It's a Rumor: Last Exhibit of the Year

My art quilt group, Sisters in Cloth, for the last several years has been invited by the Guilford Free Library to exhibit our work.  Every year we work toward a new collection specifically for this venue.  This year we produced two!  Quite a feat for us.

This first one is titled "It's A Rumor".  Inspired by the old children's Telephone Game, we decided that one person would start with a photograph, produce an art quilt inspired by it, then write an artist statement.  It would be the artist statement, not any images, that would then be passed to the next participant, who would, similarly, produce an art quilt and an artist statement.  This artist statement would be the only thing passed along to the next participants, and so on.  This was all to be accomplished in secret and very quickly, just like rumors in the real world.  Each of us had a week to produce, write and pass it on.

This is the Artist Statement that I shared with three others:

It’s a Rumor

In my mind’s eye the “modern” architecture of 1950s America is a nostalgic reference to that of 1750s New England with its spare forms, strong lines and distain for ornamentation. This early architecture said much about the settlers but nothing about the New England landscape; then and now an exuberance of growth and color, especially in autumn. I’ve tried to capture both architecture and landscape in this photograph and art quilt.

(Photograph:  1764 House at Tanner Marsh Road and Clapboard Hill, which WAS NOT shared until today, our reveal date)

Martha Wolfe was one of the three with whom I shared.  Below is a detail of her piece.  You can go to her blog and see a full description of her piece and her process.

Robin Wolek received her Rumor from one of the members that I had passed to.  She in turn produced this piece and the following Artist Statement:   

I received the rumor from Barbara Adams.  The points that she spoke about that resonated with me were colors associated with the Fall season, architecture and stained glass.  I created my piece using some of my favorite fall colors, with deliberate lines and some black to depict lead found in stained glass creations.  I used variegated thread to stitch different patterns, mostly lines that I used to emphasize the presence of architecture in my piece.

Most of the meetings in which the Rumors were passed were taped by member Vivika DeNegre. 

The whole exhibit is a real treat.  It's interesting what some people hear...color, line, dates...and where that takes them in their imaginations.