For my problem, I proposed to document and analyze the relationships of the spontaneous and premeditated approaches in my work. The pieces that I began during the Spring and Summer 1979 were to be my primary sources of data. Two means were used to document these works and my approaches to them. I photographed the pieces as they progressed up to and including the finished product, and a sketchbook-diary was used to compile ideas and responses.

My problem was to combine warp ikat woven in crowfoot satin weave with supplementary weft techniques, in order to increase visual depth and maintain visual unity.

At the beginning of my graduate study, a series of clown images was executed. The entire surface was utilized in a rapid and spontaneous manner in the first few drawings. The clown images became more complex and visually perplexing. Yet, through an attentive study of these images, I felt a need to be more direct, expressive, and selective in approach and method. It seemed that, consciously or unconsciously, the process of drawing an image important to me was an attendant characteristic to the actualization of the image. The personal promise in these conceptualized and drawn forms was of major concern to me. My proposal, therefore, was to investigate the existing motivations behind these images, to explore the meaning and significance of the sum total of my work.

The intent of this problem was twofold: (1) to demonstrate the adaptability of woven tubular forms in an exhibition space and (2) to demonstrate how support structures could be successfully combined with woven fabric forms as part of the overall design. The problem was executed to alleviate some of the limitations imposed by exhibition spaces. Specifically, the more versatile the piece, the greater the potential for aesthetic and structural effect.

My interest in pictorial representationalism began when I started painting and drawing as a child, and my concern for working realistically continued and developed through my undergraduate years in college. In this investigation i explored the working processes used in a representational approach to contemporary woven tapestries. A brief discussion of the origins of representational woven tapestries with concentration upon Twentieth Century textiles was followed by an analysis of the influences upon my work by artists and stylistic trends.

In summary my main three objectives are as follows: 1. To create large black and white photographic murals of isolated facial expressions with written phrases beneath each image. 2. To explore my capability to magnify and reinforce a strong emotional feeling through the large images. 3. To discover if the written phrases strengthen and support the photographic image.

In order to more fully explore this problem and to uncover important aspects of my work and work processes, I posed these questions to be answered after the completion of the five books: 1. In what ways am I able to synthesize the traditional concerns of the literary and visual image into an Artbook format? 2. To what extent am I able to develop this synthesis into an aesthetically valid and personally satisfying expression of my own artistic philosophy? 3. In what ways does this development represent and/or reflect what appears to be another major shift in my art, toward a more conceptual, two-dimensional or cognitive expression? 4. What does this attempt and the resultant image symbolize for me?

The idea for this creative project evolved as the result of communication between myself and Cathie Bernhardt during the first half of 1977. Both of us had been dealing with similar concepts such as reliquary-like containers and the objects contained within them. We also had a congruent approach concerning the use of materials and the manner in which they can be fabricated. These two things resulted in a mutual respect for each other's forms and imagery. We, therefore, decided to explore and combine specific aspects of our talent and, in collaboration, produce a series of pieces. Our project became one of collaborative art, and we defined that as follows: One, the process of discussing ideas for pieces; Two, the act of working on pieces together, Three, the completion of pieces wherein both artists have contributed significantly to the final products.

The problem being dealt with concerns the investigation of the conceptual and expressive potential of mold-formed units in combination with other media and processes. The questions under consideration are as follows: 1. Do the concepts of pieces vary with the materials and process being used? How? 2. What alterations occur in the visual image as a result of the change in media and processes? 3. What mechanical and technical problems are involved in the mold-formed process?

In the history of ceramics my interest centers around times in particular cultures when ceramic containers were an essential part of life. I am most interested in functional pottery produced in nineteenth century North America between the years 1800-1870. This was a period in which some of the finest pots used for containing things were produced.

As my creative project, I decided to explore the possibilities for expression of rhythmic life-growth patterns in a variety of abstracted multiple forms. The work was planned to investigate the following questions: 1. What forms can be used to communicate the idea of repetitive, rhythmic or seasonal life or growth patterns? 2. What size/scale is effective in communicating the universal, infinite character of these patterns? 3. What formats or types of presentation are the most effective? 4. How is the overall impact of the work affected by changes in size and form? 5. How do changes in the work affect my responses to it, and what subsequent directions result in the work?

In this investigation I use the term perception as Arthur Comb and Donald Snygg do when they state that perception is any differentiation the individual is capable of making in his personal field. Perception has to do with the organization one gives to his world. Behavior and learning are products of perceiving. Immanuel Kant said: "We see things not as they are but as we are." During this effort to organize my world I realized that I was concerned with myself as an experiencing individual. I felt that one is built out of his experiences and that the best vantage point for understanding behavior is from the internal frame of reference of the individual himself. I was taking a somewhat phenomenological approach to my problem.

In the past few years it has come to my attention, via comments and overt responses, that sensual suggestiveness is present in the imagery of my work. My interest in the female figure goes back to the initial years of my undergraduate work and the anatomical study of the female image. I have since found that adding certain types of feminine attire to specific and idealized female attributes has, in turn, increased the sensual, rather Pavlovian responses of the spectator. This is accomplished by creating commonplace images such as the stockinged leg, the slit-skirted waist and thigh, and the female foot in a high-heeled shoe. My problem was to investigate the fetishism and iconography of selected popular cultural images of the feminine-sensual type in order to discover how i could make my images more sensually suggestive.

The purpose of this project was to investigate the use of non-traditional painting techniques on the images of my work. The following questions were specifically considered. 1. When and why in the process do decisions occur concerning the following: A. Subject or idea or motivation? B. Materials? C. Shaping? D. Color? E. Texture or embellishment? 2. Does the motivation change at any point in the process? 3. With the emergence of the final form is there an awareness of content (or intrinsic meaning) which was absent or completely nebulous at the inception?

I examined and evaluated three sets of gallery installations and related handmade books. The following questions were considered foremost: 1) Visually, how different from and how similar to the gallery installations are the books? 2) What verbal elements are adapted from the installations to the books? 3) How does the difference in format (that is, the books) alter or affect the content and meaning of the installations?

I constructed ceramic/mixed media instruments, recorded rhythmic music composed for and played on my instruments, and prepared a slide presentation portraying my daily rituals a studio artist. I describe in this paper the process involved in creating this environment and give an interpretation of the work by answering the following questions. 1. What were the rituals that were essential to the creation of my work? 2. In what ways did the use of the different visual and audio media work together to create a unified environment? 3. In what ways was the total experience of the different media a more direct and fulfilling expression of my goals as an artist, or are these goals better fulfilled when working in one media?

Ikat is a technique used throughout the world for the surface enrichment of textiles. In Ikat, patterns are dyed into the warp, weft, or both by the use of various resists such as twine or plastic wrapped tightly around a group of yarns. The dyed yarns are then unwrapped and woven into fabric. Instead of stretching an entire warp or weft on a frame to apply resist, yarn can also be measured into small groups for tying and dyeing. These small groups of yarn can be dyed with simple patterns and later rearranged and combined to create more complex designs. In order to investigate the possibilities of the above mentioned methods, a series of Ikat fabrics was developed.

The problem, as proposed for this project, focused on an investigation of the possibility of using a layering method in weaving to effect a visual color mix. Colored layers of transparent fabric were to be woven simultaneously, in such a way as to retain a structural separateness while producing a perceptual blending of color. A minimum of three weavings were to be made with yarns dyed to control hue, value, and intensity, and each varying in number of layers from two to four. Technical sketches in the form of maquettes were to precede work on the loom, and throughout the process a journal was to be kept to record pertinent data and guide analysis and evaluation.

For my creative project I produced five life-size pieces consisting of human and animal figures constructed in clay and mixed media. Rather than creating figures around or as part of an environment, the figure, being the primary subject, dictated what type and how much of an environment I built. I explored the manipulation of the materials in order to determine how best to produce emotional impact.

A major emphasis in my graduate studies in ceramics at North Texas State University has been on the production of raku wall pieces. Raku appealed to me for its unusual metallic glaze effects and the accidental qualities of the glazes and clay bodies due to the smoking reduction that takes place after the piece is removed from the kiln. During this same period I was also interested in and experimenting with the use of electroforming as a method of jewelry making. Again, the accidental qualities of this process were appealing. It was during these experiments, especially those involving non-conductive surfaces, that i frist considered applying the process to large ceramic pieces. The stoneware pieces were limited in size since they were to be developed into pieces of jewelry.

The purpose of this project was to create and present groups of stelae which contain personal imagery derived from archetypal feminine symbols used as hieroglyphs. The groupings of the stelae, by nature of the problem, took on a ritual appearance. Two groups of twelve stelae each were constructed with materials and techniques used in a fiber tradition. Each individual stele was designed to function alone as well as in a group.

As a result of my interests I became concerned with 1. The invention of eccentric imagery for use in painting formats. These images were intended to subtly allude to archaic and archetypal objects of forms (artifact reference) yet remain anonymous in terms of absolute identity. 2. Random and ambiguous placement of the imagery on a surface resulting in a mapping or diagramming of a possible 'place,' with a broadly interpreted landscape orientation to space. 3. Paintings having the characteristics of the objects in terms of materials and processes used, surface tactile qualities, irregular shape. These three ideas formed the basis of the problem.

In pursuit of the project, I sought to address the following concerns: 1. Which intaglio processes, or their combination, proved to be the most useful in production of the book? 2. In establishing a concept for the book, what problems were encountered? 3. What is the visual relationship between the printed images, the book, and its container?

The purpose of this investigation has been to review the various forms of passementerie in order to provide a background for weaving narrow bands and ribbons. While the basic fabric structures, plain weave, twill, and satin are used in the production of ribbons, some problems occur in adapting them to the narrow form.