Girls and their portraits

My two oldest granddaughters came to visit last week and on Saturday, their Mom and younger sister met me in Carrollton at the museum to make the transfer and see my exhibit.  Of course, I couldn't resist taking photos of each of them with their portraits.

Olivia, who's now 10, was feeling quite the celebrity.  She had seen the poster advertising the exhibit that featured her portrait.  She asked if she would be able to sign autographs.  Sadly, no one asked her to do that--ahh, fame is so fleeting.

Josie, age 9, told me she had chosen a special outfit to wear to the museum.  Check out the footwear--now that's "stylin'".

Sarah, age 5, is so excited to be starting kindergarten next week.  We had to stand her in a chair so she'd be tall enough for the picture.

I was surprised to learn that they had sold all my ice-dyed fabric at the museum, so I've got some more "percolating" tonight and I'll be delivering it on Thursday.  It's another one of my addictive activities, so I'm thrilled to have an excuse to make some more.

There was a couple at the museum on Saturday and since it's not a big space, I couldn't help overhearing a lot of their conversation.  The lady took plenty of time to look at each piece and pointed out to her companion all the details she observed about how it was made, the subject, etc.  It was so cool to listen and know that someone else noticed and appreciated all the choices and decisions that go into the work.  That's one of the things that always intrigues me when I look at other people's quilts, especially the older ones.  I really do feel that a quilt has so much to tell you about the maker, if you're just willing to listen.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to talk to this lady, but, whoever and wherever you are--thank you!  You really made my day. 

I've finished a new art piece for the GA/SC Regional SAQA Exhibit that will debut at the GA Quilt Show and then travel around the country for the next year.  It's based on a photo I took many years ago of two orange butterflies.  I painted the background and used a piece of the ice-dyed fabric for the binding--the colors were just right.

 Now, I'm onto the next one.  It's also based on several old photos I took of an incredible sunset--undoubtedly the most beautiful one I can remember.  Luckily, I had my camera handy that day.  I'll post photos of both pieces later.

Exhibit News & New Addiction

My solo exhibit at the Southeastern Quilt & Textile Museum in Carrollton, GA continues until the end of August, so if you haven't been to see it, you still have time.  I was there on Tuesday of this week to speak to the Carrollton Writers' Group--a great bunch of people.  I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with them and talking about my work.

I'd guess there were 25-30 people in attendance.  It was nice to see a good showing of men among them.  They are not quilters, for the most part, so it was very interesting to me to have an audience with a different perspective than the usual quilter groups who attend my trunk shows.  They asked lots of great questions and the time passed quickly.  I think the main thing I came away with was that we have a great deal in common when it comes to our different creative paths.  They just express themselves with words and I use images.

I recently did some pieces that are a new concept for me.  My good friend,  Maryanne Aubin, who's a wonderful artist and has her own frame shop, gave me the idea.  She loved the ice-dyed fabrics and we enjoyed sitting together and picking out different things that we saw in various areas of the fabrics.  She suggested that I isolate some of those things and make little art quilts, which could then be mounted on foamcore and matted, ready for framing.  Well, long story short, I now have a new addiction.  I have placed some of the finished pieces at the museum for sale and some at The Front Porch Gallery in Columbus.

These are small.  The size of the actual quilted piece in the top one (called "Cosmos") is 3"x 6".  The middle one (called "Fire Dance") is 3" x 9" and the bottom one (called "Sea Glass", which I added beads) is 4" x 6".  At least, I think that's right--it's close.  The mats are 2-2 1/2".  I'm anxious to see if they will sell because I want to make some more.  I've priced them, starting at $60 for the smallest ones, up to one I did that's 8"x10" + mat for $120.  What do you think?  Is this a worthwhile pursuit?

      

How It's Made

June is jumpin', but I'm working hard to keep up.  Of course the exhibit at the museum continues through the summer.  I went up yesterday to meet my cousin and her friend who came down from Calhoun to see the show.  We had a nice lunch and visit.

The Columbus Artists' Guild show is in full swing.  It opened June 8th and continues through the 22nd at the Illges Gallery at Columbus State University.  My piece didn't get any awards this year, but it's nice to have work in an art show. 

The East Cobb Quilt Guild show is going on through Sunday.  I entered two pieces and received an Honorable Mention for one of them ("Black Hills September").  My friend, Linda and I, along with our husbands (can you believe that?) will go up tomorrow afternoon, see the show, and bring our quilts home. 

I made two new pieces for the museum exhibit.  I put the photos that I worked from in my May 5th post.  Here is one of the finished pieces.

It's called "Best Friends Forever" and is based on a photo by Robin Camp.  This is me and my youngest granddaughter, Sarah.  Does this quilt make my butt look big?

I used the technique I've used before with the trees and background where I cut up zillions of tiny pieces of fabric and place them, piece by piece.  I took pictures as I was working on this one, so I thought I'd give you a glimpse into the mind of a very disturbed individual. 

This is the original photo that I was working with.  I cropped it, enlarged it and printed it on my printer, then taped the pages together.  It's about 30 x 32 inches.

Next, I did a line drawing of the main elements.  Sorry, it doesn't show up very well in the photo.

The next step is to draw a rough outline on a piece of muslin of where the colors change.  This will be the base of the quilt.  I write the value (light, medium, dark) and color of each area on the muslin.  Then, the fun part begins.  I choose fabrics from among my mountain of scraps.  Prints work fine, but stripes or plaids are not so good.  I iron a fusible (I use Lite Steam-a-Seam II) to the back of the fabrics.  I then peel the backing paper off the back side (this is VERY important--peel before you cut) and begin cutting the fabrics into small, odd-shaped and varying pieces.  The pieces are usually no larger than a dime--some are smaller. 

I use 4 or 5 different fabrics for each value.  The values might be light light green, light green, light medium green, medium green, dark medium green, dark green, and dark dark green.  So, you'll have 4 or 5 fabrics of all those values.  You get the idea. I find paper plates to be useful in keeping the different values separate.

Now the really crazy part.  I place the pieces on the muslin one at a time with a pair of tweezers.  I try not to put pieces of the same fabrics next to each other--that's why it's good to have 4 or 5 different fabrics for each value.  Even though it's very tedious, it gives you a great depth of color.

 You can see the effect here of all the bits.  I usually iron the pieces down a little as I go because they can't be trusted to stay in place on their own.  In a pinch, you can still pull them off if you need to, or you can cover them with more bits if an area just doesn't look like you want it to.  You don't want to have too many layers, but this is a pretty forgiving technique, so you can usually fix most mistakes. 

After the bits are in place, but before the tree trunks are put down, I put a layer or two of tulle over the bits and stitch with some invisible thread just to hold everything down.  In this case, I used two layers of gray tulle over the area above the road because I wanted the colors to be more muted to help add to the illusion of depth.  You can still put some bits on top of the tulle if you need to, but you need to always use a press cloth if you're ironing over the tulle--otherwise, it melts.

A little closer view.

I used some larger pieces in the road, then put small bits down for fallen leaves. 

I "built" the figures on a teflon sheet and fused them together.  They are put together in a more conventional way. 

The figures are placed on the background and I'm ready for thread work.  At this time, I iron a piece of stabilizer to the back of the piece to help keep it from distorting when I do the thread work and quilting.  I want to make sure I stitch through any of the bits that are not covered by tulle.

   I use a small zigzag stitch and a matching lightweight thread (Superior Bottom Line) to go over all the raw edges (not the bits, but all the larger pieces in the road and the figures).  I do some thread painting to highlight (example-hair and tree trunks).

A detail shot of the tree trunks and leaves.

Now it's ready to be layered with batting and backing and quilted.  Then, I'll square it up and either face it or bind it.  I like to face the edges because it looks more like a piece of art that way, so I'm doing that more and more.  I'm also leaving off borders for the same reason.

I didn't take as many photos as I should have to illustrate this technique, but I hope you can follow along.  It's not a method that a lot of people would want to do, but I like it and it's actually kind of relaxing to play with all the tiny bits.  



 

 

                                   

"As I See It"

The long-anticipated opening of my solo exhibit at the Southeastern Quilt & Textile Museum finally arrived last Saturday.  It was awesome on so many levels.  First of all, people actually came to see my work.  We had 70+ people to sign the guestbook and there was a steady stream of visitors all day.  I was there from 10 a.m. til 4 p.m.

Family included both my sisters-in-law, two nieces, and 3 great nieces.  Friends from Fayetteville, Columbus, Athens, and Atlanta made the journey to add their support and lots of people from the Carrollton area. 

L to R:  Marybeth Tawfik, JoAnn, and Paula Tanner.  These ladies are part of the SAQA GA/SC Regional group.  Thanks to both of them for their support.

The lady on the left is Joann Dunn, who's with the local writers' group.  I'll be doing an artists' talk for them in July at the museum.  I'm really looking forward to that.

I was very happy with the space and the way I was able to display everything.  I had worried that there wouldn't be enough art to cover the walls, but it worked out perfectly. 

I'm so grateful to the museum and to everyone who helped and everyone who came to see my work.  I hope people will continue to enjoy it, as it will hang through the summer until August 31st.

If you need info on hours or directions to the museum, just check out the website at   www.southeasternquiltmuseum.com

All Over But The Shoutin'

The day finally arrived after months of anticipation.  I went to Carrollton yesterday and hung my exhibit.  It was a long and tiring day, but so worth it.  I had great help from Beverly, Mary, and Jennifer--thank you all.  We worked from 10 a.m. til after 4 p.m.  Of course we took a lunch break and walked up to the square and had some great food at the Corner Cafe.

When we were finally done and all the pieces were hung, I just stood in the middle of this big (20' x 24') room, surrounded by my art.  There hangs 7 years of my life--from my first art quilt (Grand Slam) to my latest (The Lotus Pond).  It was somewhat surreal.  It's as if I have my own private art gallery.  I have never had the opportunity to view so much of my work at one time.  Sure, I've had 2 or 3 pieces in the same show, but they're surrounded by lots of other work and it's usually crowded together so that you can't really concentrate on just one thing.  I made sure there was plenty of "negative" space between each of my quilts so that each one can be seen individually.  I really don't like it when there's so much "stuff" to look at that you can't see anything--at least that's how my brain works.

It was also wonderful to be able to stand so far away from a piece and get a totally new perspective on it--then walk right up to it and see all the details.  To say I'm happy and excited would be an understatement.

I really hope there will be lots of people who will come and share this experience with me.  The show opens on Saturday, June 1st.  The museum will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and I will be there all day.  Heck, I may take a cot and move in. 

If you can't make it this Saturday, never fear.  The exhibit will be there through August 31st (also a Saturday).  The museum is located at 306 Bradley Street in Carrollton, GA.  It's just a block off the town square.  The hours are:

 Thursdays and Fridays 12 noon to 6 p.m.
Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Ya'll come on down!
 

Stubborn people do win sometimes

If you read my previous rant, you know I was particularly frustrated with Facebook and my inability to post a copy of my exhibit announcement there.  Well, my wonderful friend and neighbor, Carolyn, told me how to cut/copy and paste--and now I know all about Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V--so there!  I am trainable and my announcement is now on the group page at Facebook.  And, while I was having my meltdown, my daughter posted the announcement I had e-mailed to her on her page, so now it shows up as a link on my page--at least I think it does.  So there--being stubborn can be a good thing.

You can find the information on my solo exhibit, which opens Saturday, June 1st at the following link.
www.southeasternquiltmuseum.com

I will have one piece at the Columbus Artists' Guild Member Show at the Illges Gallery in Columbus, GA, June 8-22nd.  I'm entering "Where The Pavement Ends", as I think it's my best piece, artistically speaking. 

I have two pieces entered in the East Cobb Quilt Guild show, which will be June 14-16th at the Cobb Civic Center in Marietta.  I will enter "Cowgirls Just Wanna Have Fun" and "Black Hills September".

These three pieces will be missing from the museum exhibit until the first of July.  Once they're home from their respective shows, I'll include them.

I thought it might be a good time to post a couple of photos of art pieces you haven't seen here before.

This one is called, "A Boy, A Rock, and A Puddle".  It's based on a photo I took of my youngest grandson, Mitchell, when he was about 2 years old.  He's now 15.  This was the second art quilt I made and there are lots of things I'd do differently if I was starting it today, but it means a lot to me for several reasons. 

Of course, the subject is very special.  In addition, this piece was chosen to be included in an exhibit called "Expressions:  The Art Quilt", back in 2005 or 2006 (can't remember the exact date).  The exhibit drew entries from several countries and was curated by Ricky Tims.  I was over the moon to have my work included in the exhibit.  It toured the country for 2 years, ending with a 3 month stay at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY.  That was pretty heady stuff for a newbie art quilter.  Lamar and I even made a trip to Paducah so I could see it hanging in the museum and they were kind enough to take my photo standing beside it.  I'm still not sure where I got the nerve to submit it, but, I guess it's true that you can accomplish a lot as long as you don't know any better.

This one is called "Georgia On My Mind" and is based on a photo by Robin Camp.  It was fairly small--maybe 20 " x 15"--and it's the first art quilt I ever sold, so it doesn't live with me anymore.  It was something of a salute to Georgia O'Keefe, thus the title.  That makes it very appropriate that it now resides in New Mexico with another artist.

Well, I promised more pictures, so there you are.  Hope to see you at one of the events in June.

Ahh, the frustrations of the technologically challenged...

Geez, I thought I was reasonably intelligent, but I guess that ceased to be true along about the year 2000.  I have a fairly good grasp of how to do an online search and how to print photos and business cards that I've designed, and I've got the whole online shopping thing down cold, but somehow, I missed out on the social media phenomenon.

I have a cell phone--not a smart phone--but I don't do texting and if I want to take a photo, I have a regular (digital) camera for that.  I can even download my photos from the camera to the computer and print them or e-mail them to other people. 

I thought I was doing okay, although there are commercials on TV that I don't have a clue as to what is being advertised, but I'm pretty sure it has to do with computers.  This whole "cloud" thing is a total mystery.  And now we come to Facebook.

I had decided that I would not get involved in Facebook because it seemed to me to be a big vacuum cleaner that sucked up your time and kept you from doing anything productive.  I should have known that I couldn't hold out and remain a member of the human race, unless I moved to Borneo and lived in a hut on the beach--actually, that doesn't sound like such a bad thing.

It turns out that in order to communicate with the GA/SC regional group of SAQA, which I'm a member of, I had to set up a Facebook page and become part of that group on Facebook.  I managed to do that and I thought everything was okay until I tried to post the announcement of my exhibit at the SE Quilt Museum.  Not only could none of my 15 friends (mostly family members) see the post, but I couldn't figure out how to get it to the SAQA group page. 

I hate asking other people to help me do things that seem so simple to them and so incredibly baffling to me.  It makes me feel like a total idiot.  After asking for help on the Facebook page and getting several very helpful people telling me what to do--I could not figure it out.  It sounded so easy--just cut/copy and paste the announcement--but I could find nothing that gave me the option to do any of that.  I still don't know what to do.  But, I will find out--I am stubborn/determined and I will find someone to sit down with me and show me--if it's the last thing I ever do.

Some of you tech-savvy people are laughing at me right now--you know who you are--and that's okay.  I'm sure there's something I know how to do that you don't--like making homemade peach preserves that are to die for.

That's my rant for today.  I will post all the info on my exhibit and the other shows I'm participating in during the month of June--with pictures--in the next few days.  Thanks for listening.