Is AI scary?

My husband wants me to enter my outer limits piece in the local art show this summer. The show is called Images. I told him that a piece made of plastic bags won’t even get accepted. He insists it will. I’m going to enter to see which of us is correct.

When filling out the applications you have to create a description for people that might be visually impaired. They send you to a website that creates it for you using AI. So here’s the image and below that is the AI description. It did a good job of describing the piece other than it’s not painted. It’s made of plastic bags. AI is starting to scare me. Is it scaring you?

“The image is a framed artwork depicting a surreal portrait of a face emerging from a cosmic background. The central face is painted in shades of blue and has prominent facial features with bright orange eyes and blue lips. Surrounding the face is a circular halo-like pattern in blue hues, representing a galaxy or cosmic energy. Radiating outward are abstract tree-like branches intertwined with small circular and star-like shapes, suggesting a connection to nature and the universe. The artwork is dynamic with vivid colors such as orange, blue, and yellow, conveying a sense of movement and energy. The background includes scattered small planets and stars, enhancing the cosmic theme. The lower right corner features the initials CS”

Alt-text:

A surreal portrait of a face with cosmic and natural elements in a framed artwork.

Thanks for reading.

Chris

My artist talk went pretty well

 It was not perfect, but was pretty good. I’m out of practice with teaching and my mouth kept getting dry. The people that came to the talk were really nice and asked really great questions. So I think it was a success. Some photos were taken I am shocked how old I look. I’m going to be 74 this week so I guess I should look old! 

Here’s a photo. The cone flower on the board behind me is what I used to demonstrate how I create my plastic art pieces. 

Here’s an outline of my talk.

Why do I do this? How did I get here? How do I actually do it?

• Why do I choose to make art from plastic bags? Plastic quilts.
• I love participating in the recycle show and doing word challenges
• I enjoy the challenge of working with plastic bags
• Using plastic bags also speaks to my concerns about the climate and the environment.

• My background—or how one thing leads to another
• Art since a kid
• Painting, sketching, stained glass, baskets, metal punch, printing, sewing, eventually found quilting in 1986
• That eventually led to making original art quilts 2004 (2 quilts)
• That led to blogging in 2008 
• That led to making quilts from plastic bags in 2014
• Found an inspiring teacher online that got me started
• My education and teaching career were in physics, math, meteorology, and astronomy which definitely influences my art
• Determines what I choose to work on and how I work…
• My recycle pieces (some progress photos in binder and on blog)
• Cement works done in her class in time for recycle show in 2021
• Drafting Vellum 2023 and house portraits
• Denim piece with used dryer sheets 2024
• Outer Limits (wasn’t sure if I could pull this one off) 2025
• Raven 2026
• How I make my plastic quilts
• 2 different approaches to appliqué 
• Materials needed for my current method
• Inspiration photo, how I come up with ideas
• Pattern
• Plastic bags….discuss bags
• They are usually one solid color, but sometimes are multi color
• Outer limits piece
• Some are 2 for 1
• Semi transparent vs opaque
• The colors are limited 
• Sometimes won’t lay flat, ripples
• Stitching plastic is challenging…holes
• Do you have to stitch? (Sample)
• Stabilizer
• Fusible web
• Good scissors, tweezers
• Thread, needles, sewing machine
• Light table
• Patience 
• Demo
• What’s coming up for me
• Small exhibit of about 5 quilts at the Bellefonte Art Museum in July. 
• Other projects 

So today I need to pack away my plastic stuff and get back to quilting my Halloween quilt. 

Thanks for reading.

Chris

Forgot to post the judge’s comments about my winning piece

 

I won first place!

Tonight was the opening for the recycle show. I won first place for my Raven piece. It is made from plastic bags. Basically it’s a plastic quilt because it’s quilted and hand stitched. It received a lot of attention. 

“Once upon a midnight dreary”

Thanks for reading.

Chris