More from Regional Exhibit and Conference

There was great variety in the pieces exhibited. Here are a few more:




Waiting, by Michelle Jones

Michelle's work is completely covered in thread. See the detail shot below:

 There were breakout sessions which were informative and inspiring.

Sharon Bailey--Start an Art Quilt

Deb Kuster--Nature and Gadget Printing

Paula Kovarik, Martha Ginn, Deb Kuster

 

The Belly Dancers enjoyed the art and shopping, too

A St. Patrick's Day Parade passed by outside

Dinner together at the end of the conference

 

SAQA Exhibit and Conference and Belly Dancing

Southern Voices: Regional Exhibition of Contemporary Art Quilts is in the Main Library Gallery of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in downtown Little Rock, in the River Market area. The Opening Reception was held March 14 in conjunction with Little Rock's Monthly artwalk, and the large windows were inviting to people enjoying the evening. The show runs through Sunday, May 25.
The show features 16 works by 12 regional artists (LA/MS/AR/AL), and was juried by Paula Kovarik, graphic designer and quilt artist from Memphis. She said: "These artists are exploring the edges. They use time-tested methods of construction and stitching to create abstracts, landscapes, portraits and collage. Manipulating line, shape, form, texture, value and color, they are expressing inner truths. These Southern Voices move the medium of quilting from useful comfort to dynamic communication."

Indecision--The Storm Within, by Julia Graber

A Sense of Place, by Judy Momenzadeh

Color Bars #2-Black, by Martha Ginn

Beauty in the Lotus Garden, by Judy Tipton Rush

 An unexpected treat for the attendees at the Opening was a belly dancer performance by a local group of five dancers, two drummers, and a flute player. Part of Little Rock's celebration of the arts!

Paint 3:  Anticipation, by Connie Carrington

Paula Kovarik, Belly Dancers, Door #1, by Jane Hartfield

 Paula Kovarik's work is a fascinating study in detail. Her piece in this exhibit is a maze of black stitching on white cloth, using a single line of stitching. In other words, if you could start where she starts, you could follow the line throughout the piece--truly a maze! Truly amazing!

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places, by Paula Kovarik

Ramona did not want me to go

 

Presentations About Art Quilting

I enjoyed sharing my love of art quilting with a Mississippi guild, the Brookhaven Piecemakers, this week. The library where they meet had AV equipment, which allowed me to show Powerpoint slides of how I get inspiration for my work. I brought along many quilts to show, but it was most helpful to tell the back story and show my patterns and steps to completion. My good friend Ollie Jean Lane rode with me and helped hold and fold pieces. It is so much fun to hear quilters say they are eager to get home and create!


Brookhaven Piecemakers Guild

Showing details to Cindy Hebert

Last week I spoke to a group at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Southern Miss about my trip to China for The Sum of Many Parts: 25 Quiltmakers in 21st Century America exhibit.

 

OLLI offers non-credit educational programs designed especially for members age 50 and older. Philanthropist Bernard Osher has made grants to more than 120 universities and colleges in 49 states and the District of Columbia, and Hattiesburg and Southern Miss are fortunate to be the recipients of his generosity. OLLI has 10-week classes, one-time seminars, as well as trips and social events.
In fact, I'm in a watercolor class myself! No pictures needed here.

SAQA Exhibit in Little Rock, Arkansas

Color Bars #2 (Black)
36.5" x 22"

I just shipped my entry (above) to the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) Regional Exhibition of Contemporary Art Quilts at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock, AR. The exhibit is in the Main Library Gallery at the Butler Center, in the River Market area in downtown Little Rock. The opening on Friday, March 14 from 5:00-8:00 will be a part of the Second Friday Art Walk when other businesses stay open for the public. The exhibit runs through Sunday, May 25. Twelve artists' works will be displayed in the exhibit. See the invitation below.

Juror for the exhibit is Paula Kovarik of Memphis, and she will give the keynote address, "Transitions" at the Conference on Saturday, March 15. The conference opens at 9:00 with time to meet and greet, followed by the keynote address, breakout sessions, catered lunch, door prizes, and critique session by the Juror. We hope to acquaint more people with SAQA and art quilts. Registration (including lunch) is $20 for SAQA members, $25 for non-members. To register, contact regional rep Deborah Kuster at dkuster@uca.edu.

Meanwhile, my three new kittens are settling right in. Ramona has given her wholehearted approval of the new website our web designer Holly Knott is  creating for Pine Belt Quilters.

 

I'm a Foster Failure

Since losing my cat Bigboy in December, I have been fostering some kittens while deciding about my next permanent companion. First I had two kittens for 10 days before returning them so I could take a trip. When I got back, I took four kittens home. They were 6 weeks old and needed medicine twice a day--no problem.

When they were healthy and weighed at least 2 lbs each, they were ready to have their spay/neuter surgery and be put up for adoption. I had become very attached to three of the four and I nearly panicked and asked if I could take the two little girls back home for a while.

After two more weeks I knew I had to keep them. They are littermates and inseparable. When I took them back for their overnight trip to be spayed, I asked if another cat needed to be fostered overnight. The shelter workers laughed but humored me. One of "my" four had come back for medicine, so I took him home for his 10 days of treatment. He was so happy to be back with the two girls and the three romped and chased and tumbled as if just to please me. Any time I sat in the big recliner, they joined me and usually were asleep before I was.
I decided I needed to treat myself to a Valentine's Day present, so I took him in for his surgery and officially adopted him.
Kitten names: the shelter had named the two girls Ramona and Alice. I thought "Ramona" old-fashioned, but she is sort of homely and her head needs to grow to accommodate her big eyes, so she'll keep her name (or Rah-Rah as daughter Linda calls her, which is fine because she gave me a certificate for her for my Christmas present).

 

Alice becomes Elizabeth for no good reason--just couldn't remember Alice.

The little boy was Alamo, and since I'm from Texas he could remain Alamo, but I've begun to call him Tar Baby. He plans to be the Boss Cat, which can be observed in this photo.



They have already begun to "help out" with my quilting by attacking bits of fabric that fall to the floor, batting empty thread spools about, dragging pieces of ribbon--favorite is a quarter-inch velvet piece. But the best toys are the little plastic rings off the top of milk bottles and the pink or blue plastic collars I cut off them. They are in their forever home at three months of age. Sorry about failing as a foster mom, but I'm sure I'm not the first!

Busy January

It was a busy month, particularly weatherwise. We had lots of cold days when staying in was cozy. Then we had three days of the ice storm when I could not step out of my house. I could get into my car in the garage and drive up the driveway to the mailbox but could not put a foot down on the slick ice. It was a strange feeling to be so cut off; luckily, email, Internet, TV and phone service made life go on without much interruption. But it did give me reason to think of women a century ago who had no such conveniences!
I finished two children's quilts out of some 6" squares I've had for quite some time. They were pre-cut (pinking shear edges) and I have no idea where they came from. I call these "picnic" squares because they look like tablecloth fabric.

Picnic 1, offset squares, quilted (being checked out by kittens)

Picnic 2, top only

I made three walker totes (keeping up my commitment) and then enjoyed making three more Color Bar pieces.

 

Color Bars #14

Color Bars #13

Color Bars #12

No progress on the reorganizing of the fabric. Maybe February will be more conducive to rearranging and folding fabric.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

It's only natural that we do some looking back/looking forward at the end of a year. Wow! 2013 was full of great quilting adventures. In February I had a joint exhibit with Dianne Williams at the Hattiesburg Cultural Center; in March I went to China to attend the opening of one of the venues of The Sum of Many Parts and speak to groups in Dalian and Beijing; in April I attended the annual SAQA conference in Santa Fe. October included a trip to Corpus Christi, Texas, for my 60th high school class reunion.
The Back Door Coffeehouse quilt was completed and donated (more about that later). My solo show at the Lucile Parker Gallery at William Carey University was well received and brought a few sales. Getting to talk about my art and explain some of the inspirations and techniques was enjoyable and rewarding.

Publications displayed at Lucile Parker Gallery show

What about 2014? After all the excitement of this busy year I expect things to be at a slower pace. Well, that never happens! Every so often it is necessary to completely clean out and rearrange fabrics--a linty, dusty but fun thing to do. Colors get grouped; sizes get grouped; types get grouped. And discoveries of jewels are made that I had forgotten I had.

 

I have a resolve to bring/donate at least one walker tote to every guild
meeting. I will separate my "children's and donation" fabric to be more productive in these activities. Improvisational strip quilts are still intriguing, and there will be more of these.

Our guild, Pine Belt Quilters, has its 15th biennial show in October; we also celebrate our 30th anniversary--quite a milestone. There will be lots to do in this regard, including website revision. But we have wonderful quilter friends to work with--a win-win situation. How can it not be a great year??!!

Ending 2013

I suppose we are supposed to be philosophical and reflective when we go from the end of one year to the next. Or we can elect to just keep "soldiering on" as we have been doing. Nothing wrong with that approach if we don't want to spend too much time analyzing!
I finished the quilts for my newest great-grandsons just short of their first birthdays next month. Myles and Jude are two weeks apart and live close enough to be buddies. I traveled to Dallas to see my precious family before Christmas.

Myles Jordan and his granddad Mark Ginn

Jude Baker



 The quilts are about 58" square, although the photography could be improved.

Granddaughter Christy Ginn--my iPhone expert

6-week-old foster babies Ramona, Alamo, Alice, Pixel (clockwise) in a rare still moment

Looking forward to more art quilting, good times with friends and family, and blessings during 2014! And lots of kitty love!

Christmas 2013

In South Mississippi (60 miles from the Gulf of Mexico), we’ve had several nights of below freezing temperatures, along with beautiful sunny, cold days. No snow, no ice, no power outages--I’d say the best of winter conditions! The sasanqua bush is beautiful.

Music events, art events, Christmas parties and dinners have filled my calendar, and caring for two little foster kittens while I medicate them and socialize them for their forever homes has been a joy. I will get to visit my son and his family (including my four great-grandsons).

Visiting the Manger

 

Lap full of kitties



My quilt guild (Pine Belt Quilters) gave away 122 quilts yesterday to five agencies serving children and 30 larger quilts to the Mississippi Veteran’s  Home. We also filled two tables of gifts for mothers and children at the domestic abuse shelter. Seeing the generosity of my guild makes me proud to be a member. My church participates in ministering to families in need. All these activities help celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

Gifts for mothers and children

Bigboy

When I talked ABOUT him, I used his name, Bigboy. But when I talked TO him, I called him Baby. I got him from the shelter three years ago as a two-year-old and fell in love with his sweet face. Roy loved him, too. He had excellent kitty manners and was my constant companion, especially enjoying sleeping on any art quilt I laid on my work table.

Bigboy had breathing difficulties two months ago caused by fluid around his lungs, which the vet drew off. When he had more symptoms, x-rays showed a mass in his chest, and more fluid was drawn, giving relief only a few days. I could not bear to think of him suffering, so had to let him go two days ago. Everyone who reads this will be reminded of a similar painful experience in their own lives. Join me in being thankful for our pets and celebrating the joy they add to our lives.  

 



Thanksgiving and Lemon Meringue Pie

Lying in my cozy, warm bed listening to the cat purring near my feet and the cold rain falling outside is a great reminder of how truly blessed I am! Thanksgiving brings back memories of family gatherings at my brother's home in Austin, Texas. But here in Mississippi, I have church friends, quilting friends, art friends, neighbors and community friends who share with me a sense of belonging.

Most of my family still live in Texas, but we had a lovely Thanksgiving Dinner today, daughter Linda and I and two USM library friends. Rather than turkey and dressing, I ordered a Chicken Pot Pie from a local caterer. What a great idea! The others brought the rest of the feast.

My only cooking was lemon meringue pie, duplicating my grandmother's recipe. It's hard to find real lemon meringue pie, with the popularity of the icebox pies and condensed milk lemon pies. But since my new Meyer lemon tree (a gift from a friend) has produced some small but beautiful lemons, I was eager to try my hand. I used to be a purist about homemade crust but have gotten over that. The young tree was so heavy with fruit that one of the branches broke. I have rescued the remaining fruit from the freezing overnight temperatures.

Pictures at Exhibition--William Carey University

Here are some up-close shots of pieces in the exhibit. Click to enlarge for more detail.

Red Ruffles, 29" x 28"



Orange Sunflower, 29" x 28"

Twisted Tree, 22" x 19"

Galaxy, 37" x 24"

Color Bars #8-Red Roses, 17" x 23"

Color Bars #2, 36" x 22"

When Worlds Collide, 34" x 18"



Amaryllis, 25" x 27"



Color Bars #9, #6, #10, #11
12" x 12" to 9" x 12"