A Pleasant Surprise: Nancy Erickson

Nancy Erikson's works at Montan Art & Framing

I went to Montana Art and Framing just to see Heidi Zielinski's work....The gallery is quite small, but behind the featured artist's gallery as another show, and then off to the left were what I suppose is the gallery's "stable" of artists.  My jaw just about hit the floor when I turned and looked at this small wall.  I recognized the artist immediately as Nancy Erickson.

I have admired Nancy's work for ages.  Granted, I only knew it from seeing pieces in books, then at Quilt National.  Her style, like many top quilt artists, is a signature style.  The pieces which the quilt world are probably most familiar with is one reminiscent of pre-historic cave paintings...but with a more direct contact.  Her oil paintings and drawings with paintstick are also my favorites.

Nancy Erickson Golden Wolf #2 (Toklat Pack) ©2009  $450

You'll probably recognize it from this piece, "Golden Wolf #2 (Toklat Pack).  I love how she suggests things without making full marks.  I love how the eyes engage you and glow...giving you the essence of the spirit of the beast she is capturing.  The Toklat Pack is one of the most famous American wolf backs, inhabiting Denali.  It is threatened, and you get a sense of the fierceness of the creature in this fabric portrait.

I was also very pleased to see some of her other work there...She, like so many other artists I like, works in a palette I adore: golds, turquoise, red orange, burnt sienna, yellow umber, raw ochre....She manages to tell so much in just the quickest of lines, line which isn't necessarily completed, but suggests movement and texture.

"Solitare", Nancy Erickson ©

Her pieces also show the strength and often the struggle if the animals she depicts. In "Solitaire" she captures the polar bear perfectly...for much of their lives, they do travel solo...and I have often seen pictures of them with the yellow/orangy cast on their fur.

"Where's the Ice"  26"H x 40W, 2008  ©Nancy N. Erickson    oil paintsticks on archival paper

In "Where's the Ice" you get an understanding of the bear's personality....as well as their predicament.  I love the floating on the ice patch, fiddling with his toes while a large seated bear looks on...reminding me ever so much of some weekend warrior sitting in front of the television drinking beer...

You can see Nancy's work and find more about her on her website, http://www.nancyerickson.com  I hope you enjoy her work as much as I do!

I have been participating (or trying to participate :) ) in Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday's creativity blog... You can see her work and other participants links here:

Book Review: Art Quilt Portfolio: The Natural World

A couple of weeks ago, I got a surprise in the mail.  Lark Books had sent me a copy of Art Quilt Portfolio:  The Natural World:  Profiles of Major Artists Galleries of Inspiring Works by Martha Sielman to review.  (ISBN 978-1-60059-928-6).  192 pages.

Wow.  Just one word...WOW!  Martha did a wonderful job on this book.  The book is divided into 9 sections by topic:  Flowers, Birds, Water, Animals, Leaves, insects, Flowers II, Trees and Textures.  Each section begins with an in-depth introduction to two or three artists, then goes into a gallery where many artists works are shown, just as if it were in an exhibition with labels identifying artist, title, date, size and method.  The book is well indexed with the table of contents guiding you to the featured artists and the subject matter, as well as a featured artist index and gallery artist index at the back of the book.

Martha's introduction is a must read as it gives you insights into the book as well as includes some information on the artists not repeated elsewhere.

Each of the featured artists described their method of work and were asked questions.  Everyone was asked "Why fiber?"  and the responses were quite telling.  Asking ourselves this, I think is an important activity.  Why DO we work in fiber or textiles? Why don't we stop at taking a photograph, rendering a drawing, or whatever.   Reading  each of the featured artist's answers was illuminating as well as one which pleased me as I think it is important for us as artists to consider as well as enabling the general public to understand where fiber/textile artists are coming from.  In addition, Martha queried them on technique when she thought that that was important.

When I first came to Ohio from Connecticut in 2005, I hadn't been exposed to large doses of textile art.  I had been to a few shows which had some art quilts in them (The Odyssey show) and the Shoreline Quilter's Guild and Clamshell Quilters (one of which Barbara Barrick McKie belonged to), but I hadn't been exposed to work by many art quilters.   Moving to Ohio opened my eyes.  I will never forget visiting the Fitton Art Center in Hamilton, Ohio and seeing Katherine K. Allen's work.  I was enamored.  I haven't been able to see a lot of her pieces, but she was one of the featured artists, along with Dominie Nash....and to top it off, many artists whose work I had seen either at the Aullwood Nature Center show in Englewood, Ohio or online with the groups I belong to--such as Melani Kane Brewer, Ginny Eckley and Nancy Cook are also among the featured artists.

Martha once again laid out the book as if it were an exhibition.  The images flow nicely with each other and leave you inspired and wanting to return again and again to look more closely at the images.   I read the book from cover to cover in a matter of three hours, and will probably re-read it.  I did laugh at myself... Nancy Erickson's "Easter Cougar" made me wonder if there had been a typographical error...I enjoy Nancy's work which bears resemblance to cave art, and I suspected that this particular piece, one of a series of "cut out" works she's been doing was named as a joke ("Easter" rather than "Eastern") as the colors were bright and included some dashes of blue, aqua as well as yellow ochre and red.  Just to make sure, I contacted Nancy and she verified that she did indeed name "Easter Cougar" that because of the colors.  Nancy did say that the image came out much darker than the actual piece is.

In addition to the featured artists and the general gallery, Martha included the Fiber Artist's Coalition (FAC) themed exhibition "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird."  I hadn't heard of this group, but was interested to see how they handled the common theme.

Lark included a list of the featured artists as well as links to their websites here.

I can see myself turning to this book again and again for insight, inspiration as well as to share with other quilters and explain the world of art quilts based on nature.  Definitely, this book is a keeper.

Publishers' suggested retail price:  $24.95 US/Can $29.95.

I've just not had the time to write this review earlier....and I know that Elizabeth Barton reviewed it as well....I've assiduously avoided reading her review because I think so highly of her writing and insight that I didn't want what she had written to influence me...now I can go and read it! You can too, right here.