POAC Winter Exhibit: Miniatures

The Winter Exhibit is divided into three distinct categories: Fiber which you can view in yesterday's post, Miniatures which are not to exceed 10" x 10" in size, and "Beyond Form" or abstract. Today I share my favorites from the Miniature category, starting with this lovely watercolor leaf by Karen Robinson. I'm sure I don't have to tell you why it caught my attention.

Then there's the metal work of Denys Knight, whose work continues to captivate me (I own one of her pieces). Last year she had moved to adding large glass beads from costume jewelry to her pieces, few of which resonated with me. But this grouping captured my imagination once more with the metal trees added on top of undulating backgrounds and her flame technique.

I like the "Sampler" which had richer colors than I think the photo shows. And more tree scenes! Click on any photo to see detail and read info on gallery cards.

As an aside, this is my view today - another storm that will last all day and perhaps leave as much as ten inches of snow in its wake. Frankly, I like it better than the rain earlier in the week . . .

 

Return to the Fiber Exhibit

Are you ready for some art? I made it back to the winter exhibit this week with fully-charged battery in my camera! As promised, I now share some of the other art and artists in the "Rooted In Fiber" portion of the exhibit (see the first pictures in this post. I'm starting out, though, with another shot of Charlotte Campbell's work, the large rawhide sculpture which looked to be turned differently and with better light on it so you can really see the fabulous image she produces using rawhide. (Remember to click on any photo for a larger view to see details and read information on any gallery cards.

You might remember Vickie Edwards from previous exhibits and posts about my art group. In these two pieces she's added interesting 3-d elements, mounted each piece on a painted canvas and placed the canvases in floater frames.

She adds a lot of hand stitching to her work, including on these pieces a blanket stitch to finish off the edges. So no wrapping around the canvas as I usually do when using this method of framing, but leaving a sliver of light grey of the canvas all around.

Another art group member, Terrie Kremer, shared these three music-themed works. Besides her extensive interest in the fiber arts, Terrie is quite involved in music. Check out the clef quilting around the top one, free-motion quilted without markings to guide her. Yes, I am impressed.

Beginning Point: Triangles by Terrie Kremer

Terrie also entered this piece in the abstract portion of the exhibit. I'm afraid my photo is a little washed out and I've done my best to fix it, but still, the green in this quilt pops a lot, is a very lime green. Called "Beginning Point: Triangles" it began as an experiment in a class or at a retreat (I've forgotten the exact details) and pushed her to cut and add and edit and then quilt with abandon to end up with a really interesting abstract design. I'll be showing you more from the abstract section in a separate post.

Work by Sue Graves

Sue Graves is a quilter I met through exhibiting together at these POAC events, and while she still does more traditional quilting than I do, she enjoys stretching herself a bit with more artistic endeavors and working with hand-dyed fabrics. I'm pretty partial to any design remotely like a mariner compass block, so it's not surprising that her "Supernova" caught my eye. I also liked her simple "Checks and Balances" that played with hand-dye gradations and the quilting on both.

Finally, I share this large and dimensional piece by a most diminutive quilter. I met Joanie Renkert through POAC in my first exhibit with them back in 2008. She really is quite short (well under 5 ft) but her fiber art is always BIG, sometimes bigger than she is (as I suspect this piece is).

She generally works with atypical fabrics, often manipulating them and adding 3-dimensional elements. I knew when I saw this it must be hers - talk about having a voice and recognizable style. She's got that nailed!

Stay tuned for a post of my favorites from the miniatures and abstracts in the Winter Exhibit. 

Ditching the Plan, More Odds & Ends

So much for the big dig-out, I mean, tidying up last week. I did quite a bit throughout the house the first day: tossing a lot of over-the-counter medicines not used anymore with embarrassingly long beyond their expiration dates, clearing a few stacks off the downstairs table, shredding lots of documents and junk mail I let accumulate for months, and last but not least, making a stab at the studio by putting away some rulers, tape and cutting implements. I could not face refolding the quilts to return to their bin, getting hung up on the idea that I should leave one or two out to put up somewhere but which ones? But it was a start (and yesterday all that clutter in that end of the studio is now back in the closet where it belongs).

I failed to continue with the tidying up because I got sidetracked by a too good to pass up coupon deal on blog2print.com. I have this thing about my presence on the internet (supposedly forever but more ephemeral in nature than most will admit) and don't think the chances are good that those who sift through my physical things when I'm gone will think to look for me there. Give me a good old fashioned book on the shelf to assure my longevity, or so I think. Plus I find paging through a book to find something is often faster than trying to track it down on the computer. And because of my penchant for doing things chronologically, once I decided to take advantage of this service that will easily (if not a little expensively) print out my blog, I of course had to start at the beginning - 2005 (with only a few months) and 2006 combined in one book. It took some time to edit out unnecessary posts and comments to get it to a size that, even with a coupon, wouldn't leave me feeling too guilty about the expense (talk about a vanity press!), but the results were all I'd hoped for.

I've let a lot of "deals" pass me by since that first book, but this time it was a particularly high discount and I had some money from a quilt sale I could use towards it. So I spent the rest of the week scrolling through my 2007 and 2008 posts and editing them down for two somewhat affordable books. So much interesting stuff in those two years, if I do say so myself. I'd totally forgotten that I'd played along with a tag that asked questions about my creative beginnings and leanings, the answers not unlike the information in my recent artist talk. If I had remembered, I could have saved myself some time in preparing that talk perhaps, because the answers have not change in ten years. You can check it out for yourself in the post "An Unexpected Distraction." 

And if you have time on your hands, look through the 2008 posts which struck me as particularly full of meaty and interesting things. Snow and lots of it, quotations sometimes elaborated upon or generating thoughtful comments (from readers I no longer hear from and wonder what became of them), taking up of challenges and lots of experimentation leading to successful quilts, my first exhibit with POAC, a train trip to Minnesota for a quilting retreat, beautiful blooms, vistas and wildlife . . . it was a jam packed year with lots accomplished and lots of musings about this artistic life I'd stepped into. I'm glad I took the time to go through it, noting what has changed and what remains the same, and glad it is coming to me soon in book form.

Computers need tidying up too, and there's been some of that which includes actually reading some of the things saved for later. In more catching up on the blogs I follow, I found a couple more posts I'd saved to share with you. I hope you're not tired of Austin Kleon yet as they are from him, things to muse on that struck a chord with me, and might with you too:

Christmas gift from a friend

"How to hide and still be found" acknowledges that artists need their alone time in order to make something worth being found, yet also need to stay connected with their audiences and the world at large. Or as D.W. Winnicott put it:

“It is a joy to be hidden… but disaster not to be found.”

"You receive what you're ready to receive" draws from Henry Thoreau's journal a musing we've all probably experienced, how you may be exposed to something numerous times but don't take it in if it is not currently of interest to you. But once something does get in your sights, it shows up everywhere and you are eager to pursue those leads to broaden your knowledge. This was even evident as I paged through those old blog posts. As Thoreau himself says:

"The phenomenon or fact that cannot in any wise be linked with the rest which he has observed, he does not observe. By and by we may be ready to receive what we cannot receive now."

Hope your New Year is getting off to a good start, you figuring out how to hide in a way to still be found, and ready to receive some new thing that will push your creative endeavors forward.        

2018!

And just like that, 2017 whisked by and is gone. . .

And here is the last spread in my 2017 pocket calendar. I must admit that, while it was interesting and educational to work on these with colored pencil, I am ready to move on from this particular practice.

I've been thinking about what I want to use as my resolution word for 2018. Last year I chose "endure", having realized I'd spent much of 2016 in endurance mode and anticipated that 2017 would also pose many moments needing to be endured. But once looking back at how 2017 had gone, I didn't have a sense that I'd spent much time or energy having to endure difficult events or interactions. Perhaps because I went into the year with such a positive attitude about the idea of "enduring the slings and arrows" life might throw at me, assured I would survive even if ruffled, what I did endure did not leave much of a lasting impression. Granted, I was not chased from my home by wildfires, hurricanes or floods. Nor did I sustain any major personal losses to endanger either my emotional or financial well-being. I can only look back at the tumultuous year in general and be thankful I was so little affected by so many world-wide upheavals.

So having survived a year that was not nearly as bad for me as I anticipated, one where my energy and drive steadily increased to allow a return to things sidelined for so long, I feel like hitting the refresh button, taking a new and less cautious look at the many things that make up my daily life. That page that's been up on my browser for awhile may only need to be refreshed, not changed; no need for a new browser all together either, if I may dabble in an internet metaphor. I feel like being refreshed, and taking a fresh look at the familiar, some of which has gotten a little stale in my carefulness to endure. So that will be my resolution word for 2018, REFRESH!, the thing to pull up and remind myself of when I'm not sure where I want to go or sense things are getting too same old same old.

And here's something I stole off Facebook, too good not to share, because I think we all could use more of the things on this list throughout the new year. May your 2018 be filled with these and creative joy! 

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Previous resolution words:

2008 - Freedom

2009 - Calm

2010 - Focus

2011 - Refocus

2012 - Balance & Harmony

2013 - Perseverance

2014 - Explore

2015 - Fearless

2016 - Light

2017 - Endure

Wrapping Up 2017

I've enjoyed the slower pace this last week of the year. I've been catching up on my reading - book, magazine, on-line, including other blogs and links saved for "when I have more time" - and doing the closest thing I do to binge watching tv series and movies recorded for when the regular network shows I follow go on hiatus.

There's also been more snow, which started Thursday and steadily continued through Saturday morning. It was mostly a light fluffy snow, and although my thoughtful neighbor with the snowblower kept at the accumulation with multiple passes, I managed to sneak in a shoveling of at least my side of the driveway once when about 4 inches had stacked up and the satellite dish needed cleaning out. When the snow's not heavy, I don't mind the exercise it gives me.

By Saturday afternoon, the temperatures soared above freezing and most everyone had their driveways cleared. Then that night, the temperatures plunged to 12 degrees Fahrenheit. But that brief bit of warming made it easier to clean up all that snow. I had no way of accurately measuring the total but I'm sure we got over a foot of new snow, and the snowbanks are getting pretty high.

While scrolling through my blog feedreader, I discovered a few posts I'd saved to share here. Every so often different bloggers I follow will voice uncertainty about continuing to blog. If that's you then this post, A Few Notes On Daily Blogging, on Austin Kleon's blog is for you. He had let his blogging slide for the quicker throw it up on Tumblr or Twitter or Instagram etc for a quick share. He decided to challenge himself to get back to regular blogging and explains the value of daily blogging. His take on all the various social media platforms vs the blog is similar to mine, and while our reasons for a media presence are much different, what we've discovered as value in the blog experience is much the same:

The idea started out from my anxiety about “stock and flow.” As Robin Sloan wrote seven years ago: flow is the feed (“It’s the posts and the tweets. It’s the stream of daily and sub-daily updates that reminds people you exist.”) and stock is the durable stuff (“It’s the content you produce that’s as interesting in two months (or two years) as it is today. It’s what people discover via search. It’s what spreads slowly but surely, building fans over time.”)

Reading down his list of things he discovered as he got back to daily blogging, several had me nodding my head in agreement: "2) ...I could start to see all the connections between posts, the patterns, the idea planets I keep orbiting. Because it’s all in one place, hyperlinked together, I can see my own obsessions in a way that is much harder elsewhere." and "3) I had forgotten how wonderful blogging is as a mode of thinking... It’s also great to be able to go as long or as short as you want to go." (The same can be said for journaling.) Now, I'm not going to start blogging daily, and I'm not suggesting you do either unless it suits you, but if you do have a blog, I do encourage you to keep posting to it because, quick or lengthy, IT'S A GOOD THING!

Austin also speaks to what I've learned over the years in his blog post "Tidying up". 

"The best studio tidying is a kind of exploring — I’m re-discovering spaces as I sift through the objects that occupy them. The reason I tidy is not to clean, but to come into contact with something special that I’ve forgotten that I can now use. This is a slow, dreamy, ruminative, reminiscent form of tidying."

I don't think there's much I can do in my studio until I've done some tidying up (which will have to include cleaning). When I was looking for a third piece to add to my new ones in the fiber show, I ended up digging through a bin of work dating back years, looking for a specific piece. Haven't been through that bin for awhile and to be honest, I found myself surprised at what I ran across. When in doubt, actually LOOK at what you've created from beginning to current. I've done some really fine work over the years, and when I'm struggling with, disappointed in whatever I've immersed myself in at the moment, and convinced I am a hack and have never been anything but a hack my brain is too quick to agree. The hard evidence before me now said otherwise. Anyway, you can see by the photo, that physical search of mine resulted in quilts and the stuff stacked on top of the bin strewn over the ironing board, chairs and floor, and the table still shows signs of exhibit preparation. So tidy up I must do, as my first creative task of the new year.

And as I'm tidying up, I no doubt will discover that "The best thing about tidying is that it busies my hands and loosens up my mind so that a) I get unstuck with a new idea or I solve a problem in my head b) I come across something in the mess that leads to new work..." I've had both happen often, and I have some new ideas as well as old ones percolating in my brain as I look to the new year. I'll never get it all neat as a pin, and Austin maintains that is a good thing, as long as you can find your tools:

"Some of my favorite artists not only have messy studios, they have intentionally messy studios, because they understand that creativity is about connections, and connections are not made by siloing everything off into its own space. New ideas are formed by interesting juxtapositions, and interesting juxtapositions happen when things are out of place."

Yes, those accidental and out of place juxtapositions, especially of fabric, have often led me to lightbulb moments. Not that I'm in need of any new ideas right now. But I will not be surprised if some pop up in the process of getting the studio in working order again. Be sure and read the entire post - so many good things in it, more than I can cover here.

I think that's enough philosophizing for this post. The clock is winding down to midnight, I have turkey enchiladas to make and bubbly to imbibe. 2017 is nearly over and put to bed. Goodnight, 2017. May 2018 be a kinder year to all.

 

Rooted In Fiber Exhibit - The Talk

My 3 offerings: Idaho Maple & Leaf Cluster VI & VII

Several things have kept me from reporting in about the Rooted In Fiber Exhibit opening reception, including the fact that I took not a single photo while there, probably a first for me. I did make it back to the bank last week to get a few pictures to go along with my report on how the artist talk went.

I was distracted by the cramped spacing of fiber art on this wall, many hung with pushpins (a story in itself). Work by Kim Powers & Cheryl Lipari on either side of mine.

Bear in mind that when I offered to do an artist talk, I merely meant to give a little background on my history working with fibers and needlework of all types that eventually led me to traditional quilting and then to art quilting. I just wanted to stand there and partly explain the pieces hanging in the exhibit and how I had arrived here in my creative journey, maybe point out the influences from my experiences prior to art quilting that crept into these three examples of my current work.

More of Kim Powers work with hand stitching and found objects

But then I was directed to the person organizing the talks, and she had a much different take on what she wanted them to be and cover. Whatever. I'd been feeling what I can only describe as a bit jaded after my initial excitement leading up to these exhibits. I couldn't really buy into what she was explaining, but I said I'd do the talk anyway. And she'd be sending me prompts, questions she hoped to be answered in a Q & A following my talk. Here is what I received:

The purpose of this series is to elevate the conversation about why art is important, a question to which all artists can give some sort of answer, and a question that is at the very core of why each of us makes art.

Because art targets the public at large (unless it doesn't), all of us must think about the kind of influence our work has on the world around us, which leads me into the concept that perhaps artists have a civic duty to engage the world as public speakers (our work speaks, but we can join in).

We looked at the work you have on display on your blog and we prepared a series of prompts/questions for you to use as guidance in your gallery talk. We want the talk to be more like a conversation, where the public will have ample chance to ask questions.

1. What is it about the nature of fabric that resonates with you.

2. What are the metaphors behind the kinds of mark making you use in your work, and how do you use those marks to build up your work?

3. Talk about the contemporary context in which your work thrives the most.

Oh dear. She thinks me a "real" artist (I have no art degree and am mostly self-educated and self-taught). And these are the wrong pieces to use as examples to address these questions, even if the questions actually apply to my art and the way I work. These pieces are more decorative art, especially the leaf cluster series, which I am only doing for my own pleasure and exploration. These have no deeper meaning attached, no metaphors lurking in mark making, what little of it there may be (although I have done pieces along the way that would be good examples). And frankly, I didn't have a clue how to answer that third question, and not even sure how much my art is thriving in any context. Luckily, the bulk of my talk answered the first question (a short version in my exhibit artist statement and more shared in my bio and artist statement pages on this blog), and I was quite honest about sharing what I've shared here about the other questions. At this point in my journey, I'm not concerned with how I fit in any part of the art world, only grateful that I have found a town with an organization that accepts what I do as art of sufficient quality to be a part of its frequent exhibits, and that those who come out for the receptions are art savvy and engage with me in thoughtful and helpful ways - also included in my talk. From the look on the faces of those gathered to listen, I think this last pleased them the most, and I was glad for a chance to express it.

A very striking piece by Terri Palmer

A "conversation" did not ensue, except for one woman who came up afterwards to look more closely and ask a few technical questions. When I asked if there were any questions, they indicated I'd covered it all well. And a POAC rep asked if I would write up something similar to what I'd said in my talk to be posted on their website. Considering I was speaking off the cuff with only a few notes jotted down, I'd say job well done.

Rawhide sculptures by Charlotte Campbell

So my question to you is, how do you feel about what was in the letter from POAC, and how would you answer those three questions if they were put to you? While you're mulling this, enjoy these last pictures from the exhibit by my art group friend, Meg. She is trying something a bit different with her individually constructed pieces that she previously grouped directly on the wall. Now the pieces are mixed and matched on, in this case, a fabric covered stretcher frame, or on a plain quilted background, free to extend beyond those boundaries. They are not permanently attached as you might be able to see from the shadows cast by dangling legs.

Her moon that has been hanging on the ground floor of this same building since June, minor changes being regularly made, now has been paired with the tree house from her previously ongoing amazing tree project.

Meg Marchiando's Moon project

And then my camera battery died (dead batteries becoming a theme for me lately). So I will return to view the exhibit when I have more time and share more pieces of art from it in the new year. Don't forget that you can click on any photo for a larger view. There's lots of detail to see in most of them.

And for another take on what defines contemporary art and being an artist, check out Hilary's recent blog post with an excellent link on the subject at Living to work - Working to live. 

Twas The Week Leading To Christmas

Who needs Starbucks when you can custom make your own eggnog lattes each day?

 

 

A young moose came to visit and hang out in the neighborhood.

 

 

Last minute gifts were wrapped for shipping.

 

 

Mother Nature decided we needed a big snow - 15 inches! Was pretty "exciting" driving to the post office in the midst of the storm to mail those packages.

 

 

 A few days later, the car battery gave up the ghost after 12 years - thank goodness for AAA service who quickly dispatched someone to give the battery a jump and for the Precision Tire people less than a mile down the road who could get me right in to replace it.

 

 

The house is tidied and a few decorations put out, including the annual Reed and Barton silver Christmas Cross I add to my collection each year.

 

 

Yes Virginia, people still DO sent hand-signed Christmas cards and letters via the postal service...

 

 

...including me, even though I was late getting to it and some are still winging their way to their destinations.

 

Wishing my readers a Merry Christmas and a safe and memorable holiday season!

 

Your continued interest in and comments on my creative journey and its ramblings is your much appreciated gift to me.

Shifting Gears

I've been so focused on the exhibits and the physical therapy that I am just this week addressing Christmas preparations. Not so my neighbors, including the one that shares the other half of my townhouse duplex and cleared snow for me. This is what their side looks like, and I wouldn't mind at all if they continued that string of lights across my garage as well!

They even hung a lighted garland over the spot where are trash bins sit.

Once the cards are written and a few decorations up, I'll be starting on a quilt for my god-daughter's baby girl born the day after Thanksgiving. I have an idea based on a quilt kit I saw in the AQS catalog. It uses a white background but I want to use up some of that lavender that wasn't lavender fabric I dyed up earlier this year. Studying the picture and taking some measurements, I think I have the dimensions of the block and its components figured out. Yes, I was still getting exhibit stuff ready but couldn't resist mocking up the block and its setting. It verified the change I thought I wanted to make. Of course, the strip colors are just random ones I picked. It will take some pulling from the stash to figure out what the color scheme will really be. I'm hoping not to make this too complicated so that I don't have to spend too much time getting it made. As my friend Michele noted in an email "The good thing about baby quilts is that they tend to work up fast -- much faster than a full-size bed quilt. That is -- unless you are my friend Sheila and you over-think things!" Exactly what I was thinking as I read along. When do I ever NOT over-think things? :-) Let's hope I can keep it simple and fast.

I'm hoping the turnout for tomorrow night's opening reception for the Rooted in Fiber exhibit is better attended than last Friday's opening reception for the Power of Renaissance exhibit. It was mostly the die-hard POAC supporters who showed up. I was surprised that there was not more art, and that art was only hung on the main floor. I did get several comments on Eisenberg Fountain's "commercial" appeal. I've always thought that, that it would look good hanging at a business, but these comments were also encouraging me to contact a local home decor designer because they could see it in someone's home as well. I may follow up with that after the exhibit is over. I also noticed a couple studying it close up, pointing at the stitching near the top that depicts the cascading water. I wish I'd gotten a chance to talk to them.

POAC is trying something new with the incorporation of  Artist Talks at the opening receptions. Here is Bonnie Shields talking about her evolution as an artist, showing some quite early pieces. I got brave and asked if they had anyone lined up for the winter exhibit, and they were quite eager to have me do it. So tomorrow night, I'll be talking about my work and answering some specific questions posed by the organizer of the talks. Wish me luck!