Mali collaboration

If you are in Washington DC tomorrow...head to the Textile Museum. 😁

My collaborative piece ‘Hunting with Husband’ will be part of a one day exhibition of art quilts which were made using an embroidery from a Mali woman. These women have fled conflict induced gender based violence and are being taught skills for earning their own livelihood. ‘Sister Artists’ is a project under the umbrella of the Advocacy Project and Quilts for Change.
The work will be auctioned and the money will go back into the project in Mali.

The Bull at the Gate

The other day I was at South Hill Park. I noticed the sculpture at the front entrance.

I love this bull who has driven his horns through the brick wall and is caught.

This photo and the next two are from 2016

In 2016, I took part in an art event. My intervention was hanging red flags along the spine...Red Flag to a Bull. The Bull

The Bull at the Gate was made by the sculptor, Marcel Baettig.

As I came out of the entrance, the shape of the ivy caught my eye.

It is well on its way to growing into the shape of a bull, How fun!

Dragons spotted

just a few dragons I saw at the Festival of Quilts.


The Kiss of Gaudi by Isabel Munoz

Fabric I didn’t quite have the money for.

White Dragon by Lena Meszaros
Took me a while to work out why it was awkwardly positioned.
Can you see what this dragon is doing?

And then finally a cow!

Mad Cow by Teresa Summerfield.

But is it Safe? At Festival of Quilts

I was excited to see that my work in the Art category had been hung on one of the white walls, rather than the black drapes.

And even more excited to see I had a Judges Choice!

And then at the SAQA dinner, I met another member. We talked of family things. Then she asked about my work. I showed a photo of one of the Ramshackle pieces. And then discovered she was the judge who selected my quilt as her favourite!

This photo thanks to Roz Rossiter. 

Yes, and of course, I have forgotten her name! Oh, yes. It is on the email Roz sent. Jenny Hall. 

Thank you Jenny for this support. 

Something on Saturday

Treasure 9

This is a very special treasure. I showed it on Remembrance Day, but it is worth putting it on the Treasure list.

A poppy from the installation at the Tower of London. We didn’t get to see the spectacle, but the images on TV and internet really stick with you.

From the website:
Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

The major art installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red at the Tower of London, marked one hundred years since the first full day of Britain's involvement in the First World War. Created by artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper, 888,246 ceramic poppies progressively filled the Tower's famous moat between 17 July and 11 November 2014. Each poppy represented a British military fatality during the war.
(Video from Tower of London website.)

Something on Saturday

Treasure 4

A small bowl from Zimbabwe. Hand painted. I love the patterns, different each way you turn it.






Reminds me of the giver, my friend Yvonne. Praying for safety for you ...and hope and peace in that country.

Exciting news!

Last week I received a letter from the lovely people who run Festival of Quilts to say my entry was accepted for the Fine Arts Quilt Masters section!!!!!

This means it will be shown in a separate area from the other competition. There are 23 who have been shortlisted. On the first day of the show, at the Awards Ceremony, a winner will be announced.

In the past, names of those who have had work accepted include some of the very top European and International quilters. I am overwhelmed to join them. This year also, they will be producing a catalogue of the Artwork. So, that gives a way for visitors to take their memories (and my name!) back home with them.

It is a prestigious honour to be accepted. I was never sure I had anything good enough! But this year, the piece I entered into the 7th European Triennial was not excepted. So, I decided to enter this. You don't 'lose' if you don't get in, you just select ahead of time which category of the regular competition you want to enter instead, like Art Quilts or Pictorial or whatever, and no one need to be the wiser.

The blurb from the Festival of Quilts website says:
An international juried competition, the Fine Art Quilt Masters Gallery celebrates
the finest examples of art quilts with work that has powerful artistic expression
with abstract and figurative elements.

I asked if I had to keep it under wraps, but I was told "Shout it from the rooftops! " So, I am.

Ramshackle Suburbs
My 'Ramshackled' series explores neighbourhood. In this work, differences in housing are revealed through 'accessories' (trees and plants, building extensions, window type, etc) for each home. 

Housing choices can be personal, voluntary or due to restrictions: income, social or political. With each structure there are certain freedoms and certain limitations.

Here is a detail photo.

I thought I might try lightly striped fabric for the background this time. I really like the look. And so they must have, as well!
Also, this involved me being brave enough to make something 'large'. It is around 200cm by 110cm, (2metres by the width of the fabric.) You might remember me showing the back at different stages while I worked on it. Not the easiest to do!
Now I need to put a sleeve on it and find a box big enough.

Actually, it is slightly scary to imagine it all!

CQ Suitcase Collection: My Favourite Author

This coming Saturday at the TVCT meeting, we will be viewing the current CQ Suitcase collection. The theme is My Favourite Author. You may remember my piece inspired by Escher.

The Suitcase arrived yesterday, and today I have been discovering what is there. There is a print out with the image of each quilt and the artist statement, so I don't have to handle the quilts. But there are white gloves should I need to.

Pretty amazing that with 64 pieces, there are only 13 Artists for whom there is more than one work! For me, that shows the wide range of knowledge the CQ members have for artists. Many of these artists I have never heard of, or only vaguely remember hearing of.

Fascinating, but makes running an activity about curating or being a juror that much harder! So, I am glad I left several days so I can ponder. I think I have to do research.

It would seem a good question would be to ask something like, "Do you think the work is 'inspired by' or is 'derivative'.
ooooo Dangerous discussion if the Contemporary Quilt artist in question might be at the meeting! 😱 (in spite of the popularity of this type of emoji, there was no one who chose Edvard Munch)

Sorry, sidetracked! But if I ask them to compare a work from this collection with the Artist inspiration, I will need to have images of the inspiring artist's work. Yes, some might recognise names like Picasso or van Gogh and their work, but like me, some might not have heard of the artist in question.

Anyway! making a start. Somehow an idea will present itself. Maybe we will just do a quiz?

Somethings from Bristol

Will catch up the bead photos. asap... several deadlines going on!

These photos are of work that caught my eye at the West Country Quilt and Textile Show in Bristol, where I went with my friend, Pat, on the 1st September.

Small quilts by Brenda Thomas - A Year at Exeter Cathedral

Lovely work by Dawn Berry. These are some detail shots of some of the work in her gallery area.

I love the stitching and the light colouring.

Work by Sally Sparks with unusual materials.

a few interesting pieces from 2017 Festival of Quilts - 6

Okay, I meant to be done on these Festival of Quilts photos, but I had another look and decided to show more.
This set contains some quilts with boxes and some optical illusions.

Little Boxes - Elizabeth Melville

Interconnected - kathleen Moore

Loved the translucent effect...

which I also saw in this piece from the Matter of Time Gallery

Sue Reid - And the Wheels Go Round

Don't Box Me In - Trudi Wood

White January - Lisbet Borggreen

Loved the used of small print for this

Box on Box on Box - JillJohnson

a few interesting pieces from 2017 Festival of Quilts - 5

Okay, I didn't manage to post this, though I had the photos ready to sort. I wanted to post it Friday.

I have been working pretty full on for some pieces which are to be in a book...which I am not to tell you about until I am allowed! So, trying to keep this going as well as keeping going on the project is not the easiest!
And after this one, I will be focusing on my entry for 7th European Triennial, which is also not to be shown until the show (if it gets in!)

But anyway...

A few more things of interest from the 3D and Wearable Art category called Quilts Creations.

Sisters by Jennie Callomon

I am not really a doll person. But I loved the use of fabrics for this pair.

This piece was truly a 'jewel' as stated in the title.
Hungarian Jewel - by the Hungarian Patchwork Guild.

The technique is Boutis and the motifs are of old ceramic tiles from the Transylvania area.
detail
This brochure from a previous exhibition shows how it looks when lit up.

This was an interesting gown...especially as it was displayed next to my piece Willows by the Watercourses with the dangling willow leaves.
Willows by the Watercourses

All Tied Up by Mary Ornish

   

and finally some different views of the brilliant Deck Chairs by the Tanglewood Textiles group.
no. 1-3

A Closer look at the second one and facing no.3

no.4+5 and a detail of no.5

a few close-ups of what was under and behind the chairs!

All of it made by this brilliant group who have won awards for humorous group quilts in the past.

a few interesting pieces from 2017 Festival of Quilts - 4

Some of the work in the Quilts Creation Section - 3D work and Wearable Art

Release the Kraken by Helen Dickson

  

Brilliant!

Violin by Sue Trevor
  

Nellie by Pam Morris


Victorian Fusion by Kathy Knapp

   

I love the work this lady does.

Silvery Threads - Jackie Harvey