family's beautiful beaded doeskin costumes.

The town was also home to the original Pendleton Woolen Mill (1909) which began collecting Southwestern basket and pottery designs for the manufacture of the trading blankets that are still highly prized by Native Americans. These warm and brightly colored Jacquard woven blankets were quickly integrated into everyday and ceremonial use - part of a dowry, weddings, gift giving, pow wows, dance prizes, naming ceremonies, funerals and memorials.

Finally, Elizabeth's mother June and twin Jane - professional dancers - and their mother Caroline, an accomplished acompanist, ran a dancing school in their home. Because they made their own recital costumes, Elizabeth had the scraps and catalogue swatches - sequins, velvets and crispy taffetas - for her very first dolls.

Trips back to Pendleton and subsequent trips to the Southwest maintained Elizabeth's interest in Native American costumes, baskets and gourds. An MA in textiles at UC Berkeley, local classes with Liese Bronfenbrenner, Loretta Pompillio, Raylene Ludgate, and with native teachers at the National Museum of the American Indian sharpened her skills.

The larger dolls in this exhibit are a combination of all of the above. The smaller, clustered dolls are based on a simple Plains Indian doll, made for children, but elaborated here with traditional details and always with Pendleton wool.

May, 2010