Where to Begin

I'm sure you all have wondered what happened to me when you hadn't hear from me for so long....Sept, yikes.

I have not been idle.  Oh, contrare!  `

I will upload the few art quilts I have completed since my last post.

Viewpoints9-3 'And Fortune Followed Her'

Commission Celebrating Family and their adopted children

Detail

Standing in from of Sandy Donabed's piece at Art As Quilt Exhibit at Fuller Craft Museum.  Forgot to take pic of me in front of my own.

Viewpoints9 Installation in Houston!  Again, no photo of me with my work.  Who knew I was shy?

Shoreline Arts Trail Open Studio...more sales than ever

Annual Sisters in Cloth Exhibit at Guilford Free Library.  This wall "Sentinels" a collaboration with Aussie artist Dijanne Cevaal  The other wall is "inspired by...(famous artist)"  Mine is after Matisse

Ethan's Quilt...oops it's the pic with the color scale card attached

And, a T-shirt quilt I made for my husband's nephew's son who lost his dad to cancer this October.  His nephew Michael was a bigger than life guy with so many friends.  He was a IT designer and wore a Life is Good t-shirt almost everyday.  He had dozens!  He and I were FB friends....so I got to see many of those shirts that always brought a smile.

His wife Teri sent me a box full.  This is the result.  Thirteen year old Ethan will have a cuddly, warm remembrance of his dad.

We are fast approaching the end of a really busy year.  I think I'll start 2016 with a holiday ;^)
Going to visit friends in N CAL!!  See you in February when we install our SAQA/CT region's juried, traveling exhibit Local Color: CT Stories.  Oh, yes...did I mention...I'm co-curator with our fabulous Kate Themel.

ps.  Life IS Good.

Commission Complete ;^)

A couple who have purchased several pieces over the years, asked if I could create a quilt for their first grandchild.  They wanted to be a part of the process with consultations regarding colors and subject.

They supplied this photo of the rug that is in the baby's room, apparently both parents are fox fans.
Using the color family as a starting point, I gathered fabric...lots from my stash too.

They wanted the quilt to be a 'user', one that the baby would lug around, one that would be utilitarian and textural, and big enough to find it's place in the child's room for many years.  With that in mind, the solid red and light blue fabrics are flannel as is the binding.  The white on the fox's ears and tail is silky.  The rest of the fabrics are cotton...as is the rick-rack that found it's way into most of the circles.

Commissions that encourage collaboration with the buyer do take a lot more time and energy to complete.  BUT, oh, so satisfying....for us all.

Fox Carpet

Fox Quilt detail

Fox Quilt 42" x 60"

Viewpoints9-3 Reveal Day!

 oops forgot to post on the 27th, the real reveal day....

The current edition of art revealed today was posed by Betty Busby, who challenged Viewpoint9 members to use unconventional or unusual  materials in our work.  Sorta  depends on one's definition of 'unusual'.   My "unusual or unconventional"  materials are certainly not that unusual to several of my colleagues.

I have included found objects before, acrylic painted directly on the face of work, printed, dyed.  Heck one time I threw a piece of white fabric on my local art centers cracked floor and rubbed charcoal and pencil all over it.  Then I poured dye over parts of it and created an interesting landscape. Stitched it.  And Voila!   It was juried into two exhibits!

Promised Land

Oil pastel is very unusual for my work as I am unsure of its control and I am also wary of it's permanence.  So, throwing caution to the wind, I combined it with some other uncommon bits:  discharged images and textiles from far-away places.  The piece is densely quilted with added hand stitching.

Home of the Exotic Blue Crow

Now I have a test subject for permanence of oil pastel in my work.  Fingers crossed.

Habitat for Artists

In our little shoreline town here in Connecticut, a local gallery promotes local artists by calling for their participation in a pop-up installation that encourages interaction with the public.  Greene Art Gallery hosts these events in their sculpture garden where a wonderful little 'Habitat for Artists' acts as focus.

For the second time proprietor Kathryn Greene invited our art quilt group Sisters in Cloth to host an event, one of her summer series aptly titled "Nurturing Joy".  We brought small finished work and displayed it on lines that we strung between trees.  We brought works in progress to share.  We spend two hours chatting and sharing with the public, encouraging them to show the art work that many brought and ask questions about ours.

It was a huge success.  So much so that Kathryn asked that we establish it as an annual event.

MANY more photos have been posted on Viewpoints 9-3 blog.  Hop on over.

Habitat for Artists

You are invited

Artist Reception for Fiber & Friends

Sunday, July 19, 2:30-4:30

Meet the Artists

Enjoy wine, food and live music!

Friends & Co
Madison CT Restaurant
Boston Post Road

Featuring the work of Barbara Adams, Janine Anderson-Bays, Debra Bento, Vivika Hansen DeNegre, Gina Grubb Frank, Gail Kotowski, Carol Ludington, Kate Themel, Robin Wolek and Diane Wright

What's up this Saturday, July 11

Guilford Keeping Society    The Art of Quilting--Old and New  July 2015

Tell friends about this event   Time to renew your membership?  Click here

Fiber Artist Diane Wright to Speak on Contemporary Quilts     Saturday, July 11 , 2 p.m. As a special feature of Guilford's town-wide summer quilt show, Diane Wright, nationally known art quilter, will speak on "Contemporary Stitches in Time,"  She will discuss the use of antique quilt patterns in the making of contemporary quilts and quilts as art.  Diane has invited friends and fellow quilters from the Guilford quilting group, Sisters in Cloth, to join her in sharing their own contemporary quilts that have been influenced by tradition. Times change, but as Diane says, "It's always been about the hand and the stitch." The talk will take place at The Guilford Keeping Society's Medad Stone Tavern, 197 Three Mile Course. Visitors to the Tavern can also view a display of historic quilts owned by the Society. Since the 1990s, Diane's focus has been on the fabric medium: fabric of all kinds, hand or machine stitched, often embellished with beads, fiber "shards" or found bits. Her work is noted for its use of color, original design, and a variety of fabrics that include commercial, foreign, hand-painted, and vintage pieces. Admission to the program is free but donations are greatly appreciated.  A  Stitch in Time  Guilford Museums' Historic Quilts An Exhibit at All Five Guilford Museums July 1 to July 31 Poke around in one attic and you never know what you will find. Poke around in five attics and things get really interesting. Over the winter, the Henry Whitfield State Museum, Hyland House Museum, Thomas Griswold House Museum, Medad Stone Tavern Museum and The Dudley Farm Museum searched their collections for unique and interesting quilts. So this month you can visit Guilford's five history museums during regular hours and marvel at quilts ranging from the 18th to the 20th centuries.  You'll sense the stories behind the quilts and their makers as you marvel at the craftsmanship of this venerable  art form. Admission to the exhibit is part of the regular fees to enter each museum.  With colorful names like Calamanco, One Patch, Carolina Lily, Queen Victoria's Crown and Crazy Quilts and fabrics as diverse as linen, cotton and wool, quilts were utilitarian in use but illustrate the agrarian, social, economic and cultural life of families and communities. Displayed in period room settings, the quilts and coverlets help breathe life into the spaces that Guilford residents lived in; from the early 17th century through World War II. Two additional special programs will be presented in conjunction with the exhibit. On Sunday, July 19,  from 1 pm to 4 pm, there will be a special program in the Munger Barn at The Dudley Farm Museum.  "More Than Just a Quilt," a presentation by Lorraine German of Mad River Antiques in North Granby, will explore quilts "as a form of artistic, sentimental and political expression."  On Saturday, July 25, from 1 pm to 4 pm, there will be a special program at the Henry Whitfield State Museum, Marge Bucholz, quilter and museum volunteer will demonstrate contemporary quilt making while she discusses the changes in quilting over the centuries.

Viewpoints9-3 Reveal Day!

Honey Bee Armageddon has just been posted on Viewpoints9.  The current challenge posed is to use neon colors...a stretch for sure.

My personal theme for this rotation of challenges is 'Exotic'.  As I have been interested in the honey bee colony collapse and it's various suspected causations, I chose the honey bee as my exotic.

I imagined what the world could look like without our honeybee pollinators.  And, after I saw Dr. Maria Spivak's TED Talk on "Why Bees Are Disappearing", I decided to look at that period of time just as we all learned that they had, indeed, become non-existence.

Imagine..........

This report just in from a time not too distant in the future.

In response to the recent honey bee colony collapse across the US, Congress, sitting in emergency session,  has authorized the use of drones.

Reporter
Diane  Wright
Honey and Pollen News Times

HoneyBee Armageddon

The QRCode links (with permission) to Dr. Maria Spivak's TED talk "Why Bees Are Disappearing".

I have been SO remiss...

I can't believe that my last post was April 27!  SO much has happened.  Pour a cuppa and I'll tell the quilt stories of the month+

We returned from our six week holiday in CA and my attendance at SAQA's Conference in Portland OR.  Immediately I needed to tackle the promised T-shirt quilt for Project Graduation at Guilford High School (remember, now, that I still haven't learned to say no).  The quilt will be won in a drawing by one of graduates.  It is twin sized and ready to hit the road with the new grad whether off to college or another brave new world.

The T-shirts were donated by the volunteer team managing Project Graduation.  While I was constructing the top, American Idol and GHS graduation Nick Fradiani (parents still live in town) visited his old high school and gave a hugely attended concert on the Town Green.  Of course, one of his T's needed to be tracked down and included.

It will be 'won' by one of the Class of 2015.

Project Graduation T-shirt quilt

 What I can't reveal yet are the other 3 pieces that I finished.  Two for Fly Me To the Moon challenge and this month's Viewpoints9-3 "neon" challenge.

Runner for Polly

Then, as I infrequently do, I decided to tidy my studio.  When I found some schnibbles remaining from a commissioned piece.  The fabric happened to be one of my all time favorites and deserved to be used.  I combined it with other favorites.  This table runner is quite plump as I added a layer of Insel-Brite with the batting.  I hope it will be happy in the dining room where the commissioned work is hung.  

To start off June with a big bang, one of my pieces was juried into SAQA's MA/RI Region's Art as Quilt Exhibit that will premiere at the Fuller Craft Museum in MA..and travel!  So exciting!!

For the Love of Three Oranges

Hoping I can manage my time better (with respect to blogging) and report more news soon.

Viewpoints9-3 Reveal Day #1

Viewpoints9-3's first reveal of it's new rotation of challenges is today!  Check it out...nine posts will fill today.

This time each member has chosen her own personal theme, developing a personal series which will relate to all the others by the challenges posed by the 'chief' of each challenge.  hmm...not real clear.  OK.  The bi-monthly challenger will pick the height dimension and one other facet required.  For instance, this time the height required by 48" and the challenge was to incorporate stitching that you had never done before.

My personal theme for the next 18 months is EXOTIC.

While considering my approach to my personal theme, I realized that I myself had been an exotic of sorts for most of my life.  e.g. not from wherever I was.

"I'm Not From Here" depicts the eight states and two foreign countries that our family made our home. California (4 times), Texas (3 times), Colorado, Missouri, Maryland (2 times), New York, Florida and Connecticut (2 times).  Japan and, later as an adult, Australia.

I'm Not From Here
48"x45"

 In keeping with Martha's Challenge to make a piece using stitching or a stitch type that we had never done before, I floundered.  I'm old.  And I dabble.  Ergo there's not much I haven't done (My Granny taught me to knit, crochet, embroider,  sew and tat.  Yes. Tat).  I decided to go with something that I have rarely done and not for a very long time.  Free-motion script.  The stitched sentences and phrases sketch our family's journey.

First acceptance of 2015 :^)

Flying Geese Variation

I was SO happy to have Flying Geese accepted into PAQA-South's ArtQuiltsReminisce!, which asked participants to reminisce a little, then share their story in art.

Today is also my turn to post on Viewpoints9-3.  Since 'conflating' is the hot new journalism word, I thought I'd conflate my two posts.  Hop on over the catch the whole, unadulterated story.

Killing two birds with one stone.  OOOH, sorry for the really bad pun. ;^)

Newest Dijanne Cevaal Collaboration

"Lady Jane" (16"x28") started with one of Dijanne Cevaal's original linocuts.  This one from her Medieval Project, inspired by the architectural statuary in Chartres.

I have combined machine and hand stitching.  I always enjoy having some on-going hand stitching project at the ready for those nights that we sit and watch TV.  Therefore, over time much of my work includes both hand and machine stitches.

Lady Jane

This piece's title came from my wonderfully, serendipitously uncovering a piece of border print that was designed by Jane Sassaman some time ago.  Certainly reinforces my natural behavior of collecting (and hoarding?) fabric that appeals to me.  The addition of green French knots in her border print helps relate the image and reinforce the 'leaf' imagery on Lady Jane's lapel (hard to see here that it is foiled in the blues and greens)

Now time to start a new piece for Jon Stewart's last year at bringing me my TV news.

Brief update

There is SO much to do before the end of March.  Why?  Glad you asked.  I am GETTING OUT OF THIS #@$* SNOW!  We are heading west.  And before I do I have a V9-3 Challenge to complete and a t-shirt quilt as a donation to our town's high school graduation project.  (Remember that I was never saying yes again?  That resolution lasted about 30 days.)

At the end of April I will be attending SAQA's annual conference in Portland OR.  Can hardly wait.

I made a small 6X8" piece to donate to the dinner auction.  Pensive Crow is created from an African hand-dyed scrap, stamped with one of my own crows, machine stitched, a bit of pastel stick with the background hand stitched.

Pensive Crow

I have the opportunity to choose a tour of Portland:  Any suggestions?

• Tour #1: Exploring Alberta Arts District (By private car.) 
• Tour #2: Exploring Southeast Portland (By private car.)
• Tour #3: Exploring The Pearl District (By Streetcar and/or MAX)
• Tour #4: Exploring Downtown Portland (By Streetcar and/or MAX)
• Tour #5: Exploring Fabric Depot (By personal car)
• Tour #6: Afternoon Trip to Multnomah Falls (By personal car.  5 person minimum)

Viewpoints9 Reveal Day!

It all about PLAYING.  Even though I posed Viewpoints9-2  this challenge myself, I had no idea of how I would approach it.  After weeks of mulling, going to my studio and tidying, which is my practice when I'm looking for inspiration.  As my husband tells me "Go play in your fabric".  It worked!

It occurred to me that I should approach this as I were to invent a game.  Taking only fabric from my scrap bin, I challenged myself to create a playful piece.

It was great fun.  A bit like a archeological dig, truth be told.  I uncovered bits large and small that I hardly recognized...old friends.  Some of my hand-dyed, some discharged, vintage, African, Australian Aboriginal designs, and Japanese.   All right there in the bin.  No wonder my granddaughter has such fun playing in it.

Jump over to the Viewpoints9-2 blog and check out the other participants "PLAYING"

Playing with Scraps 18" x 27"

Woodland

Woodland 6"x6"

Our local art center is hosting their annual Winter Party.  They are providing 6" square canvases to local artists who would like to donate to this fundraiser.

Woodland is my donation this year.  It is hand-dyed piece from Carol Eaton, inked with one of my hand-cut tree stamps, free-motion stitched, oil pastel and oil stick colored.

Check it out:  http://guilfordartcenter.org/welcome/whats-new/

71st Annual CT Artists Exhibition

Weather warnings made little impact on the crowds attending the Opening Reception yesterday at The Slater Memorial Museum.  The place was packed!  As were the walls and the showcases.  It is a visual wonderland.  The exhibit will be in place through March 20, 2015.  If you are in the area, it's certainly worth going! (not just because mine is there...)

A few iPhone pics:

Waterholes between oil paintings

Main Gallery 

Entry

News! Accepted!

I am delighted to have had one of my Color of Place series accepted into The Slater Museum of Art's upcoming 71st Annual Connecticut Artists Juried Exhibition.  This show features the work of Connecticut artist including painting, mixed media, drawing, collage, printmaking, fiber art, photography and sculpture.  It will be open Feb 8 thru Mar 20.  The Opening Reception, open to all, is Sunday, Feb 8, 1:00-3:00pm.  Come join me!

What a grand way to start 2015!

Waterholes 27"x51"

Resolutions

I think I have bitten off more than I can chew (surprise? I think not)

As old as I am, you would not think I would be naive.  When I joined the SAQA Board of Directors last May, I forgot to ask what my job would be.  Ooops.  Membership Committee?  Wonderful!  My heart is with the Regions and their support of our membership.  

Then I realized there never has been a standing MC, issues were addressed on an ad hoc basis.  SO.  In on the ground floor, so to speak.

Can I just say that absolutely everything is related to Membership?  Okay, maybe not Exhibits, directly. 

Interestingly, I started loosing my hair this summer.  Doc is working on thyroid angle but admits it could be stress.

On the heavily positive side, I have had the opportunity of working with some WONDERFUL, committed, talented members.  Just that is a grand place to be.  After I took a deep breath, let go of my stress (step at a time philosophy seems to be working) I can envision how important this committee's contribution to its members can be.  Yep, a wonderful place to be.

This, in part, keeps me not-so-productive in my own studio....or blogging for that matter.  I have taken Work in Progress snaps of the two pieces that I've worked on this year.  "Where Have All the Cattails Gone?" is now completed and photographed.  The Heron is still a WIP with the background mostly quilted...many more layers will be added. But you get the idea.

Heron WIP

Where have all the cattails gone WIP

You MAY need to remind me of this at some point in the future....but...my resolution for 2015 is NOT to volunteer for another thing!  I have enough in the way of commitments.

Stop Me Before I Volunteer Again!  I used to have cocktail napkins (gift from knowledgeable friend) with those words printed on it.  I should have it emblazoned on a throw pillow, a tee-shirt, a bath towel, an apron, key ring....I have to remember it!  Resolved.