Art on a Hubcap

Since spring of 2010, I have been working, then volunteering at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft. I love the atmosphere there, and I enjoy the people I meet. The people who work there are all interesting individuals, and not a day goes by that I don't meet an interesting artist or visitor.

They have a variety of exhibits through the year, and there are several events that they repeat every year. One is the Art Car Weekend.

This year it is the first weekend in August. They have a drive-in movie at the WaterFront, and parades of art cars from all over the United States. A new added feature this year is a display of artist-decorated hubcaps.

They invited all their regular artists to embellish a hubcap for the display, and they are hoping to get 100 entries. This is the tenth year of the Art Car weekend, and they want a 10 x 10 display. I agreed to embellish a hubcap, and found a plastic one at a shop on Preston Highway for $5. They also had a few at the Museum to hand out, and I took one for a second idea I had.

For the first one shown here, I simply cut my Sunbonnet Sue quilt into a circular shape and glued it onto the hubcap. I will put a black cord around the edge before I turn it in. Since it shows a car with hubcaps, I thought it would help them complete their goal of 100.

My second one, however, was more involved. I decided to do one of my birds with hundreds of feathers applied one at a time. I chose some of my favorite batiks, and cut feathers for a fat hen.

I left an area of the hubcap visible at the bottom, behind her feet. Although I usually use fusible for applying feathers, I used glue for most of this. It would not be my adhesive of choice, although it works well. I used FabriTak, which "bites" the fabric right away, and dries quickly. However, I tend to work quickly, and it got a little messy.

I am happy with the way it turned out.

I always like it when artists work from a common theme. It is fun to see the results, in fabric, paint, clay, glass, wood, etc. I reminds me of the "Heart" project we worked on two years ago for a charity auction. The variety of expressions was really fun.

I will try to get a photo of all the hubcaps in early August. If you are in Louisville, be sure to visit the Museum at 715 West Main Street.

Friday August 5 is a good day to see the Art Cars.