For the fifth consecutive year the California Rice Commission (CRC) has commissioned an original piece of artwork from a Sacramento area artist for its annual Leg Day Gift Box.

This year's artist Merle Axelrad Serlin, has been a fine artist since 1991, but has roots in architecture and still keeps her license current in the field. Merle uses fabric as her medium of choice, and has developed a unique collage technique which creates layers of textures, patterns and colors which draw your eye into each composition. She has a pallet of fabric that puts most fabric stores to shame, and hand paints many of the pieces herself. The resulting effect makes you want to reach out and touch the work, but you must resist the urge, as the oils from our hands can damage the fabric.

I recently visited Merle's studio to view her progress on the piece, and found out in the process that her very first fabric collage was inspired by Sacramento rice fields and the patterns they create from the air. So, it has been easy for her to embrace this project and she has taken the opportunity to revisit the fields from the air during several plane rides. She was able to document the different colors and textures of the fields during these flights. Her final composition captures the rice fields at different stages of maturity as well as the iconic Sacrament River as it meanders through the Sacramento Valley fields.

Merle is currently half way done with the piece and should be finished in early December if all goes well. So, there is plenty of time to pop into her studio and view the piece in progress at 1021 R Street upstairs in The Building which also houses The Art Foundry & Gallery. Merle has an open studio policy and can be found hard at work most Monday-Fridays. She also hosts an Open Studio during each Second Saturday Art Walk between 6-9:00pm.

Below is a sneak peak of the piece, but you will have to stay tuned for Part 2 of this blog to view the finished art and watch a short documentary on the project created by Jim Morris of CRC and Pat Kuske of Patrick Kuske Productions.