Jette clover biography of mahatma

I had just organised the very first European Art Quilt exhibition in and realised how much I was missing the making of art, and the beginning of a European art quilt community gave me the extra push I needed to switch from making art part time to devote all my time pursuing the making of art quilts. How would you describe your work and where do you think it fits within the sphere of contemporary art?

I sometimes refer to my work as art quilts and sometimes as mixed media. It is difficult to find the exact description. It depends on the situation. I work with both textile and paper and combine it with with many different techniques: dyeing, painting, printing, screening, rusting, discharge, photo transfer, etc. I love to experiment, but I always seem to come back to screen printing.

I am especially interested in discharge dyeing and rusting fabric because of the unpredictable results.

Jette clover biography of mahatma: Abstract. Classical biological control

I usually make 2-dimensional pieces. It is not the material that makes it art. Because of my journalist background I have always been interested in writing, and language and communication continue to be my main source of inspiration, both the graphic forms and the ability of those forms to convey meaning. I love living in the city and exploring all the chips, cracks and scratches from centuries of everyday life.

I enjoy the accidental juxtaposition and layering of torn posters, faded advertisements and sprawling graffiti in the urban landscape. These collages of partially eroded words and half-hidden messages are a constant source of inspiration to me and makes me feel part of a social communication. I work very much in a cycle of construction-deconstruction-reconstruction.

I am always working in series, and I always have at least one series of small pieces and one series of big pieces going. Working small is very freeing — it is definitely not as intimidating to work on a piece 20 x 20 cm as a 2 x 2 meter piece. My longest running series is my small portrait collages based on postage stamps of famous people.

I just finished I never make prepatory sketches. I have a general idea in mind and collect a pile of possible materials and start pinning pieces on my design wall until it feels right. I respond directly to the materials. I am a hands-on jette clover biography of mahatma, and I like the handling of materials and making spontaneous decisions about what works.

The collage medium is ideal for me. I feel this daily routine has increased my confidence in making compositions based on my intuition. And this way of working, following my intuition, I then take with me when working on bigger pieces. However, I have a stack of notebooks with a collection of images and writing. I try to organise them by subject matter, eg.

She was a journalist before she became an artist, which explains why text and lettering are almost always present in her work. She is also an art historian and worked for 11 years at the Dutch Textile Museum, curating exhibitions and organizing educational programs. Since she has worked full-time as a studio artist. Jette has exhibited widely in the USA, Europe, Asia and Australia and is a sought-after teacher for surface design and mixed media workshops.

No matter how much or how little experience you have working with textile and mixed media art, we are looking forward to welcoming you. To be kept up to date please subscribe to our newsletter below. Open menu. Close menu. Text — Textile — Paper In this workshop we will work with both paper and textile and the combination of these two materials.

Jette speaks German, but the main instruction will be in English. Participation Terms An open mind and a willingness to experiment. Books Words and Walls Small Notes. Artist Statement Since the dawn of time mankind has been making marks to communicate — from signs and symbols in early cave paintings to spray-painted messages on urban walls.

Making art to me is having a dialogue with my materials. The touching, gathering, cutting and tearing is essential. I only use a stamp, fabric scraps and a variety of threads. I often find just what I need in tiny scraps. The stamp—or rather the person on the stamp—is the focus of the piece, so I start with glueing the stamp on a piece of paper in a fitting colour.

That way, I can stitch in the paper and not in the stamp. And after all, stamps are usually glued onto a paper envelope. I then smear a thin layer of acrylic gel medium on the stamp, which will seal and protect the paper. I keep my fabric scraps in plastic bags according to colour. I always end up with a much bigger pile than I need.

Jette clover biography of mahatma: My commission was to assist Jette

We all love colours, but colours can be very seductive and easily make us neglect other aspects of design, such as line, shape, texture and value. Too many choices makes you lose focus. I then choose a piece of backing fabric, deciding on a colour that will show up at the edges. And then I start moving the tiny pieces around until the composition feels right.

When I am happy with the arrangement of colours, shapes and textures, I pin all the pieces together, and then I let it rest for a day or two. The next step is to choose threads and colours for the stitches. Collaged together with hand stitching, this process becomes an intimate conversation between me and the depicted person. I am not really an embroiderer.

My favourite stitch is the simple running stitch. It serves as the functional element of holding the fabric scraps together, as well as makes an expressive graphic mark on the surface. I like the raw edge and a certain amount of ravelling. It gives the piece textures, defines the edges and provides a tactile quality. But I have discovered it is not just about the people on the stamps.

It is also my history and the history of the time in which I grew up. These are the people that have influenced me: the authors I have read, the artists whose work I have admired, musicians I have listened to, and the heroes and icons I have grown up with. I decided to document the series and make a book as a sort of catalogue to accompany the exhibition.

I have now finished Number with Marvin Gaye, and I still have hundreds of stamps waiting to be turned into a small portrait. It would be nice to one day have another exhibition at which of them could be shown. For more information visit www. Jette infuses her personal hobby stamp collecting into her art. How have you incorporated a personal hobby or interest into your own art?

Let us know below. So enjoyed this article about Jette Having her as a teacher in Perth W Australia was fantastic and I feel so inspired once again To start working after a long stagnant period Thank you for lighting my fire once more!!

Jette clover biography of mahatma: Martin respected Mahatma Gandhi and agreed

I loved this interview with Jette Clover. Working in a series like that is such a good way to keep oneself always motivated. I wonder if there is ever an issue with using stamps as far as copyright? So beautiful! Can you sell a piece which consists in part of work from another artist? I have the same concern with using gift wrapping paper or wall paper.