Human Marks workshop with Dorothy Caldwell

Dorothy Caldwell is an artist, author and teacher who offers a workshop titled "Human Marks".  I have admired her work for a long time and heard that she was an excellent teacher. She taught this workshop last week at Nancy Crow's Barn in Baltimore, Ohio.

It was 5 days with an incredibly generous instructor. Dorothy explained that we are always leaving our marks, and that over the 5 days we would become more aware of them, and notice them everywhere around us.

One of the first techniques we learned to make marks was through Kantha stitch. It is a technique that Dorothy learned about while in Bihar, a rural area in India. Kantha means "rags". It was a method developed to reuse old clothing or fabrics - mending while making it a lovely piece.
As in all very poor areas, fabric is precious, so it is mended over and over so it can still be used. Some of the pieces are started by a mother and then passed down over generations to continue the Kantha stitching.

Dorothy had some wonderful examples. Here are a few - they include social commentary, as they illustrate women in the street, needing a safe place to go for medical care. They are examples of using  different threads on different fabrics - but they all use the same pattern. Starting with the upper left hand corner and going clockwise: white thread on black fabric, black thread on white fabric, colored threads on white fabric and colored threads on black fabric.

Part of the workshop includes learning to make books with your work, so our first project was to make a wrapping for one of the books, using Kantha stitching. I've never been much of a stitcher, but I was soon hooked. Dorothy encouraged us to carry our stitching with us everywhere, and once I started doing that, it was hard to stop stitching!

I started my book wrap on a very dense black fabric, and after 2 days realized it was taking forever because it was so hard to stitch through! I started over with a Kona cotton, and the needle went through it effortlessly.

On the last day we were able to put all of the book wraps on the table and enjoy looking at how different our styles and subject matter were.

Here are a couple more images from Dorothy's samples:

Notice the shadows from the trees around the woman and child and some animals?

This detail image shows how different directions of the same stitch added depth and complexity.

This is the same image, but white thread on black. I am really drawn to the black and white stitching.  The graphic quality is appealing.

I did a little research, and see that there are video's showing stitching. And an Indian woman named Deepa posted about Kantha on her blog.

I will write additional posts about the workshop in the next few weeks.  I'm off to stitch!

Getting Women's work onto the Internet

A recent post on the National Museum of Women in the Arts was particularly intriguing. The staff and volunteers of the museums library spent a day adding the history and biography of women artists to Wikipedia. They found that when googling a woman artist, they often had a web page, and possibly a blog, but no link to the contributions they had made to the art world.

It's not surprising, since so few women artists are represented in most art museums. And 90% of Wikipedia's editors are men. So the NMWA organized a day of editors writing about women artists. It is a fabulous idea, and one I would like to see replicated many times. They will do other "edit-a-thons" to help build awareness of women artists. If you live in the DC metro area, you can check out the blog site and find a date where you could join them.

“Part of our mission at the library is to facilitate knowledge creation about the history and achievements of women artists worldwide. These significant contributions to Wikipedia’s postings help fulfill those goals while also furthering knowledge about women artists,” Heather Slania said.
She is the director of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center at NMWA.

It occurred to me that this would be a great activity for a small group to do together. Research an artist and write a Wikipedia article about them. There are many art quilters who meet in small groups, and they could pick an artist and write about them. It's another way to spread the word about Art Quilters.

Would you be interested in organizing an "edit-a-thon"?

New magazine from Laura Kemshall

I had signed up for Laura Kemshall's newsletter/blog a few months ago and have enjoyed her short and friendly postings. Somehow, she has found the time to do a quarterly online magazine called "Through Our Hands". Lovely name for the magazine as well.

It's a beautiful magazine, filled with articles about other fiber artists and good images of their work and exhibits. I recommend it for all of us who love painted quilts, textiles, needlework, learning, drooling - and distraction!

It is amazing to me that she was able to pull this together while doing studio work, video's, art festivals, and LiFE. Laura is a dynamo, just like her mother, Linda Kemshall.

Please check out Through Our Hands - a free magazine with gorgeous art. I can't believe it will be free forever, but this is a great way to get familiar with it and see if you'd be willing to pay for a subscription. 

Need encouragement?

In the April 23, 2014 issue of the Wall Street Journal, artist and writer Peter Plagens reviewed an exhibit titled "Converging Lines: Eva Hesse and Sol LeWitt". The exhibit is presented by the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas.

The two artists had a close friendship and were mutually supportive. They wrote letters to each other, and in one letter from LeWitt to Hesse in 1965 he addressed the feelings that all artists have of questioning themselves, their art and comparing their art to others. One section that Plagens addresses, could be made into a poster to put on any artist's walls about the necessity of just doing the work.

Plagen's quotes from LeWitt's letter:

"Just stop thinking, worrying, looking over your shoulder wondering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, grasping, confusing, itching, scratching, mumbling, bumbling, grumbling, humbling, stumbling, numbling rumbling, gambling, tumbling, scumgling, scrambling, hitching, hatching, bitching, moaning, groaning...Stop it and just DO!"

If we could keep this paragraph in front of us all the time, perhaps it would help to keep those demons away. Eva Hesse only lived to be 34, and died of a brain tumor, after 10 years of creating art. This is another good reminder of why it is important to work hard - we're younger today than we will be tomorrow!

Regional SAQA exhibit at VisArts in Rockville, MD

The 2014 SAQA conference was held in Old Town Alexandria and was as energizing as the past 5 conferences. One of the breakout sessions was offered by Leslie Riley, who is a coach helping artists to grow their business. She had a lot of good tips. She talked about taking risks, and putting yourself out there. Leslie quoted Joseph Campbell "A door will appear where there was no door". A great attitude to have when we are facing challenges.

One of her admonitions was to "Take Action!" Leslie recommended that we take small steps consistently, working toward a goal, managing our time, staying focused, and being organized. These are all habits I aspire to gain!

Leslie was asked if she would organize a regional exhibit with other SAQA members, and although she felt she was very busy, she wanted to follow her own advice and step up for new challenges. She agreed to do it, and also made a quilt for the exhibit although she hadn't made one for almost 10 years. There is a great sense of accomplishment when the result is as concrete as an exhibit that shows great art, and is well attended.

After the conference in VA ended, I was able to visit the exhibit "Tarnish" in Rockville, MD at the Vis Arts Gallery. It's a lovely, open and well lit gallery on the second floor of the building.

The theme was "Tarnish", and as usual, a simple concept leaves a lot of possibilities for interpretation. The juror was Deidre Adams and I think she picked a very strong show with wonderful diversity in style, technique and subject matter. Deidre has a blog and has additional photo's and comments that may interest you. I've admired Deidre's work for a long time, and one of her works was included in the exhibit.

This is a detail from Deidre's artwork - just a teaser! If you'd like to see more, head on over to her blog or website to enjoy the color and textural quality of her work.

These are images showing a couple of walls. I don't think I could identify all of the artists, but there is a list of them on the VisArts site.

Seeing this exhibit, and the impressive quality of it made me think 2 things - I should help organize a regional visit, and I wish I lived in Maryland again so I could spend time with the talented artists there. Both Leslie and Deidre inspired me to take risks, jump in and get moving on my short and long term goals.

Art changing culture

I've been enjoying the blog posts from the National Museum of Women in the Arts. They have been engaging and thoughtful and show a real change in the museum's focus toward a more contemporary approach. The blog is called "Broad Strokes" and is well worth subscribing to - don't take my word for it - check it out here:
http://womeninthearts.wordpress.com/author/womeninthearts/

A recent post was about the newest project to try to change attitudes and heal people. Remember the AIDS quilt and how it made AIDS feel like an awful problem for all of us? And undoubtedly helped move many people to be more understanding and accepting of people who are gay.

This new project "The Monument Quilt" is focused on healing people who have been raped and/or abused. They are setting up workshops all around the U.S. where survivors of rape and abuse can come to make their own quilt squares. They will be displayed on the National Mall in Washington, DC, spelling out the words "No More". If you know of anyone who might find some healing in this project, please pass this on. It's a Kickstarter project, so you can donate to make it happen on their website:

The Monument Quilt



Peace!

Published in Fiber Arts Now

The Fiber In The Present Tense exhibit opened on Saturday, March 8 in New Bedford, MA at the Artworks Gallery with a couple of rooms full of artists and their friends and family. It was a very nice reception. My husband, brother and sister in law were there, giving me the adulation only family members can give! It was great to have them there. The exhibit is up until March 29 if you can make it to the gallery.

The photo below shows the title of the exhibit and a nice variety of work:

I'm sorry I didn't make note of the title and artist on each of these works. I know the stitched figure (3rd from left) is by Jeanne Sisson, and the quilt on the right is by Rosemary Hoffenberg.

 

This little nest is called"The Beginning for the 1%" and was made by Beverly Gomes. It's a little fetus in the womb with a gold, beaded crown, surrounded by peacock feathers! I love it.

The exhibit was very diverse, with all kinds of fiber art. It is a really interesting look at contemporary fiber. The "Fiber Art Now" magazine had a good article on the exhbit and I was very pleased to see my work featured on the title page. The photo of the page will give you a good idea of how diverse the exhibit is - art quilt by me, wire construction by Ellen Wieske, and a wonderful fantasy-type basket made of paper by Jeanne Flanagan.

Spring 2014 issue of Fiber Art Now pages 14-15

Here's the cover of the magazine in case you want to look for it: