Art on Exhibit!

I spent the morning hanging my solo show. I have been working all summer to get ready for this exhibit -- making new work, and matting, framing and mounting existing work. It was fantastic to see it all hanging together on big white walls!

The opening reception is tomorrow night, Thursday September 23rd from 7 - 8:30 pm. The exhibition is held at the Edward J Duffy Art Gallery at the Canterbury School in New Milford CT. The show runs through October 14 and the gallery is open to the public weekdays from 8 -3 and Saturdays from 8-12 or by appt (860-210-3800).


On exhibit are over 50 pieces, including the first public showing of the first half of the Loteria series and many other new works. I've discovered one drawback to working on a small scale - it takes a LOT of work to fill a gallery!

Many of the Loteria series are on display, as well as an assortment of gyotaku fiber and paper collages, insect work in a variety of formats, some new pieces inspired by cell phone photography and a few three-dimensional fiber houses.

I hope you can stop by!

Pittsburgh and back again

Life has been a little busy lately! I've been madly dashing from one event/signing/class/show/something to the next since the store closed on March 31. Last week was International Quilt Market in Pittsburgh. I was there at the behest of C&T Publishing for the release of Art Quilts at Play. My co-author, Elin Waterston, and I signed books (at the Checker Distributors and United Notions booths), spoke to scads of people about it, taught a workshop on one of the techniques, demonstrated a few more in the C&T booth, taped a demo and an interview plus I had a booth as the Country Quilter. My mom and I had four new patterns between us and were busy connecting with old and new customers.


at the C&T booth


at the United Notions booth

Of all of the convention centers I've been to (quite a few), my favorite architecturally is the David L Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. The food there was really awful, the hotel was terrible (Sheraton Station Square), but the convention center was gorgeous.






Country Quilter booth

I met a lot of internet friends - from different lists and from Facebook - isn't that the best? It was a wonderful week, although it's really good to be home! No more traveling or running for a while, time to catch up to myself.

Upcoming...

Coming up - lots of events and traveling and teaching!

Next week I'll be in Chicago for International Quilt Festival. I'll be vending in the mixed-media section as Flourish-Country Quilter. I'll be teaching a Make It University workshop on Friday afternoon (1:30 - 2:30) on collage pendant necklaces and then demonstrating in the Open Studios section both Friday and Saturday from 2:45 to 4:45. Please stop by and say hi!



Saturday, April 25th from 12 - 3 pm will find both me and Elin at Elm Street Books in New Canaan CT for a book signing and talk about art quilts. We'll be signing both Art Quilt Workbook and Art Quilts at Play. Elm Street Books is a gem of a bookstore, one of the last great independent booksellers in our area. They bring in lots of authors for signings and host lots of interesting events. I'd love to have a really big turnout for our signing - we aren't as mainstream as Calvin Trillin (a recent author there), but I like to think that our readers are just as dedicated.



Saturday and Sunday, May 2-3 is the quilt show in Somers, put on by the Northern Star Quilter's Guild. I'll be vending all weekend and demoing on Saturday afternoon. This is a fantastic show with something for everyone. It's on the train line from Manhattan and an easy drive from anywhere in the tri-state area (NY-NJ-CT).



And Saturday, May 23, I'll be at the City Quilter in NYC teaching a workshop on self-expression quilts. You'll learn a variety of direct and indirect photo-transfer techniques and lots about composition and design as you make a small art quilt that expresses you.

A busy, busy spring!

A group exhibition - in the truest sense

FIBER + THREAD = ART



If you like art quilts and you find yourself in the NY metropolitan area next weekend, there's a marvelous show opening at the Mahopac Library. The group of art quilters who meet at the Country Quilter are putting on a group exhibtion that has truly been a group project. Together the group decided on a title for the show, the size range of the pieces, cohesive mounting of the art, specific pieces for the postcard and much more. We had a discussion about writing artist statements, a digital photography demonstration, and a mass attachment of art to canvas and application of screw eyes and wire for hanging. It's been a very rewarding experience and everyone has gotten to see firsthand what goes into mounting an exhibition - from contacting a gallery, to sending out press releases, to organizing the reception. We hope you can come!

Fiber Book in Denver

Do you remember the fiber house I built back in May? Well, I took it apart and turned it into a fiber book and entered into the Interweavings show at the Abecedarian Gallery in Denver, Colorado.



I had intended to assemble the book accordion-style so that it could still be assembled as a four-square house, but discovered that the sides and the front and back needed to have been exactly the same width for that to have worked. Another lesson learned. I am really pleased with it as a book however.



The artists reception is tonight, to coincide with the beginning of the Democratic National Convention. Hopefully the conventioneers will be out wandering the arts district during the week and get a chance to see all of the great exhibits in Denver.



INTERWEAVINGS
August 1 - September 13, 2008

Abecedarian Gallery
910 Santa Fe Drive • Unit #101 • Denver, CO • 80204 • 303.534.1038

Art Walk wrap-up

The Art Walk last night was an interesting, high-energy event. This is the first year of the Walk and no one was sure what to expect. Over 700 people turned out to stroll the main streets of town, listen to various musicians playing outdoors, check out the stores featuring over three dozen artists and shop. I think it was a success for all involved and I hope they do it again next year. Some pictures from She She, a boutique where my working was hanging.









I met a lot of people, handed out a lot of cards and explained Art Quilts to a lot of folks who'd never heard the term before. Fun!

I also learned a few things for next year. A name tag would have been good and an easel out on the sidewalk holding a mounted piece would have drawn even more people inside.

Art Walk

YOU ARE INVITED TO:

Ridgefield Art Walk
Saturday, August 16 5:30 to 8:30 pm

Take a walk through downtown Ridgefield, Connecticut where nearly 40 artists are displaying work in stores offering big discounts on merchandise. Art, music, refreshments, shopping and a chance to win a free raffle of original art or a night at a local eco-friendly B&B "green ROCKS" await you!

The event kicks off in Ballard Park at 5:30 at the gazebo where maps will be distributed showing ART WALK venues.

My work will be displayed at SheShe on Bailey Avenue and I'll be there to talk about the art from 5:30 to 8:30 pm tomorrow.

I hope to see you there!

Art Quilting Student Exhibition

Last night was the opening reception at the Country Quilter for the latest Art Quilting 101 Student Exhibition. Elin Waterston and I have been teaching this class for the last five+ years and it's where our book, Art Quilt Workbook, came from. This was the last time we offered this class in its original ten-week format.



The opening is always my favorite part. The students are so proud of their work, their families get to see what has been obsessing them for months, they get a chance to see what their fellow students have created and it rounds out the art quilting experience rather well.

If you'd like to see the entire exhibit, I've posted pictures of all of the work on the Country Quilter website. Didn't they all do a great job? I know they all worked hard.

I remembered to take pictures after everything was hung (from a few directions at least) and then totally forgot to after the place filled up with people. So imagine it full of beaming artists and their friends and families, wine glasses in hand.

The show comes down tomorrow night but will remain online for a while. Next week, the shop is hosting Rayna Gillman for a Gelatin Plate Printing workshop - I can not wait!

Art Quilts at Main Street Gallery

If you're going to be in Groton NY anytime soon, you can see one of my pieces, Haiku: Lines Between, at the National Small Art Quilt Works show at the Main Street Gallery.

The show runs from July 27 - Sept 2, 2007 with the opening reception Saturday, July 28, 2007 from 5-8 pm.


For more information about the show go here or here.