Art Quilters at ACC

I forgot that I promised to tell you about the art quilters at the ACC show. It's thrilling to see quilting fit so beautifully into a fine craft show with so many other artists.

I know I've seen Erin Wilson's work before, but it was a total delight to see her work in person and chat with her. Her work is tiny and elegant and absolutely beautifully crafted. Her quilts are amazing because you get a stunning flow of color from far away and as you get close up you discover the individual witty details in each blog. You really must check out her website to see the scope of her work. Here's just a peek of Erin's work...

It was especially fun to see Lisa Call since she shared lots of prep work as she prepared her booth at the ACC show. On her blog, she wrote about designing and purchasing the booth, working with contractors, shipping and preparing artwork in several price points. Didn't it turn out great?!

I am especially impressed that Lisa makes work that is both very large and very small --- but it all still looks like her work! You know? I'm guessing this is really important when you are hoping to makes sales at a large venue like this. Unlike a lot of booths, Lisa had several small signs with descriptions of her process, inspiration and techniques. I bet lots of people enjoyed the opportunity to read them rather than having to ask the artist. But, Lisa was totally available for chatting too. 

Cindy Griselda was there too. She is right here in my area, so we've met before. It's always fun to see her and her dynamic work. She has some photos of her booth on her blog. Here is her piece titled Improvisations.

I really love her careful combination of piecing, color palette and quilting. She appears to be selling tons of pillows off the shelf in her booth. Yeah Cindy!

Libby and Jim Mijanovich are taking "quilting" in a different direction. They call their work "radiant illusions from vintage clothing."

Most of their work was multi-panel and could, conceivably, be installed in many different configurations. Fun. Seriously, if I had these nine panels on my wall, I don't think I could stop myself from constantly rearranging. I am intrigued by the idea of interactive art.

It was great to see Ann Brauer's work too. So many tiny strips! On her website Ann says she's been supporting herself by making contemporary quilts for 31 years. Wow. She must have done lots of these type of shows.

She really has mastered such a beautiful gradation of color in all her work... from rainbow like the piece above to more subtle color palettes in other pieces. Can you imagine her fabric stash?! Wow.... I see she shares a lot of her process on her blog. I need to add her to my list of blogs to read.

I'm always really happy to see artists working in fiber. I instantly feel a bit of kinship with them. But when I think back to the artists at the show whose work I found particularly inspiring or considered purchasing, none of them were fiber artists. Isn't that interesting? Maybe I know too much and feel too close to fabric to look at it in the same way I look at sculpture, painting, jewelry, metal, etc. I wonder if people who make coffee mugs feel the same way when checking out a booth of ceramics?