Fabric Collage Portrait

"Nell" 58" x 23"
applique and stitchery
French lace gown, circa 1900
with fan, embroidered porte monnaie,
and string of buttons, on cotton
background
owned by Mrs. Daniel Peterson, Louisville KY

Nell Peterson, friend of Alma Lesch

"The Teenagers" 1966

in the collection of Flint Institute of Art, Flint, Michigan
purchased in 1966 by Mrs. Bishop, founder of Haystack Mountain
School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine
"The Teenagers"
Fabric Collage, stitchery and applique
with buttons, organza collar, lace hose, and cotton
pants legs

colors: black and white
size 24" x 40"

stitchery and applique on weaving

destroyed fiber art by the artist Alma Lesch mid '60s

Untitled

Vegetable dyed yarn, stitchery, hooking
and knotting on cotton. 22" x 48" 1967
sold to Barbara Hymson, New York 10028

Untitled

Stitchery on cotton background
Hand dyed materials
size 18" x 42"
has stuffed areas
1966 (AWL)
sold in Richmond, VA

Uncle Bob 34" x 21"

old over-alls jacket on piece
of old quilt, with round gold rim glasses
and case, old straight razor case,
with wood picture frame enclosing
man's bill fold. (AWL)




















Fabric Collage Portrait
"Uncle Bob" owned by Joseph Heil, New York City
applique and stitchery on linen
Cover photo on Craft Horizons March-April 1965

photo by the artist Alma Lesch

1985 State of the Arts Exhibition

Alma Lesch at Kentucky Art and Craft Foudation (KMAC)
and textile artists & advocates at exhibit opening.

Kentucky Craft textile innovator

art is life...live with art

With Jane Dunnewold's current Louisville KY visit LAFTA members and fiber artists see her impact on art cloth links to the current LAFTA exhibit at JCC's Patio Gallery on Dutchmans Lane through Feb 22, 2011. Alma Lesch called that gift in fiber vision as having an "eye". Search YOUTUBE for video clips of Dunnewold's workshop events and critiques.

Invitated by KMAC to speak on that closing date in reference to their current exhibition which includes the work of Alma Lesch, I am pleased to see this link in Jane Dunnewold's work using actual clothing confirming my link to my Swedish grandmother who saw my love of textiles, early in my life, and entrusting me with several quilts made by her mother, my great-grandmother Hilda Victoria Madelyn Magnuson from Clearfield, PA. There are indeed common threads that unite us all.

February 22
KMAC

an evening for Alma Lesch

from the Alma Lesch textile collection: World War II
handkerchief

"Sallie" 26" x 36" woven wall-hanging

"Sallie" reproduced as woven tapestry wall-hanging for interior spaces (detail above)
from the original 1996 mixed media "fabric portrait" by Kentucky textile artist
Alma Lesch 1917-1999
26" x 36"  Victorian themed wall-hanging
in limited quantity
donated for permanent display in Bullitt County HistoryMuseum
in Shepherdsville, KY 40165

Inquire: Small Town Gallery Inc. 502-955-9255
Brooks, KY 40109

"Sallie" 1996, the original image shown here is now available as a woven tapestry 26" x 36" ready to enjoy.
also available at http://smalltowngalleryinc.net/ for $59.95 in Brooks KY

Premier issue SPOOL magazine
attention fiber artists, needlepoint, crochet and knit
and freelance writers!
fall 2010
"Sallie" by Alma Lesch in feature story...

Louisville Arts Review

Louisville Arts Review

you can't make this stuff up!

Textile Artist : Kentucky textile artist Alma Lesch 1917-1999

Textile Artist : Kentucky textile artist Alma Lesch 1917-1999

Alma Wallace Lesch 1917-1999

"This is my first fabric collage portrait." Alma Lesch
"Mrs. Burns" 1964 26" x 36"

scroll down for more info:
Installation of Meidinger Tower tapestry Aug 4, 1983
Fourth and Muhammed Ali Blvd. Louisville

"Jezebel" 1968
see more info below

"Jezebel" 1968 28" x 76"
Fabric collage, Stitchery and applique with knit blouse, lace petticoat, umbrella cover, and buttons on linen
colors: reds, golds, blues, rust, orange, yellow and purple
private collection: Atlanta GA

The Signature Shop & Gallery: Home Page

The Signature Shop & Gallery: Home Page

Untitled Embroidery 20" x 38"
colors: blues, greens, browns, yellows
March 1964
sold in one-person show, Atlanta, GA by Signature Shop

"The Colonel's Lady" 1975
45" x 60"
Fabric collage full length portrait

entitled "Josie", this in-the-round mixed-media sculpture
approximately 16" tall, incorporated shoes, fabric, lace clothing, wig and straw hat
secured to weighted form constructed by Alma Lesch

detail of 1973 "Southern Gothic" Fabric collage portrait
Shown in First World Craft Exhibition, Toronto, Canada 1974
the original, complete 27.5" x 39" work in on permanent display at The University of Louisville

"Peter, Paul and Mary" 1969
12" x 18" Coptic weaving on a frame
Gift to Carol Sutton

"Like Father, Like Son" 1967, 33" x 32"
Fabric collage portrait
Colors: Blue and natural whites, overalls, shirt, overall jacket, eye glasses and case, bandana handkerchief, stitchery on heavy cotton background

owned by Museum of Contemporary Crafts, NYC
purchased by S.C. Johnson Company, Racine, Wisconsin

detail of Fabric collage portrait "Christine"