Location: United States
Textile artist Jean M. Judd of Cushing, Wisconsin has been constructing textile artworks for over twenty-nine years incorporating dense hand stitching which gives visual and physical texture to her work. She was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1963. She has lived by water her entire life: the Mississippi River in Lake City, Minnesota from 1965 to 1982; 1986-1991, the Sea of Japan from 1982 to 1986, and the St. Croix River from 1991 to the present where she has her private studio in Cushing, Wisconsin.
Her work includes pieced work using commercial fabrics as well as rust pigmentation and non-traditional dyeing techniques. More recent work has been using whole cloth construction using her hand dyed, Suminagashi, and painted fabrics and rust pigmentation along with her signature hand stitching.
Each piece is unique and starts with an idea from her subconscious and develops as she constructs the artwork. Decisions are made regarding materials, technique, size, and sculptural stitching as the piece develops. Nothing is preplanned so the initial idea may not be even close to what the finished artwork reveals.
The intent of her work is not to be a recognizable, representational image of a specific place, time, or object. The artist’s intent is to bring up feelings, emotions, and contemplation by each viewer of the work. She wants them to slow down, disconnect with the current world, and take time to look at and feel the artwork. What does the work say to the viewer; what connection do they feel to the artwork; what emotion does the artwork bring to the viewer; what personal story can they assign to what they are seeing and experiencing?
Ms. Judd’s work can be found in many private art collections in the United States, Canada, Europe, and South America. She exhibits her award-winning artwork nationally in juried fine art exhibitions. Her work is represented by several fine art galleries in the United States. She is the author of several books describing her processes, artistic philosophy, and experiences with artist residencies. A full professional resume and more about her artwork can be viewed on her website, http://www.jeanjudd.com .
A small sampling of recent artworks from my Sound Waves series and my Architectural Rust series. Textural stitching on each painting gives each piece interesting shadow and light play across the artworks. Each piece is designed to be displayed in either a horizontal or vertical orientation which makes for many dynamic hanging options.
Sound Waves #4: Red Line - (c) 2016-2018 - Hand Stitched Thread on Hand Dyed Textile - 19" x 43.5" (48 x 110cm) - $3,700
Sound Waves #4: Red Line references back to the first two pieces in the series, with the graphic lines and references to oscilloscopes and seismograph printouts. Yellow and black are the predominate colors in this piece with the dynamic addition of a dark, bold red. Muted versions of other colors float and merge within the piece upon closer inspection. Mysterious images emerge from the bands of black: a torso of a person, wings of a bat or bird, outlines of bushes, etc.
“Sound Waves #5: Reverberation”
Sound Waves #5: Reverberation - (c) 2016-2018 - Hand Stitched Thread on Hand Dyed Textile - 19" x 43.5" (48 x 110cm) - $3,800
Sound Waves #5: Reverberation moves away from the static graphic lines earlier in the series. Mysterious images emerge from the fuchsia resembling human or animal figures and fossils. Turquoise and fuchsia are the predominate colors in this piece. Muted versions of other colors float and merge within the piece upon closer inspection. Undulating waves of hand stitched thread create interesting shadows and light play across the artwork.
Sound Waves #6: Blue Line - (c) 2016-2019 - Hand Stitched Thread on Hand Dyed Textile – 19.25" x 42.75" (48.25 x 109cm) - $3,800
Sound Waves #6: Blue Line is moving away from the static graphic lines earlier in the series. Leaf-like images emerge along with bursts of abstract forms. Teal, yellows and splashes of fuchsia are the predominate colors in this piece. Muted versions of other colors float and merge within the piece upon closer inspection. Undulating waves of hand stitched thread create interesting shadows and light play across the artwork.
Shadow of the Past – © 2009-2015 - Thread on Rust Pigmented Textile - 42.75” x 25.75” (109 x 66cm) - $9,000
Shadow of the Past has required a longer than usual completion window. This piece was begun in 2009 as my first experiment in using “old iron” that I scavenged from the woods around my studio. I used a shroud from a tractor’s radiator and a brake wheel to rust the background fabric. The pigmented fabric hung in my studio for the next several years. I couldn’t decide if it was ready for the hand stitching phase or if it needed something else. I couldn’t visualize it past this point so other work kept taking precedence over it. The dense textural hand stitching design finally floated up to my conscious level and I began working on it April to September of 2015.
This artwork won the Mixed Media category $5,000 award for the National Weather Center Exhibition in 2017 and it has won several other juried awards.
Crushed Grapes – ©2010-2019 -- Hand Stitched Thread on Hand Dyed, Rust Pigmented Textile - 24.5” x 43”
(61x109cm) - $9,000
Crushed Grapes is the latest piece from the Architectural/Old Iron series. Rust pigmentation from antique architectural iron work and a found tractor wheel creates the basis for this artwork on a pale green hand dyed ground. Dense hand stitching echoing the rusted images, enhances the piece and provides it with visual and dimensional physical texture resulting in interesting shadowing effects in various lighting conditions.
“Sound Waves #4: Red Line”
“Sound Waves #6”
“Shadow of the Past”
“Crushed Grapes”
