Getting Out to Vote

I just got back from voting....which wasn't without some consternation.  We have two polling places.  In presidential years or years when there is expected to be heavy voter turn out, we vote in one location which is actually closer to my house.  I have to go further down the road to vote at the second station.


The first spot is at a church on a corner, but set back about 50 yards from the street.  The second place is in the township garage and it is at the back of an industrial complex off a state road.  The church's only designation as a polling place today was a small yard sign placed in front of the church's door and a 8 x 10 flag stuck in the ground, neither of which was very visible from the street, but there was a plethora of political signs for and against issue 2 and with the Troy Legal council candidates.  The second location was blocked by a semi-tractor trailer turning around the first time I went, and again, no signs except right in front of the building back beyond sight from the road.  I had to stop at the church to figure out WHERE I was supposed to go....I guess you're just supposed to intuit these things as they weren't published in the paper....however there was 59 pages of the full text of Issue 2 which was the proposal to limit Government union contracts as well as other Government employment contracts.

I always try to vote.  I have been unsuccessful twice, and it wasn't because I didn't try.  I feel that it is important to vote because of how much so many people have given to give me the right to vote, from the service men and women who have fought in various wars to the Suffragettes.

The quilt above is Judy V. Gula's, of Artistic Artifacts fame.  Called "Suffragettes Picketing in Washington, D.C."  The right for women to vote took a long time....100 years in America from the first part of the movement in the 1820s until the 19th amendment was passed in August of 1920.  African American men (but not women) obtained the right to vote in February, 1870.  Interestingly, section 1 of the 15th amendment reads:  "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."  You'd think that included women...but evidently we weren't citizens.


Women campaigned to obtain the right to vote and many were beaten and imprisoned for it (Lorton Prison, later called Lorton Correctional institution in Lorton, Virginia, near Artistic Artifacts, was where many of the Suffragettes who marched on Washington, D.C. were incarcerated.  In 2008, a portion of the Lorton Prison was opened as the Workhouse Arts Center.  Some interesting articles on Women's suffrage in the U.S. can be found here.  While the term "Progressive" has come to be something to be spat from the mouth by some people today, it is important to remember if it weren't for the work of the Progressives and the Progressive party, women and persons of color would probably not have the right to vote today.  The Night of Terror is outlined here, and if that isn't a reason to vote, I don't know what is.

Judy's lovely quilt shows some photographs of the Suffragettes, as well as ribbons similar to ones which would have decorated the signs, placards, buttons and chests of the Suffragettes. The backing of the quilt is composed of the shirt samples, and the lovely buttons are period mother of pearl buttons which would have graced the dresses of the women at the time.  The square and round objects through which the ribbons pass are vintage mother of pearl belt buckles.  


I think that she captured the feeling of the period quite well, in addition to answering her own challenge nicely.

Her second piece is Suffragettes Suits of Power.


I think she sums it up nicely in her artist's statement for this piece:  "Are we woman of today taking our responsibilities seriously? My Mother told me that I had opportunities in the world that she did not. What did she mean? She was young. To the generations of woman before me who carved our rights, opportunities, and power from the stone of male politics, thank you!"

Power Suit Challenge Part 4: Cards and My entry

 Not surprisingly, several of the entries in the Power Suit Challenge included cards.  I was somewhat amused to hear artist Linda Cooper explaining the hand to another visitor.  It was all I could do not to eves drop as I was standing on the opposite side of the panel.  I don't play bridge, so I was very interested to try to understand this game....

Power Suit – The James Bond Way
"In Ian Fleming‘s Moonraker novel, there‘s a scene where James Bond stacks the deck and deals this hand devised by the Duke of Cumberland, son of George III. Bond is playing with M against the villain, Hugo Drax. And although Drax‘s hand looks magnificent, there‘s no way he and his partner can take a trick. I made this quilt with fond memories of many years of card games played with family and friends. I thank Conner Gillette and my brother, Joe Thoma, for posing for the head and torso (Conner) and hand (Joe) of Bond."

I was intrigued by Marilyn Welling's Poker Power Suit because she used the shirting fabrics as the back side of the poker hand and turned them back so you could see the card values.  This added dimension to her quilt.  Of course the power suit in poker is a Royal Flush which is seen here in the upper left corner.  Marilyn noted that she likes playing poker in her artist statement.






Lastly, here's my entry.  If you look back through the other photos of the exhibition you can see a corner of it hanging.  This is the shot I took just before sending it off in the mail.  Mine is called "Run for the Money".  The background is made from the shirting swatches cut and randomly pieced.  The men are cut from the black suiting swatches and fused with Misty-fuse.  The monopoly money was fussy cut from a fabric printed with Monopoly money, and I carefully cut out the pieces which you could see most of the bills from and also fused them with Mistyfuse.  I free-motion quilted it with dollar signs.  The binding is the rather dull grey silk tie which was in my packet.

Halloween Power Suits

Sharon McDonagh The Power of Halloween

Just for Halloween, some more power suits for you...I really liked Sharon McDonagh's "The Power of Halloween," partly because it mirrored a comment made by my sister-in-law a couple of years ago.  As a Cuban immigrant  in the late  1960s, she marveled that here in her new home you would dress up, go to a strangers house, knock on their door and they'd give you CANDY!  This was a novelty as they didn't celebrate Halloween in Cuba.

Sharon's Statement:
"My mixed-media work honors the power and magic of Halloween: I selected my packet because of the orange/black tie (all the while berating myself for being so literal). But I soon realized it was actually perfect, remembering how donning those carefully planned costumes instantly gave a small girl her first taste of power: to scare, to attract, to mystify, to amuse... Put on a costume and mask, and you suddenly possess the courage to walk out into the night, to approach even the scary neighbor‘s door, and request—no, demand—candy from grown-ups… Power suits indeed! Sharon McDonagh Alexandria, Virginia

Linda Morgan Victoran Power Suit

While not really Halloween, at least this Victorian Power Suit is wearing a mask.

"Power Suit - my first thoughts were of Queen Victoria and her spectacular dresses and jewels, and then I saw this amazing portrait of a Victorian woman with a stunning butterfly mask. I love the chaos of collage, the freedom to create layers of paper, cloth and found objects - every element chosen has a story to tell. After her morning French lesson Edwina known to friends and family as 'Birdie' put on her best butterfly mask and leisurely strolled through town to the portrait studio showing everyone what a beautiful, vibrant, charming, powerful woman she is"
. Linda Morgan,  Falls Church, Virginia

Dolores Fegan Power Tie Suit

This one, the Power Tie Suit, really should have been in last night's grouping, but frankly, it was getting long and late!  I marvel at the wonderful ties others had in the packages as mine was a tone on tone grey.

Power Tie Suit "This quilt was inspired by the idea of a power tie and superhero suits. The body is cut from the tie I received. It is to express boldness and strength. Raw edge applique with a zigzag stitch. The quilting is freemotion work. I limited my quilts to the given materials. Repurposed suit fabric for the backing, batting retrieved from recent packaging. "

Dolores Fegan Stanford, Kentucky

Power Suit Challenge part 3: The Comic Book and traditional quilting influences

Deo

The theme "Power Suit " bought comic book heros to mind.   Here on the upper left you can see Superman's bright "S" is Diane Murtha's (Springfield, VA) "The Power from Within".  Here's her take:
When I asked my husband, what "power suit" meant to him. He said,  "that‘s easy, the ultimate power suit is Superman‘s suit." I then realized it wasn‘t what Clark Kent wore on the outside that made him who he was – it was what was inside and hidden from everyone that made him a great man. Real power comes from within and I am blessed to have grown up with three Supermen in my life: My Gandpa, a simple farmer from Iowa wore a suit for church on Sundays. My Dad, a loving father, wore a suit for work every day. And my husband, who wears the suit of a soldier.

Something which intrigued me about this show is that several of the artists used traditional quiltwork in addition to their arty quilty side.  Notice three of the four quilts shown here, the background of Diane's piece, Victoria Sheskey's "Fashion Wizard Twists Out Fashions from the Past" , and even the streak of lightening in Marilyn Knepp's  "Power Clashing" inspired by an episode of 30 Rock.

On the upper left is SallyAnn Morrison's (Springfield, VA) "Catwoman in a Grey Flannel Suit."

"The words ―Power Suit leads me to our Nation‘s Capital which is full of Power Suits. For example, Congress, business, and lobbyists who exercise or influence the legislative power granted by the Constitution. I thought it might be fun to have an iconic image like cat woman (a powerful figure) come to Washington, DC in a grey flannel suit, with her cat of nine tails in hand, to bring some order and sanity to the process of government. I am sure the outcome would be positive."

Here's another traditional pattern, the hexagon used in Lita Haven's "Power Suit a Global Outfit."

Cheryl Sleboda (Plainfield, IL) actually works in the comic book industry and likes things Japanese.

Cheryl chose a girl animae figure (Japanese superhero comics) in her power suit.  Cheryl used her power suit sample swatches on the back ground.  "These 'power suits' usually house a tough, pretty girl with rockets at the ready. My Power Suit girl is 'Armored and Ready' for any adventure!"

Cheryl is well known for "powering up" her quilts with lights.  You can see more of Cheryl's work here.

Delores Hamilton of Cary, NC did a wonderfully shaded version of  Wonder Woman for her "Glass Ceiling? What Glass Ceiling?"  She wrote: " In the mid-80s, the Wall Street Journal ran an article in which the term "glass ceiling" first appeared, referring to the invisible barriers that impeded the career advancement of women in the American workforce. Despite our adopting men's power suits, we made little progress. In thinking about who could have smashed through that glass, I thought immediately of the iconic Wonder Woman. KA-POW!"

Several others, including Patrice Smith's also took on the superhero theme.

Another note:  Go back up to the shot of Cheryl's piece with her exhibition neighbors.  The bottom right is Marilyn Owendorf's "Power in Any Suit."  It won the "It makes me Laugh" award....for details, go to Cyndi Souder's reveal of the winners and the show on her blog here.

Power Suit Challenge part 2

A quick shot when no one was standing there....amazing!  Today, I'm going to share a few of my favorite quilts...and trust me, it is hard to pick favorites!

Because I know a lot of people don't like wordiness (but then, I suppose they aren't the ones following MY blog), I'm breaking this up.

One thing which amused me at this show was that one of the cousins said "I noticed that a lot of the ladies here were wearing quilted jackets.  Why don't you have one?"

Umm...because unlike this woman, I never have gotten around to making one.  I have patterns...I have ideas...but. . . .

A number of the quilts not surprisingly had comic book character themes, particularly ones showing women.  The one on the upper right here is Patrice Smith's "The Ultimate Power Suit".  Patrice is from Livonia, Michigan and had this to say about her quilt:
"Having just spent 40 years on the corporate world I struggled with the concept of power suits!At work, when I needed to solve a problem, I donned my Nancy Drew persona, but when the problem was solved I often hummed the Wonder Woman theme song!  So, the 1940s Wonder Woman image with her muscles and great outfit seemed to me to represent the ultimate power suit! Now if only I had one when I was working...hmmm....."

The little penguin quilt on the lower right is Alison Lang's "Pictures of Penguins in their Power Suits."  Alison is from Muskegon, Michigan and pointed out "If you want to see a being in a power suit, look to the birds. No other creature I know uses its suit (constructed of plumage) as much to impress, acquire, protect, and procreate than the birds. I chose penguins that wear suits that resemble human tuxedos. Humans wear tuxedos at gatherings of power such as displays of wealth, stance in society, political power, respect for accomplishment, ritual, and to honor passages (marriage.)"

As I mentioned earlier, a number of these quilts were done with memories of particular individuals.  This one is Lesly-Claire Greenberg's "Black Tie."

I like this one for the starkness and graphic quality.  While it is a very stable piece, your eye does continue to move around the piece.  It was extremely well made as well.

I also liked what Lesly-Claire had to say:  "When Dad wasn‘t on the road he went into the City, New York City, along with thousands of other men. Every morning freshly shaved and crisply pressed they lined the platform of the LIRR. Each night they returned a bit more rumpled. Dad sold Formal Wear. Those Tuxedos fed, clothed, sheltered us and sent us to college. That‘s a lot of power in a suit."

Lesly-Claire Greenberg's work may be seen here

Similar to Lesly Claires in commemorating an individual, this is Mary Ellen Simmons "Make Way for the Great."  I admire anyone who can use Ruth Power's method of drafting images into pieced works..I don't think I have it in me.

Mary Ellen is from Fairfax, Virginia and here's here statement about this piece: "
 This quilt, a portrait of a young man on the brink of his future in a new suit with his new car, is in memory of my father, a man who during his 95 years lived up to the caption under his senior picture in the high school year book, "Make way for the great!" When I heard of the power suit challenge, I immediately thought of the caption, the picture of him as a young man, and of his long life lived in kindness, love and devotion, service, with great generosity, patience, humor, and dignity. Hey Dad, 'you were the greatest!'"

Not surprisingly, many quilts had a political side.  I loved this one.  Like my quilt, Sherry Boram (Pendleton, Indiana) used mostly the fabrics from her packet, piecing the sky.  Her little men with their button heads are extremely well done and their fiery pants are exquisite!

Here's her statement: "The days of skepticism about the powerful are upon us. Too bad we continue to trust appearance as a mark of character when many in positions of power are dishonest -- why else would their pants be on fire? Money in some questionable form seems to be related to the powerful, though you have to look hard to find it. It‘s a part of this piece (completely respectable!) but can you spot it?"

Other than her men are standing on the green....no, I couldn't.  But then, I may have just been obtuse that day.

Since it is getting close to the Day of the dead, I had to include Julie Schlueter's "Working Stiffs."  Her little working "stiffs" are all attired in their own little power suits...whether a power necklace or power tie.  Julie is from Orange, California and here's her statement:

"What fun to use suiting, shirting and silk tie fabric to make a quilt. I wanted to make my Power Suit entry a tribute to Dia de los Muertos. I enjoyed sewing pieces of suiting fabric randomly to make the background and used the shirting fabric and tie silk to "dress" the calacas. I have plenty of rusted fabric, so I used that to make the bones and finally used, for the hat, some fabric I bought years ago to someday make a Dia de los Muertos quilt. That someday is here and the quilt is made."

You can find more of Julie's work here. You may also recognize her as a Dinner at Eight artist.

If you are interested in seeing the whole collection of 108 quilts (I thought there were 107, but one more was added), you can order a $10 CD from Artistic Artifacts.  This CD will help cover the cost of shipping these pieces to the venues as well as back to their owners as there wasn't an entry fee for this challenge.

Power Suit Challenge Opening

It's hard to believe that almost a week ago was the opening for the Power Suit Challenge sponsored by Artistic Artifacts in Alexandria, Virginia.  I flew up to go to the opening with my husband's cousin from Dayton and stayed with her sister in Alexandria.

The Power Suit Challenge  was hosted by Judy Gula and Cyndi Souder.  They were given many swatch books of high end suiting fabrics--wools, cashmere, shirtings.  They combined several swatch books with a tie and some buttons and challenged artists to take their fabrics and interpret the theme "Power Suit."

104 artists delivered 107 quilts which all fit the required 18" square format.

I wanted to show you the show...but it was PACKED!  As well it should be.  Most of the quilters were from the DC area, although several were from points as far away as California and Canada (Nova Scotia and Alberta).

I was pleased to get to meet (albeit briefly) Lisa Ellis, Cyndi and Judy (of course), LeeAnna Paylor, and Delores Hamilton.

The quilts are all quite fantastic and some were quite moving.  A number commemorated family members (fathers and grandfathers) who worked in the garment industry, or were businessmen or military people.  Others looked back on their own business careers as women, others took a spiritual bend, and others were looking at the political end.

All 107 quilts are on view in Judy's shop, Artistic Artifacts,  4750 Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria, Virginia now until November 23.  In addition, you can see the luscious things to add to your quilts and scrap booking or art assemblage projects.

See? I did leave you some things to look at and buy.

S

Here are some more quick grabs so you can get an idea.  I will be showing more over the next couple of days.   To see what inspired this grand concept, you can look at Cyndi's Blog.