Off to Grandma's House Sewing Basket Collection


My grandmother Baxter taught me how to sew, by hand at the age of 7ish, by the time I was nine she had taught me how to sew using a sewing machine and my dad procured, from a local dump, my very first treadle sewing machine.  This collection is reminiscent of both my grandmothers, and my paternal great grandmother, all of whom stitched in various forms from quilting to embroidery, crochet and knitting, and all of them knew how to make clothing without a pattern.

Butterfly Collection


This collection is based upon an antique butterfly applique pattern that I found in our attic.  The pattern, and calico butterfly cutouts belonged to my husbands first wife's grandmother, the fabric butterflies are beautiful and someday I hope to either applique them to some fabric or have another quilter do the hand stitching for me.  Stay tuned as I work these butterflies into other colorways.

Dualing Diamonds Collections


Dualing Diamonds One


Dualing Diamonds Two

These will be available through my Spoonflower Shop later this evening. 

I learned how to make t his pattern this past spring when I was researching how to make sunflowers using Illustrator and happened upon a youtube tutorial on how to make Lotus Blossoms instead.  I have to admit the idea of using illustrator to create such a complicated looking object was a wee bit terrifying at first, but after two days of practicing I had my very first Lotus.

Angels Nest


It's one hot mess, yeah I know this, but don't even try to remove the "nest".  Oliver made this nest for Angel, yeah my 78 pound labradoodle really did this!  And if we remove it he only brings in more stuff for the old one to sleep on, which at this point is fine because I don't have to worry about her trying to get up or down from the sofa and hurting herself in the process.

There's a part of me that'd like to believe that Oliver feels guilty for having destroyed Angels princess bed and this is why he keeps making nests for her, but we all know that's not the case.


We're still hand feeding her, and she's become quite picky with some days not eating at all.  I've been blessed in that my neighbors help me out with her from time to time, like when I have to go places, and they have experience with an elderly dog whose time upon this earth is growing short. 

She's been with us nine years today, yes I got her on my birthday nine years ago she was a rescue, its hard to believe as the time has passed and quickly, her actual age is somewhere around 15/16 years.

About

Artist Statement
Kimberly Baxter Packwood's current body of work depicts the ancient prairie as it once existed, inhabited by native plants, animals and fauna, and the farms that dominate the modern horizon.
Kimberly uses natural materials and processes to demonstrate the progression of the native prairie from its ancient origins to the present through color, texture and form.  Through the use of Natural Dyes, Ocher's, Earth Pigments, and rust on cloth she is able to explore the tension between the natural and the unnatural (man-made).
Biography

Kimberly Baxter Packwood is a professional mixed-media artist that specializes in surface design using natural dyes, rust, and wax.
 
Kimberly’s work has been exhibited in museums and galleries in the US and abroad and has been published in various books and professional journals.  She is the Art Instructor for The Prairie Fibers Company, LLC., and teaches nationally and internationally (online).

Studio Tour

Virtual Studio Tour
Welcome to My Studio!!!
I am a mixed media fiber artist, I dye fabric, fibers, leather, bone, etc., with natural dyes, stain them with rust and earth pigments.  My inspiration comes from the natural and man made world around me!

Inspiration tray of natural and man made objects:  rocks, shells, bark, lichen encrusted branch, natural dyed handspun yarn, antique wood spoon, etc.


Basalt columns protruding from the sandstone cliffs of Ledges State Park, Boone, Iowa inspired my Sandstone and Canyonlands Series.


Sandstone Cliffs with modern petroglyphs (graffiti) Ledges State Park.


Striatioins in the sandstone at Ledges State Park.


Hoodoos No. 2 inspired by the basalt columns at Ledges State Park.
Cutch on silk fabric, machine stitched.


Cutch dyed cotton fabric (natural dyes) fabric paint, ink, and shiva paintstik hand prints, machine stitching.

 American Robin eggs.
Queen Anne's Lace with Crow
Painted timtex, digitally printed crow, machine stitching.  

Local grain bins and silos inspire my work and greatly.  Corn, beans, squash (pumpkins) these are the crops that tie us today to our ancestors that once walked upon this very same land.  Both our ancestors and us today need corn and other grains for our daily nourishment.


Corn No. 51
Natural dyed cotton and silk fabrics, digitally printed cotton fabric, machine stitched.


I also bead both fabric and brain tan from time to time, beading is part of my Mi'kmaq heritage, as is the porcupine quillwork I am currently learning to master.


I have been collecting beads, bones, weathered bits of wood, shells, rocks, etc., since I was very young all at the encouragement of my mom. All are neatly organized and tucked away in oodles of storage bins.


Lane stitching 11/0 seed beads on smoked brain tan.  For me it is very important to know and teach the old ways of our ancestors so that future generations can know and appreciate the beauty of our ancestors.


My studio is far from neat and tidy!  I work in a smoke free pet friendly enviroment!


Bjorkboda Marsh a source of great inspiration!


Bjorkboda - in progress
Indigo, rust, and tannin dyed cotton fabric and jute fibers.  Machine and hand stitched.


More beading taking place on my sewing table!


My drawing table. 


My studio is in a state of perpetual reorganization.  I am currently downsizing my studio so is a wee bit of a wreck right now!!!  I live in an older home and since it is just the two of us we decided that I could use the living and dining rooms as my studio.  I also have a wet studio in the basement where I dye and paint fabrics.


A view of my wet studio in the basement.


I am truly blessed to be able to use half of my house as studio space!  I started out with a very small work area, a filing cabinet, and a couple of buckets in a corner as my studio some 20 years ago now!  I am truly blessed indeed!!!

To see more of my artwork check out my website: http://www.kbaxterpackwood.com/
To purchase artwork check out my Shop: http://www.prairiefibers.bigcartel.com/

Contact me at prairiefibers@hotmail.com

Some parting shots of my studios spaces ~


Pepper keeping watch while I stitch away on a work in progress - Hoodoos No. 3


Finally a shot of my sewing table and machine.  I work on an old wooden table, nothing special, that I painted white.  On the table is Bjorkboda in progress, and various wool and silk threads I dyed with indigo and other natural dyes.


Another shot of my sewing table. 


Natural dyed silk and cotton fabrics.


Wet studio - fabric paint on cotton canvas.


We recently got a new dog, he's 95 pounds and 10 months old and he LOVES paint brushes and pencils, so John built this lovely unit to store everything away from Oliver! 

The Crew!!!


Thomas and Pepper discussing something.


Angel asleep next to my sewing table.


Oliver chosing a paintbrush to chew upon.


John - the love of my life, the man who makes it all possible for me to be a full time artist!

Still Life Number 1 for Fall 2014


First still life for the Fall season, actually I really can't wait for the colorful leaves and the pumpkins!


Buckeye sketch attempt no. 1 (three minute sketch).

If your thinking you can't draw, don't worry about it I can't draw either, lol, that said well I used to be able to draw but without practice the brain and muscles tend to forget.


So I will spend the next couple of days doing quick sketches and color studies of these buckeyes and the rest of the nommies in this mini still life.  I will spend time studying and drawing their curves, etc., another words I will get to know them.


I started with a quick sketch, and then photographed the different sides of this particular buckeye.


Another view, here you can see how the color and the pattern, yes there's a burl like pattern on this particular buckeye, vary.


The spot that on the shell that makes a buckeye recognizable as a buckeye.


An attempt at a bird from September 3rd.  Right now I feel like a bird brain after yesterdays severe allergic reaction, which landed me in the ER for a good three hours!  Tons of steroids later and today I feel the best I've felt in a long, long time.  So I'm following up with my regular doc, and then the allergist, later this week.

In other news, if my previous posts on this blog seem out of whack/sync it's because I'm combining my other blogs, all nine of them apparently (and I've already deleted several of them) into one blog only.  I'll also be going back and deleting some older posts that are no longer relevant.  I'm honing my focus, with some great things to come from my studio!


Bjorkboda Marsh, Hamilton County, Iowa.