Aullwood 2011: Bonnie Askowitz

Bonnie Askowitz Back to Basics Green 21" x 17" $400

Since yesterday I ended with Kathleen Hughes' piece which used photographs in her work, I thought I would pick up on the only other artist who used photographic prints in her work at the Aullwood Show.  Bonnie Dubbin Askowitz is a quilter from Miami, Florida whose style reminds me somewhat of Jane Dunnewold's work...although the piece at left doesn't leave me feeling that way as much as her Turtle Island piece below.

The piece at left is entitled "Back to Basics Green".  It's part of a series that Bonnie started approximately fifteen years ago using the same or similar image in different ways.   Bonnie told me that Susan Shie started her on this path with a project Susan called "Green Quilts"  which was intended to have the environment as a focal point and to send love and healing to the universe.

The concept stuck with Bonnie and has influences much of what she does. 

Bonnie Askowitz Back to Basics Green detail

You can see on this detail the interesting combination of the appliqued organic shapes which strongly remind me of the sea morning glory leaves you often find on Florida beaches.  She's highlighted these with golden and metailic colored threads.   She has used netting over the image which gives it a sort of shimmering quality. 


You can see on the second detail the dimension she's achieved with the straplike leaves. 


Her statement for this piece is as follows:  "Part of a series using these images, the quilt tells a story that only the viewer can determine.  Is this the woman's daughter? Is she the woman when she was a child?  Is she real or is she imaginary?  What is happening is for the viewer to decide."

  To see other pieces in the series, you can see them here on her website. 

Bonnie Askowitz Back to Basics Green detail

Her quilt entitled Turtle Island is interesting because it uses images which have been reversed in order to create a new image, sort of a kaleidoscopic effect. 

"A collage of heat transferred photos that included turtles and marine visuals which was compiled but sat unfinished until the border was added and all was machine quilted.   The border fabric was hand made by an island woman and purchased in Tortola adding to the mystique of turtles and the serendipity of quilt making.

Turtle Island is the name used by Native Americans for North America.  The quilt is not about turtles even though the turtle factor predominates.  It is about keeping our waters pure and our continent clean, beautiful and fit for habitation."

Bonnie Askowitz Turtle Island 26" x 29.5" $700

Bonnie Askowitz Turtle Island detail

Bonnie Askowitz Turtle Island detail showing border

Aullwood 2011: Georgie Cline and Kathleen Hughes

Gerogie Cline Naples Florida *1 25.5" x 18.5"  $500

Georgie Cline, from Columbus, Ohio, offers us some detailed glimpses of piers on the beach in Naples, Florida.   Georgie uses hand-dyed cotton, organza and acrylic paint to concoct realistic and evocative images.

Detail Naples Florida I by Georgie Cline

Naples Florida #5 by Georgie Cline.  22" x 20" $450.

Kathleen Hughes Water Lily Fountain 41.25" x 41"  $2,500.00

You can see little slivers of fabric that Georgie has stitched down.   She uses free-motion zigzag stitch to add more texture in her work.


I particularly love the colors that Georgie has used in Naples Beach #5. Georgie often works in series and has a website which shows some of her works here. Her works are all nature oriented, but I  think you'll enjoy going to her site and taking a look of some of her more abstract works. 





Kathleen Hughes of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin also depicts scenes from nature.  Hers are realistic views which are rendered in commercial fabrics, hand dyes and whatever it takes to make a natural view. 


Frequently, Kathleen uses photographs printed on fabric to make her pieces even more realistic.  In Water Lily Fountain you can see that she has done just that.  The water lily pads are made from photographic prints.  Kathleen also made her water lily flowers and some of the pads dimensional.

She writes:  "I love floral quilts and always look for more ideas for them.  With Water Lilies, I wanted to capture the floating evanescent quality.  A photograph I took of the lilies growing in the fountain outside the mission at Santa Barbara (CA), inspired me to think in layers of fabric, just as the rock layer is overlaid with shadows, waterlilie pads and lilies. " 

Her shadows are great and if you look closely you can see the coins she used in the piece. You can see more of her work on her website.

Aullwood Nature Center 2011: Martha Lee Burleson and Robbie Porter

Martha Lee Burleson, Moutain Stream  14.25" x 11.75". NFS

Martha Lee Burleson "Mountain Stream" detail.

As I've said before, much of what draws me to quilting as my preferred form of artwork is texture.  The texture of the fabric, threads and whatever else we choose to add to the piece.

Martha Lee Burleson did a wonderful job with found objects in this little piece called "Mountain Stream."  Martha Lee Burleson is from Charlotte, North Carolina and unfortunately, I cannot find a web presence for her.


This is a small piece which she has mounted on a linen ground and framed without glass. Martha Lee was inspired to make this piece by a trip to the Georgia mountains.  "The rocky river reminded me that the ocean once covered the earth far inland of today's shoreline. "  Martha pieced her own hand-dyed fabrics, then embellished it with silk, cotton, beads, and shells found on the North Carolina beaches.  She then hand quilted it.




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Robbie Porter, "Shore Excursion" 46" x 28".  $600

Haning right next to it, but much larger, is Robbie Porter's "Shore Excursion."  Robbie quilts in Batavia, Ohio.  I really like this piece. I think a lot for the colors in it and the richness, but also for the texture.  Robbie used printed commercial cottons and a decorator fabric.  She sliced and off set the background, then  added a swash of filmy fabric to indicate the little burble of water as the waves wash back to the ocean. 

She also embellished it with specialty yarns, sequins, shells, sea glass and shell beads.  She added a fringed beaded element to the irregular edge which makes it all the more rich and pleasing to the eye. 



Her artist statement reads as follows:  "'The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy or too impatient.' Ann Morrow Lindbergh Gifts of the Sea.  Shore Excursions was created as a celebration of quiet walks at the water's edge and the joy of finding even very small treasures washed up from the sea.  The waves washing across the rocks  were created with a layering of netting and organza fabrics with shells and sea glass embellishments."

Robbie Porter, "Shore excursion" detail.

Aullwood 2011: Liz Piatt

Liz Piatt, Ocean Life, 46" x 42" NFS

Although in many respects, this is a traditional quilt (primarily in layout and the fact that is uses applique), I think that it is wonderfully designed and executed and it happens to be one of my favorites.  Liz Piatt from Orinda, California made this quilt and unfortunately, she doesn't have a website although she does seem to do a lot of teaching, and lecturing.

Liz wrote this in her statement about this piece:   "When one swims in the ocean off Oahu, Hawaii, there is indeed 'Water, Water, Everywhere.'  On out last dive there, my daughter and I were thrilled to see both an octopus and a spotted Eagle Ray.  Of course I had to remember this with a quilt."

The quilt is balanced, yet has  a great sense of rhythm.  Her workmanship is absolutely fantastic.  The limited palette is arresting.  I love the reds, blacksn and the blue is a nice counterpoint. 

Liz  Piatt, Ocean  Life, detail

Liz Piatt, Ocean Life, detail.

While I don't ordinarily like using machine embroidery,  Liz has used it well in the mariner's compass and the seashell.  I don't know if she digitized them herself or if they were programed by someone else.








You can see here that she also used satin stitch or machine embroidery to make the octopus' eyes.

I'm sorry that this isn't a better photograph, but I was trying to show you all the hand stitching.  The stitching on the fins and the quilting is all done by hand.

I thought that this piece used net bags from the produce section, but her daughter recently (08/23/2012) informed me that the piece had no net bags, but was all hand embroidered.  Mea culpa and  I will also note that when I was writing this, my eyes were suffering greatly.

It's just a great piece!

Aullwood 2011 Melani Kane Brewer

Melani Kane Brewer, Awaiting the Tide18.5" x 21.5"  $500.

Melani Kane Brewer "Awaiting the Tide" detail.

 Melani Kane Brewer is another regular at the Aullwood Nature Center.  Melani does a lot of quilts inspired by nature and I love them.  I think because texture is as important to her as it is to me.  Melani is from Cooper City, Florida and I discussed her work last here here.

Melani chose oysters for her subject here.  Here's her label:

"Eastern Oysters are marine organisms that live in intertidal and subtidal areas.  I found the intertidal reefs the most interesting because the reefs are exposed to the air at low tide.  The oysters survive by tightly closing their shells until high tide returns.  Here the exposed reef shows the oyster awaiting the tide's return.   Beginning as a traditional quilter, I realized that it was much too restrictive.  I did a series of abstract works allowing me more freedom with fabric.  I found it interesting, my art being so realistic, that it took the step of creating abstract work to transition to what I do now."


Here, I practically had to stand on my head so that you get see the dimensional work on her quilt. The oyster shells actually stand off from the quilt.  I love how she used various speciality yarns to make the mossy "beards" on the oysters.  Her quilting adds another dimension and even more texture.

She made each oyster individually, cutting the oyster fabric (top and bottom) then making little sandwiches with Warm and Natural. The quilted it, then applied them to the quilt.  

You can see more of Melani's work at her website here.

Melani Kane Brewer "Awaiting the Tide" detail.

Melani Kane Brewer "After the Storm", 27" x 39" $563.00

Melani Kane Brewer, "After the Storm" detail.

Her second piece in the show is called "After the Storm" and it shows a colony of Man-o-war jellyfish.  This particular piece is a little more abstracted in a way than her oysters, although she deftly handles the transluscent quality of the "combs" of the Portugese Man-O-War.  The colors are extremely calming...belying the danger of the Man-O-War which has a viscious sting.

"Having spent many summers at the beach in Florida with my daughter, we are all too familiar with the Portugese man-o-war.  It is actually a colony of jellyfish, not a single creature.  While they are beautiful to look at with their beautiful colors of violet, teal and magenta, they can inflict a very painful sting when you touch them.  Their long and numerous tentacles are hidden underwater when they brush up against unsuspecting swimmers.  They are most visible after one of our numerous storms in the summer, hence the name of the piece. 

I have been a studio artist since 1994.  I have been working on my Earth-Air-Water series for almost thirteen years.  This series incorporates my careers as a biology teacher, anthropologist and artist.  I have been studying nature all my life."


Here you can see a little of how she managed to get the transparent, yet glistening aspect of the Portugese man-o-war.  I'm afraid that the photo doesn't show it as well as I'd like, but in real life, it left three of us art quilters wondering "how did she do that???"  Was it an overlay? We didn't think so. 

I asked Melani how she managed to achieve this perfect effect on her man-o-war.  Here's what she had to say:

"No it's  not an overlay.  It is actually Aquafilm.  I just did not dissolve it.  If you are not familiar with the product it can be used to stitch threads, and yarns together creating objects and then it is dissolved with water.  Generally you use two layers of the Aquafilm and place it in a hoop to stitch on the machine.

In this case I used it as if it were a piece of fabric. In After the Storm the Aquafilm was placed over hand dyed organza to create the colors of the man o' war, a few stitches gave it shape and the bubble effect of them floating on the surface of the water.  I tried a number of ways to create them, including using just the dyed organza but nothing said jellyfish to me.

I was using the Aquafilm for another project and it hit me that it was exactly how the jellyfish look in the water, kind of like a shiny balloon.  So I just started playing with the Aquafilm and it worked.
Threads and yarns were placed along the bottom edge of the jellyfish before stitching the entire man o' war to the background. Just have to hope the Aquafilm never gets wet or that will be the end of the jellyfish."

Amen to that! 

Aullwood 2011: Merry Havens and Kathleen Irons Sweeney

If you have been able to visit the Aullwood Nature Center's art quilt shows in the past, or if you followed my blog posts from last year, you will probably recognize Merry Haven's name.  She, along with several others, usually submit pieces every year.  Not everything gets in, it all depends on the juror, but is it a pleasure for me to see how they interepret the theme.

Merry Havens "A Wrinkle in Water Wisdom 56" x 27" $1,200

This year, Merry, who is from Thornton, Colorado, has two pieces in the show.  The first is "A Wrinkle in Water Wisdom."  In this larger piece, Merry shows ten fish swimming upstream, all of them endangered because of introduction of non-native species, installation of dams, pollution and overfishing.  The fish are (from top to bottom):  Lake Chub (2); Southern Red Belly dace (3); Northern Red Belly Dace (3); Colorado Pikeminnow (1); Suckermouth Minnow (1); Plains Minnow (1); Rio Grande Sucker (3) ; Humpback Chub (1); Boneytail Chub (1); and Razorback Sucker (1).

Havens, "Wrinkle in Water Wisdom" detail

In this detail you can see some of the decorative cut work appliques that Merry used along with some of her quilting.

Merry Havens, "Two Fish", 11" x 35" $385

Merry Havens, "Two Fish" deail.

I'm a lover of bright colors, particularly oranges, reds and blues.  Merry combines all of these in "Two Fish".  This piece doesn't really have a weighty statement, it's just plain fun! 


In the detail, you can see Merry's use of couched decorative threads and yarns.  In addition, she used real hand painted stones to give an extra element of color and texture.

Merry has a blog and you can see it(and examples of her work)  here.  You can also see the piece she had in last years show here and here

Kathleen Irons Sweeney, "Tautology", 34" x 24" NFS

Kathleen Irons Sweeney who is from Cedarburg, Wisconsin taught me a new word.  This is her piece which is called "Tautology."  She explains it, and her piece, in her artist's statement better than I could:

"While pondering the question 'Why is the sky blue?' I asked my daughter, a movie buff, what came to her mind.  She immediately answered, "It's a tautology." referring to this very question as it was discussed in the movie 28 Days.  The word itself and the image it evoked were so vivid that I knew immediately this was the inspiration for my quilt.

By definition, a tautology is a repetition of the same idea in different ways.  In this instance, the sky is blue because it reflects the color of the sea which is reflecting the sky above.  . . I chose fabrics to blend from the deepest earth through water to the outermost sky.  Separate elements lending and  reflecting back to each other ,  effectively joining land, life and cosmos in one representation."



In this detail, you can better see her choice of batik fabric and her little boat.  It's a simple design, but I think a very effective one.  I'm also always happy to add a new word to my vocabulary, but probably one I won't use very often!  You can see my post on her last year here.

Kathleen Irons Sweeney, "Tautology" detail

Aullwood 2011: Debra Bentley and Fran LaSalle, Suzanne Riggio

Debra Benley Isle Royale Sunset

Debra Bentley and Fran LaSalle are the last of my Miami Valley Art Quilt Network (that's Ohio...do they HAVE vallies in Florida??) cronies who entered the Aullwood show. 

Debra has been working on a series of loons.  Many, if not most, of her work is done on a nature theme.  Not surprisingly, she told me that as a child she and her siblings would sit and study artwork (primarily led by her mother I think) and were also informally taught by her father and other relatives who were naturalists.

Debra has taken many trips to Isle Royale National Park, an Island park off the tip of Michigan's upper peninsula right int he middle of Lake Superior.  Isle Royale is famous for its wolf population and for all the other wildlife you can see there.  Loons are some of Deb's favorites.

Debra Bentley Isle Royale Sunset

I hope you can see in this detail the amount of thread work she put in on it.  The threadwork gives a really nice textural effect.  The size of this piece is 33.5" x 52".

Fran LaSalle also does a lot of natural themed work. This is her Something Fishy II.  Fran has used dimensional work in her seaweed.  Fran's piece measures 24" x 28" and is priced at $500.

Suzanne Mouton Riggio April Showers, 12" x 8.5"  $625.00

Suzanne Mouton Riggio "April Showers" detail.

Suzanne Mouton Riggio is from Wauwautosa, Wi.  I always have to point that out because it is so much fun to say.  Suzanne was inspired by the drenching April showers to make this little piece.  She took a photograph and worked with it in Photoshop until it seemed as if it was seen through sheeds of rain coming down.  She painted the sky and used Sulky Silver Sliver thread (a sort of hollographic thread) to quilt it in order to give the impression of the rain   coming down.  She also used tiny sequins sporadically on the surface which gives a nice effect.

I love Suzanne's artist statement, mostly because I feel the same way.  In it, she says  "My quilted art creations   -really quilted tapestries-- of personal symbols and observations reflect my passion to search, understand and record the world around me, especially the beautiful, the hopeful and the historical. 

My art represents a major transition in my life--from a long career in music to one in visual arts.  I am driven to express myself, to tell stories and to leave a cultural imprint of my time to my children and grandchildren.  I simply must create.  I choose the ancient fiber form of quilting as my medium because not only is manipulating fabric a tactile pleasure, but also there is in quilting  a real sense of connection  between maker and viewer."

Well said, Suzanne!