A good friend recently fell on the streets of San Miguel. While the cobblestone streets of this little town can be treacherous, John’s fall was not caused by the cobblestones but rather by the construction debris on the street. Basically he tripped on a cable wire and fell on his arm shattering his elbow in about 10 pieces. Through John, many of his friends are now seeing the medical profession in Mexico up-close – and I can honestly say I am not concerned about the quality of care I’ll receive should anything similar happen to me. However, there was one item John found could be improved upon – his sling, and I was happy to help improve the design. The old sling had a few faults I think simply because they are mass produced to be worn for a variety of breaks and angles of casts. In John’s case the 90° angle wasn’t ideal as his cast is set slightly less than 90°.  As a result of the conflicting angles the length wasn’t long enough to support the entire length of John’s forearm causing the sling to continue to ride up his forearm and lessen the overall support. Also the connection of the strap to the elbow side of the sling was placed over the center seam. As a result the strap didn’t stay in place across his back and again reduced support.

So John came over first to show me his old sling, then to act as a model for the new pattern and finally to select a fabric from my studio stash. Below John is modeling the new and improved shoulder sling. The ultra suede outer fabric comes from a recycled Clearwater Creek jacket. The lining is cotton canvas for durability. This new model offers proper back support, a strap guard and cell phone pocket. All-in-all much more stylish:)

Below are a few photos from the opening. I will be posting again next week to show the new piece I’ll be starting for the WOW (World of Wearable Art) competition and show. I’m really looking forward to getting started on that piece…it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Andrea Soto Alegria, Textile Artist Wendy Moyer, Alexis White and Oasis owner Nancy Hooper.

Doug, Brett (owner of Shanti day spa in San Miguel), Oasis owner Nancy Hooper, and me. Paraíso is the piece in the background.

One of Bill’s pieces. This piece is hooked up to a propane tank and incorporates fire into the sculpture.

So please take a moment to view the shows. Just click on the linked images below. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

“WENDY MOYER shows textile art in a professional manner. Perhaps most successful is her piece “Flor de la Noche” with the black behind the night flower strengthening the subject. The hand stitching adds a nice touch to the simple and direct statement.”

However, I have finished my last piece for 2009. Uprooted (Sp: Desarraigadas) is part of the Textures of Mexico series and is a sculptural interpretation of the lilies that bloom here in Parque Juarez in early spring. The background of this piece is comprised of torn and frayed pieces of shantung and jacquard silk. The pieces were overlaid in a geometric pattern and then machine quilted in place over a heavy cotton upholstery batting and artist grade canvas.  The durability and weight of the background is necessary when adding high relief, 3D forms to the front – especially wire frame forms such as the one from which the root ball is protruding. {If you’re interested, the making of the root ball was covered in my previous post.} Although all the leaves and the flower stems have been tacked into place, each leaf and flower petal have thin wires embedded into the veining allowing them some additional movement and flexibility.

Hope you enjoy viewing this piece as much as I enjoyed creating it. For purchasing info and more detailed photos of this piece please click here.

Hasta el Año Nuevo!

Hasta pronto mis amigos!

I did manage to finish all three and deliver them to the store on Sunday for the tree-trimming event:) Below are the three ornaments. The first two are “genus: imaginari.” To my knowledge, these flowers don’t exist in nature, but my imagination is full of them. These like my larger pieces of work are entirely made from recycled brand name clothing I find in the mercados of Mexico. The flowers are then glued into a dried cutting from the tip of maguey leaf. People who plant magueys near and around their homes and gardens typically cut the tips off the outer leaves so no one impales themselves upon them. The tips of the leaves are so pointed and strong they can easily put a pretty nasty hole in soft flesh and were once used as needles to sew together animal hides. Each of the flowers are about 7″ in height by 3.5″ wide. The last ornament is an abbreviated version of “Las Tunas” and is about 7″ in height by 8″ in width. It’s not as heavy as it looks. The interior wire-frame gives it more structure than stuffing.

If any of you are in San Miguel de Allende, you can purchase these at Mixta (located at Pila Seca 16A – near Zacateros). $500 pesos for each of the flowers and $600 pesos for Las Tunas. 80% of the price goes to support Hospice SMA (the other 20% to the store for arranging the event). Or if these aren’t your style, stop in and see what the other artists created… No matter where you are, please spread the cheer this year to your own charity of choice.

That’s all I have for now. I check back as soon as I finish the quilting bit. Hasta pronto—