Quilt National 2013: The Oscars for the Art Quilting World

Quilt National 2013 opening, Dairy Barn, Athens, OH

I have been planning to go to the opening of  Quilt National 2013 for quite some time.  I have had it on my calendar for ages. While I  have been to every Quilt National since I moved to Ohio, I've never been to the opening.  Someone who is not a quilter asked me what it was, and the best I could come up with was that it is the Oscars of the Art Quilting world...only it is held every other year and there are only three judges rather than being judged by all your peers.

The quilts are judged from digital images submitted by the artists, but they are chosen blind.  The jurors are given the name of the work, a detail, dimensions, the artist statement and materials.  No names, although for some artists, their style is so remarkable you would have had to have had your head stuck in a paper bag not to recognize their work.  You cannot have shown the quilt anywhere, an it must not have been published anywhere---online, in blogs or on Facebook.  Even if someone from a guild or something has seen it and taken a photo without the artist knowing and put it up on the web, it can be disqualified.  851 quilts were submitted from artists in 44 states, five Canadian provinces and 16 foreign countries.  Only 85 were chosen.  It is not unusual to try for years to get in. Quilt National is one of the oldest art quilt venues and these rules keep the show fresh and exciting.

I was especially excited to go as I was going to meet Brooke Atherton and Del Thomas there for the first time, even though we have corresponded for quite some time.

This year's show was visually spectacular. I found myself looking intently at each quilt, close up and from a distance, even though close up at the opening was often difficult for the number of people present.  Line, color and form rang out and spoke to you.  I honestly felt that this is the best show Quilt National has put together of the ones I have been able to attend.

In general, I felt the show to be well balanced.  I did not find any quilt that my reaction was "What WERE they THINKING????"  The jurors were Linda Colsh, Judith Content, and Penny McMorris (who does not have a website other than Electric Quilt which she started, but is well known in the quilting field for having hosted and early PBS show on quilting as well as authored several books).  I was interested when someone (Martha Seilman?) suggested that the trends represented included a strong emphasis on neutrals, graphics and the utilization of digital photography in the works.  I don't remember anyone saying it, but I would also add mixed media in the works.  I really was puzzled by the "neutrals" comment because while I recognized the graphic quality of the works....my reaction was the wonderful richness of color and texture in the show.
When I went back and tallied the pieces (as best I could) neutrals DID out number the brightly colored pieces.

Abstracts (both pure abstract and abstract realism) were strongly represented, outnumbering the more realistic works by quite a bit.  However, we don't know what was submitted, and I think this tends to be over emphasized.  Strong pieces, works with great merit, whether they are realistic or abstract are what should be in the show, and that is precisely what I saw.

When I  entered the show, I turned to the right, and I was about 10 quilts shy of the beginning when I ran into Brooke.  She told me that she won an award and was having a hard time keeping still while she took at class at Nancy Crow's Barn.  I had not yet seen her piece, and shortly thereafter, they started announcing the  awards...I had to restrain myself from hollering when they announced that Brooke won Best of Show for "Springfield."

Detail, Brooke Atherrton, "Springfield," Quilt National 2

Brooke Atherton, Detail, "Springfield," Quilt National 2013

Brooke Atherton, detail, "Springfield," Quilt National 2013

I apologize, my photos are few, for one, you are only allowed to take shots at the opening...and I have been having such problems with my hands, that I opted to use my "point and shoot" for fear I would drop my DSLR, and I didn't notice that when I hit the "macro" button, I accidentally turned off the flash...so things were blurry and like Brooke's piece here, yellow from the interior lighting,

Brooke is known for using all sorts of bits and pieces as well as for torturing things by burning and melting.  She uses found objects and in this case she used paper maps, text (including something which looks like it is Welsh or at least written in Middle or Old  English ( a college text perhaps?).

Some of her found pieces are trapped under organza, or wrapped in little packages. She stitches things down by both hand and machine.  You'll recognize the metal "sheath" from the top of a wine bottle in the top photo.  Below you can see bamboo, and bits of annular ware, pottery from the late-18th and first half of the 19th century, her pieces seem to be abraded, either showing water damage or that it has passed though fire.  I also found bits of Native American pottery sewn down...a treasure trove for the material culturist.

On her statement, Brooke wrote
 "The hills are shadows, and they flow
From form to form,  and nothing stands.
They melt like mist, the solid lands,
Like clouds, they shape themselves and go."
--Tennyson

"A little stitching madness to hold an elusive memory"

Not only does Brook's piece have flow, texture, and all the other elements of design, but it starts a conversation with the viewer.  Which Springfield?  It could be any one of the 38 places in the U.S. with this moniker, or the ones in the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Ireland or New Zealand (USA holds the largest number).  Why did she choose to include the fragments she did?  Certainly the Tennyson poem really DOES describe the piece....and what does it say about us? How do we relate to the land? What bits of our souls reverberate and intertwine with the land and memory?

You can see more of Brooke's work at http://www.brookeathertonart.com/ , and of course I've written about her pieces several other times here.  Just put a search up for Brooke Atherton in the blog search engine at right and you'll find earlier posts showing her work.  "Springfield" measures 32" h x 97" w.

Deidre Adams, "Tracings III, Quilt National 2013.60" h x 60" w.

I always cringe when people ask me what my favorite piece is....In fact in this show, I prefer NOT to say...I enjoy and appreciate so many pieces for so many different reasons, often the subject matter calls to me, or the message or political statement resonates with me.  I admit, however,  I am a color and texture junkie....and this is really the show for that!  Line, oh, that scrumptious foundation....

However, Deidre Adams piece "Tracings,  III"  grabbed me because it shimmered....glowed...and as Natalya Aiken said "pulsated."  Oh...ok, so it happens to also be in colors that I love and...it's all about texture and surface design.  Deidre's website is here.

Deidre Adams, detail, "Tracings III, Quilt National 2013

One thing about the show which tickled me was that when  I saw several quilts from across the room, I assumed I knew who the artist was because I thought I recognized their style..only to be surprised an found out it was someone else.  Likewise, I was often surprised to see pieces by other artist whose work I knew, but these pieces were a departure from the previous works I saw.

One which didn't fool me was another wonderful piece by Dianne Firth entitled "Storm"...like the piece I spoke about at Art Quilt Elements at the Wayne Art Center last March.  This one is another fantastic piece where the shadow composes part of the quilt.....Dianne won the McCarthy Memorial award.

You can see the other award winners here.  One of my favorites is the Hillary Fletcher (the first director) "Persistence Pays" Award which is given to the person who tried the most number to tries to get in, and finally was chosen this year.

So many quilts spoke to me, too many to list....well....I could, but your eyes would be bleary. I suggest that you go and see the show if you can and if you can't, at least buy the catalog.  I'll be reviewing that at  a later date.

Quilt National runs roughly from now until September 2, 2013 at the Dairy Barn Art Center,  Dairy Lane, Athens, OH.


I am participating in Nina Marie Sayre's off the wall Fiber Fridays blog tour, take a look at the other blogs here:

http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

More on Understanding and Labels: Brooke Atherton's "I Feel Free"

Brooke Atherton "Twenty Feet Deep"

In my last post, I wrote about how artist statements/labels can bring us to a deeper meaning, and that sometimes having someone "interpret" the piece brings greater understanding.  At the same time, sometimes the message which the viewer receives is just as valid, although different, than the artist's intent.

At the Art Quilt Elements opening at the Wayne Art Center, I over heard two women puzzling over Brooke Atherton's "I Feel Free."  I am familiar with Brooke's manner of working and, in true Lisa form, felt I had to share that Brooke's works often spill off the walls.

The artists statements (which to my mind is sort of a misnomer...as I usually think of the artist statement as explaining in general why they do what they do, whereas a label is the explanation or statement about the individual piece) were limited to 100 words, basically the length of the first two paragraphs I have written here.  Brooke wrote about her piece as showing resilience in the face of destruction and references fires, and tornados.  The yellow dress which gives  you the feeling of blowing away in a tornado is the matron of honor dress Brooke wore at her sister's wedding, and she told you about that in her statement....but that was about all.

Brooke Atherton, "I Feel Free"

I asked Brooke to share with me the details of "I feel Free", and was moved by her eloquence and the deep meaning which it held.  Her response was 1,450 words....I struggle with this as I know that many people wouldn't bother to read this much, in fact, you might not, but I encourage you to do so as it is a wonderful story.  I also understand that it is expensive to produce hard copy catalogs and labels on the wall.

Perhaps Susan Lenz really has the right idea when she spoke of having a link to a webpage identified by a QR (quick-read) code.  I have pondered this as I don't like the idea of excluding people who don't have the tablets or smart phones to read them.  I've puzzled over how galleries could provide "loaners" to be able to read the QR codes...but maybe a few hard copies would solve that problem. Certainly, linking it to a webpage would be quick and inexpensive as Susan pointed out to me.

So, here's Brooke's story about this piece, "I feel Free" and the "long red one" at the top of this post which is "Twenty Feet Under."

"I Feel Free" Detail

“I Feel Free” is a companion piece to  “Twenty Feet”, which was a device constructed to measure the depth of floodwaters in New Orleans after the Katrina fiasco.  It quickly evolved into a commentary on news coverage (repetitive, meaningless, and obscene—those reporters were getting off on being in the middle of total destruction), the rapid breakdown of the social order, and a measure of grief and despair.  To the base layers of that quilt, I started adding measurements.   I walked through my house measuring the heights of things I care about, things I would miss if they floated out of my life.  When I added in my own 5’6 ½”, I was barely a fourth of the way to the twenty feet deep that the flood waters reached in places. (We duck taped it to the apex of our house roof to get a full length photo when it was finished—about 1 ½ feet of it still laid on the grass.  I would have lost everything I have carefully surrounded myself with. The piece actually measures 16 inches W x 21 ½ feet tall)   At that point it quit being a game, and the enormity of the destruction began to sink in.  At the time I was working on this, two of my friends were diagnosed with stage 4 cancer (colon and lung), one in Ohio and one here.  They never met, but emailed a bit about treatments, etc, building a relationship that made me feel left out at times.  The day I caught myself actually wishing I had cancer so I wouldn’t feel excluded made me realize I was measuring and cataloging things of Biblical proportions.  The age old lament “Why have you forsaken us?” was swirling around and around in my head, so I burned it into fabric, stitched it in, and eventually the words deconstructed into pure marks—stitches of different colors, different threads repeated over and over into a black cloud of total despair, anger, and terror, like a black cloud overhead.  At that point on the quilt, the stitching was so dense I made holes in my fingers from trying to push fat needles through the layers.  Using a thimble seemed like cheating—with so many in so much pain and despair, how could I not add a little of my own blood, tears, pain, literally. 

“Twenty Feet” was shown in a special exhibit about the Katrina flooding that Laura Cater-Woods put together for the quilt show in Lowell , Mass. It came home with three (3!) Judge’s Choice ribbons (from Martine House, Joe the Quilter, and Susan Carlson), even though it wasn’t in the judged portion of the show.  Over the years, it’s also gone to a handful of other venues, but the size made it impossible to enter into most shows.  So I NEVER thought I’d make another one ….

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of Katrina, the show “Still We Rise Again” sent out a call for work related to it.  They were looking for things of a spiritually uplifting, positive nature.  I read about the show and knew I needed to be part of it.  I needed to honor those friends, who were my cheerleaders—the ones who’s faith in me and my work kept me working when I didn’t see the value in anything I had to say. ‘ Relevance’ was a big issue to me when I reentered the art world.  Who would be interested in anything a white, middle-class, middle-aged woman had to say?  ( Since then, there have been studies about the ‘Grandmother Factor’—the theory that civilization and human development were able to take a giant leap forward because we began living long enough for menopause to kick in, and that having non-childbearing women around to help nurture and teach enabled language, art, etc. to flourish.  I’m sure I’m misstating this, but the idea made me reevaluate this stage of my life.  We rule!)  So, with about 2 weeks to develop an idea and build the piece, I dove in.   

                                                                                                                                                                                          

I had some of the fabric elements left from “Twenty Feet”, so dug them out and started there.  The next day we had our art quilt (WAV) meeting, and someone there brought a nasty-looking plastic baggie.  She lives on a ranch in WY, and said they had a trailer fire on their property years ago and every now and then goes over to check on what’s left of it.  She said it’s finally looking ‘Brooke-ish’!  So, she brought the bag full of broken pottery, metal…things, etc., all charred and dusty.  I thought—how cool, and wanted to work them into the bottom section of “I Feel Free”, the part that represents destruction.  We have learned through the years that it’s okay to keep to our regular schedule (we meet every third Sunday of each month) even if it falls on Father’s Day, because most of our husbands and sons really don’t mind.  So, that’s how I know it was in June.  After I got home from the meeting, I sorted through the bag to see what I could use (Parris was golfing, so I had it spread out on the dining room table).  And that’s about when the hail storm and tornado hit.  Our neighborhood was hit hard by the hail, but the tornado was at the bottom of the big hill, and followed Main St. up the hill, so I didn’t know about it til later.  Main st. is the busiest street in the entire state of Montana , supposedly, so that was a major event.  The tornado landed squarely on the Metra center, which is where all the big events are held, from rodeos to concerts.  If it had happened the night before, thousands of people would have been there, but on Sunday evening no one was inside.  Parris had to walk home from the golf course because they wouldn’t let cars through the flooding.  Men on foot were okay, though—go figure.  We spent a year rebuilding, re-roofing, etc.  I used a couple pieces in the quilt from my huge red ware bowl that now has 2 perfect half-moon holes from the baseball-sized hail.  So, I was able to include something of my own! 

The next day, my youngest sister called from Ohio , to say that she had kicked her boyfriend of many years out.  He is an alcoholic, as was her husband before him.  I asked her to please get counseling, for herself and her daughter, and find out why she’s drawn to guys who drink too much, and she has thank goodness.  The dress is the one I wore as her matron of honor, and never wore again because it’s a color that looks awful on me.  But it looks great on the blue-dye painted Lutradur I had laying around…  So, there were all the major elements, presented to me over a two-day period.  I asked my sister what she thought about me cutting up the dress and using it.  She laughed, and said “I would be honored for you to use my sucky life to make art.”  So this became a message to her daughter, my 13-yr old niece, about strength and resilience.  Even the choice of the word ‘resilience’ is part of the story now.  A little over a year ago, a friend’s house was pulverized when a several-ton boulder rolled down the hill and destroyed it.  I hate ‘pitying’ anyone—that’s so demeaning—so I was delighted to watch them rebound.  They will soon be moving into an old factory building in the trendy, artsy, downtown area, that has been re-designed as a house/studio/gallery!  How could I have had so little faith in them?  Anyway, ‘resilience’ is the word she uses a lot now, and I asked her if I could borrow it.  She graciously actually gave it to me.  (She’s the one who is instrumental in getting the Live Well grant for the new group she started here.  She’s been active in using the arts in hospitals for years. She’s my new hero.) 

One thing that both quilts share, other than size, is their structure.  The bamboo sticks aren’t just decorative.  They are the system for folding the fabric back and forth (then are tied together) so they can be displayed in different configurations and sizes.  Who has walls tall enough to stretch them out?  In my dreams, Oprah or Brangelina will buy these two pieces and permanently install them in a library or other public building in New Orleans , in giant plexi boxes.  They’re the only people I know of who care that much about NOLA, and can afford that much plexi. 

I love what Brooke had to say....a friend of mine was taken with her comment "How could I have so little faith in them?" saying that we often don't give our friends and relations the credit for the inner strength which we all have.

Certainly, Brooke has given us a lot to think about, and people who are able to see "I Feel Free" would benefit from reading this remarkable story, especially after they too have looked at it and listened to what it had to say to them individually.

Labels, Statements, Intent and Understanding

Perhaps the title to this post should be "How much or how little?"  Historically, art galleries have minimally used labels on the work they exhibit.  Usually, just the title and the name of the artist...perhaps the medium, but not always, perhaps the date.

"War Sucks" by Kristin LaFlamme

As I have mentioned before, in my previous life, I was a museum curator in historical museums.  I went the other way.  We identified the piece, we put it in its cultural context.  I viewed exhibition text/labels to be written like an outline.  The big headings, smaller parts, and once you got down the the label, the really fine bones of the work.  My viewpoint was, don't put a book on the wall, but provide the information if someone wants to take the time to read the individual object labels.  I thought that people would scan what they wanted and if they wanted to read more deeply, they'd go beyond the object name, date and materials.  If they didn't, they wouldn't.  Yes, in the case of the Artist Village at IQF, I would have welcomed something to identify each of the artist's works...instead of making me ferret, guess and deliberate....

I had been contemplating writing about labels and interpretation and had mentally been framing the discussion when Vivien Zepf wrote a really interesting blog post on understanding art included in Fiber Philadelphia as explained to her by Frank Hopson at the Snyderman Works Gallery.  If you haven't read the post, you may find it here.  Vivien was wondering why some of the pieces were included in a fiber show, even though they weren't made of fiber.  Frank ably led her to some new understandings and thoughtful considerations about art.

Which brings me to the above piece.   This is Kristin LaFlamme's work, "War Sucks" which is included in the Art Quilt Elements exhibition at the Wayne Art Center.  One of the people at the opening who was standing next to me took one look at the quilt and said "I don't like it."  Not being someone who easily keeps her mouth shut, I started talking to her about it, and what Kristin was communicating.  First, Kristin is an army wife married to a really neat guy, Art, who has seen I think 7 deployments as he is career Army.  This is part of a series that Kristin has been working on, or rather is related to a series called "The Army Wife" and reflects the observations of one who is up-close and personal with her subject matter.  I pointed out the chamoflage fabric taken from Art's old uniforms, the raw edges, because war is raw on every level.  The stuffed and unbound edges...the fact that the "batting" was an old army blanket.....and the choice of commercial fabrics, the patriotic ones contrasted with small floral prints...and the rawness of the slashing of the words across the "homey" aspect of a quilt.   Not all quilts are pretty.  Some quilts talk....loudly, but it is up to us to be able to listen and in this case, "knowing" Kristin and her work helped as there was little interpretation there (you had to be able to make it to the book which had the artists statements-- themselves  limited to 100 words-- in the opening crowd.

The quilt suddenly became something more...While it "spoke" it needed an interpreter who had some more information to make it understandable on more than a superficial level.  Kristin's blog goes more deeply into the piece and you may read it here.

"I Feel Free," Brooke Atherton, 

Across the room, hung Brooke Atherton's "I Feel Free".  While there was a brief explanation (again the 100 words or less) in the book, a couple of people were perplexed..."Where would this hang? Who would make such a long quilt, and why???  Too bad it had to be folded."  Well, I'm a little familiar with Brooke's work and explained that her work often came off the wall and flowed onto pillars.  I also explained a little of her method as you could see the wonderful "burned shibori" on this....which if you don't know Brooke's work again could be easily missed....Again, a docent or another interpreter brought (I hope) a deeper understanding of the piece....

But then again, recently on either the Quiltart or the SAQA Yahoo group someone shared her understanding of a piece which was on exhibition at the Crane Building for Fiber Philadelphia.  It was a large installation which the person saw as being Hijabs....and it spoke to her as to what she connected with.  She studied it for a long time...and the artist, who happened to be standing nearby came over and spoke to her about it since she had been looking at it for so long.  She explained what it meant to her....which wasn't the artist's intent at all....and then the artist explained what he was communicating, which she also understood.

In some cases with art, we don't have the knowledge of what the artist intended to communicate....we just have our own reaction and interpretation.  This understanding is valid and certainly a personal resonance is part of fully interacting with art....

Somehow, in the best of all possible worlds we would have the combination of the two...the opportunity to look at a piece and form our own opinions and understanding, then to go to a fuller explanation of the artist's intent.

Explorations and Expectations

Unconventional Materials Challenge, Quiltart Message List 2011.

ARGHHH!.  Blogger is being a pest tonight and it won't let me start the text where I want it.  BAGH!

Anyway, The first image above is a "quilt" which I did for the Quiltart Message List in a month long challenge hosted by Maxine Farkas.  It was due on October 18, 2011, but I haven't seen anything about it since I sent the photo in.  


The challenge was to use unconventional materials, specifically things you'd find in the garage or the hardware store.  Materials: Hardware Cloth, tea bags, landscaping cloth (the plastic kind), turn buttons, washers, ball chain, crochet cotton, wooden beads, masking tape "binding". Size:  17 1/2" H x 12" wide.  Because I know that my local groups would grump if it were only 2 layers (which is what Quilt National says ) I used a tea-bag "batting (I sewed large, restaurant sized tea bags together to make a middle layer).  I used hardware cloth and landscaping cloth because of the "cloth" aspect and just picked up what looked like fun.


Part of me balks at this....It is so easy to be distracted and not concentrate on making good pieces, but playing and having fun...don't get me wrong, fun is good....exploring things is good...but....is the end product art? Is it worthy of being  shown somewhere?


The concept of doing the unconventional materials has been with me for a long time.  I have actually picked up pieces of hardware and plumbing before with the thought of using them in a quilt....so I decided to join in on this challenge.


What is a little amusing to me now is that it presently fits the Studio Art Quilt Associate's new definition of "art quilt:  The art quilt is a creative visual work that is layered and stitched or that references this form of stitched layered structure.

The Board sees the revised definition as a visionary statement. The word "references" allows for a broader understanding of the art quilt, thus creating a potential for growth in SAQA membership in terms of numbers and diversity of artists. The revised definition allows for more 3D work and work in media other than fiber/textile/fabric/cloth; it allows for techniques and materials not found in traditional quilting. The revised definition allows for framed, unframed, bound, and unbound work, thereby welcoming growth and development of individual style. 

(Sorry that the background color came wit the clip).  I still don't think it is worthy of submitting to a SAQA show though....or is it???


The next piece, the one directly above, sort of came out of this same challenge....but with a twist.  I have been working with found objects...or rather mentally playing with found objects in quilts.  I decided that I wanted to do a piece which I called "zen stitching" and is roughly related to the Japanese concept of "Wabi-sabi."  Please take a look at the Wikipedia definition of "Wabi-sabi" as I think a lot of westerners have taken it to mean a sort of serendipitous aesthetic, when I think it has a more spiritual connotation.  Yes, it has elements of impermanence, and a rusticity, but there's more to it than that.  


I wanted to have a hand sewn piece, one which I would work on texture utilizing random hand quilting, with no prior sketch or thought....just stitching.  I chose a piece of my rust-dyed/tea dyed fabric to serve as the back ground.  Because it is so wonderful to needle through and has great loft and is surprisingly light weight, I used a wool batting.  


After stitching, I used old crochet threads to stitch down tile spacers and washers. Then, I machine quilted with free-motion zigzag using a hand dyed-Oliver Twist thread.  Then I couched hand dyed silk ribbon from Oliver Twist.

I looked at it and decided that I needed even more texture.  So, I found a remnant of copper colored synthetic fabric I bought from the remnant bin at JoAnn fabrics....and I had a piece of stretch velvet...I liked the edges of the wool batting sticking out from the background.  The original quilted section was not square, but reflected the scrap source of the piece of fabric I rust dyed--a scrap of fabric from a stash donated to a friend....destined for the dumpster if I didn't take it.

I then quilted it....lots.  Gives me two feelings....one of a map or the texture of the earth....I extended the quilting out through the brown stretch velvet...and I felt for all the world like it was water running across the nappy shoulders of a buffalo.

I think I was probably influenced by some of Brooke Atherton's pieces....although hers are much more wonderful.

This was one of three pieces I submitted to the Studio Art Quilt Associate's Ohio Regional Show, and the only one to be accepted.  I am pleasantly surprised.  Correction, I am dumbfounded as a couple of people who I consider to do very good work didn't get in....and to think that this little piece which I did with found pieces, salvaged materials, and just my random stitching....well.. OK, it wasn't completely random as I did look at what I was doing, but it was completely without plan...got in.

Brooke Atherton: Controlled Burns and Winter Solstice

Tonight,  Brooke Atherton hosted a winter solstice program at the Yellowstone Art Museum (YAM)  in Billings, Montana.  I wrote about the event earlier this week.

Brooke has been an artist in residence at YAM for the last year.  As an artist in residence, she works in a studio and talks with visitors, often art groups and college art students.  Brooke uses all sorts of fabrics and found objects in her fiber art, heavily stitching and trapping objects and bits of fabric which in some cases she's altered by controlled burns and distortions.  She gathers a lot of her fabrics from various places, a lot of it salvaged.  She is prone to layering and burning or melting pieces away.

She has also been burning fibers by using a Japanese Shibori dying technique called "arashi", or pole wrapping.  In arashi shibori, fabric is wrapped diagonally around a pole, traditionally a polished wooden one, then bound with string and ultimately scrunched down once the string has been tightly wrapped around it.

 Here you can see how Brooke has applied this to her burning.  The fabric is bound as for traditional Shibori dyeing, but instead, she uses a gas or natural wood flame to scorch and burn the fibers.

The next photo shows what some of the pieces look like once the string has been cut and the lines are revealed.

Brooke had this to say of her methods:  " I love the way the fabrics capture directly the marks of a natural force, and it is, of course, insanely fun to do.  I use this a lot for borders—the strips of burned fabric are Misty Fused and stitched onto the edges of my canvases.  I put a lot of thought into how to end my work, how to transition from the work to a wall or floor, and this gives an interesting, soft line between one and the other (meaning the work and the wall). "

Many of Brooke's pieces are large installations which cascade down a wall, onto pillars before ultimately spilling onto the floor.

It was from describing her technique to these visitors that Brooke got the idea for having the winter solstice observance called "Ignite!"  Which was held tonight at 6:00 mountain time.  In many cultures, the longest night of the year is observed with bonfires.  Not only is the and warmth of the fires seen to drive evil and negative forces away, but also as a symbol of hope and the potential for rebirth.  It is, in the winter, an affirmation that the days will grow longer, spring will come, and the cycle will start all over again.

Fire is also seen as a cleansing agent, and Brooke asked participants to write things that they wanted to put behind them, or bring things which were emblematic of things they wanted to end with them and to put them into the flames.  I sent her a small quilt with a crab...(indicating how much I want to get rid of the cancer in my body).

"Like a lot of fiber artists, I use candles and a soldering iron for other effects.  My doctor always asks me what I’ve been burning recently, and one time he disappeared for a few minutes.  He came back handed me something, and said he’d like to see what I did with it.  And in demos, you can always tell who the guys in the room are who have had vasectomies, because they start laughing when they see the cauterizing tool he gave me.  The materials I burn are mostly natural fibers—cotton, linen, silk, paper, but I’ve also had good results with Tyvek and polyesters.  The manufactured materials are dangerous to work with, though, and if I work with them I do it carefully, outside, and not over a full flame—just enough warmth to shape them, not burn them.  I cannot stress enough how dangerous these things are; our burn permit is for natural fibers only.  I am looking forward, if there is no wind, to using gunpowder."

Gunpowder....I would have liked to have seen that!

The various layers, combined with hand and machine stitches and bits of this and that give her pieces incredible complexity but is based on the simplest of elements.  To me, her pieces have a luminous quality and a voice which just sings....They are evocative of decay and yet have elements of growth and rebirth.

Brooke also has an amazing way with color.   Yes, I'm a Brooke Atherton groupie.  One of these days I hope to get back to Montana and maybe swing down and visit her, but Billings is a long way from Cut Bank.

I had hoped to participate in the event here in Ohio at the same time they were burning the things in Billings...to that end, I prepared my own arashi pole....only to have it pouring down rain when I went to go outside and burn it.....So, mine will have to wait until tomorrow when the deluge stops....as I hope it will.

Brooke is the Studio Art Quilt Associate (SAQA) regional  representative for Montana and Idaho.

Ignite! Winter Solstice Program

Last weekend, I got an email from Brooke Atherton telling me about a program she is doing and asking if I wanted to participate "from afar."

Brooke is a quilter I've "met" by chance...I saw one of her pieces at the NQA quilt show in Columbus and contacted her to review it here.  I love Brooke's work because it is very textural...in some ways its simple....but at the same time complex.  Here are a couple of pieces she has on line, completed for the Salvaged Threads show in 2009. Brooke is also the Yellowstone Art Museum artist-in-residence.

Brooke is hosting a special winter solstice program she's calling "Ignite!"  Using an outdoor firepit in the Visible Vault parking lot in Billings, Montana, Brooke is going to demonstrate the controlled charring of fabrics such as she uses in her own pieces... Participants are also invited to bring a small symbol of an event in their lives that they wish to put behind them, and those pieces will be consigned to the flames.

Winter solstice festivals marking the turning point between the decline into darkness and the return of the light have been part of human history for thousands of years.  The paradox between fire's beneficial and destructive properties have also marked human culture.

This misshapen piece is one I whipped up and sent out to Brooke today...for some reason, I was bound and determined to make a little quilt (this one is about 8" x 10").  I free cut the crab...but I was watching just the little piece I was working on while the remainder of it dangled in the air and I laughed to see that I really got off track...it's warped, just like bones eaten by cancer get warped.  I quilted it with the words "cancer" in several places and then just quilted it over all...I was having fun with it, even though it isn't a piece of art...Obviously, I really want to put cancer behind me....if I can beat it back one more time...I'll be really happy.

The program is free to the public and will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, December 22, in the Visible Vault parking lot at 505 North 26th Street in Billings.  The program will take place whether it's snowing or not.  Wine and beer will be available for purchase.  The program will also take place in the Visible Vault Studio, but dress warmly for the outdoors.  Participants wishing to work with Brooke to make a symbolic item for the fire should plan to come to the Studio in advance, at 5 p.m.

I'm thinking that if you can't be there...maybe it would be fun to get some of your friends together and do the same....or even just write them on paper and let the new year be clean of regrets, pain, and other things which need to be put aside for happier living.

Wonderful Quilting! Brooke Atherton

I think I have been thinking about the quilting part of our art for a long time, and since I had such a struggle with Pudge's quilt (and my machine!) it is even more in my brain. Quite often, once we complete a top, we say "Oh Boy! I'm done, except for the quilting." Except? Quilting is half of the project. What you do and how you do it can make or break a quilt.

I've been musing over this and thinking that the best route to good quilting is to practice, practice, practice. Once you're done doing that, then practice some more. Making muslin sandwiches and samples of your quilts to test out the thread and pattern is great. I know some people use photo editing programs, Electric Quilt software, or manipulate the image in other ways (or even just printing a copy out) and drawing a potential pattern over the top.

These thoughts have been pushing me to look more at quilts for their quilting. In fact, when Chris Landis and I went to the Dairy Barn and looked at those antique Amish quilts, we were both looking at the quilting. How did the patterns enhance or detract from the quilt? How did they solve problems like turning a corner, or fitting into an element? It is no different working with traditional quilts in this regard than it is to work with contemporary or art quilts.

These two pieces are wonderful ones by Brooke Atherton of Billings, Montana. I was drawn to these pieces because of their simplicity of pattern, rich yet restrained palette and fantastic quilting. The texture called to me from across the aisle. It is primarily through the quilting that these pieces derive their texture and guide the eye. The first piece on this post is called "On Drawing II: A Little Stitching Madness and On Drawing III: A Little Stitching Madness. These two pieces, which I saw at the National Quilters Association Show in Columbus in June are part of a suite of four technique studies.

I can't say it any better than Brooke did in an email to me, so here's what she has to say about these pieces:

"I love to do lots of hand stitching, but ended up with two surgeries for carpal tunnel syndrome, and decided it was time to get to know my sewing machine better, and see how I could luse it more for expressive drawing rather than just assembly.

My formal art background includes drawing, printmaking, and photography. I feel comfortable starting with a blank sheet of white paper in front of me, so I set up the fabric equivalent and started there, adding elements, building up the surface and working it back.

I use grids a lot, so that's part of the initial set up, too; these things set up the initial form, and then usually I have a story or theme to present. In these four pieces, though, it's all about texture, and playing with the machine to make marks that looked familiar to me--that looked like what I did with a pencil or with hand-stitches.

The goal was to learn to let the machine do most of the work, with just enough hand work to give it the look I wanted it to have. The big thing I learned is that well-built machines are a lot tougher than I thought--and if you buy your Bernina at an estate sale, you're much more willing to push it farther than if you buy it new!

I love the scribbling technique I've been using the last couple of years--it started with these four studies, and is a lot more controlled now. I use a lot of burned fiber in my work, too--htere's some burned silk organza here in the layering. I did most of the burning after it was stitched down, using straight pints to separate the layers, and holding them close to a candle. I know there are easier and safer methods, but I prefer the directness of this ...technique. I use open flames for reasons that are buried in my personal history...good and bad memories mixed."

Look closely, and you can see where Brooke added hand-stitching and what she's talking about with the "scribbling." The stitches sort of look like letters, or a child's scribbling, and the grids are clearly here, adding formality, a wonderful interplay with the stitches.

The next several posts, I intend to be about quilting, so bear with me.

I also want to acknowledge the wonderful people who have been helping. I was trying to find Brooke, and I put out a call on the Quiltart message list. Gerrie Congdon came through and connected me with Brooke, and I'm very glad she did! Brooke then supplied me with the detail and two of her photos. Thanks to both of you!