Thursday, April 08, 2010

Hood River Fun


I'm back and still unpacking from the Hood River trip. This time I drove, and there were those windmills along the Columbia Gorge that so fascinated me on my last trip down this way. Gotta do something textile-oriented with those images.


The "Fiber Art Now" exhibit was one of the best I've seen and definitely worth the drive to see. The exhibit runs through May 2nd so still plenty of time to see it. In the meantime, here's a sampling of some of the fiber art on display, taken quickly so may not be the best representation of the real thing. My friend, Judi, took a different direction in subject matter for this show, creating some whimsy with her mermaids and fairy quilts.


Here's another fairy quilt, larger than the others. For perspective, the fairy is about 12 inches high. Click on this or any picture for a larger version to enjoy the detail.


I was quite excited to see Trisha Hassler's metal and fiber work in person. I first ran across her in the book Speaking in Cloth: 6 Quilters, 6 Voices from the Coos Art Museum exhibit of the same name. I could tell from the photos that her work demanded to be seen in real life and I was not disappointed. This is truly layered work, and the cutouts in the metal add a unique dimension to her work. There were several of her pieces I'd love to take home with me, but alas, not that much discretionary money in the budget.


Patricia Spark is a feltmaker, weaver, printmaker and glass beadmaker. Here are two of her felted works which I really liked. Felting is one of those things that I appreciate when done well (which these are) but have no desire to do myself. That one on the left could have come home with me too.


Rhonda Harris is a long-time Hood River resident who works a bit more traditional/contemporary in her quilting. She loves color and I found her work for this show quite striking. I was disappointed that my photos didn't capture the saturation of the colors in her fabrics. This is her beachballs series, and if you click on the picture and study the fabric, you will see why she named them that.


This is part of her series using Aboriginal designed fabrics. Framing these larger pieces really set her work apart.


More from the Aboriginal series.


I was delighted that my Internet friend and challenge partner, June, came up from Portland for the show. If I look a little tired there, well, I was as it had been a busy day. We stayed at the same motel, and I invited her and her husband, plus Judi, over to my room afterward for a little show and tell. I thought all of them would enjoy seeing some of the pieces I've done for our challenge close up. And enticing them with a bottle of wine didn't hurt.


Finally, here's my friend, Judi, with the three pieces she made for the February "Red" exhibit. More about our time together in the next post. We DID have some fun!

4 comments:

Sherrie Spangler said...

Hi Shayla! I just joined your distinguished list of followers, and I invite you to join mine on my 1-week-old blog. The show looks great! You and Judy and June look great!

The Idaho Beauty said...

Hey Sherrie - glad to have you on board. And thanks for reminding me - gotta get over to your blog and become a follower too!

I look great? Really? Boy, wait until you see me when I'm well and rested! lol

June said...

She looked splendid -- it's the camera's fault if she looked anything less than. And Sheila, I'm glad to hear you got some sewing done after all. It was great to meet Judi. I didn't get into the ag show, so I won't be getting back to Hood River any time soon. All the more important then, that we had our Friday night.

I've been a bit under the weather this week, but am improving rapidly (writing at 9 PM is a definite sign of coming around). So maybe I'll be back blogging soon. I haven't even touched my camera -- I think I have a photo of you in there somewhere:-)

The Idaho Beauty said...

Splendid? Oh, what a relief! Get that picture out of your camera if it proves your point...;-)

Too bad about the ag show - we'll have to find another reason to get you back to Hood River. Judi enjoyed meeting you too and kept saying "Jerry's a real sweetheart." Don't tell or it may go to his head. He really was a sweetheart to chauffeur us around and put up with our quilt talk.

Well, rest up - I definitely know how it feels to be under the weather and just got around to unpacking the last of the bags from the trip today. Feeling pretty zippy at last and hope to sew tomorrow.