Cady Fontana's Art

Spring Semester Beginnings

2012-02-12T20:10:00.000-05:00

Check out my most recent pieces - exploring my past and my future with embroidered interiors and landscapes. excuse the camera-phone quality pics, but you get the idea!!

xoxo Cady

Review 2011

2011-12-17T11:38:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! So I just completed all my work for the semester! My review is over (thank goodness), my paper is written and turned in, and all the children are tucked tight in their beds. I didn't get a super awesome review, but I'm pretty satisfied with my work this semester, and think that the exploration I did in media will help me greatly next (my final) semester.

This one is titled "I'm the fat one."

this one fell about 10 min before my review, and smashed into pieces. these are the pieces arranged to try and look like the original. still kinda works actually.

This donkey was a born a majestic horse, but due to unforeseen squatness became a donkey.

now a well deserved break! xoxo Cady

Ceramic Birds

2011-11-16T19:50:00.001-05:00

I am obsessed with making ceramic birds. It all started with this guy, for a project based on dreams (This is Buddy, who disturbs my dreaming.)

He was trouble in this form too, let me tell you! First, I painted him with underglaze, then used high fire. yellow salt and "clear" (which was actually nasty gray.) This sucked. I then tried doing a coat of light green lowfire. This came out matte and U-G-L-Y. Then I fired him a fourth (!) time, during which I painted on more lowfire green, with a layer of lowfire clear, and then popped him in the raku kiln. And FINALLY he came out good! Darn it, Buddy!!

Then I made his mini brethren

and then I made my personal totem, a sparrow!

Many more birds are in the kiln at the moment, I'll post them soon. caw caw Cady

Texere - Fibers Dept Show 2011

2011-11-08T21:59:00.002-05:00

Tonight was the opening of "Texere" - The Fibers Dept show at MassArt, in the Student Life Gallery. We had a really nice opening - lots and lots of good food, and lots of good people and art. Here are a few shots of the four pieces I had in the show!

I got some really nice responses to my work, which is great because it's mostly totally recent... Inspired me to keep making work in this vein, which is really great. The show is up until Sunday is anyone is in the Boston area! xoxo Cady

THIS

2011-11-07T13:55:00.002-05:00

Fresh off the table - the newest addition to the club...

I think this is gonna push me out of my rut - gotta get making! BACK TO WORK! Hope Fall is going well for you all out there! xoxo Cady

Amanda Pants goes to the Pond

2011-10-09T15:07:00.003-04:00

I've been working on a story about a girl named Amanda Pants, and her trip to a pond with her mom. I wanted to show you guys a few illustrations I've embroidered that go with the story! Hope you like them!

Summer Lovin'

2011-07-25T13:44:00.004-04:00

I'm havin' a blast this summer, and have been neglecting the blog!
While I haven't been making much physical art, I've been spending lots of time playing music (old-time, contra dance) and working at my internship with my local public library, telling children stories and working in youth services!

I've been keeping my eyes open for beautiful things in the every day - here's one I saw yesterday at the farm where I camped this weekend - pretty and delicious!!

That's an heirloom tomato, look at all the colors! It was in a neat greenhouse at Stick and Stone Farm in Trumansburg NY. I went up there for the Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance, and had a lovely time filled with great vibes and sounds.

I go back to college August 19th - so watch out for arty stuff after that!!

xoxo
Cady

Colored!

2011-04-22T11:16:00.002-04:00

Check this out, I scanned in the images from the last post, and fiddled around in Illustrator and Photoshop until I figured out how to color without wiping out the lines! Pretty proud of my ability to figure it out, but I still need to take Photoshop classes. One day!

Criminal.

2011-04-19T14:13:00.002-04:00

Sketching at work, drawing ladies from 20s images of Australian Criminals.

Tough Guys

2011-04-14T21:54:00.003-04:00

I drew these boys, based off of cartoons I drew last year which were based off of photos from my mom's elementary school yearbook from Kentucky.

I'm leaving the edges scrappy, cos I think that's their attitude - too busy getting into fights to worry about a little unravelling!

Frenemies

2011-03-28T12:54:00.004-04:00

I was in a bit of a rut, so I made this little monster in studio the other day, and then I was looking at it, and thought - Ah HA! - a way to combine my girls into a 3D piece! This is about frenemies - you know, those kinds of friends that just kinda want to eat your brains, but you're attached to them, and they're part of you, good or bad.

I might do more of this kind of stuff, stay tuned!

And if you haven't discovered it yet, I have a NEW WEBSITE! So nice and sparkly! www.cadyfontana.com !! That's right boys and girls, I bought my name! So don't go naming your kids Cady Fontana, because they will not be able to buy their webspace, and that will just be sad!

This year is going so quickly, and I'm busy in the studio learning new weaving techniques and sewing little ladies for my portfolio. I hope all is well with you, cyberspace inhabiters!

Little Digital Portraits

2011-03-19T22:07:00.005-04:00

Waiting for my flight to Dublin, I drew this little picture of myself on my iPad - I bought a stylus pen, which makes it a lot easier to do detail!

And this one I did tonight after a good violin practice sesh :) I'm teaching myself to play fiddle, and it's rockin' good fun.

Love Cady

Valentines Bunnies!

2011-02-12T19:34:00.008-05:00

I drew some bunnies as Valentines on my iPad... bunnies bunnies bunnies birds! And tonight? Valentine's themed scary-movie-athon...and pink strawberry cupcakes :)

Also - good news! I had three pieces accepted into the Northeast Regional Juried Contemporary Art Exhibition (oof, that's a mouthful!) in Rochester NY, at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center. I'm psyched! It's up in May and April, if you're in the area.

Valentine's Day is coming!

2011-02-07T22:54:00.005-05:00

I always like Valentine's Day. I usually enjoy the lead up to it a bit more than the day itself, but I have a hard time not being cheery when there are so many adorable things around. I love Love! And I love celebrating love with friends and family :) So here is something I've been obsessed with lately - crocheting these little cutie hearts!

I've made over 60 by now, and have made a bunch of garlands for the upcoming Fibers sale.

I made 12 for my momma to hang in our newly-renovated bathroom.

But there is something I like about all these little loose guys as well!

Rag Rugs!

2011-02-06T22:28:00.002-05:00

Hey Everyone! So I *finally* uploaded my pictures from my end of semester critique in weaaavvvinnnnggg and I thought you might like to see my rag rugs!

This was my final project for my beginning weaving class, and I really enjoyed the process. I spent about 8 hours or so cutting the fabric into strips while listening to "This American Life" ... The rugs are entirely made of old clothing and bed clothes from the Dollar-A-Pound at The Garment District here in Boston. I think overall to make all three cost me around $30 - Not too shabby!

I used a tapestry inspired technique to lay the colors into designs - I think there's a lot of potential in this kind of rug making. It's kind of like the quicker, bigger way to make interesting tapestries! Which is super if you like to see results fast, like I do :)

Anyways, I'll check in again soon, so sorry for the hiatus!

xoxo Cady

iPad Drawing

2011-01-08T17:23:00.003-05:00

So I got an iPad for Christmas, and I've been messing around seeing what kind of digital drawing capabilities it has. I'm pretty excited! I got an app called "ArtRage" and tried using the watercolor and felt tip pen effects to draw my friend, Vanessa. It's not 100% perfect, but it's not bad for drawing with my finger! I think I'll try buying a stylus pen for the iPad to see how that goes. Here, look!

Howdy

2010-12-31T13:35:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year, Pard'ners!

Little Animal

2010-12-03T10:11:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I feel like a little animal.
Self-portrait embroideries.

Self-Portrait

2010-12-02T14:36:00.003-05:00

Self-Portrait Embroidery: Feeling Crazy.

We all have those days, and I was embroidering, so it got loopy.

Red and Green Purse!

2010-11-19T12:43:00.004-05:00

So I went ahead and wove off the ends of another sample into a perfectly purse sized piece of fabric! This sample was a check, but I decided to weave up the ends in a basic twill with some splashes of bright red. It's a tiny bit Christmas-y, but that's ok this time of year, and the green is kinda Spring-y so I think it will be just fine.

Leather strap once again is cut out of an old leather coat!

Little Yellow Purse!

2010-11-06T10:53:00.003-04:00

Hey guys, look! I made this purse! I had a little room left on my warp from my sample (those are the super long strings on the loom that run parallel vertically) so I decided to weave a purse. I used tapestry wool, so that once I took it off the loom and put it through the wash, it would felt up a little bit and be a little more sturdy.
Then I folded up the piece I had woven like an envelope, stitched it together, and put a piece of cardboard in the bottom to make it strong.

The edges looked a little crappy, because I didn't have enough room to weave in my warp after I cut my sample apart, so I decided to use leather as a bias-tape. This leather came from an old suede jacket, which I have been chopping to bits since freshman year. All that's left now is a sleeve and the collar (:

Finally, I lined it with a heavy floral cotton from an old skirt, and sewed together a strap. And tada! A totally useable little purse from scratch!

Fibers Junior Midsemester Critique

2010-11-04T23:28:00.003-04:00

I had my first fibers studio-work critique this week. It went really well, and my classmates helped me figure out which way to head next with my projects.

Here are some pictures of my work... I did two things: on the left are pieces inspired by the church across the street's steeple, and on the right are embroideries that are sort of like self portraits, which is what I plan to continue with as the semester continues.

Booties!

2010-11-04T07:33:00.004-04:00

While I was at Haystack (read: best place in the world) I spent a rainy day indoors with my professor, Janet Kawada, learning to felt boots! The fleece wasn't merino, so it took some muscle, but after about 5 hours of rolling and unrolling them in bamboo mats, they came out tight and fit great! I embroidered some scenes from Haystack (the woods, the sea) on the extra long tongues I made, and added leather soles to keep the bottoms from getting ratty. I hope you like them!

thanks to Amy for photographing them at the Haystack Show in the Student Life Gallery at MassArt!

Face in a Hole

2010-10-20T09:38:00.002-04:00

Hey world!
I thought today I would bring you a not art taste of my life, through the recent face-ina-holes I've come across! Enjoy!

Weaving!!

2010-09-24T10:56:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was my 3rd weaving class, and we finally had the looms set up and ready to go! We learned a bunch of patterns, and I was totally pumped. It reinforced several things I knew about myself:
1. I have a really hard time limiting my color palette (but really, why limit when there are so many colors out there?!)
2. I like repetitive counting/ movements (I miss math class, weird right?)
3. When I don't understand something right away, a little panic takes over, but then I do some problem solving and everything is fine.

I really think that weaving is going to be important in my life. I keep thinking up all sorts of interesting things I could do, once I have control of the medium.
My Grandmother recently gifted to me a 4 harness floor loom, and I am so thrilled to have the tools to continue once this class ends! Thanks Gramma!

Here, look at all these rainbow samples!!

WOOHOO