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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Through the Mill

It's been a really hectic week....and I'm not even to Wednesday!  Or I guess I am...if you check the clock.  Getting daughter ready for college, finishing up and shipping my submission for "Power Suit" for Artistic Artifact's challenge, getting physical therapy for my hand....just sort of crazy.

I had hoped to get two pieces done for Power Suit...but I think I'll continue working on this series.  I found that I balked at doing it, but once I really got into it, I was sort of enjoying it.  I had several ideas to work with and the odd thing is that what I ended up doing wasn't really what I intended....

The premise of this challenge was to take a packet of fine suit samples and turn it into an 18" square quilt.  The actual challenge wording was this:  "What does "Power Suit" mean to you?  Does it conjure images of smokie-filled rooms where deals are made:  Is a Power Suit a garment or a perons:  Do you plug in a Power Suit:  Waht if a Power Suit gave ou Super Powers? 

Using Power Suit as your inspiration, create an art quilt that expresses your point of view."  Liz Kettle had an extra packet (which included three buttons, a tie and the samples) which she gave to me at the Cincinnati show.  If Liz hadn't given it to me, I wouldn't have done it.  In fact, as much problems as the binding was giving me (numb fingers do not make for good corner turns...sheesh!) I was having second and third thoughts.... I also tried something new and quilted the background with $ signs...not that it really came out well...but it was OK.  At least I got it done and got it out. :)  Somesitmes I need a good swift kick to get things done...now, after depositing daughter at college, I'll turn my attention to finishing my Dayton Landmarks quilts, finishing the "Think Like an Artist" class I'm taking on-line with Pamela Allen, see if I can't whip out my Fast Friday Fabric challenge piece (likely not to be done by Sat..., but maybe I can try....), in addition to cleaning the house, cooking meals, and maybe trying to restore some order to areas which I had to let slide while undergoing chemo...Now, just where is MY power suit?????




Monday, August 29, 2011

Lost --Shelburne Falls, etc.

 I've been struggling today working on a couple of small art quilts which while I like the concept...I don't much care for the execution.  It is filling out an idea.

So..when taking a break from the drudgery, I checked the Quiltart list...and discovered that Ann Brauer's quilt studio in Shelburne, Falls, Massachusetts has washed away.

I wrote about Shelburne Fall's Floral bridge (Bridge of Flowers) in December of 2010.  I visited there last year and took a bunch of pictures. 




 I enjoy going to Shelburne Falls with my friends Martha and Bob because there's so many artist studios as well as the gorgeous gardens.  Not only was the old bridge convered to a walking garden, but tons of people have wonderful private gardens which are easily seen from the road or sidewalk.  This is a shot of the Bridge of Flowers last year.


 Here is a shot looking back down the bridge.  I must admit, when I saw some photos on the news last night of Brattleboro, I became alarmed.  Many of these towns were mill towns and grew up around the rivers which were sources of power.

While the 19th century building (and in some cases earlier) have withstood other floods, you wonder when it will be just too much for them.

So, keep in mind that these people's livlihoods are here...their art, their shops, their homes, their roads....and our history. 
 You can see that this bridge isn't really down ON the water. 

Now, take a good look at this truss bridge in Shelburne.  See the pink building on the right of the shot?  That's Ann Brauer's quilt studio.  She had an industrial singer sewing machine which had a fairly long harp which she used in her quilting.   She was always gracious and welcoming when people came to her studio.   You can see her wonderful quilts and her studio here...  She was away at a show and had some of her stock with her..but we all have stashes and for her, it is her living, not a hobby. 

Now, watch this video...and you'll see what Hurricane Irene did.   I know that Ann was only one person out of many..one of the videos I watched showed a bureau floating down the river...someone's house was swept away and the bureau ripped out  of it.  Makes my paltry struggle with a little art quilt sort of nothing.



Please consider donating to the Red Cross or what other relief fund you might consider.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

A Fiberful weekend


Recently, one of my quilty friends and I went to the Akron area for a number of reasons.  The main reason for traveling three hours northeast was to go to the Akron Art Museum to see the Kaleidoscopes Quilts: The Art of  Paula Nadelstern.  This is the show which originated at the American Folk Art Museum in New York in 2009.  I remember being sad that I was missing the opportunity to see this show when it was in New York, imagine my happiness to know that it traveled to Ohio.

When I lived in Connecticut, I had the pleasure of meeting Paula at my Guild where she was giving a lecture and a class.  Paula is a charming, amusing and excellent speaker.  I enjoyed seeing the retrospective show but it was made far richer knowing that she constructs these quilts in her tiny Bronx apartment and her struggles to make points meet in traditional quilting. I was pleased that the exhibition included modern Kaleidoscopes as well as very early ones.  The show was well grounded in history with the inclusion of the vintage sunburst quilt attributed to Rebecca Scattergood Savery. 

As is often the case, I couldn't take pictures of the pieces, but I did buy the catalog.  My favorite piece in the show is one of her more recent works, "Kaliedoscope XXXII:  My Brooklyn Bridge"  I felt that it was great for the restricted palette, the rendition of the Brooklyn Bridge into her method and what to me feels like a maturation of her style...or rather further development of her style.  You can see many of the pieces included in this show here.

I especially liked the fact that the gallery adjacent to the Nadelstern exhibition was a show of the 50 pieces of art donated to Ohio by Dorothy and Herbert Vogel.  The Vogels were people of relatively modest means and a small New York apartment.  They collected an impressive collection of artwork and decided to share it with all the states in the nation.  Their collection was divided up and a grouping representative of the collection was sent to each state so that all could appreciate the examples of modern art.  It was an neat pairing with Paula's work since they both were working with limited space.

If you are in the vicinity, I would encourage you to visit the Akron Art Museum...which is across the street from the building I shot here...why? Well, I wasn't in a position to shoot the building without crossing the street and I didn't feel inclined to do so.  I will say that we did have some difficulty finding the front of the building...and a warning...the streets have a tendency to be one way around here.... 


Another reason we went up this way was for Deb to pick up a loom she was buying.   In addition to the loom and weaver's bench, we stuffed her Suburban full of stripped and balled fabric which is ready to be woven into rag rugs.  Here's Deb and the pile of stuff we jammed into the black Suburban.  I admit, several times when I went to get out, a ball of fabric jumped out with me.



From there, we went to Wellington, Ohio to the Bonnie Brae Elk Farm.  In a lovely rural setting, the Elk Farm hosts a rather large outside quilt show, something along the lines of a mini-Sister's Oregon show.  Here's a description of what they have to offer.
Everywhere you looked, there were quilts, inside and out (here you see the stables (the farm once raised trotting horses).  Several barns were decked out in quilts, both inside and out.

Vintage and antique quilts hung next to contemporary pieces.  It was quite fun...and the luncheon was superb.  The farm is a family farm and I suspect that the show is another effort by small farmers to make their enterprise profitable as it is extremely difficult to compete in today's markets especially with the big Agri-Businesses specializing in mono-cropping. 



There was an admission charge and if you wanted a photocopied "catalog" with the descriptions and ownership of the quilts, you could buy one.  I admit I intended to buy one, until I saw that it was only a partial listing.  I suspect it depends on who actually brings the quilts and what they have space to hang.  The ladies who were collecting the fees told me that they were there at 4:00 AM hanging the show.  It was worthwhile and I managed to buy some Christmas presents...and some fat quarters...although one of the "bottles" of fat quarters has disappeared...I hope it is buried somewhere in the Suburban with the rolls of stripped fabric.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Jim Bowsher's Temple of Tolerance

 The first weekend in August, I spend a fiberlicious couple of days with a friend.  We drove up to the Akron area and picked up a loom, then spent the night at the Youth Hostel at Malabar Farms.  The next day we did two quilty things (more on those later) and returned to Piqua/Troy going through Wapakoneta, Ohio.

Deb Neff, who is an Ohio native and intrepid explorer as well as my ride for the trip asked me if I had ever seen Jim Bowsher's Temple of Tolerance.  I hadn't.  In fact, prior to this weekend, I had never heard of it.

So, this entailed a stop which was quite worthwhile and amazing.  Jim Bowsher had collected rocks, carved and natural and bits of this and that to build a "Temple of Tolerance."  He has taken architectural elements, discarded gravestones, blocks which appear to have been practice pieces for stone carvers and assembled them on his house lot in Wapakoneta. 




 Bowsher makes this remarkable place open to the public free of charge.  You go and you wanter in absolute amazement.  It is tucked behind his house and next to his garage, both of which appear about ready to be eaten by Virginia Creeper and Boston Ivy.

The grounds are not without peril...I saw tons of healthy poison ivy, but it is really really amazing.  My friend told me that Bowsher works with at risk teens and often has them work with him on the Temple.  




 I didn't dare climp up the steps to the top of the temple mound...I didn't think my pelvis and feet would allow, but I looked up in awe.



There are many little altars, this one seems to have been created for or appropriated by Vietnam Vets.

This has sort of a Mayan figure on top...Throughout the grounds you see bits and pieces of ironwork, as well as the magnificent stones.


It's well worth a stop and very easy to find.  It's located at 203 South Wood Street.


I'd love to meet Jim some day...He seems like a really neat person.  I'll end with a clip with him from Youtube.










Monday, August 22, 2011

Aullwood 2011: Susan Nash


Susan Nash, Primordial Sea, 19" x 24" $350.
Susan Nash, Primordial Sea, detail.

Susan Nash, Main Street Mandala #3.  35" x 43.5"  $500.

Susan Nash, Main Street Mandala #3 detail.
Susan Nash, Koi Pond.  30" diameter.  $450.00

Susan Nash, "Koi Pond," detail.
Yesterday, the Aullwood art quilt show closed, and today is my last post about the quilts there this year.  At left, is Susan Nash's "Primordial Sea."  Susan had three quilts accepted this year and of the three, this is my favorite.  I love the action of the swirl in the primordial soup...the textures she's used, and the color..but most of all I love the fact that use used an ammonite, a fosillized shell of a close relative of the chambered nautilus.  This is Susan's rendition of the early "waters" from which all live came back a gazillion years ago (a technical term ;) ). 

Susan used commercial cottons, hand dyed wool, acrylic yarn and beading, She hand embroidered it and used machine quilting and applique.  It's really hard to catch the sparkle on this one, but I think it is a very successful piece.

At left, the circular piece with the gridding is "Main Street Mandala #3."   Susan has constructed a series of works based on man-hole covers in and around her home in Zanesville, OH.  You can see others on her website.

Susan did a reverse sun print of the manhole cover using Setacolor paints. She embellished it with acrylic yarns and buttons.

This particular part of the series represents  a rainy day along the street.  I think it evokes more of a marine or lake image, which is highly appropriate because what we put down our storm sewers ultimately ends up in a lake or ocean.


The last piece is "Koi Pond."  I admit, I love goldfish and have my own pond.  Of her three pieces, however, I like this one the least.  I think because of the way she handled the fins and the eyes on the fish.  It's difficult as the fish eyes are on the side of the head of the fish and while you see them when looking down from above, it is hard to represent them when working in fabric.  The pectoral fins bother me a little too as they don't really stand out from the sides of the fish as they do in real life, but they make instead (especially when combined with the eyes) something reminiscent to me of a frill necked lizard.

I realize that this sounds harsh and I don't mean it to be so, but these are just elements which bother me.  They probably didn't occur to you.  It is also probable that I am being to literal and realistic and what Susan was doing was conveying an abstracted vision.  I often find it interesting to see pieces with someone else because what they see and what I see are often interpreted differently.

Her lily pads and water lilies are very realistic and are dimensional.  I also really like the netted effect of the lace.  The waterlilies are made of silk, the body of the quilt from commercial cottons.  She used acrylic lace and yarn as well as buttons to embellish her work.  It is hand embroidered and machine stitched, appliqued and quilted.






















Saturday, August 20, 2011

Aullwood 2011: Melody Randol, Marla Morris-Kennedy and Liese Bronfenbrenner

Nothing like struggling with Blogger's photo uploads to keep you from blogging for a couple of days.   Tomorrow marks the end of the 2011 Aullwood show in the flesh.  I'm going to have to go over one more time and take a look at this piece.

Melody Randol, "Birding in the Everglades", 51" x 54"  $3,200.00
Melody Randol has once again managed to take my breathe away with her intricate, layered work.  You are drawn to this piece to look more closely and try to figure out how she achieved the richness of texture and color.  Melody is from Loveland, Colorado and her training as a biologist often comes out in nature themed work.  Melody wrote this about "Birding in the Everglades":  "Water is everywhere in the Everglades and untold numbers of birds find it irresistible. Fowl, foliage, water, and light entwine to form a rich scene. 
I paint with small bits of fabric --fabric I have created using dyes, paints, inks and discharge agents.  I use thread as one might use a brush, melding the bits of cloth and adding another layer of interest.  Using cloth and thread, I strive to captures the myriad of colors and reflections which are everpresent in the Everglades."


Melody Randol, "Birding in the Everglades" detail.


Marla Morris-Kennedy, "Dawn on Bird Island."  42" x 38"  $850.00
This detail doesn't really show how she does it...but that doesn't matter.  Two of my art quilting friends and I studied this closely in the flesh and we still weren't really sure where one technique stopped and the other began.  From a distance, it is a rich image --a painterly piece rendered in fabric.  Up close, it is texturally rich as well.

You can see her other work and learn more about Melody by going to her website:  http://www.melodyquilts.com

This last week, I have been taking an online class with Pamela Allen.  Pamela's work is exuberant and often primitive...or childlike in its blocked pieces...I guess more like Picasso than anything else.  Marla Morris-Kennedy's piece reminds me of her work in the rendition of the pelicans.  It's easy to say "Oh, I could do that."  Its another thing to actually be able to do it.  I suppose it is because both Pamela and Marla work spontaneously, not making drawings, but just cutting the fabric and going.

Marla was inspired to do this piece when viewing Bird Island in the Florida Keys.  Sitting in a boat and looking toward the island with binoculars.  "Many varieties of water birds nest on the island, including several kinds of pelicans.  I love the flight patterns of pelicans and how majestic they appear against the sky and water.  This quilt personifies the beauty of these birds in their natural environment."

I love how she's outlined these birds. Marla envisioned them as outlined against the sky at dawn, so that you don't see their real colors.  ..

Marla shared with me her artist statement:  "I have entered the art world by way of the back door. I have 25+ years experience as a physical therapist and currently own and manage two commercial real estate properties. Throughout my professional life, my love of fabric, color, visual texture, and design has remained an important part of my life.

I like to work spontaneously, generally without a predetermined design or pattern. This allows a
piece of fiber art to grow from “my gut” rather than from a mathematical sketch. I love to put together
seemingly disparate elements into a cohesive piece that is enhanced with the excitement of beads and
decorative threads.

Many of my art quilts have a more cerebral basis, growing from an emotional response to an event
or based upon the written word. I have been doing a lot of photography over the past three years of a
variety of natural and man-made objects. I use these photographs as inspiration for many of my designs.

The tactile nature of fabric draws me to interesting compositions that juxtapose a variety of textures. No matter what the basis of the art piece may be, I am continuously working to keep the process fresh and stimulating to me as an artist by reinventing myself and the methods I use in construction.
Marla lives in Mequon, Wisconsin.



Marla Morris-Kennedy, "Dawn on Bird Island" detail.
Liese Bronfenbrenner (Ithaca, New York)  is another artist returning to Aullwood.  I discussed her piece "Heron" which was in the 2009 show here.  Liese exhibits a lot and often uses driftwood and other unusual bits in her pieces.  She also does dolls....  Here's her description of her piece:  "The small wall quilt, Forest Spring, combines two fabric dying techniques, both usually resulting in unexpected designs.  The green background and the plant shapes were made from sun-prints on silk, the blue and white spring water designs were made with Suminagachi marbling, also on silk.  The piece was finished with embroidery and machine quilting.

I draw from a variety of sources for inspiration, including folk tales, legends, nature and places I have visited as well as current events and issues." 

Suminagashi (or Suminagachi) marbling is a an ancient method of Asian marbling.  Thought to have originated in China over 2,000 years ago, it was practiced by Japanese Shinto priests .  The term means "floating ink."  Originally, Sumi-e inks were dropped carefully on a container of still water and then carefully blown into swirling shapes.  The inks were then picked up by papers gently places on the surface of the water.  Usually today artists use acrylic inks to float on top of the water.
Liese Bronfenbrenner, "Forest Spring"  10" x 13.25"  $175.00

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Aullwood 2011: Nancy Bales

Nancy M. Bales, "The Waterfall" 45.25" x 44" NFS.
Nancy M. Bales hails from Skaneateles, New York and pulls her imagery from the up-state New York's landscapes.   She uses hand-dyed and commercial cottons as well as pieces which have been hand-painted which are collaged together using raw-edge applique.  She makes her frothy water and other elements by making "thread-painted lace." in other words, loosely stitched...or rather less densely stitched areas.


Nancy Bales, "Autumn Splendor,"  46" x 41".  NFS.



Nasncy Bales, "Down by the Riverside"  30.75" x 42" . NFS



Monday, August 15, 2011

Aullwood 2011 Marilyn Hamaker


Marilyn Hamaker "The Octopus' Garden" 46" x 55" NFS

Marilyn Hamaker's quilt, "The Octopus' Garden" has been a crowd pleaser at the Aullwood Nature Center.  Every time I visit, and I've been there five times now, someone is studying the quilt in detail.  The colors are pleasing, the composition is pleasing, it is well executed....but the real reason I think everyone likes to look is in the details.
Marilyn Hamaker "Octopus' Garden" detail

Marilyn Hamaker "The Octopus' Garden" detail

Marilyn Hamaker "The Octopus' Garden" Detail.


In the detail shot below you can see the tail of the mermaid, and some of the starfish.  The more you look at the quilt, the more little surprises such as anemones and clams stick out.

I have to say, however, I was confused by this piece for a while.











I kept on looking at this section and wondering why this fish had a hole in it.  It took me about five minutes of staring at it before I realized that what I saw as a fish with and eye looking at me...sort of like an eel.... 









was actually a section of coral reef.  The unfortunate placement of the single eyelet stitched piece to make a bumpy spot made my poor little head read it as an eye.

It wasn't until I started looking at the hair as a whole that I realized that it wasn't a fish at all.  When I first saw it with two of my friends, two of us saw the fish first and were confused...only one of us knew that it was the reef right off the bat. 

Marilyn is from Indianapolis, Indiana and had this to say about her piece:  "The title , "The Octopus' Garden" is taken from the Beatles song of the same name, specifically the lines "I want to be --under the sea."  This quilt represents my fantasy of being under the sea with all the corals, polyps, anemones etc. that really do resemble a beautiful garden.  In this fantasy, I am thin and blonde."  Marilyn used hand-dyed and commercial cottons, silk, lame, organdy; hand embroidery; off-loom weaving; beading; hand applique.  Hand quilted.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Aullwood 2011: Pat Kroth and Anne Garretson

I often go to art quilt exhibitions with a friend who plays devil's advocate.  This is partly brought up by Quilt National's rules for submitting quilts....and the technical description of a quilt.  Quilt National says submitted pieces must be of at least two fabric or fabric like layers held together by stitches (machine or hand) or other elements which are distributed throughout the quilt.  The technical description of a quilt is three layers held together by stitches.  A comforter is three layers held with tacks or "ties" and a "summer spread "  is two layers held together in some way.  The last set of definitions come from the traditional background and how we described them when I was in the curatorial end of things.

Pat Kroth, "Cool Waters" 55" x 21" $800

So, when we came to Pat Kroth's "Cool Waters" it immediately allowed her to needle me.  "Is this a quilt?"  Well, it isn't in the traditional sense, but it does meet Quilt Nationals two layer...in fact in many areas it is more than two layers.  Pat's piece of fiber art is composed of bits of sheer fabrics, ribbons, specialty yarns and threads trapped between layers of netting. Pat also used vegetable bags, although I think you'd be hard pressed to find them...ooh....a good seek and find if you're able to get to Aullwood Nature Center before the show closes Aug. 21.



Pat is from Verona, Wisconsin and has a website..of sorts.  I can't seem to go places within it to see galleries, but here you are:  www.krothfiberart.com.
Pat was included in Quilt National and in Lark Books Quilt Masterpieces vol. 1. She's also a fellow SAQA member.   I started to laugh when I read her label as she said "I trained and competed in the 2004, 2006 and 2009 Wisconsin Ironman Triathlon.  I had to learn to swim going from 2 lengths to 2 1/2 miles.. .  I now relax, embrace and enjoy the water. "  As someone who ran, biked and swam, and volunteered at many triathlons, and "crewed" for my husband who competed in triathlons for many years,  I could relate.


Pat Kroth, "Cool Waters" detail

One of the most unfortunate things about the Aullwood show this year is how this quilt was hung.  While there are several areas where there are light colored walls, "Cool Waters" was hung on the "barn siding" side.  The darker color and texture of the wood does not show this piece to best advantage.  I understand that it worked size wise and color-wise with other quilts hung on this wall, but I'd rather have seen it on the opposite side of the hall against the lighter colored background.
Anne Garretson, "Northern Hardwood Forest", 33.5" x 32.5" NFS



Garretson, "Northern Hardwood Forest" detail.



Garretson, Northern Hardwood Forest detail of binding
Anne Garretson of Spencer, New York made this great piece entitled "Northern Hardwood Forest."  At first, you may wonder why this pieces was included in a show called "Water, Water Everywhere", until you read her label.

"The Northern Hardwood Forest at the head of the Susquehanna Riber, is home to jays, salamanders, beech trees, mushrooms and wood sorrel.  This is one of a series of ecosystem mandela quilts representing the Susquahanna Watershed.  Surface design for this piece consists of plant and animal motifs reproduced from woodcut engravings transferred to fabric one image at a time creating the mandala.  Hand-quilting to form a sunburst pattern symbolizes the unifying, cyclic nature of watersheds.  Quilting allows me to share my love of the watershed with others.   My studio is in my home in the  New York's Finger Lakes region.  Dry Run Creek flows by on its way to the Susquahanna River.  The river meanders into Chesapeake Bay.  The Bay opens onto the Ocean and on it goes. . . Wherever we live, we effect the environment around the globe.  All our efforts of care, big and small are worthwhile."

If you take a look at Anne's website you can see she practices what she preaches in her work on her own property. You can also see some of her other fiber art,

I enjoy the simplicity of this piece.  I think I would have outline quilted the salamanders and the beech leaves right up next to their bodies to make them pop from the background, but this is a minor thought. 

I do wonder, however, how a different colored binding would work.  Not all pieces need bindings or borders, but this piece does in order to stop the eye.  I think Anne chose the light peachy brown binding color so that it wouldn't assault the eye like a black binding would, but would be a mid-range color which wouldn't be so in yoru face.  However, since the quilt is done in black and quite....the binding sticks out for me.

Just to give you another thought....I am showing you the quilt without the brown binding, but with a (poorly) photoshopped in grey binding.  I think it does what I'm supposing Anne intended while being in the same color family and therefore being unobtrusive.  

Garretson, Northern Hardwood Forest" photoshopped with a grey border by Lisa Quintana


Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Aullwood 2011: Anne Theobald

Anne Theobald "Impression:  Sunset on the Lake"  15" x 20" $400

Two weeks ago, I stopped in for the third time at Aullwood to re-shoot some details which I had missed the first time around.  One of the Aullwood staff asked me what my favorite piece was.  I hate having to choose favorite pieces, so I quickly showed her pieces I really liked and why I liked them.  It was amusing as when I got to Anne Theobald's work and pointed out that in this particular case the emphasis of the work was on texture, which is what draws me to working in fiber.  I told her that all of Anne's pieces in this exhibition were worked by hand.  The staff person was stunned.  "It must have taken her AGES, " she gasped.



Anne Theobald "Impression: Sunset on the Lake"  detail
Indeed, I know it "took her ages."  Anne has made these three pieces based on a hand-sewing technique she saw at a workshop with Barbara Lee Smith several years ago.  She adapted Smith's technique to her own work resulting in these texturally rich pieces although her work looks nothing like Smith's pieces.   Take a look at Smith's website to see what I mean. She has framed and matted two of her works in order to show them off more.  Many fiber artists have taken to framing works in order to show them off to their best advantage.  In some cases, it is an attempt to have our work accepted as legitimate pieces of art, rather than a "craft."



Anne Theobald "Impression:  Lake Powell"  24"  x 24"  $350.00
Anne Theobald "Impression:  Lake Powell" detail

Anne Theobald "Impression:  Oil Spill"  15" x 20"  $400.00
While all of Anne's  pieces at the Aullwood show all utilized the same distinctive stitching, this one is the most "quilt-like."  Entitled "Impression: Lake Powell"  this work show's her impressions of the Colorado River and the Red Rocks at Lake Powell.

I love Anne's comment on her label:  "For forty years I have been exploring what can be done with fabric and threads.  Embroidery and quilt making techniques have been especially intriguing connecting me to both contemporary women and women of different cultures and other times. "  This is just one of the reasons that I have chosen fiber as my medium.

Anne has said to me that her  pieces in the show are "a departure from the more quilt-like work" she usually does. 

Anne is from Greenwood Village, Colorado and is a member of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) and the Front Range Contemporary Quilters in the greater Denver Area.


"Impression: Oil Spill" is one of several pieces at the Aullwood show which reference last year's Gulf Oil Spill. I love the richness of these pieces.  The unfortunate thing is that you have the impulse to run your hand over them to luxuriate in the texture.  However, the curator in me squelches that urge. :)