featured artist

Stitch-stitch-stitch:
Plying needle and thread to express her interaction with the Keweenaw is an accurate description of Karen Secor. Selected as this year’s Featured Artist, Karen Secor will show her fiber and fine art embroidery at the the 50th Annual Fine Art Fair and Exhibit in Eagle Harbor, MI. Sponsored by the Copper Country Associated Artists (CCAA), the annual show featuring both recent work by the CCAA members and more than 55 invited artists will be held on Saturday and Sunday, August 14 and 15, 2010.
To Karen, Art is in the heart and mind. It is being aware of your world. It is, and she quotes Sue Bender from her book Plain and Simple: A Woman's Journey to the Amish; ”In the silence of ‘not doing’ we begin to know what we feel.” She explains; “Sitting with a cup of hot tea while contemplating this quote, I realize how the changing colors of the seasons, and the ever beautiful colors and dramatic moods of Lake Superior and the Keweenaw inspire my art.” It is, then, having something to express...and finding a medium through which to express that something.

When she was about four or five years old, she started sewing, and loved drawing, sewing, and painting all through elementary and high school. She had a classic art education at UCLA and California State College, Los Angeles, where she received her BA in Art: color, design, drawing, oils, printmaking, jewelry, weaving, and wood carving. After graduating she taught art and crafts to blind and vision impaired adults and children. She added “I continued my own art in quilting, appliqué, cloth doll-making, embroidery, calligraphy, water color, oils, and felting, but always coming back to hand sewing and embroidery. In my mind I see color, line and shape in fabrics and threads. Fabric, thread, and needle are my paints and brushes.”

“This quote from Edward Lucie Smith is my answer to ‘Why embroider? Or make other art work? ---- Embroiderers’ primary aim is to give delight by using skill combined with imagination to create things that will be immediately recognized as being beautiful.”
Karen, a CCAA member, will display her work in the undercroft of St Peters By The Sea and demonstrate her use of the forms, shapes and intrinsic colors in nature on both Saturday and Sunday.

The quality and diversity of the creative work of the exhibiting artists is well known and annually attracts hundreds of collectors and buyers. Of special interest are the many demonstrations of the technical and philosophic aspects of the work on display.

The Fair has become a major event for all of Eagle Harbor. The weekend includes food and beverage services provided by Keweenaw Lions Club and all of the Keweenaw County Historical sites will be open. The show hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday with plenty of parking. A handicap accessible restroom is available.

Copper Country Associated Artists maintain a Studio/Gallery at 112 Fifth St. in Calumet offering workshops and a gallery of members work. For more information, contact the CCAA at 906 337 1252 or the CCAA web site: www.ccaartists.org.