Julia R. Berkley

6/12/09

In All Her Glory

The first in a new series of small tree fabric collages, In All Her Glory was a commission for a friend. Each of the leaves actually raises up at the end. I hope to make many more of these, each unique to itself yet similar to this one. They are expected to be priced at the gallery price of about $95, a more affordable option for the tighter economy. I look forward to adding more in the near future! (Please forgive amateur photo of framed piece -- it's just to show the frame's effect).

Cotton fabric on heavy illustration paper. (5" square in 8" double matted square frame) (2009) Private collection.

2/1/09

WINDOW ON THE WORLD II (Kent St. Project)

Artist's Statement:

For the lucky among us, home is the safe and comfortable place we look out from when we're not out with the rest of the world. Traveling away from home, especially for medical reasons, we too often see nothing but interiors. These pieces are windows out to a peaceful world you may know or wish to imagine. They offer the shelter of a tree along with the tranquil presence of water and sky, and a good dose of color for spiritual renewal.

Mostly cotton fabric with polymer medium on birch board. (18" sq.) (2009) Collection of Boston Children's Hospital

WINDOW ON THE WORLD I (Kent St. Project)

Mostly cotton fabric with polymer medium on birch board. (18" sq.) (2009) Collection of Boston Children's Hospital

12/12/08

Small Works: Glimpse

All cotton fabric on canvas board. (12" x 14") (2008) $250

12/11/08

Small Works: Eventide

All cotton fabric on canvas board. (12" x 14") (2008) $250

12/10/08

Small Works: Against the Tide

Mostly cotton fabric with bead embellishment on canvas board. (12" x 14") (2008) $250

11/23/08

Small Works #3: Wet Pane

Mostly cotton fabric with bead embellishment on canvas board (13.5"h x 15.5"w) (2008) $300

8/23/08

Wetlands Daybreak II (med. image on double-click)

Mostly cotton fabric with bead, yarn and ribbon embellishment on canvas board (25"h x 31"w) (2008) $950

Wetlands Daybreak II (large image on double-click)

Mostly cotton fabric with bead, yarn and ribbon embellishment on canvas board (25"h x 31"w) (2008) $950

5/4/08

Wetlands Daybreak I (med. image on double-click)

Mostly cotton fabric with bead, yarn and ribbon embellishment on canvas board (25"h x 31"w) (2008) $950

Wetlands Daybreak I (large image on double-click)

Mostly cotton fabric with bead, yarn and ribbon embellishment on canvas board (25"h x 31"w) (2008) $950

Poppies Will Make You Sleep...

Cotton and synthetic fabrics with bead embellishment on canvas board (23"h x 27"w) (2008) $550

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WHAT'S NEW

Been busy with commissions....

I haven't posted for a while, but that doesn't mean I wasn't creating new collages! Many of the commissions I receive are gifts for people, so I like to wait to post their pictures until they've been received by their intended giftees. Hence there's sometimes a delay between their creation and my posting.

The fabric collage to the left, In All Her Glory, will hopefully be the first of many similar pieces in a line to be sold on-line and through local galleries. I've just finished up 2 other commissioned collages of a different nature, and I hope to focus on trees in the coming weeks, after a brief summer vacation.

In the mean time, I'd like to remind people that most of the art shown on this website can be purchased directly from me, and several of my larger collages can still be purchased at Handworks Gallery of American Crafts in Acton, MA. Stop by Handworks if you can -- it's great to support local businesses that support local artistans, and I promise you won't be disappointed with the beautiful array of art and fine craft.

I'm grateful I can share my art with you right here in cyberspace. Thanks for visiting.

Best -- Julia

Artist's Statement

I create fabric collages out of my love of color, texture, and the rich possibilities fabric brings to design. In celebration of the beauty around us, I choose forms that refer to nature, and play with their shapes and colors until something new emerges. People don’t generally expect to find textiles framed in glass -- and while these works are untouchable, I enjoy how they highlight the painterly quality of fabric.

Fabric collage allows surface decoration to inspire vision, and texture to define details. I hope to make art that brings a rush of familiarity and pleasure at the same time it evokes something unexpected and unique in the viewer’s mind.

Methodology

My collages begin either as a broad idea of a theme or as a piece of fabric that triggers an image. Using canvas board as a support, each piece is built up in layers of raw materials, with shapes created, replaced, and rearranged and embellishments chosen. The whole process is intuitive, evolutionary, and flexible until the sense of balance and form is complete.

Once the layout is finished, the work is photographed from assorted perspectives and disassembled. Psychologically, this is the hardest part! With photos used as a positioning guideline, I then carefully reassemble it using archival acrylic adhesive. Something is always changed from the original design, and it’s fun to see what it will be.

A Word about Framing

All measurements given are the framed size, and all prices given are for framed art. However, all collages are available without frames at a lower price. Please contact the artist if you would like more information about a specific piece.

A lot of care and expense has gone into finding the right frames for each of the pieces shown here. Because the fabrics are untreated, framing immediately has been one avenue toward the goal of preserving the collages for a long, long time. (Using archival canvasboard and adhesives is another, as is the use of UV glass).

The collages themselves are wonderfully enhanced by their frames. Some are wood, some metal. Almost all are deep frames that allow room for the 3-dimensional parts of the collages. I hope you'll get to one of my exhibits to see these works in person. It's a very different experience from the Web!

EXHIBITIONS

2009

"Home is Where the Art Is" exhibit of art for the new Yawkey Family Inn of Children's Hospital Boston -- February - June, 2009.

Post Road Art Center Open Show 2009 independently juried exhibition of local artists -- March, 2009.

2008

The Fiber Arts Show at Handworks Gallery of American Crafts in Acton, MA -- October - November, 2008.

"Abstract Works in Fabric on Canvas" solo exhibition at 51 Walden Performing Arts Center in Concord, MA -- September - October, 2008.

"Intimate Spaces/Selected Works" juried show at the Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA, through the Central Massachusetts Women's Caucus for the Arts -- June - September, 2008.

Concord Art Walk, Concord, MA -- June, 2008

"The View From Here: New and Favorite Works in Fabric on Canvas" solo exhibit at the Maynard Public Library, Maynard, MA -- April - June, 2008

Members Juried II: Photography, Drawing, Crafts and Graphics. At the Concord Art Association, Concord, MA. "Lily Pond" -- February, 2008

2007
“Through the Gate: Dreamscapes of Nature” solo exhibition, Sargent Memorial Library, Boxborough, MA, September – November, 2007

Carob Tree Café and Art Exhibit, Congregation Beth El of the Sudbury Valley, Sudbury, MA - June, 2007

Earth Month Exhibition, Emerson Umbrella, Concord, MA - April, 2007