Timothy J Arand-McIlrath's "A Fiber Artist's Journey, 50 Years of Making Fiber Art" at Arts on Grand!

All Artwork illustrated ©Timothy J Arand-McIlrath

"A Fiber Artist's Journey, 50 Years of Making Fiber Art" . 2016 Artisans Road Trip Artist Timothy J Arand-McIlrath's exhibition featuring artwork from his longtime love affair with fiber, will be at Arts on Grand in Spencer IA, Dec 28, 2016 through Jan 28, 2017. Everyone is invited to an opening reception on January 5^th  from 5:30pm to 7:00pm.  Tim will give an artist talk about the different phases and approaches he has explored.

Tim is planning to relocate to Tucson, Arizona, so it is a bittersweet time for the art community.  He has been a longtime member of the Artisans Road Trip and has been involved in activities Pearson Lakes Art Center, and he has exhibited at Arts on Grand in the past.  The show affords a great opportunity for people to purchase a piece of Tim's work, a tangible memory of his time in NW Iowa.

"Throughout my 50 years as a professional artist I have produced and exhibited my artwork in national/international juried, regional, state and local exhibitions. I have had an incredible "love affair" with fiber and fabric and see myself keeping on creating new artwork as long as possible."

Tim Arand-McIlrath - "A Fiberartist Journey- 50+Years of Making Fiberart"

Tim Arand-McIlrath has an exhibit of his work currently on view at the Clear Lake Arts Center, Clear Lake IA. The exhibit "A Fiberartist Journey- 50+Years of Making Fiberart" will be on view through Oct.3, 2017. 

Fiberart has been my artistic expression for most of my life. Color, texture and the "feel" of fabric have always been important to me. In an undergraduate printmaking course, I was first exposed to the idea for printing on fabric. My graduate study led to exposure to many possibilities for making fiberart. My skills as a print and dye artist developed, as well as being exposed to the creative uses of crochet. 

My journey as a fiberartist has had four sections.  I began my creative exploration using photographic images and repeat pattern to screen print textiles. My artistic output included primarily yardages, hangings and quilts. 

The need for more dimensional work led me to feltmaking. My use of feltmaking included felting wool fiber unto wool fabric, producing highly textured surfaces because of the shrinkage. The concept of layering and exposing under layers was a major part of my journey with felt. 

Initially, my interest in building three dimensional forms came from the need to learn basketmaking for my teaching. I began building forms, then began inhabiting the forms with crocheted webs and eventually incorporating found objects. 

Upon retirement I took a break from art making but eventually my artistic nature led me to begin again, starting with painting but quickly led to using crochet to embellish the painted surface. Eventually I began revisiting my screen printed fabric and adding crocheted surfaces to create new artistic exressions. I found myself being really attracted to the many different approaches that are used to create fabric for clothing. This led me to recycling fabric from garments as backgrounds and creating new environments using crocheted yarn over the fabric backgrounds. 

I have had an incredible "love affair" with fiber and fabric and see myself keeping on creating new artwork as long as possible.

2016 A.R.T. Artist Timothy J. Arand-McIlrath's Mixed Media Fiber Art Featured in Sioux Center, IA

 "Unsquared" - pieced fabric, chrocheted yarn -  copyright Timothy J Arand-McIlrath

 

Timothy J Arand-McIlrath's Mixed Media fiber art will be featured in the Garden Cafe at Sioux Center Health, Sioux Center Iowa for the months of April, May, and June.

 

"Entwined I & II" - acrylic paint, crocheted yarn - copyright Timothy J Arand-McIlrath

 

In the two dimensional pieces, the backgrounds are painted with acrylic paint, surface designed fabrics, and recently recycled fabrics from garments, sometimes embellished with found objects. The foregrounds have crocheted webs introduced onto the compositions.  Color, texture, repetition, and pattern have always been strong elements in the work. The compositions are based on my observations of the world around us.

(Gallery installation) - copyright Timothy J Arand-McIlrath

Folk art has long been an area of interest for me, as a source of inspiration. I have researched and collected folk art in all my travels.I have spent extended visits to Mexico and in particular to the Oaxaca area. The color, texture and freedom of expression have  always fascinated me.

I have been "accused" of having too much fun creating my art. Not possible in my world. Having fun is one of the prime motivators in my work. I love having viewers smile. I smile a lot while I am working on my art.