Art Quilts reviewed in Art and Antiques Magazine

There is a very informative, and appreciative review of the history of art quilts, and some of the major artists in the movement in the September issue of Art and Antiques Magazine. The author is Barbara Wysocki, a writer who is knowledgeable about the world of art and quilts.

It starts out the usual way that articles about art quilts begin - "Quilts—the word conjures bed covers made with tiny scraps of fabric stitched together with a layer of batting beneath a geometric or floral design." But,  the second sentence brings the reader into the contemporary world of art quilts. Yeah! "Yet today, a kaleidoscopic range of quilts is being made primarily to be displayed on walls".

For anyone who is interested in learning more about art quilts, it's a broad and well written history. There are interviews with artists, and examples of their work. I heard about the article through the Studio Art Quilt Associates list serve, and am so encouraged to see art quilters getting serious reviews.

Starting on a 12" square

When I've been away from the studio for awhile, I like to start working on something small to get me back into the swing of things. It sounds strange, but it is sometimes hard to remember how to start in the studio. It's easier to get the work going when starting small.

The SAQA auction is coming up next week, and although I already submitted a 12" square piece for this year, the deadline often comes and I have to rush to make something. So, I started a 12" piece and if I still like it next April, I'll submit it for the 2014 auction. Here's a link to this year's auction and my piece.  You'll see that it has some of the same fabrics. SAQA 2013 Auction

I think in terms of background, middle ground and foreground as I've noted before. My photography training taught me to be sure there is something interesting in each area, so it's easiest for me to go from there. I photographed the process with my IPhone, so the photo's aren't great, but they are done!
Here's how I started:

I had this fabric and the next one on my cutting table from this year's auction piece.

Added some Misty Fuse to each fabric and ironed them on

Put the smaller pieces on this background and started moving things around.

The next few photo's are of some of the things I tried out and then changed.

I added the yellow piece in the lower area. I liked the thin piece coming down and across. Maybe it's a "J"?

Thought it needed more pop, so I found a fabric in a complementary color. I also wanted to emphasize the horizontal movement.

I added and subtracted blue fabric, and then cut some up to make the line more interesting.

Thought it might need the blue to end the horizontal line

Cut the end pieces smaller and moved the red in and out of the blue shapes.

Ironed them on...always a little scary because it's hard to change anything after ironing.

Auditioned some threads to see what would work

Decided black thread would help the blue shapes come forward more and the contrast would make them more interesting.

 

After the black thread, I thought it needed "something" else

Added the rectangles and free motion quilted them

Trimmed it to 12" square and ironed some Misty Fuse to black fabric and added it for binding. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The finished piece.

The back - sleeve and all!

I think I probably spent about 8 hours on this all together. Not including dyeing the fabric of course... I'm not fast at dyeing, designing, or finishing. It has worked as a good start to get me comfortable in the studio again.

Do you work in a similar way?

Serendipity

I love that word, and love when it happens! We're visiting our old neighborhood, friends and family in Silver Spring, MD and environs.  My husband and I went to one of our favorite restaurants - Mandalay - a Burmese restaurant in downtown Silver Spring. As we were contemplating the menu and trying to remember what were our most enjoyed dishes, I heard two women talking behind me.

I kept hearing SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) and SDA (Surface Design Association). I knew they had to be kindred spirits so I turned around and introduced myself. It was Ann Graham, who lives in Silver Spring and is on the SDA Board, and Dominie Nash, who has a studio in Washington, DC and is a well known Art Quilter. We laughed about what a small world it is.

The SDA website was recently updated, and I remarked at how helpful it is once you start poking around. Since I live in a rural, small college town place, I don't have access to regular meetings of art quilters and all the information that gets shared in those meetings. We agreed on that and said goodbye.

If we had time, and they the inclination, I would have loved to join them and talk more about the long term goals of both SAQA and SDA, but we were off to see "The Butler". I loved the film, and hope it gets seen by millions of people!

Website finally completed!

Well, almost. I have gotten great feedback from people and they've figured out all the little things that need to be fixed. It's very helpful to have so many eyes looking over the site, especially those with some understanding of how to use Wordpress. Generous people gave me hints and I plan to fix some problems - like the contact page isn't working - as soon as I can get to it.

The website link is on the right of the blog - Jeanne Marklin Website

Now that I have a website up, I look forward to hearing from more people as I share new work. Please be patient about the contact page - or write a comment here and I'll get it. Getting comments helps us to know that we aren't just writing for ourselves!

Bennington Art Guild Gallery opening

The opening at the Gayle Garrison Gallery in the Bennington Arts Guild gallery on Friday night was wonderful! It was hot outside, and very warm inside, both from the weather and the friendly faces who came to support me and Josh Primmer. We had lots of compliments about how well Josh's pottery and my art quilts made for a cohesive exhibit. Josh and I both agreed that Ceil Petrucelli had a good idea when she invited us to exhibit together.

I love hearing what people say about my work, because they see things that I don't and it's always interesting to hear how it is viewed. "Evocative" was a word I heard from several people, and I liked that. The exhibit will be up until July 29, so if you're in the area, please stop by. There are lots of good restaurants in Bennington, and a great bakery around the corner from the gallery. Tempt you yet?

Bennington Arts Guild Gallery exhibit

I was honored to be invited to have an exhibit at the Bennington Arts Guild Gallery. The opening is this Friday, July 5, 2013 from 5 - 8 pm, and I will share the space with Joshua Primmer, a ceramics artist from Bennington, VT.

I've invited lots of friends and am hoping many will come and make it a party. The exhibit will be up until July 29 so there is plenty of time to see it if you can't make the opening. Bennington is a great little town to wander around and enjoy on a summer day.

Here's a sneak peak at a couple of the art quilts that will be exhibited:

detail of "Time Heals"

detail of "Before/After"

Dyeing to Discharge workshop by Carol Soderlund

Carol Soderlund teaches the best dyeing workshops in my not so humble opinion.  I was able to take her "Dyeing to Discharge" workshop at PRO Chemical and Dye in Fall River,  Massachusetts. I had been interested in learning discharge techniques but was concerned about the health affects. Carol is very knowledgeable about toxic affects, and emphasizes safety in every lesson.
We learned to discharge with bleach, thiox and deColourant, and to always wear a respirator while working with either chemical - whether inside or outside. With bleach, we wore masks while we were leaning over the buckets.  Bleach is always rinsed in water, and then an Anti-chlor solution rinse after that to stop the bleach from eating away at the fabric. When ironing thiox or DeColourant to discharge we always wore masks. Thickened Thiox and thiox with dye added (illumination) were used, and the effects were so inspiring!

Watching the bleach discharge and in anticipation of removing it at the right time.

Carol had us test about 12 colors of dyes and 6 blacks, and we sampled 27 different commercial fabrics for discharge. Our class produced some wonderful fabric by the end of the week. I'm posting a few photo's from the class. If you'd like to learn Discharging techniques, Carol is a thorough, organized and generous teacher, and sweet on top of all that! And PRO Chemical is an excellent place to take dye classes. It's what they do, and there is always an expert on the premises if there are any questions that the workshop instructor can't answer.


We had a great group of students who made lots of fabric. Here's some of our work pinned up for everyone to enjoy.

My fabrics