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Natasha Lehrer Lewis

Fiber artist and educator
  • about
  • artist-in-residence projects
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Hidden Treasures

Natasha Lewis November 14, 2017

Hidden Treasures

Women's Journeys in Fiber 2017

Theme: Boxes

 

What hidden treasures will Peter find today in Mr. McGregor’s garden? Carrots of course! He’s been sniffing around for a treasure since he slipped under the gate and into the carefully tended rows of Mr. McGregor’s vegetable box.

Beatrix Potter’s imagination birthed a classic we know and love, but did you know what a strong and passionate woman she was as an individual? She took earnings from her book and purchased a farm. Her work in cultivating the preservation of the Herdwick sheep led to her purchasing lands surround her farm and creating open space for future generations. Not only did she capture the magic of her surroundings, but she helped us to fall in love with it and the creations of her dreams. She left her mark in the world in the form of something beautiful and lasting.

Her life and story is such inspiration, and she will forever be a role model for ingenuity, artistry, and truly, a hidden treasure. 

Author’s note: I’d like to thank the dozens of bunnies and the countless vegetables on our farm, Big Rock Organics, that provided inspiration and models for this project. Throughout the season, it planted the seeds for the fruit of this projects as I tended and picked our lovely produce for markets and CSA boxes. 

 

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You will find this exhibit at the Fine Art of Fiber Nov. 3-5th at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, Anderson Arts Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin Janurary-March and the Chicago Flower and Garden Show at Navy Pier in March. Check out the website to learn more about the group and their goals at www.womensjourneysinfiber.com

 

In inspiration Tags gardens, Chicago Botanic Gardens, Chicago Flower and Garden Show, Anderson Arts Center, WJIF, Women's Journey in Fiber, wool, silk, art, fiber art
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A New Year, a New Nest: Part One of Three

Natasha Lewis January 12, 2017

Home Is Where Your Heart Sings

A self portrait of a little artist bird in her artist studio, this has many reflections of my life in it. We all have that place where our heart sings. Our home can be the place where love flourishes and creativity grows. Many of us have home studios. The chaos of life collides with the clutter of our surroundings and in the midst of it all, we still strive to create.

In my dreams, I would have a little studio like this. Rooms where art can be born. Rooms that are sunny and cheery and look out on the beautiful countryside. Rooms that house a vast expanse of materials ready for my beckoning, right at my fingertips. Rooms that provide a quiet escape of solitude and sanctuary. Rooms that allow our minds to fly into the vast realm of the imagination and bring those dreams to fruition. Rooms that recognize no limits.

I will still hold on to the hope of carving this out, in the midst of my surroundings. It might not be perfect, it might not look like my visions, but I will persist still. The Creator has put this desire into our hearts, to be creative like He is. I will find my drive and passion in the places I create. Even if this place is “just home”. Home is where my heart sings….. and the place where my dreams come to life.


This is the artist statement from the 2016 Women's Journeys in Fiber Birds piece that I created. I was ecstatic about the theme when we met in January a year ago. Right away I had an idea. With all the great brainstorming about birds, birdhouses, boxes, pets, animals and treasures that floated about that day, I offered this suggestion. Why not call it birds of our imagination and the places they dwell? It encompasses habitat and home, creatures both mythical and realistic, and as many trinkets as our hearts desired. Everyone was thrilled and so began our journey.

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The group is about twenty-four women from the greater Chicago-land who love fiber arts and the creative process of working together. We have about six months to create, then our collection goes on out tour. This year, it debuted at the Chicago Botanic Garden's Fine Art of Fiber in November, it is heading off to the Anderson Arts Center in Kenosha, WI January 29th -March 3rd 2017, taking flight to Chevy Chase, MD March 1-12th and then back here for the Chicago Flower and Garden Show March 18-26th. These birds are traveling some distance!

It's so inspiring to see the works of art in person and read the stories on each one. Some make you reflect, some make you laugh, some make you wistful, and all make you think. I'm honored to be a part of this group. 

My idea consisted on a self portrait of myself in my art studio. We all want that space where we can create. So  I created it in the form of minatures! I had a quite the time looking for just the right pieces to fit to scale for my rooms, and when I couldn't find what I was looking for, I just made it! I spun tiny skeins of yarn, and folded tiny bundles of my own dyed and felted fabrics. I tried to make as much true to life as possible, like the discarded threads and fabric bits on the floor while you create, or the vegetables that pile up on my kitchen table after a long day of picking in the gardens. But other things are purely imagined, like having my very own room for sewing and a whole another room for preparation. Then somethings are meaningful, like the star and moon mobile,  made in memory of Gale, a member who passed away last year. It came together and was quite fun and playful. 

This time of the year I get the urge to nest... January gives me time to breathe, organize, create and rest. We all need a pretty place to create. A place where we can feel at peace, where we can let our thoughts fly. It's such a great feeling when we are able to get to that point and savor it. 

So good luck to our nests! Whether we are reorganizing, or creating it from scratch, cheers to carving out your special place. May your January be productive! 

In inspiration Tags Women's Journey in Fiber, Birds, Nest, New Year, reorganizing, fiber art studio, needle felting, wet felting, minatures, creative
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The Umbrella

Natasha Lewis March 22, 2016

This is my 2015 project for the Women's Journeys in Fiber, and our exhibit just finished up at the Chicago Flower and Garden Show, where this photo was taken. What a fitting theme umbrellas were for 2015, with all the rain we had! Here is my story behind it, and a palette of inspiration.... 

What is Your Umbrella?

Natasha Lewis

Wet is my adjective for the summer of 2015. This season we have encountered a lot of rain! Small drops, big drops, it is all the same. Morning sprinkles or midnight thunderstorms, we have seen all that this wet precipitation has to offer.  Squalls that come out of nowhere or storms that build on the horizon that we watch rolling in, they pour down the rain never the less.

 Interrupting our progress, interrupting our plans; it comes and we can do nothing about it. As the wet drops come plummeting down from heaven, one tiny bead at a time, they nourish the parched. But too much, too quickly and it causes difficulties; makes simple things challenging and shapes our world with its force and power.

 What can we do but run for cover in a rainstorm? When we have not a shield, we become drenched and are left gasping for breath as we feel the rain soak us through and through. Yet under protection, we can be sheltered from what goes on around us. The rain can pour and yet our shelter, though small, can provide a sanctuary from the storm as it passes.

 How many times have we stood beneath an umbrella hearing the plunking of rain drops, watching them roll down and drip off its’ edge? In that moment, we feel uttermost gratitude for that refuge, the only thing that stands between our own comfort and the world’s harshness.  

The rain in our lives can come at any time- it can soak us, chill us, flood us out, unless we have our shelter.  What is that shelter for us? Does it look radiant, filled with a wellspring of joy, hope and faith? Or is it a community that embraces and upholds us until the rain passes? Do talents deep within us blossom and flourish with the rain and build for us a refuge we run to? We can find so many places to seek quiet while the storm rolls on.  We don’t have to stay alone in the rain, getting drenched. 

 Today, whether you are experiencing sunshine or in the middle of severe storms, we know rain is to come. When you start to feel those first few drops fall, what is the umbrella you want to be holding? 

In inspiration Tags Women's Journey in Fiber, Wool, silk, nuno felting, art, fiber art
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Sophie's Mask

Natasha Lewis March 7, 2016

My mask was created from hand dyed silks, as well as lace, cheesecloth, muslin, tatted lace, and all kinds of fabrics, along with beading. Here is the artist statement.

Sophie’s Mask

      Natasha Lehrer Lewis

From a young age and all through to the end of our lives, we wear a mask of a certain sort. When we are children, we learn that sometimes being something different than who we really are can earn us friends, acceptance and a sense of belonging. We start putting on our mask then. It’s a transparent mask at this point, a lot of our personality still shows through.

 However, as we grow older a few more layers are added. A few of life’s hurts and scars build upon our transparency and we discover that it is easier to show people the mask rather than our real feelings. People ask how we are and we answer with half- truths because it is just easier than revealing what is deep inside of us. People ask us for opinions and we answer with half-truths because it is the socially-correct way to interact. Our masks begin to become more layered with the importance of our appearance, status and accomplishments and the real us begins to grow dim.

As we reach the end of our lives, our masks are built up of so many experiences and memories. Each adds a layer to the mask and sometimes when we are by ourselves, we take off that mask and reminisce fondly, or perhaps bitterly, or quietly and reflectively. Those layers have made us, they write our story. Who are we really? What shines forth from our inner soul- our true spirit- over the years of life that we have passed through?

This mask tells that story. Inside, the colors were selected to represent light, faith, serenity, and passion. These emotions shape our thoughts, our perspective and our drive for life. These shades also reflect some of the harshness in our character that shape us as well, things like greed, jealousy, anger and indifference that can affect every aspect of our interactions. It is hidden on the inside. If one puts on this mask, this is not what people around them will see. But we know it is there. We can reveal it if we so choose.

On the outside we do see that inner soul shining out, beaming like a ray of light. Where else could it shine forth but in the eyes? We see in one eye that it is stronger, more brilliant. The other eye is clouded by the mask. The layers are more transparent around the eyes as our light melts away the mask’s layers. Wrinkles and creases form in the fabric around the eyes and forehead, years of worry writing their story upon our mask. There are tear stains on the cheeks from hurts that we feel, symbolized by cheesecloth. The lace represents an outward grace that we put on, it is knowing how to look and feel so we can appear full of poise and dignity. Even the mouth is covered in light layers of lace and silk, as we realize how essential it is to let our words mask our inner light.

As you work towards the edge of the mask, the fabrics become heavier and more layered. They are bits of memory fabrics, each one signifying a layer of life. These small bits are added with time, experiences,  and lessons that shape who we are.  Their varying textures and shades of white add dimension and interest to the mask. Each moment, day and year that goes by in our lives, we add pieces to this mask, in essence, it is never finished but an evolving piece of who we are.

Let us not focus on the mask, but instead on the light that is melting through our layers. Beads highlight and draw your attention back to the inner soul that is permeating the layers we’ve built. Gleaming, shimmering and reflective beads, they are like sunbeams dancing, raindrops lingering, and glory radiating.

Like the way that heaven meant for a bit of the Creator to shine forth in creation, let us turn our sights to allowing the inner soul to shine forth. Life may suggest otherwise, but we cannot accomplish anything more successful, attain anything more glorious, or offer anything more inspirational than this: being who we were created to be to the world around us. 

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In inspiration Tags inspiration, Women's Journey in Fiber, silk, dyeing
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The Mask Project

Natasha Lewis February 29, 2016

For nearly three years, I have been a member of a group of a very creative ladies called "Women's Journeys in Fiber" . Started by Jan Gerber in 1998, it has met for the purpose of challenging it's members to explore a subject and create a specific piece in fiber from that process. Over the years, they have had the themes Mantles, Circle, Botanicals, Purses, Robes, Hats, Aprons, Footwear, Shifts, Masks and Umbrellas. 

I like to describe it this way: we take a iconic women's item and art-ify it. We construct these entirely from the ground up. There are meetings held routinely, and we are given a year to each theme; usually about six months to create and six months to exhibit. 

Our pieces are exhibited at three locations; the Chicago Botanic Garden in November, the Anderson Arts Center in Kenosha, WI in January and the Chicago Flower and Garden Show in March. Along with the piece, we also submit an artist statement for the piece. This allows you to see more in depth to the heart of the artist and is a crucial aspect to the viewer. 

It's a wonderful way to submerse yourself in creativity while working as a group with our different backgrounds, beliefs, ideas and inspiration. A challenge, but a joy and always a stretch of one's artistic intellect. 

In inspiration Tags Women's Journey in Fiber, wool, silk, mask, art, challenge, creative
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Inside the mind of the artist

A photographic journey of creativity at work, while in progress and what inspires the artistry of Natasha Lehrer Lewis 

Biography

Interweaving the worlds of art, education and agriculture together are the passion of Natasha Lehrer Lewis' life. As a shepherd, she strives to represent the beauty of creation in her work. She dyes, spins and felts the fibers, starting at the source while infusing depth and meaning to the pieces. Her portfolio includes installation pieces, wearables and sculpture. Her blend of vintage inspiration, romantic styling, strong color theory and uninhibited originality make her work and teaching a trademark for creativity in the fiber arts community. 

natashalehrerlewisart@gmail.com 

 (331) 643-9697