Teal Wave Three Panel Commission

In the mist of the starting up Kansas City Textile Studio, I have been working on a new commission. Ever since I graduated I have been doing most all of my dye work either outside on my driveway or in my garage. Each time I dyed, I carefully had to carry each bucket of dyed water through my house and rinse everything in my bathtub. With each year passing, I dreaded the idea of dyeing at home for many reasons. Safety for myself and my family, all the energy I put into making sure I wasn't making a mess, while hauling all the buckets of water through my house and the pain my back and knees went through, having to constantly bend down to dye my yarn on the ground and rinse everything in my tub. Just thinking about it makes me tired.

So, you can imagine how grateful and relieved I am to finally have a safe, clean, well equipped and efficient place to do all my dye work. YAY!!! Here are some images of my process so far.

 

One down, two more to go.

The Kansas City Textile Studio announces its Fall Exhibition: New Work by Kim Eichler-Messmer and Debbie Barrett Jones

Kim Eichler-Messmer, “Sky.AR.March”, 56" x 52.5", hand dyed cotton quilt (left) 

Debbie Barrett Jones, detail of “Aqua Inlay #1”, 26" x 30", hand dyed, hand woven wall hanging (right)

Kansas City, MO – The Kansas City Textile Studio announces its fall exhibition: New Work by Kim Eichler-Messmer and Debbie Barrett Jones. Friday October 18, 6 – 9pm at 924 E. 5th St, Kansas City, MO 64016. www.kctextilestudio.com

Kim Eichler-Messmer and Debbie Barrett Jones, two local artists and co-founders of the Kansas City Textile Studio, both explore color in their work through the process of color-mixing and percentage-gradation dyeing. Barrett Jones’ woven panels reveal the communication that passes between one color thread intersecting another. Her panels comprise vibrating colors and elegant patterns, narratives in flux according to one’s proximity to each piece. Eichler-Messmer’s landscape quilts are inspired by the dramatic Midwestern sky. Her own photographs of the sky serve as reference for the color use and proportion in each quilt.

Debbie Barrett Jones is a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute Fiber program and has run her weaving business, Billy Sue Textiles, since 2008. She has also exhibited her work widely and completed numerous large commissions in the Kansas City area including Children’s Mercy Hospital and Community Christian Church. Kim Eichler-Messmer is an Assistant Professor in the Fiber department at the Kansas City Art Institute and a quilter. Kim has exhibited her work widely, is having a book published on fabric dyeing for quilters, and has designed quilts for Pottery Barn Teen.

The Kansas City Textile Studio is a small art center in the historic Columbus Park neighborhood of Kansas City that is dedicated to providing education in textiles and fiber arts, affordable and well-equipped communal studio space, community gatherings, and fiber art related exhibitions and sales.