Welcoming 2014

It's a new year and I am looking forward with excitement and a good deal of anticipation. 2013 was a major year of transition. Our beautiful granddaughter will have been with us for a full year at the end of this month. My life has felt at times like a perpetual transition from one trip to another but I wouldn't trade it for anything. She has filled our lives with joy and laughter.

Demonstrating Proper Use of Santa Claus Table Napkins

As 2014 begins, I have begun work on a new art quilt in what I am calling my Arctic/Antarctic series. Here is a sneak peak at the start.

Hand stitching looms large in my plans for 2014. I have already signed up for continued study with Karen Ruanne through Simply Stitching 4. A bit of time each day is consumed with perfecting stitches. While French Knots roll off my needle easily, those bouillon knots are not yet up to snuff for inclusion in a work. I will have completed my first 'sampler' pouch soon and will be sharing.

In the last few weeks of 2013, I wrapped up some UFOs from the fall. Two pieces are away at the photographers. The third is a smaller piece that I created from some ice dying last summer.

Creating "Serenity"

I mentioned towards the end of May about a photo I had taken of a Japanese garden and was trying to decide upon the best crop to use. That decision is now past and I am working on the piece. In the end, I expect the title will be "Serenity" as that is what comes to mind as I construct it.

The view that I eventually selected

Here is a glimpse of my WIP - part of the upper right area prior to the bridge, red tree, and other foliage being added. There is actually a fence that runs across 2/3 of the scene and is barely visible.

You can see how I have used some of that organza that I ice-dyed at the end of June.

Now I am focusing on all that is in front of the fenced area. Gradually, it is coming together!

I am linking this to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday blog, so please check out what others have been doing this week.

While Enjoying the Pause

It has been great fun to let my dear Irish Cottage sit while I catch up on a myriad of other projects.

It has been quite a bit since I straightened up my stash. I had installed some storage shelves about 18 months ago with an eye to organizing my fabrics. Needless to say, buying new material and pulling the old in and out took its toll on the organization factor. So, over the past week, I have gone through many of the cubbies and re-sorted things.

One of the rewards for my perseverance was the discovery of a small piece of gray silk that was exactly what I wanted for part of the roof of my cottage.

Another project that I tackled was a donation for the upcoming SAQA auction. I really didn't think that I would have the time to create a piece for it, but then this break magically appeared. The auction is a main fund-raiser for an organization that has supported me wonderfully as I have evolved as an art quilter. All pieces in the auction are 12"x12" and it is a great opportunity to collect art by some amazingly talented artists. The online portion of the auction will be begins on Monday, September 9th at 2:00 PM Eastern Time and concludes on Sunday, September 29 at 2:00 PM Eastern. (There will be a separate auction at the IQF in Houston.)

 This piece is a machine quilted digital image, adapted from a photo that I took this winter in Aspen. Here is a detail view of some of the quilting.

Sure hope that someone bids on it during the auction!

It is Off the Wall Friday, so please check out other posts by artists at Nina-Marie Sayer's blog.

By the way, Elaine Quehl has a great article on copyrights on her blog.

Enjoy!

A Good Week!

Had two pieces of nice news last week.

Illuminated Albizia has won first place in the River Walk Artists Gallery International Juried Exhibit in East Grand Forks, MN.

Ice Flow and Keeping Perspective are currently on exhibit in the PAQA South ARTQUILTSwater Exhibit in Cary, NC.  The exhibit will next travel for viewing during June at the gallery at the East Carolina University in Greenville, NC.

Ice Flow

Keeping Perspective

Upcoming Show for PAQA-South

I am delighted that two of my quilts will be on exhibit with the PAQA-South 10^th International Juried Exhibit of innovative fine art quilts: ARTQUILTSwater.

Ice Flow by Judy Warner

 ARTQUILTSwater addresses the many literal and metaphorical interpretations of water in quiltart form. The exhibit can be viewed from January 4 – March 24, 2013 at Page-Walker Arts & History Center and Cary Arts Council, both in the downtown area of Cary, North Carolina.

Keeping Perspective by Judy Warner

 Here is the list of exhibiting artists. Congratulations to all!

Roxane Lessa Dolphins Rising
Jeanelle McCall Waterlicious
Joan Rutledge Swirling Leaves
Lois Sprague Living the Good Life #1
Connie Carrington Rushing Stream/Waterfall
Laura Gaskin Creekside Elegance
Laura Gaskin Waiting
Wen Redmond Cormorants Perch
Wen Redmond Lichen on Stone Yellow
Judy Warner Ice Flow
Judy Warner Keeping Perspective
Linda Laird Shall We Gather at the River?
Annette Rogers Downstream
Linda Schmidt Ahhh…Venice
Linda Schmidt May the Force Be With You
Eileen Kane Rhythm
Eileen Kane Not a Care in the World
Andrea Perejda Fracked
Susan Lenz Key West Sea III
Susan Lenz Key West Sea IV
Susan Lenz Key West Sea V
Marie Spadaro Sun, Sand, Sea, Sky
Nanette Zeller Spigot
Diane Wright Desert Rain
Susan Shie Water Signs: King of Pyrex Cups in the Kitchen Tarot
Bonnie Smith Swimming Upstream, aqua
Bonnie Smith Swimming Upstream, green
Bonnie Smith Swimming Upstream, blue
Laura McGrath Wind Driven Rain
Eileen Lauterborn Gathering Storm
Eileen Lauterborn Low Tide
Ruby Horansky A Drop of Rain
Gerrie Congdon Kelp Dance
Jenny Williams Sea Oat
Jenny Williams Coral Reef
Jenny Williams Hull
Kathryn Conte Black River
Gwen Brink Sea Dragon Song
Deborah Langsam Meadow Frost
Nancy Lassiter Currents
Martha Warshaw Polyphonic Square 16: Fort Worth
Martha Warshaw Polyphonic Square 17: Chicago River
Jen Siegrist Deep End of Emotion

Appreciating Detail

Our local fiber arts group, RAFA, has just completed a show at the William's Gallery here in Rochester, NY. It was a beautiful show - I am always impressed by the depth of skill of our members.

About a week ago, I revisited the exhibit for a second time with a couple of members. It was a quiet time of day and we had the gallery to ourselves. It gave me the opportunity to really study some of the pieces. Here are two that I took particular delight in photographing. Hope you enjoy too.

The first is The Gem Tree by Maria Rankin.

 Maria uses the convergence method of piecing of Ricky Tims to create the background. I love the highlights in the upper left corner and can almost imagine sunlit mountains and blue sky. She then overlays a very special tree that is covered with gems. The thread painting is absolutely wonderful!

The second quilt, Sentinel, is by one of my favorite local quilters, Val Schultz.

Val is known for her exquisite quilting. As you look through the detail photos of this quilt, appreciate the multitude of designs that she creates and blends together in this piece.

SAQA Auction approaching!

Once again the SAQA Auction is almost upon us. The auction is the largest yearly fundraiser for SAQA and I have contributed a quilt for the past three years.

The online Auction begins a week from today on Monday September 10.  Link to the Auction details.  In addition, a selection of the quilts will auctioned at the IQF in Houston in November.

There are always several hundred quilts, all 12 inch square, to choose from. SAQA has some of the most amazing artists so be sure to browse early and pick a few favorites to bid on.

I decided to have a bit of fun with my entry for this year. I call it "I spy."

It is up to the viewer to decide what our friend might be looking out upon. 

Rochester Area Fiber Artists Present "Branching Out"

Hope that you have a chance to visit the latest show of my local fiber arts group.

Fiber Art exploring the concept of ‘Branching Out’
with new materials, ideas, and complexity.

 Williams Gallery
First Unitarian Church of Rochester
220 Winton Road South
Rochester, NY 14610 

 

Opening Reception: Friday, August 24, 5pm-8pm

Gallery Hours: M-F 10am-2pm and 4:30pm-8pm

 

It’s best to call the church office at 585-271-9070 to confirm.

Image above: ‘Swampwood’ by Kate Wylie

I am pleased that one of my latest art quilts, "Winter Morn," is in the show.

 

Winter Morn by Judy Warner

Elin Noble at the Schweinfurth

A few unusual turn of events and I found myself with a free evening last night and the opportunity to drive over to Auburn, New York to hear Elin Noble speak at the Schweinfurth Art Center. There was a record crowd for Elin's talk, due in part to Schweinfurth's sponsorship of Quilting by the Lake where Elin is currently teaching. The Schweinfurth is currently exhibiting Fold & Unfold: The Cloth and Quilts of Elin Noble.

When I heard that Elin was giving a talk on her work, I immediately went to her website to learn more about what she is currently doing. It took only a few minutes of browsing her website and photos of her works to know that I wanted to hear her speak. While you have missed the talk, if you are able to visit Schweinfurth before August 19, I would encourage you to go see her works in person.

Some are quilted, some are sheers either against a background fabric or hung over a rod and draped from ceiling to floor. All are powerful images. It is obvious that Elin has been 'dyeing for the past 30 years' as she explained in her opening remarks.

As I was driving home last night, I thought about what stood out for me in Elin's talk. She went into a good amount of detail on process and why she created the series that are displayed. But, what I found myself focusing upon were several basic statements that can be appreciated by all artists:

1. A true sense of gratitude for all that she has been blessed with and that allows her to create her works
2. The basic rule that in creating her works, her decision process is always to go with what pleases her.
3. Finally, that her journey to where she is today has evolved from many, many hours of experimentation and practice, practice, practice.

Exciting New Class by Red-Dog Enterprises

Saturday I had the pleasure of taking a new digital class that Julie Brandon is teaching through her company, Red-Dog Enterprises. The class entitled Digital Meets Fiber was held at the White Birch Cove Retreat.

Images appearing from printer

I have owned Adobe Photoshop for years and used it for very specific purposes. I have always wanted the opportunity to explore its use in art quilts and this class offered just the opportunity. In the short span of a few hours, I was able to create a collage design, work with it in Photoshop, and have it printed out on cotton fabric.

Julie was a dream of an instructor. She set up exercises to get our creative juices flowing and then coached us through the design aspect of the class on computer. I was quite impressed with her time management and directional skills. I have been in many classes where students fall behind as the class progresses and the goals for the class are not achieved. Not this class.

Julie explaining the intricacies of design work on the computer

I left at the end of the day with an exciting image on cloth to play with on my machine, as well as three other collages scanned into my computer for future projects.

Julie showing my first digitally designed full cloth image while Sophie looks on

The class is offered again in August if you are interested. Both Julie and Val Schultz are offering a selection of classes at White Birch Cove this summer. You can check out future class offerings on the Red Dog site. And, I understand that White Birch is also available for private retreats and other events. It would be a beautiful location to spend a weekend!

White Birch Cove Retreat

The House Quilt Project

I learned of a truly worthy art quilt program last week - the House Quilt Project. I have vowed to create one myself but didn't want to hold up on letting others know about the project by waiting till I had created my own quilt.

The project was started by Jamie Fingal, a California art quilter. In Jamie's words:

I work with individual quilters to coordinate the making of patriotic house quilts for the walls of rooms for individuals in the Wounded Warrior Battalion and Habitat for Humanity .

The House Quilt Project was established in June of 2010, to assist Furnishing Hope, a group that works with designers to create interior rooms and entire houses to help those in need. So far in 2012, Jamie has collected 9 quilts that will hang in homes for the Wounded Warrior Battalion worked on by Furnishing Hope.

Sample House Quilt

The requirements to contribute are simple.  Create a 16"x20" quilt with a house and a patriotic flag. You can find more details on the House Quilt Project website.

Hope that you will considering contributing a piece!

Good news!

I have been traveling again this past week but received the most welcome email while I was gone.

My quilt, View From On High, has been accepted into the Taiwan International Quilt Exhibition 2012. There will be two separate exhibitions at the National Tainan Living Art Center, Tainan City, Taiwan, from August 11-September 7 and the  Taichung Municipal City Huludun Cultural Center, Taichung City, Taiwan from September 22- October 28, 2012.

Needless to say, I am totally delighted that my quilt will be traveling to Taiwan!

A Fun Challenge

In the past week I learned about a fun challenge group that started up in January and plunged in. The challenge is called, Quilt 2012, and is sponsored by Jeanne Simpson.

The challenge particularly agrees with me as Jeanne refers to it as a 'trolley' challenge. You can drop in and out as your schedule demands - for me that is ideal! The way the challenge works, Jeanne posts a theme every Sunday evening and you have until the following Sunday morning to email a jpg of your finished art quilt to Jeanne. She then posts the contributions on the blog.

The quilts must be 12" x 20".  According to Jeanne, "these "sketches" should be experimental in nature, approached intuitively and completed quickly." There are participants from around the world participating and it is quite fun to see the different ways that the theme is interpreted each week. 


Here was my contribution from the past week, which had a theme of "A Bonus of Time."

I hope that you will visit Jeanne's blog and check out the other contributions! And, of course, you are welcome to join in too!

Colorado Venture

I just spent the past few days in Colorado. While there I was able to return to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museumhttp://www.rmqm.org/. I had been able to visit the museum last May during the SAQA Visioning Conference. This time it was much quieter and I was treated to a personal tour by one of the volunteers.

The museum was hosting two exhibits - one was a stunning collection of quilts by Ann Elliott. The appliqué and hand embroidery was amazing. Check out this close up:

The museum was also displaying the work of art quilter, Kathie Kerler and some works from their permanent collection. The juxtaposition of the traditional and art quilts really worked in ways that surprised me. I found myself more attuned to the similarities in craftsmanship of all the quilts rather than the differences in composition. For example, Ann's quilts had a good deal of hand embroidery in them. Note the very effective and exquisite use of hand stitching in the close up of one of Kathie's art quilts.

From Golden, where the museum was located, it was a quick trip over to Lakeside where I was able to catch the Re-Visioning Fiber exhibit that Rebecca Benson had organized. I was really delighted to have the opportunity to see some of the quilts of SAQA member, Nancy Cook in the exhibit. I have followed Nancy's work through the Vision Project and met her last May at the Vision Conference but this was my first opportunity to view her quilts in person. They were wonderful. I had heard Nancy describe her techniques and seen photos but nothing compares to viewing in person.  My photos definitely do not do her work justice as the lighting, among other factors, was not optimal. However, here is one of Nancy's displayed works and a close-up which shows hand stitching, obviously a theme of appreciation for me that day!

 As you can expect, I came home energized and inspired, ready to create more myself!

Exhibit on Fire!

There is an exciting fiber art show in the Denver area if you are going to be anywhere near there before October 8. The show, On Fire, is by Regina Benson and is on view at the Ice Cube Gallery. I am slightly frustrated as I won't be able to see it in person. However, one can gain some sense of the uniqueness of this exhibit from some excellent reviews and photos on the web.

On Fire features a selection of huge works by Regina that were inspired by the Colorado wildfires last summer that threatened her home in Boulder, Colorado. Regina often works in large scale - I was able to see some of her work that is included in the SAQA Sightlines show - and it is impressive. One set of photos from On Fire can be seen in an article by Nick Lucchesi in the Denver Westwood blog. I have included one of those photos here:

What I found really fascinating was a description of Regina's technique for creating the effect she desires on her fabric. Michael Paglia wrote a review of the show for the Denver Westwood blog. He discusses how Regina created the cloth she used for a 40 foot long enclosed walk-through piece. Here is how he described her process:

Benson colored the cloth through an elaborate multi-step process, with the results having the look of burning embers. She begins by dying the fabric numerous times in colors including red, yellow and black. To create the illusion of something burning, she discharges the dyes to different color saturations ranging from amber to black. Benson lays the fabrics on the snow outside her studio, then applies hot liquid containing sulfur applied with a brush or a sprayer to partially remove the dyes until the desired tone is achieved. The melting snow underneath the fabric is also used as part of the process. As the snow melts, the fabric wicks up the water and further dilutes the dyes in places, thus changing the colors in those spots.

If you can view the show, I suspect you will come away impressed. At the least, I suspect that you can share in my admiration for this amazing fiber artist who is able to express her vision in such dramatic and complex methods.

A Piece is Growing

I am finally back to creating in fiber. After so many weeks of travel, re-organization, and miscellaneous non-fiber activities, I am turning one of my sketches into an art quilt.

Here is an early version of the sketch:

I had Staples blow up some more developed versions. What I found interesting in this process was that I found I gravitated to the larger size for the piece. I have had a number of people encouraging me to 'go larger' in some of my work. And, I could feel resistance on my part. I've concluded that the move to larger size pieces will come as my comfort level grows with handling the larger sizes.

Having decided upon a size for the finished piece, I started playing with fabrics. I knew I wanted to use gradations in the piece. Here were some of my preliminary gatherings.

And, I began playing with delineating my sketch into an actual piecing diagram.

Looks mysterious, doesn't it? More to come later!

Accepted

I was delighted to receive notice that my art quilt, Winter Greens, has been juried into the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum's 2011 International Juried & Judged Quilt Festival. The festival takes place at the end of September in La Conner, WA.

Winter Greens is one of my favorite of my recent works. I adapted the piece from photos I took at some Paris open markets last January. The quilt is a combination of piecing and applique with beading and decorative stitching for embellishment.

The acceptance comes at just the right moment as I begin work on my next art quilt after a long hiatus due to my traveling. I still feel like a relative newbie to this world of art quilts and this 'acceptance' is a great encouragement to continue my exploration.

How well do you differentiate color?

Time for a quick challenge? One of the email groups that I follow offered this link for testing how well you see color hue. Not surprisingly, I scored well. I found it a fun exercise. If you would like to try, click here.

More on The ArT QuILT ExPERIENce

Here are two art quilts from the exhibits that stood out for their uniqueness.

View from a 747 by Marianne Williamson

 This has to be a whole piece quilt. If you look at the two detail photos, there is intricate stitching with some paint applied after the stitching. It is a most striking piece from across the room.

 The other piece that I wanted to highlight was an almost sheer art piece.

Available Real Estate by Nancy Crasso

You can see the delicate fabric and piecing and the hand stitching on some of the applique flowers in these detail photos.