Fence and Flourish

I finished this large quilt a few weeks ago and I'm thrilled that it was accepted into a special exhibit titled "The Space Between" curated by Jamie Fingal and Leslie Jenison. It's titled Fence and Flourish. It's 36 x 48 inches (as are all the quilts in the exhibit).


When Leslie and Jamie invited me to submit a quilt for this exhibit and announced the theme, we had just moved into our new home here in Maryland. I had a dream about interpreting the theme as the space between our home and the busy road beyond our back fence. It seemed like such an odd, and yet perfectly appropriate, direction to explore. I kept my creative mind open for a new inspiration, but this idea hung on.

All of the elements in the quilt are references to our yard. Some are specific and obvious, others are just tangentially related -- or related only in my mind.

There are birds and plants. There is a swirly swarm that might represent traffic noise. There are pine trees.The fence in the foreground is very much like our side gate. The fence in the background is a lot like our back fence and the trees beyond it were bare when I was creating the quilt. I love the stark lines of the trunks and branches against the sky.

The window is just a sheer painted stencil. Sometimes I'm looking out. Sometimes I'm looking in.

I really am utterly thrilled to be included in this exhibit. Jamie and Leslie did an exhibit with the same format last year, Beneath the Surface. My quilt Spontaneity and Stability was in that collection also. Making these quilts, being accepted, seeing the exhibit and connecting with other artists has been tremendously gratifying both artistically and personally.

The Space Between will be at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in November and so will I! Yeah! I'm looking forward to it already.

Treehouse

I finished the tree house quilt!


I'm going with the very clever title, "Treehouse."

After seeing the SAQA sponsored special exhibits in Houston, I challenged myself to work toward creating art quilts to enter in SAQA shows. When SAQA announced Sense of Adventure as one of their shows for 2011, I decided to get to work.

When I think of adventure, I remember with great joy and excitement the zip line adventure my family took in Antigua in summer 2009. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to carry cameras on the tour, so I didn't have photos for reference. I turned to google, flickr and other internet sights for inspiration and found an image of a tree house at the very same site where we did the zip lines. I loved the shape and structure of the tree house combined with the lush colors and textures of the rainforest. Though this seems like a deviation from the zip line concept, it was a series of connections along the same idea and I decided to follow it.

I made lots of sketches (which I posted here) and pulled lots of fabric. I did some surface design and looked at more photos for reference. I started by constructing the tree house. I was pleased with how it turned out. It's more realistic than I usually work.
Then I set it in the trees and added the rope bridge. There was not enough contrast between the gray trees and the green background, so I added the white painted edge as if the sun is shining on them. I really love that edge and the long wavy lines of the trees.

I haven't done rocks in a while, so I went back to that beloved shape as the foundation for this piece. They are made from a beautiful black aloha fabric with green ferns. I got it in Hawaii. (Another adventure.)

In the last few steps, I added the sheer leaves and the hand embroidered vines.

I'll be honest and say that at several points along the way, I was really stuck. Eventually, I realized I was not going to be able to finish it in time for the Sense of Adventure deadline. So I let it pass. Then... SAQA extended the deadline. This was a sign to me that I must press on. Which I did. I finished in time to enter. I'm really glad it's done. I'm glad I didn't just fold it up and let it sit even though it was a huge challenge. I was rejected from the show, which is not surprising to me. I don't think I was ever able to fully recover from some of the problems that I came across with this particular quilt. It's not my very very best work in my personal estimation, though there are many things I like about it.

I think I will enter it in Tactile Architecture which is a special exhibit with the International Quilt Association. I've been in Tactile Architecture twice before and it's one of my favorite collections of work. I'd be honored to be included again. I think it's ok to still put it out there even if it's not a complete success. I suspect if everyone showed only the work they deemed to be absolutely fully conceived and executed, we'd see a lot less art.

Chartreuse Reveal

Yesterday was the latest "reveal" on the 12x12 blog. Gerrie picked Chartreuse as the palette for this round of our ColorPlay series.

Here is my submission. It's called Approaching Departure.

You can read more about it on the 12x12 blog. Plus see the 11 other chartreuse quilts!

I finished this quilt well before the deadline, but I wasn't sure I was pleased with it. I started another chartreuse quilt and worked on it throughout the last few days, but it wasn't really coming together. The more I look at this piece and think about how and why I constructed it, I'm pleased with it and I think it is a good addition to my 12x12 collection and to my continuing development as an artist.

Inspiring

I had such a wonderful time with the Dallas Area Fiber Artists last week. Really, it was just fantastic.

I taught a workshop titled "Techniques and Truths: Inspired by the 12x12 Art Quilt Challenge." I wanted the participants to get a taste of lots of different experiences including creating art to a theme. At the beginning of the day, we brainstormed several ideas for themes.

Then we went to work exploring various techniques including surface design using handwriting as a graphic element. Here's Jo doing some excellent work.Eventually we got to composing 12x12 art quilts. Here are Mary's in-progress pieces. She was working on the theme "tsunami."

Here is Sherrie working with a beautiful collection of surfaced designed fabrics.
At the DAFA program meeting on Monday evening, all of the women standing at the front of the room shared the pieces they had created in the workshop.
It was absolutely exhilarating and quite humbling to see these thirteen participants share their work and talk about the "nuggets of inspiration" they took away from the workshop. I really love when artists find a way to work independently and yet generate a collaborative spirit. Of course, that has been one of the many experiences I've enjoyed as part of the 12x12 group. I'm eager to share it with others!