Heal The Ocean, Oil Disaster Response Piece

This piece was inspired by Susan Shie's positive approach to dealing with the oil disaster in the gulf. She posted on her Facebook page about creating a piece for SAQA about healing the gulf, and I thought that was such a wonderful way to work through this disaster that leaves us feeling so hopeless.

My piece is about the Ocean Goddess, who is energized by our prayers and postive healing thoughts to absorb all the oil in the gulf. I do believe in the power of positive thinking, but I understand that this disaster will take more than postive thoughts and prayers to fix it.

If you too would like to make a piece of art to help contribute, The Foster Collective,  a Chicago based artist collective, seeks visual and written responses to the oil disaster in the Gulf. All entries must be on gas station paper towels. You can draw, paint, collage or write directly on the paper towel. Or, glue or tape your artwork/photograph to the paper towel. Paper towels can be found at any gas station and are usually in the same container as the windshield squeegee. Paper towels can be any color or texture. The postmark deadline for inclusion in the Landslide Gallery exhibition is July 19.

I hope to make a piece for that exhibit, too.

Quiltart Quinceanera: Celebrating 15 years of contemporary quilting on the web

The QuiltArt list is Celebrating 15 years of contemporary quilting and in honor of the event members were invited to make a 15 inch square piece to celebrate what QuiltArt has meant to them over the years.

Here is my piece for the celebration:

They ended up with 80 quilts. 
Quinceanera: Celebrating 15 years of contemporary quilting on the web, can be seen here.

Each photo on the top page links to an individual page.

Here are some detail shots of my piece.

I spent over a day hand stitching the beads

I used Scrabble pieces to embellish the piece, the points add up to 15.

The piece represents my journey from learning how to make traditional quilts, to discovering how to paint with fabric and create art quilts as my artistic voice.

Racism: A Dialogue in Art Quilts, America Fragmented

A group I am a member of has decided to put together an exhibit about racism in America called:

Racism: A Dialogue in Art Quilts.

Here is one of the pieces, America Fragmented, I made for the show.

The front

The back

I was inspired by recent events and media coverage of politics in America today.

The original sketch for the piece.

In progress

It took many hours and many small pieces to fill up the spaces to complete the images.

Once the collage part was done I had to figure out how to quilt it.

I used old laminator material placed over the piece and a sharpie to play with quilting options.

Here is an example of experimental quilting lines.

This piece is heavely quilted, as you can see from the picture of the back above, and in this close up.

I am the curator for this exhibit and in the process of finding venues for the show across the country.

Shoe Cabinet or Fabric Cabinet?

I found this great piece of furniture in the alley by my home and immediately thought,

"This would be a great thing to store fabric in!"

I liked the idea of using the top shelf for stuff other than fabric.

These empty pencil sharpener boxes fit perfect in the slots.

   But, they needed to be beautified, that is where contact paper comes in handy.

A surprisingly hard item to find, thank goodness for Dollar stores and husbands.

A Traditional Piece with a Twist

This is a traditional quilt (42" square) I worked on while overwhelmed with the school musical.

A piece like this is easy on the brain. I quite enjoyed the switch of gears from my usual work.

I found the green and black squares from an earlier piece and started playing around with my stash.

Once I figured out the matching blocks, the yellow & black and purple, I played around with arrangements.

I was quite happy with the end result.

The piece is for sale, make me an offer if interested.

Journey of Hope in America Artists' Reception April 17, 2010

I had the pleasure of attending the artists' reception at The National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, OH on April 17, 2010. The show was curated by Dr. Carolyn L. Mazloomi and the exhibit was made into a book, Journey of Hope: Quilts Inspired by President Barack Obama.

Here I am in front of my quilt with my book.

I had the pleasure of going to the show with Sherry Boram and Betty Colburn,

who flew in from Portland, Oregon for the show.

On our drive from Indiana to the museum we picked up Michelle Flamer who flew in from Philadelphia.

Among the artists we reunited with were Jancy McClellan-Ryan and Susan Shie, who I had the pleasure of spending a week with last summer at Susan's Turtle Art Camp in Wooster, OH.

All of us were thrilled to see each other and be a part of this event together.

We belong to a group called The Obama Quilters.

Last year we were in an exhibit together called President Obama: A Celebration of Art Quilts

at Montgomery College, in Maryland.

Since then, we have kept in touch sharing our love of President Obama and a shared interest in current events. 

Inspired by several racially driven events, mainstream media, and the current state of political etiquette,

The Obama Quilters have decided to put on an exhibit called Racism: A Dialogue in Art Quilts.

We are a diverse group of artists from all walks of life across America with something to say.

We all have a common passion for what we believe is right and how we choose to express it.

I am honored to be one of the artists in this exhibit, and am especially proud of the women that I consider to be my sisters of the cloth, bound by the eye of the needle.

Sherry's ATC

 My friend Sherry was kind enough to offer me a place to stay so I could attend The Journey of Hop Artists' Reception, so I made her this ACT.