January 2, 2010

January 1, 2010

Searching for Inspiration

The last couple months have been crazy as I've rushed to finish projects for The World of Stitches exhibit and my local guild quilt show. Last Sunday, October 11th, I met the last of my deadlines and immediately found myself at loose ends. I sat on my couch that night and realized, with a shock, that I had nothing to work on.

After weeks of spending every free moment--and stealing moments from other commitments--finishing my projects, I found myself unburdened by deadlines. For weeks, these deadlines provided structure to my life and, without them, I felt lost. It was an empty feeling.

I wasn't sure what to do, but I didn't have time to dwell on it. I had to catch up on my backlog of studiously ignored chores and prepare for weekend company. A freak mid-October snowstorm canceled those plans and I decided to use the unexpected weekend to just hang out with Kevin.

That's not to say that the past week was completely bereft of creative activity.

Leslie Lacika spoke to my quilt guild about using non-traditional fabrics in quilts. Although I don't need much encouragement in that area--I love the challenges of combining fabrics like osnaburg, cottons, polyester, and even pleather--Leslie made the suggestion of using deconstructed garments from thrift stores.

I had never considered that, but immediately made plans to visit our local thrift store. I walked out with an armful of linen, wool, woven, and even some knit garments that I washed and dried without regard for the care tags. (Another brilliant suggestion from Leslie!) And then I spent an enjoyable Sunday afternoon deconstructing them. I'm excited by the palette I have and am sure to be inspired once I dive into the studio with them

I also missed my evening stitching projects. For the past couple months, I've done plenty of hand stitching while spending time with Kevin. So I excavated an 8-year old wallhanging (a Harmonic Convergence quilt begun in a Ricky Tims' class) that I had started machine quilting. I decided to use it as a practice piece to play with the interaction between hand stitching and the quilt design.

And I selected yarn colors for a crocheted afghan, which is another nightly stitching project.

Oddly enough, I'm missing those deadlines and the bursts of creative growth they inspired. Of course, there are natural cycles to everything--periods of intense growth followed by periods of rest and hibernation, but I can't help but miss that incredible sense of focus that I had.

Another busy week ahead means I'll only have a chance to putter around the edges of creativity, rather than having the opportunity to dive right in again. I'll have to take what time I can to play and create. I feel a need to keep the pump primed, so to speak, so that I can jump back in as soon as my life outside of art settles.

How have you dealt with finishing deadlines? Do you jump back into another commitment? Use the time to catch up on the rest of your life? Putter around until inspiration strikes? Sleep? I'd love to hear your strategies.

On Inspiration, Deadlines, and Internet Friends

Inspiration is a lovely thing. What's more exciting than having a vision jump into your mind just begging to be created? It feels like a gift--one to be celebrated and realized, not ignored and squandered. When inspiration strikes, you have to act--it's as though you have no choice. It drives you to cast aside all the mundane realities of life and absorb yourself in a project.

This is a wonderful thing for your vision, but can wreck havoc on the rest of your life. If you are lucky, the people in your life understand and support you when you head off on one of this wild adventures of creation. I'm lucky to have such people--both in real life and on the internet.

Having such support is especially helpful because the thing about inspiration is, you can't plan for it. It happens at the oddest, perhaps even the most inconvenient times, and you are powerless in front of it.

Case in point: the quilt I delivered yesterday for exhibition in my local guild's quilt show. But, first a bit of background is needed to explain just how inconvenient these inspirations were.

In August, I was invited to participate in the exhibit A World of Stitches: Applique Art from Benin, Panama, and Pennsylvania. This was an exciting opportunity to display the 112 pieces I made over the course of my Early Morning Club project, but as you can imagine, required a bit of work to sew all 112 pieces to two panels of patio screening. My pieces were due on Thursday, September 10th.

I finished everything and delivered it on time, leading me to my next project, which was to create a challenge quilt for my guild. I had a vision in mind and didn't want to pass up the opportunity to create it. I worked hard the rest of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, finishing it thirty minutes before the deadline on Sunday. (I was so rushed that I did not have time to take a picture, but it was based on London Calling by The Clash and incorporates a picture I took in Piccadilly Circus in London.)

As I was driving to the meeting, inspiration struck: CREATE A QUILT OF THE LIFE PRESERVER PICTURE. I was gifted a full-fledged vision of another quilt, this one based on a photo of a solitary life preserver I took along the Mersey River in Liverpool. When I got to the meeting, I quickly sketched out my vision.

And then I did a crazy thing: I committed to have that quilt done by October 12th for submission into the guild's quilt show. This is on top of the other four quilts I submitted, of which on two were completed.

But my inspiration was so strong, my vision was so vivid, that I could not betray it by ignoring it and pretending that it didn't exist. Besides, I figured I had almost four weeks to get everything done. I warned my husband that I had visions to realize and that meals and house cleaning would be spare over the next few weeks.

When I got home, I sketched out a plan and decided to go after the low-hanging fruit. I had a a small piece that was designed and only needed to be pieced and quilted. So over the course of a few days I finished Primary Fragments.

Then I began work on the second incomplete piece, Megalith #1. This piece took almost three weeks of almost constant work. I heavily stitched it with perle cotton and embroidery floss and added some beads. Each part is an individual piece that I then stitched together.



Then, with five days to go, I began to work on Safe Along the Mersey, which was the inspiration I was gifted with that afternoon. Because the image was so vivid, the design and piecing went pretty quickly. I wasn't entirely certain how I would stitch it. So inspiration struck again, while sitting in my car at the gas station on Friday night: ADD TRANSLUCENT RINGS OF ORANGE. (Why do so many inspirations happen in the car?)

My new, inspired vision had translucent rings of orange and rust overlapping the pieced design. I initially thought of hand stitching them, much as I did with Megalith #1, but I, given it was Friday night and the piece was due Sunday afternoon, that wasn't going to happen.

Then, like a thunderbolt from the sky it struck me: USE ORANGE SHEERS! We were two minutes away from a chain fabric store so we detoured there and I raced in, searching out ORANGE SHEERS. It felt like an episode of Project Runway.

I made it through each aisle with no luck. In the last aisle, I found a white polyester mesh that would work if it were orange. Then another thought struck: YOU CAN DYE FABRIC ORANGE! That necessitated another run through the store looking for a dyeable mesh or sheer fabric. No luck.

I wandered over to check the dyes out anyway and received my final inspiration: DYE CHEESECLOTH ORANGE! Eureka! Thank you Mister Muse. I headed out the door with two colors of orange dyes and 6 yards of cheesecloth. Even though I had never dyed before, this seemed like the perfect solution.

Saturday morning I wake up and commandeer the guest bathroom for dyeing purposes. I line up my bowls, measure out salt and dye, and immerse the cheesecloth in the dye baths. I stir a bit and leave them.

After the recommended 45 minutes I return and remove the cheesecloth from the dyebaths. They are absolutely gorgeous and gave me the chills.

I start rinsing them. And rinse them. And rinse them some more. The dye keeps bleeding. So I rinse more. More bleeding. Finally the water appears clear, but when I put them out to dry, they dye the paper towels orange.

Fortunately here I had a fabulous inspiration: ASK THE QUILT ART MAILING LIST! For a couple years now I have been mostly lurking on this fantastic email list of art quilters. I have learned so much from them. The few times I have asked for help, I have been inundated with thoughtful, helpful replies.

So I headed to my laptop and sent my plea, titled "Quick deadline-pressed question about dyeing and bleeding", into the ether. Almost immediately I began receiving helpful replies with great suggestions. I followed their advice and was able to stop the bleeding.

All day and night Saturday I stitched the sheers to the quilt. On Sunday, I faced it and put a sleeve on it. I felt like a champion because I finished Safe Along the Mersey with four hours to spare.

So with all of that, I'm pretty happy. I've been working hard over the past couple months preparing for both shows. I had forgotten how good it feels to set challenging goals and then meet them. And much of it is thanks to the people in my life and in my internet life who are there for me when inspiration strikes.

Opening of "A World of Stitches"

Well, yesterday was the big day--the opening of A World of Stitches at the Bellefonte Museum--which also happened to be the first show I've participated in. I thought about writing this entry like it was no big deal and I have openings all the time. You know, like I'm so very cool and collected. But who am I kidding, I'm not remotely cool! And to be honest, it was a really big deal and I was very excited.

Kevin and I arrived at the museum in the beautiful Linn House in downtown Bellefonte and were welcomed by museum director and curator, Patricia House. We walked into the first gallery and I was immediately blown away by all the fabulous pieces from Panama and Benin.

Then Pat told me to turn around--both panels of the Early Morning Club flanked the doorway. Oddly enough, even though I was attending my opening, I was surprised to see them. I had worked so hard attaching all 112 pieces to the screening that I never really thought about how they would look displayed in the gallery.

(Kevin took most of the photographs.)

Seeing them all displayed in chronological order was fascinating to me. I could trace my stream of thought and identify shifts in my point of view. But I took just a moment to look at it before I had to check out the rest of the show.

Kevin helped me find Cash's Mountain, which was displayed over the fireplace.

and Fragment #4 and Plastic Grid,
which were displayed next to this fabulous work by Aldeth Spence Christy, who was one of the artists that worked on Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party.


Sue Reno is an award-winning artist whose work I have long admired. So it was absolutely thrilling to have pieces in the show with her. She attended the opening as well, and we had a wonderful conversation about art, process, poison ivy, and Pittsburgh. I don't want to spill her secrets, but I was relieved to learn that she doesn't measure! Nice to meet a quilt artist with similar sensibilities. Here is her Daylilies at Dawn.

The flags from Benin were fantastic. I didn't get a chance to take as many pictures as I would have liked, but I know I'll get a chance again when my mother and grandmother visit.

And the molas were absolutely irresistible. They were framed under glass, so did not photograph particularly well, but there were also vintage molas from the Kuna tribe for sale. I bought three. (I told you I couldn't resist!)




The show was so beautiful. Pat House did a fabulous job in conceiving and executing the show. Even though the work by the different artists were different, the show was amazingly coherent and the pieces were beautifully displayed. I highly recommend checking it out! (I would even if I weren't in it.)

Exhibiting in this show was motivational. One of the best parts of the day, which didn't photograph well at all, was to be able to talk about my work and answer questions about it. It felt good to know that I created work that interested people. So now all I want to do is make more art and get it out in the world!

Indulge me with one last photograph, of Kevin and me. He's believed in me from the beginning and has been telling me for years to get my art out there. And now I am so proud to look at him and know I finally did.

Bellefonte Museum Exhibit

I am so very pleased to announce that three of my pieces, as well as all 112 pieces from my Early Morning Club, will be exhibited at the Bellefonte Museum of Centre County. Curator Patricia House has put together an exciting exhibit entitled, A World of Stitches: Applique Art from Benin, Panama, and Pennsylvania. She has selected works from three other Pennsylvania-based artists as well as work from Panama and Benin to show cross-cultural differences (and similarities) in applique.

I invite everyone to attend this really interesting and remarkable exhibit. The opening reception is Sunday, September 27th from 1:00-4:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public. I can't wait to attend, meet the other artists, and see the other pieces in the show. The exhibit runs from September 27th through December 20th and the museum is open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 1:00-4:30 p.m.

One of my pieces, Cash's Mountain, is a raw-edge applique landscape. It's hard to tell from the picture, but I quilted and faced the central landscape and then appliqued it to the brown/teal background so that is serves more as a frame and less as a border.


Fragment #4 is an improvisationally pieced quilt fragment that was quilted, finished and then appliqued to the background brown.


Plastic Grid consists of fifteen mini-quilts that finished and then appliqued to the grid background.

In addition to these three pieces, I have spent the last week attaching (appliquing?) all 112 Early Morning Club pieces to two lengths of fiberglass screening. Back when I was creating the Early Morning Club, I dreamed of having the opportunity to exhibit them as a cohesive whole, and am very excited to now have the chance.

Other works in the exhibit include:

Pennsylvania and environs appliqué artists,

• Bonnie Buckwalter, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania
• Aldeth Spence Christy, 1939- 2001, Maryland
• Kimberly Davis, State College, Pennsylvania
• Sue Reno, Columbia, (Lancaster), Pennsylvania

Panama, Kuna Indians appliqué work by several Kuna community members

Benin (West Africa), Brice Abraham Yemadje, textile artist, Fon Community


Here is the press release for the show:

“A World of Stitches: appliqué art from Benin, Panama and Pennsylvania” is a show of the particular craft of appliqué with examples from three very different cultures. The variety of design, motif and theme afford contrast while the basic craft demonstrates the universality of appliqué. The works in the exhibition are original creations by the artists and include images from the natural world, cultural themes and symbols from holidays and celebrations.

Appliqué needlework is an international craft; from American homes to tribal ceremonies, appliqué has been around a long time and continues to be popular. Remnants of clothing decorated with pieces of fabric to form designs have been found in the tombs of persons from ancient cultures. The technique has been used to create colorful flags for royalty throughout Europe and Africa. Appliqué designs on quilts and dance costumes were very popular in the Americas during the 18^th and 19^th Centuries. It is assumed that appliqué owes part of its origin to supply. When fabrics were all made by hand on simple looms or imported at great expense every scrap of material was valuable.

This exhibition includes examples of appliqué used to create decorative pieces and useful objects including coverlets, wall hangings, patches for quilt making, flags and clothing. Appliqué', which is a French term, is a type of decorative needlework that involves cutting pieces of one fabric and sewing or otherwise applying them to the surface of another. An image or design is obtained by superposing patches of colored material on a basic cloth.

In our country, women have been the appliqué artists and quilters but in other cultures men created the textiles and made the textile crafts. This continues to be true in Benin (West Africa), one of the three countries featured in this exhibition. In the Kuna culture of Panama women are the textile artists. Their designs are made using many layers of fabric.

The Kuna people live on the San Blas Islands off the northern coast of Panama. Kuna women make a unique kind of appliqué work called Molas. Images in the Molas are very detailed and depict every aspect of their lives. The fabric designs are done in bright colors on dark (usually red) background. Molas range in sizes but are usually made to fit on a shirt or dress bodice.

Works in this show by Brice Abraham Yemadie are done in rich colors using fabrics and sequins. These pieces demonstrate the appliqué tradition as it has evolved in Benin, West Africa. Y. Brice was born in Benin to a family of textile artisans whose roots go back to the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin). The French artist Matisse admired this appliqué tradition and the influence can be seen in some of his works. Fon artists sold into slavery brought the appliqué tradition to the Americas.

By exhibiting examples from Benin (West Africa), Panama and our own community, we display contrasts and similarities and suggest possible origins of craftwork. Most importantly, the show demonstrates shared creativity of people from a wide variety of cultures and traditions. The exhibition curator is Patricia House.

Special appreciation is extended to Peggy Sloves and Maya Spence for lending art to the show and to the artists who loaned their works.

The exhibition is partially funded by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Borough of Bellefonte.

Accompanying programs will include craft classes for children and adults and on site activities for families visiting the show.

Early Morning Club Review

A year ago, I embarked on a four-month exploration (from July to November 2008) of early morning creativity. Each day I would awaken, drink a glass of water, and head to my studio where I would create and finish a 6" x 9" vertical quilt. Over the course of the sixteen weeks, I amassed 112 different compositions, but the personal lessons I learned about art, creativity, design, persistence, and improvisation were more valuable. My work in the Early Morning Club helped me define myself as an artist and begin to discover my vision and point-of-view.

Here are links to an overview and all sixteen weeks worth of pieces.

Overview
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven
Week Eight
Week Nine
Week Ten
Week Eleven
Week Twelve
Week Thirteen
Week Fourteen
Week Fifteen
Week Sixteen