Guild Archives

Free form pieced using the small piece of driftwood in the center as the catalyst for the design – machine embroidered, I started this piece in a workshop and only intended it to be a small 8 x 10 practice piece. It continued to grow and I really like the result.

Leather, ultrasuede, bead embroidery, chain. I took a leather purse workshop at Chicago School of Shoemaking & this was the leftover leather from that purse. I beaded the mermaid & she fit perfectly on the uneven edge of the flap.

Center squares are raw silk with painted wonder under & paper towels fused down; embellished with painted tyvek, hand embroidery & beads. Squares are mounted on background of chiffon/netting with machine stitching, The first square was done to try out a new technique. I was so happy with the spontaneous, organic nature that I decidedContinue reading “Flotsam & Jetsum

Cathy Mendola

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Photo that was manipulated in Photoshop then printed on fabric. Hand & machine quilting along with beading. Backing & binding is hand dyed silk. [Part of the Chicago Icon series]

The canvas was painted, inked, printed & had hand painted paper towels applied. The central design is dyed silk that has been embellished with painted tyvek, hand embroidery & beads, I painted the canvas first, with no preconceived idea about what I planned to do with it. I went through my stash of dyed silksContinue reading “Tidal Pool

Cathy Mendola

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Central piece hand felted using alpaca fibers, silk & silk organza; heavily embellished with hand embroidery & beads. Attached to painted, collaged canvas & framed, My love of the ocean continues to surface in my work. I began this piece with no ideas and it just morphed into what looks like an underwater coral garden.

Center is decorated fabric gessoed, painted, inked, heavily stitched with metal ‘man’ attached. Borders pieced & machine embroidered, The center fabric was just an experiment at creating my own fabric. I love a very textured, layered look so that was my objective with this piece.

Another layered centerpiece of paint, ink, chiffon, etc heavily stitched with pieced borders & machine quilted, After my first textured forest piece, I felt I needed to continue exploring the textures and depth of trees and forests. I plan to do more of these.

The canvas was painted, inked, printed & had hand painted paper towels applied. The central design is dyed silk that has been embellished with painted tyvek, hand embroidery & beads I painted the canvas first, with no preconceived idea about what I planned to do with it. I went through my stash of dyed silksContinue reading “Tidal Pool

Cathy Mendola

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Wet felted using merino wool fibers, silk fibers, bamboo fibers, alpaca fibers and hand dyed silk chiffon with hand dyed cheesecloth. This was truly an experiment with no idea of how it would turn out. I wanted the feeling of forest greenery illuminated by sunlight. I love how it turned out!

Hand stitched & beaded. I started this piece during an NSNG workshop. I continued to add layers of stitching & beading until the piece resembled a spring garden of flowers.

Discharged fabric & commercial fabrics, wire wrapped sand dollar pieces, machiine quilted, fused. The discharged fabrics echo the shapes of the broken sand dollar pieces as well as mimic shifting sands from the ocean’s tide. The fabric directly behind the sand dollars resembles water bubbling in a tide pool.

Wet felting, beads, driftwood, feathers. This was done during a mini-worksop. My first-ever attempt at wet felting. I used to create vessles in clay but fiber is my first love so this opened up a whole new world for me! I’m addicted to felting now!

Bead embroidery, bead weaving, driftwood, coral, beach glass, seashells. I puchased the large white nowlite donut not knowing what I would do with it. One day while cleaning my studio I saw the piece of coral & it grew from there. Bits & pieces of items found at the beach.