Quilting Arts (!) AND it's my Birthday Day

Quilting Arts June/July 2012



It was such a treat to open my mailbox today.  My copy of Quilting Arts arrived.  I wrote an article, thanks to the Quilting Arts staff encouragement and assistance, and it is a thrill to see it in print.  I have been receiving emails from friends who saw the piece, but it wasn't until today that I got to see it "in the flesh".  AND, today is my birthday day!  What a nice present.

Australia Collection

Then there is the additional thrill of appearing in the same issue as two (!) of my Sisters in Cloth buddies.  And we didn't realize it until the magazine had gone to press.  Carol Ludington is a master dyer! (She's also a gifted appliquer...so there is always something interesting from her at Show and Tell)

The other featured Sister is Martha Wolfe.  She was one of the very early members, and continued to participate in our challenges even after her family transferred to Florida.  Her work is simply amazing!  Two of her contributions to recent exhibitions are included in the article...one is my all-time favorite (so far).  Tiger Lily is part of the Double Take exhibit that we hope still has "legs" and will travel to at least one more venue.  Fingers crossed.

Pretty great birthday gift! 

Carol Ludington

Martha Wolfe spotlighted

The Artwork of Merelyn Pearce

To Margaret Preston I detail

The first weekend of April we attended the Australasia Quilt Exhibit in Melbourne.

There was much to be excited about...and we photographed it all.  Starting with the work of Merelyn Pearce, a New South Wales quilter, who has won just about every award one can...and justifiably.  I was blown away by her precision and her vision.

To Margaret Preston I

Six of the ten large art quilts exhibited were odes to the art of Margaret Preston, Australia's great woman artist "between the wars", who was greatly inspired by nature and Australian Aboriginal art

Myall Lakes

Queen of Hearts detail

Queen of Hearts

To Margaret Preston II detail

To Margaret Preston II

To Margaret Preston III

To Margaret Preston IV

To Margaret Preston V detail

To Margaret Preston VI detail

To Margaret Preston V

To Margaret Preston VI

The last piece of the Preston series is Preston Dreaming, about which Pearce says that she sought to highlight the influence of Australian Aboriginal Art on the work of Preston who strove to achieve a truly uniquely Australian artistic expression.

Preston Dreaming

Wrapped in Love detail

Preston Dreaming

Wrapped in Love

Merelyn Pearce's work is fabulous...we found ourselves, several times, drawn back to her work in the course of the two days.

More photos of other equally compelling exhibits to follow.

Kids in the Studio!

 This Summer 2012 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors includes a section on Kids' Studios....it is such fun.

The team there approached me to write an article, having heard that I have kids in my studio AND a nearby "wet" studio for their other, less fabric and machine-friendly, projects.

It was a wonderful experience, working with the folk at Interweave.  I had no idea how satisfying the adventure would be.

The issue is, indeed, special...featuring studios much more together and wonderful than mine and artists whose work we all admire (like Ann Brauer, Jane Dunnewold, Jane Davies....).  Pretty heady company to be in on one's first go.  Thank you, Cloth Paper Scissors!

Where to begin?!?

We are home from our adventure.  Because of various insufficiencies, I was not able to blog frequently while we were traveling Australia.  I will remedy that now, in no special order of events.

First:  the reason we choose April was to be assured that the "wet" season would be over and small aircraft travel would be possible to remote areas in the Top End.  We took a very interesting route to Kununnura, Western Australia from Melbourne (where we spent our first three weeks)....via Perth and Broome...inexplicable, but we made it.  From there we boarded a four-person, single engine aircraft to fly to the Bungles, where we rendezvoused with our small helicopter (without doors for better viewing) for a tour of theses incredible sandstone monoliths.

Lake Argyle, largest artificial lake in OZ, created by damming Ord River

Left fixed-wing aircraft to board helicopter for Bungles

Here's what wikipedia has to say about The Bungles:  It is located in north east of Western Australia. The nearest major town is Kununurra to the north, or Halls Creek to the south.

Purnululu is the name given to the sandstone area of the Bungle Bungle Range by the KijaAboriginal people. The name means sandstone or may be a corruption of bundle grass. The range, lying fully within the park, has elevations as high as 578 metres above sea level. It is famous for the sandstone domes, unusual and visually striking with their striping in alternating orange and grey bands. The banding of the domes is due to differences in clay content and porosity of the sandstone layers: the orange bands consist of oxidised iron compounds in layers that dry out too quickly for cyanobacteria to multiply; the grey bands are composed of cyanobacteria growing on the surface of layers of sandstone where moisture accumulates.

As my jet-lag dissipates and I tackle the pile of mail and to-do tasks, I will return to posting more adventures.  We had SUCH a wonderful time.  You will love the photos which include a fantastic quilt (and art quilt) exhibit....more to come.

Fiberactions Reveal Day

Fibonacci's Garden

Fiberactions second Challenge is to explore the use of a Split Complimentary color family.

I interviewed several combos and decided to go with one that made me smile, one that would be a pleasure to work with, while still being a challenge.

Golden Yellow is my focus, with red violet, violet, blue violet, blue and cerulean blue as its supporting counterpart.

Fibonacci's Garden detail

I did not have a clue as to where I was going.  I gathered the fabrics and started cutting.  My formula was cut, sew, press, sew, scrutinize and repeat.  It did make me smile.  Per usual, I developed a narrative while cutting and sewing.  The story was one about Fibonacci, the famous Italian mathematician in the early 1200’s.  This little piece references his number sequence and spirals.

Viewpoints9 Challenge 1

End of Summer

End of Summer detail

"Music", specifically a clip from Vivaldi's Four Seasons: Summer, was the first challenge for Viewpoints9, an online group of international participants, testing themselves on how one might be inspired using various modalities.  A challenge, indeed.

Viewpoints9

First challenge

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons: Summer

Music does not ordinarily translate to visual imagery for me.  So, Martha’s challenge was a big one.  After listening my favorite, Aaron Copland, just to get in the mood, I left my mental pictures of Shakers and cowboys and focused on Vivaldi’s” The Four Seasons: Summer”.  Indeed, I had to revert to the music class directions and write down my impressions:  Tension, Urgency, Strings, Pitch, Dark, Bright flashes, Structure and Rigor.

 And this is Summer?!

What happened to Summer?  Why the urgency?  Why the tension?  Need another layer of fat for the winter?  Not enough nuts and seeds stored away?  Still have that off-spring to fledge?

“End of Summer” is made from kimono silk and cottons.  Machine stitched and hand painted.  I found a hand dyed cotton with dark parts that I thought might connote an end of summer evening.  Just next to it, out of place, was a dark, lightly lined piece of vintage kimono silk that immediately reminded me of strings.  The two were meant to be together. 

The Challenge surprised me.  I was able to connect in unexpected ways.  And, it was fun, also an important element.

Bushwalking in the Grampians

The Grampians mountain ranges include national and state parks, forests, open plains, rugged rock outcroppings and lots of wildlife. We drove to a little community at the south end, Halls Gap, where we visited Brambuk, the Aboriginal Cultural Center. It was a good place to start our visit. Our walks there offered woodland and open space trails where we saw corellas by the hundreds, cheeky hordes of little variegated fairy-wrens, a horde of emu, and several colonies of lounging kangaroo.

We stayed the night in Halls Gap and the next morning, with the map from an Aboriginal guide, we set out on our own on an hour's drive up into the mountains and plains looking for two shallow cave shelters that for centuries were the meeting and ceremonial places for the local language group.

This shelter is called Cave of Ghosts

Flat Rock were the shelter is covered with children's hand prints.

Banksia in bloom.

We were tired at the end of the afternoon but very happy to have made the trip. We then headed back towrd Geelong, making a side trip to our very favorite vineyard, Blakes Estate. It is a very small vineyard started 10 years age by Roger Blake and his wife. He is a retired geologist and, therefore, knows his soils. His pinot noir wines are excellent and we always find room in our luggage to take some home. A weekend with flowers, wildlife, art and wine.....not bad.