Hats on Exhibit--Spruill Art Center

I was recently asked by the Spruill Art Center, in Atlanta, Georgia, to exhibit in their art show celebrating their 35th anniversary. This exhibit will hang during the month of July in their Gallery, and the artwork will be for sale--both through the gallery and their website.

Below you will see the two hats I entered. These hats have been given names since the gallery wanted the title of each artist's work. I hate "Untitled" so I named them based on the elements they embue.

This hat is free-form shaped from natural sinamay--a straw that is manufactured in yardage/meters. I love the way it can be manipulated into beautful folds and swirls, creating very abstract shapes. It can also be blocked over hatblocks, but in this case I've simply hand-shaped the hat. There are no embellishments on this hat, except for a piece of frayed black sinamay added for contrast. The hat itself is embellishment enough, don't you think? This hat is entitled, "Roller Coaster."

I've really been interested in creating sewn braid hats recently. Probably because I've taught the skills in the last two classes--in Atlanta and San Antonio. The hat above is a combination of sewn braid circles, about 7 as I remember, tacked together just as they touch each other. I knew I wanted to use this particular peacock feather because it had some lovely shades of lavendar in it. That was the starting point for using the lavendar coqs and veiling. This hat is entitled, "Got My Eye On You."

Happy 35th anniversary, Spruill Art Center!