ARTQUILTSilluminations review

ARTQUILTSilluminations

The 8th Annual PAQA-South International Juried Quilt Exhibition

at the Durham Arts Council
Allenton & Semans Galleries

March 26 – June 7, 2010

Curated by

Jan Ru Wan

Works by:

Pamela Allen

Wen Redmond

Jenny Williams/Jennifer Fouke

Laura Gaskin

Lynne Harrill

Christine Predd

Marcia DeCamp

Barbara Watler

Eileen Williams

Lyric Kinard

Cathy Kleeman

Sherry Kleinman

Gerrie Congdon

Kathleen Loomis

Denny Webster

Diane Wright

Nancy Lassiter

Debbie Langsam

Beth Carney

Janet Windsor

Gloria Hansen

Paula Swett/Cathy Stechschulte

Ann Flaherty

Jana Lankford

Sally Wright

Jeanelle McCall

Jeanette Thompson

Hsin-Chen Lin

Diane English

My personal favorites include:

Best of Show

Red Bioluminescence

by Barbara Watler

An almost monochromatic color scheme yet the value contrast makes it luminous. Those hand worked zig-zag stitches are amazing in their frenetic motion - almost shivering in your field of vision.

Sunset Composition

Gerrie Congdon

Simplicity of composition. A complementary color scheme yet no screaming loud brightness. The contrast of hand stitches next to solid machine lines.

Sticks and Stones

by Diane Wright

The beauty of the work is the the details. I love the repetition of the the stone shapes in the cloth, in the machine stitched line, in the hand worked knots. All of them work together to lead the eye on a journey as the texture draws you in.

Blinded by the Light

by Beth Carney

Line, both broken and continuous holds all of my fascination here. The dense stitching flattens out the texture of the artwork but brings a continuous vertical feeling to a rhythmically irregular piece. That and I tend to love subdued color scheme.

running, running, running....

Whew. I still have a million things to do before the American Quilter's Society show this week. No time to post on Monday but a full day of travel on Tuesday! Am I the only person on earth who loves long travel days? No dishes to do, no children to drive, no fights about homework or chores? I can write and do handwork or read to my hearts content. I hope to post a review of ARTQUILTS:illuminations for you as well as a book review. Keep your eyes on this space.....

Fire 

by Diane English

Showing Your Work: part 3 - choosing venues

We've talked about how the jury process works and some of the reasons work is rejected. Of course, as Jamie Fingal pointed out in the comments, there are myriad factors that go into a works being accepted or rejected. No matter what - it's a roll of the dice any time you enter a show.

Today let's talk about what kind of shows are available to the textile/quilt artist. I'll divide them into three general categories: Quilt Shows, Art Quilt Shows, Fine Art Shows

1- Quilt Shows

This is what the general public thinks of when you say "quilt." A gymnasium somewhere with traditional quilts and grey haired "quilt police" counting stitches with a magnifying glass. Fortunately this stereotype. While accurate in some instances, it is in many cases a very wonderful place to show your artwork. Most quilt shows now have art categories but the judges don't always come from an art background. If you are making cutting edge art - think hard about why you are still entering a quilt show.

Maine Quilts 2006

I love traditional quilts and and greatly admire the mastery of technique that wins many a ribbon there. And I DO think that traditional quilts can be works of art in and of themselves. It's one of the things I love about the quilt as a medium of expression. There is room for everyone at every level of creative expression in the quilt world.

Pros

Many quilt shows offer the chance to be seen by a large number of people in a short time. If you want to teach quilters, it is great for them to be familiar with your work. Sometimes prize money is offered. In fact, sometimes, a LOT of prize money is offered.

Cons

Most of the people that see your quilt are more interested in buying fabric than your artwork. There is rarely a mechanism set up for people to buy your work from a quilt show. Only a very few people actually win those cash prizes - but, hey, it could happen!

Recommendation

Do your research. Does the show have art categories? How many people see it? Does it have a great reputation for treating the quilts with respect?

2- Art Quilt Shows

A show that is looking specifically for textiles but is hung and treated like a fine art show. The jurors are looking for original work, excellent composition and design. It is up to the curators how far into the innovative arena of textiles they want to venture. Some do not want work mounted in a hard frame, some require all the materials to be cloth rather than mixed media. Most are quite flexible in their requirements.

SAQA Transformations '09: Reflections

Guilford Art Center 

Deborah Sniders' ENCRUSTACEANS I on the right

Photo by Debbie Bein (and more on her blog!)

Pros

Your work will be treated as fine art. Period. I know that in my middle-to-small sized town, the art quilt shows we sponsor at the community galleries draw the biggest "crowds. "

Cons

I'm having a hard time thinking of any. Tell me some in the comments. Some of the venues don't get a large viewership. 

Recommendation

Just as with any entry - do your research to see if your work fits. I maintain a list of these types of shows on my website - take a look.

3- Fine Art Shows

This is your regular gallery, museum, or whatever-space-available show but is geared primarily towards traditional paintings or sculpture. Most are more accepting of textiles these days. Not all - one show I entered (and won a prize in) insisted my work be put in the "fine crafts" category and displayed it on a pedestal on the floor with ceramics and wood pieces instead of on the wall even though it was wired and ready to hang. 

The Grand Rapids Art Museum

Pros

The people who go to these shows are expecting to see fine art and will not think of your work as a blanket. Unless of course you entered a ratty old blanket as a piece of conceptual art and then they would probably give it best of show. Most of these shows have a mechanism for viewers to purchase the work.

Cons

Some won't even look at textiles. Some staffers or volunteers will be stymied when you ask for two nails in the wall rather than one to hang your work - even when you send in a clear and simple instructions pinned to the back of the work.

Bottom line = do your homework. Ask yourself why you want to enter a show and then make your decisions accordingly. I'd love to hear your opinion!

Showing Your Work: part 2 - rejection

It's going to happen sooner or later. The envelope or the Email that says, "sorry - out of luck" arrives in your mail box. You followed all of the directions in the prospectus to the letter. You dutifully researched the venue, past shows, the jurors. You have the best possible images of your artwork and yes, you did send in your best work. And still - you don't get in.

Malachi's Promise
rejected from half of the shows entered  (mostly abstract art gallery type shows)
received a "Best of Show" at a local quilt show

What does it mean? Why do you feel like a failure? I discussed the jury process and the many reasons work is rejected from shows in my last post on this topic in case you missed it. What being rejected does NOT mean is that you are a failure as an artist. If you go into a blue funk because you did not get into a show you need to examine why. Do you think everyone will reject your work if it did not get in to one show? Do you think that all of your work is unworthy?

Failure can be a friend if you are willing to learn from it. Easier said than done but if you can learn to see failure as one more step towards success your life will be easier - and happier. And you will be growing!

First off - are you entering venues appropriate for your work? I'll talk more about this next week. A cutting edge and provocative piece might not be appropriate for a traditional quilt show and a traditional Baltimore Album isn't going to make it in a Soho gallery.

Spill
never juried into a show quilt but shown in several art galleries

Also, the higher the quality of the show that you enter, the more likely it is that you will be rejected simply because of the higher number of applicants. Quilt National is what many of us Art Quilters call "our favorite charity." It has an overwhelming number of entries compared to the number of Artworks that it can accept. It is also one of the most respected showcases of the Quilt as Fine Art that there is. A hardcover catalog is published every year and the show travels to respected venues. It is still on my list of "hope to get in before I die" shows so I continue to send in work and take my chances.

Second - are you pinning all of your hopes on one piece? As a serious artist you want to be continually creating. You need to build up a body of work. (I'm preaching to myself here!) If you think this one piece is the best you will ever make than you have stopped progressing. Try to create enough work that you can have several pieces out there at the same time if entering shows is a path you wish to follow.

Third - take an objective look at both your photographs and your work. If you have someone whose opinion you trust, ask them for a critique. Use this as an opportunity to learn and to improve. The work just might be fantastic and the photography impeccable. It still never hurts to examine and to find areas for improvement.

Here is a lovely blog post about entering shows by Elizabeth Barton. It includes a conversation with a juror about why some pieces were accepted in a nationally juried show. Well worth reading.

Circle 3

juried in to only one show - where it sold

Tomorrow morning I'll give you a treat - Robbi Eklow's wonderfully witty answer to rejection letters.

Artist Spotlight part 1: Melanie Testa

I would like to introduce you to an artist whose work I greatly admire. 

Still Life

I have had the pleasure of spending time with Melanie Testa on two separate occasions; as we taught at the International Quilt Festival in Houston last year, and when we filmed our Quilting Arts DVD Workshops. She is simply delightful as a person and I find her artwork to be beautiful, layered with meaning and texture, and intriguing. She is one who thinks and cares deeply both about her art, about other people, and about the world around her. Her laughter lights up a room and lifts your spirit. Her artwork draws you in and takes you on a journey. 

I hope you will enjoy getting to know her as much as I have.

Lyric: What is your story, how did you become an artist?

Melanie: I have wanted to be an artist since I was a child. I remember watching TV and being riveted when I saw imagery of Andy Warhol walking the streets of New York. My mom used to sew her own clothing and I remember watching her pin a wool plaid skirt pattern out and knew the side seams would not match if she were to proceed, so I stopped her. Then a friend of hers asked if I would like to make a vest, it was a cute little vest and it had hand sewn ribbons bordering the inside front edge. It won a blue ribbon at the fair. I also won a blue ribbon for my Sugar Collection, but that is another story.

So when I was 19, I took a traditional quilt making course at the local Handcraft Center. I fell head over heels for fabric, really I fell in love with conversational prints and vowed to go to art school to become a Textile Designer. It took about 8 years for me to settle down and focus enough to make that a reality. I was accepted into the Fashion Institute of Technology as a 27 year old adult student. I was married and lived two hours outside the city, but we worked together and made it work. My husband has always been quite supportive of me and my creative efforts.

Once I was out of college and had some creative tools under my belt, I took some workshops by well known surface design artists like Jane Dunnewold and Ann Johnston. Making what I had learned into an expression all my own is, of course the adventure of a lifetime.

L:  Was it something you wanted to do from a young age or did you take a more circuitous path? Do you have any training in basic design?

M: I was able to afford two years of schooling at F.I.T and do have an associates degree in Textile/Surface Design. The education I got from F.I.T was more of a technical schooling. I was taught to put things in repeat, to paint flower and to weave. My real education came as a result of being a Vintage Poster Restoration Artist. I restore posters by Talouse-Lautrec, Alphonse Mucha, and interestingly enough, Andy Warhol. I took this as an opportunity to evaluate drawing and painting styles and I learned to mix paint to exact specification. 

Still Life In Time

L:  Do you consciously think about the elements of art as you create?

M:  No, I do not. I work intuitively. I think the basic tenets of art making are well and deeply ingrained at this point that I am not really aware of what I am doing at all. I can slow myself down to describe it when asked.

L:  What are your fears as an artist and how do you face/overcome/talk yourself out of them?

M:  My fears. 

That my art isn't good enough. Isn't this everyone's fear? And I don't think this is a bad thing. If my art isn't good enough, if I didn't hit the 'right' note, then I still have room to grow, to dig deeply into what I am trying to get at. It is sort of zen, when you think of it this way, as though the very thing you strive to do sits, as if a seed, within what you are doing right now. Being an artist is really about fostering that seed, prompting new growth.

Next week I'll introduce you to the lovely book that Melanie has written. It has been an inspiration to me over the past several months. And here is something special. During the month of March Melanie and I will collaborate on a small work of art - a textile postcard. At the end of the moth it will be given away to a lucky reader, chosen from the comments on each of the four posts that feature Melanie and her work. You may post each week  and have an even better chance of winning this postcard. Perhaps next week I'll give you a little peek at what we are starting.

Art+Quilt: Quilter Beth - actual texture

Is it acceptable to call someone that is working through my book a "student" even if I haven't had the privilege of meeting her in the classroom? I sincerely hope so because Quilter Beth is doing some absolutely beautiful work and I'm so glad she's sharing her it with the world.

These are her ACTUAL TEXTURE exercises from chapter two in Art + Quilt in which one creates a composition with neutral colored fabrics with as many different textures as possible. It is an exploration in moving outside of the box - getting away from our comfortable quilter's cottons. Seeing new possibilities in our materials as well as in our own artistic sensibilities. 

Beth says, "Since I come from a traditional quilting background, I have seldom used fabrics other than smooth cottons in my pieces. I found myself really enjoying the feel of these various textures. I also liked "pushing" myself to come up with ways to add texture through embellishments. I think the multiple textures (and the play of light off these textures) make the pieces much more interesting."

Please click on these pictures to take a closer look at the fascinating materials she's used. There are rubber drawer liners and straw hat brims. Her compositions are well balanced and thoughtfully done. She's given each of her materials thought and care. What beautiful pieces.

You make it all worthwhile!

It was a rough year writing the book and I certainly didn't do it for the money. I did it because I'm on a crusade. Too many women look at me with those sad, sad eyes and say "I'm not creative."

Sorry. Not True. Big Lie!!!!

Everyone is creative in some way. Usually they are wishing they were an artist but have never been taught - or allowed themselves the time and mental space to learn the skills an artist needs. That's what the book is for. Nobody picks up a pencil and draws like Picasso the first time - it takes time and work and lots of effort.

So - here are a few links to people who are working through the book and doing some beautiful things. First a picture from a fabulous group working together up in the frozen north. I believe this one is Carol's line study.

Kay from Indiana has made a lovely texture study (actual texture)

http://outofthebasement.blogspot.com/2010/01/texture-study-8-x-10-it-seems-long-long.html

Quilter Beth's visual texture exercises are beautiful!

http://quilterbeth.blogspot.com/2010/02/art-quilt-bethlyric-project.html