Dayton Landmark's Quilts--Interpreting photos by the slice!

Dayton Landmarks as hanging in Schuster Center. L - R: Mendolson's, Sue DeSantis,  Carrillon,  Dayton Skyline (part 1, Carroll Schleppi, Dayton Skyline Part 2, Lisa Quintana, Sacred Heart Church, Dayton Art Institute, Mindy Marik, The Arcade

Some of the craziness I was participating in last week was the installation of a series of "slice" quilts at the Schuster Center for the Performing Arts in Dayton, Ohio.  These quilts were a long time in the hanging.  In about 2009, a group of us had seen the "slice" quilts at the National Quilters Association show in Columbus and we thought we wanted to give it a go.  The quilts in Columbus were scenes of a river, which flowed from one piece into another.  We thought we'd do scenes of locations which were readily recognized as Dayton.

At first, we contacted some photography groups in Dayton to see if they were interested.  When no one responded, we asked our own Ronnie Doyal who is an art quilter and pretty danged good photographer working with David Lorenz Studios in Dayton.  Ronnie took a series of shots and three of us, Lori Gravley, Mindy Marik and I, looked at the images and chose which ones would be best to be divided into segments and then handed out to Miami Valley Art Quilt members to interpret in cloth.

We had sign ups, where everyone who was interested in a particular image put their names in a "hat" and we drew to assign segments.  Some of us did more than one....all of the quilts were to be 42" long, with the width being proportional in order to make sure that the show would look good when hanging with all the segments completed.

This wasn't without trauma as some of the places doing photocopies were less than accurate in their segment lengths.  This is Ronnie's photo of the Carillon Tower at Carillon Park.  I fell in love with the dramatic lighting...taken just as the sun went down.

Here's how Sue DeSantis and I interpreted the piece.  My "slice" is on the left, and Sue's is the right.  Sue used a commercial gradient fabric in teal as her background with a selection of greyish neutrals for the tower.  Her bells are small craft bells.  She quilted it on the diagonal and put small hot-fix crystals to show the evening stars.  My segment was made with a rust dye fabric with tea to give it the greyish look.   The trees are made with a machine lace, which was cut away in segments to let the yellow glow show through.  The blue background is a commercial batik which unfortunately, I was only able to obtain in fat quarter sizes, so I had to piece it.  I used organza ribbon to give the shadow on the pylon.  Unfortunately, I learned too late that organza tends to run away from your presser foot.  I think if I use it again, I'll glue it down first, or fuse so I can get a perfectly straight line.

Lori Gravley, Mindy Marik and I chose to do the Dayton Art Institute in order to show our members what we meant.  I particularly liked how the wording came out "Dayton Art" which we took to be our theme, and our thought was that in future shows this would be the introductory panel.  Lori took the left panel, I had the middle, and Mindy took the right.  I used rust dyed muslin for the body of the building, and over-dyed a piece of peach colored polyester moire for the roof.  I also used various ribbons for the metal parts on the door.  Mindy used various neutrals to replicate the blocks of the building, and Lori made hers from a commercial print.  I think it is pretty interesting how the colors really blend and give the feeling of being on the same building.  My section of the steel sculpture is made with a polyester metallic knit which I fused with sheers, and I can't remember what all to give the illusion of the reflection in the steel.  Lori used various commercial prints.  All of us edited out the various posters and notices (such as the hours) in order to make it a better composition.

Over the next several days, I will be showing more of the pieces.  They will be on exhibition at the Schuster Center until June 24.   The center is open from 7:00 am until about 11:00 pm, after the last show Tuesday through Sunday.  Mondays the building is open for viewing from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.  We will be showing the quilts with their photographs at two other venues this summer and fall, and will be announced as soon as we have the details straightened out.

Dayton Art Institute: Changing Landscapes: Contemporary Chinese Fiber Art

The Dayton Art Institute is another one of those Midwestern gems.  I remember when I lived in Connecticut, I tried to explain to people how in the Midwest, smaller cities had surprisingly good art resources because it pulled in people from the area, whereas in Connecticut, so much was focused on Boston and New York that sometimes smaller cities were not as rich as their Midwestern counterparts.

I realize that this a broad generalization and there are exceptions, some smaller cities in New England have great art resources and some smaller cities in the Midwest are devoid of the arts.

The permanent collection at DAI is great....The traveling shows are often jaw dropping.  I stopped in on this last Sunday to pass off some PFD fabric to a fellow MVAQNer, and while I was waiting, I saw "Changing Landscapes: Contemporary Chinese Fiber Art" and "Maya Lin: Flow".  I have to admit, from the materials I saw advertising the show didn't make me want to drop everything and see it.  A friend recommended it, but still, I was a bit underwhelmed. I'm not sure why....maybe it was the cover on the member magazine advertising it...

However, the show was knock your socks off.  This is the last stopping point before the show returns to China and if you are in the Dayton area, you must not miss it.  48 artists were chosen from the past 5 international Fiber Art Biennials which have been held in China since 2000.  The show includes pieces which were woven, put on armatures, free standing pieces, figurative as well as abstract, some inspired by ancient Chinese art forms, others as modern as can be.  Natural materials as well as synthetic filaments and steel rods are included in the pieces..

I think the member's magazine says it best:   "Changing Landscapes provides a snapshot of how three generations of artists have used fiber as an expressive media to respond to economic, political, and social changes that have transformed the Chinese landscape over the past decade. " (page 2).

The exhibition runs through June 17, and on Sunday, May 20, at 2:00 pm Lisa Morrisette, guest curator for "Changing Landscapes" will present a lecture entitled "Art vs. Craft.When is Fiber Art "Art"?.  In her talk, she will "explore some of the difficult issues around this seemingly impassable divide."


If you are in the Dayton area, or can manage to come to Dayton, this show is definitely worth seeing. 


Of course, you're probably wondering what the piece of glass work is...Since they don't allow photographs of traveling exhibitions, I shot this wonderful glass sculpture from the permanent collection.  DAI has a strong collection of glasswork which is shown on a rotating basis in the gallery just before the changing galleries.  I adore the colors and the whimsy in this piece. 

A Slice of Dayton

Dayton Art Institute photographed by Ronnie Doyal

Dayton Art Institute in fabric. My slice.

On of the several projects I've been working on in the last few weeks has been a "slice" of the Dayton Art Institute. 

Last year, the Miami Valley Art Quilt Network decided to do a series of quilts based on familiar Dayton landmarks.  Ronnie Doyal, one of our members who is a professional photographer in addition to being a quilter, took photographs and Lori Gravley, Mindy Marik and I chose the shots.  We then sliced them up and handed the slices out to our members to interpret in fabric.  Mindy, Lori and I did the Dayton Art Institute to show as an example.  Lori got the left portion, I got the middle, and Mindy got the right portion.

While I had a good start on mine and had the majority of mine completed (or so I thought) by November of last year, my chemo and Meg's graduation got in the way.  At the July meeting, we had set the final date for getting them in as October, but at the August meeting it was changed to September.  Gulp.  I was taking Pamela Allen's online class "Think Like an Artist," had to finish quilting the borders and bind my daughter's quilt as well as get her ready to start college on Aug. 31, as well as have the Power Suit challenge done and sent.  

I madly went to work on the slice...and I'm amazed at how much time I put into it in even though I thought I was well on my way.  I finally finished quilting it tonight (although I am not terribly happy with the job...my numbness in my hands means I don't have the fine control I usually do...and my upper tension disks were catching the thread and causing it to break at the needle...something I've had trouble with before, even though this time I cleaned the disks twice....

The part of the reflective stainless steel sculpture in my section IS reflective fabric...while it looks yellow in my shot, it is actually reflecting the ceiling light.  I used a metallic jersey fabric for it.  The body of the building is rust dyed fabric.  I can see that I need to work on the lettering some more as the photo of the slice shows how faint it is....when you see it in real life and up close I thought it looked stronger.   This is a prime example of how the camera is your friend in seeing flaws in your art.