Redefined

2006: Some of my best work yet

This is the last installment documenting my journey as an artist by year.

In 2006, I spent a lot of time tending to the business side of art. I created a slide portfolio for the first time and reworked the look of my website, then collaborated with graphic designers to upgrade my marketing materials, including business cards, logo, brochures and CD portfolios.

Two of my more successful works have been Discombobulated and Melted, but both were getting too old for entering shows. I would prefer not to be typecast with this "piled" style, but I created one more piece in a bright color scheme, called Tangled.

Another work from this year was Prepackaged. I had more fun with this concept than almost anything else I've ever made. The vinyl bag is removable, so you can insert another artwork inside. On the back, I have a bar code, a reorder number and it even says Made in China on the label. I wasn't able to get text on the back in the way I wanted or I would have included the following.

- Colorful fun for all ages!
- Flexible and long lasting
- Perfect for galleries and museums
- Collect the entire series!

- Easy to use. Instruction sheet included.
- Also available in 12 yd., 24 yd. and 32 yd. sizes
- Not suitable for children under 3

I almost painted a red slash through the price and put a 99 cent clearance sticker on the front somewhere, but couldn't figure out where to put the sticker so it didn't ruin the overall look.

One last work that I want to show you from 2006 is Knitted. The quilt in this piece is 1-1/4" wide by 70 yards long and the binding is all hand stitched. Here's a photo I took the first time I hung it on a wall in my studio, looking at the end of one of the knitting needles. You get a better feel for the scale of the work, which is about 8 feet tall and 5 feet wide.

Now that I've shown you representative works from each year of my art career, I plan to write at least one more entry giving you the "why" rather than the "what". Stay tuned!

Kansas Art Quilters

I drove over 5 hours round trip on Saturday to attend the annual Kansas Art Quilters (KAQ) meeting. Nineteen people showed up, which is not bad attendance for a group in our situation. For those of you who do not know, Kansas is right in the middle of the United States and covers a very large area, about four times the size of Slovakia. Driving from city to city can involve many hours of driving time, so not all members are able to attend. Despite its name, the group is actually a national one, with 65 members from 14 states. At one time, we even had a member from Norway.

A large part of our national success has been due to the efforts of Linda Frost, the outgoing chair of the Exhibitions Committee, who did an amazing job of finding us excellent exhibit venues for a number of years. Here's a picture from one of our recent opening receptions at the Sabatini Gallery in Topeka.

At the end of 2000, I attended a Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico. SAQA is the international organization for artists who work with quilts as their medium. During a break, I found myself talking to three other Kansans, including Charlotte Herr, Phil D. Jones and Linda Frost. At one point, I made a comment that I'd always thought the quilt artists in Kansas should get together and have an exhibit. Light bulbs went off over our heads and we decided to form a group. The next day, we met at lunchtime and made plans.

Each of us knew another art quilter or two, so we started passing the word along that we were going to have our first meeting in January, 2001. Phil said we'd probably end up with 10-12 people sitting around a living room. I collected names and contacted people who might be interested, based on tips given to me. To our great surprise, we had 40 people turn up at the first meeting.

KAQ has grown and changed a lot over the years. I was the first president and now I'm the communications coordinator, maintaining the website. What hasn't changed is the talent in the group. Linda and I are the two founding members still left, but many, many other people have also stepped up to make KAQ work. Thanks to everyone who has done so, including the outgoing board members.

Tracking show entries

This is how I track exhibition information.

I learn about upcoming juried exhibitions by reading magazines, email lists and websites. Almost all entry forms (prospectuses) can be found online these days, so they are easy to print out.

The printed entry forms are filed in a large binder, each one in a page protector and sequenced by deadline date. I write the deadline date on a strip of index card, then slip the card into the front of the page protector so I can see it. If the deadline is a postmark date, I write a little "p" next to the date.

At the same time I file the entry forms, I create an index card for each show which lists the show name and location, the deadline and the notification date. I also write any important rules on Post-it notes, using my own shorthand language. For example, "2 years" means that the entries cannot be more than two years old. I always record the dates that the artwork would be away if accepted into the show. I typically add 10 days or so onto each end to allow for shipping.

The index cards and the notes are pinned to a cork board in my studio. I divided the board into sections with blue painters tape, so I can change the sections easily without damaging the cork.

On my board, the first two lines are used for upcoming exhibits I may want to enter. The third line shows the shows I have already entered and and am awaiting notification. The bottom row has the exhibits to which I'm accepted or otherwise committed.

The name of each artwork is written on an index card strip. The creation year is also on the front of the card and the dimensions are written on the back. I can easitly sort these cards when deciding what to enter into a show, throwing out works that are too old, the wrong size or are already entered into conflicting shows. The pile that is left helps me choose which pieces to enter.

When I am accepted into a show, I replace the show's card with a new one, listing the shipping date, the date of the opening reception and the actual show dates.

I love this method because it is so hands-on and the cork board is always visible, so I don't forget anything. Changing the cards pinned to the cork board really keeps me aware of deadlines.

Laced - Part 1

Oops, did I forget to mention that I've been working on a new project? The other one I was telling you about, Dispensed, is very close to completion, but I have also started on a new one, called Laced. I sketched out the idea some time ago, but wasn't ready to work on it till now.

This artwork will be suggestive of a sneaker with colorful lacing. I'm using a cotton duck/canvas to build the sneaker body, which is a very heavy fabric, but looks makes the piece look more authentic. I chose the khaki color because I wanted a medium neutral, to set off the bright colors of the shoelace. First, I cut out the most critical section of the shoe, the part that goes across the top of your instep. If you click on the picture, you should get a larger image, where you can see the safety pins that are holding the three layers together until I can quilt them.

I plan to put a large, dark binding along the inside edge of these two shoe pieces, quilt them and then install large grommets in the right spots. Later, I'll attach a toe section and possibly a white strip around the outside, to look like the edge of the sole. There will also be a tongue, which will hide the hanging device at the top.

In the first picture, you can see one of my attempts at creating the color run for the shoelace. It actually took me about two days of work to establish the final colors and the sequence of fabrics. The second picture shows the chosen fabrics after they were sewn together (I haven't even ironed the seams flat yet).

Once I have a better idea of how long a shoelace I'll need, I'll use this construction to build one of my trademark long, skinny quilts, which will probably end up about 2-3" wide. The black/yellow colors will end up at the center/bottom of the shoe's lacing. I can extend the length of the shoelace as needed by cutting this construction into strips, turning the pieces around and sewing them onto the ends of the main strip. I made the left side magenta and the right side orange, so it will look more interesting as the lace crisscrosses back and forth. The quilt binding will be bright turquoise blue.

My next task is to construct the shoe. I actually purchased a $5 pair of white sneakers so I could use them as a design reference. By total and complete coincidence, they happen to be in my size. I solemnly promise that if Laced gets into a good show, I will paint the sneakers and shoelaces to match my artwork and then wear these shoes to the opening reception. I think I need to spit on my hand to seal this pledge now, to show that I really mean it. Or have I got that spitting thing mixed up with something else?

2005: The year my work really "Connected"

In 2005, I expanded my visual dictionary even further, plus I combined quilted forms with other materials more than I ever had before. The resulting artwork was some of my most successful to date.

A couple of my favorites are Transformed and Triangulated, which were completed around the same time that year. In both works, the wooden supports have slots so the pieces fit together when installed, but condense down into much smaller packages for shipping and storage. They even have their own custom made storage cases, so all the pieces are protected and kept together.

I particularly like these two pieces because they both take the idea of quilts  to an extreme. The quilt is no longer just a surface to be decorated, but represents a concept within a larger design. As you can see, I was (and still am) infatuated with bright, saturated colors, so I couldn't resist throwing some in here. Lime green and hot pink never hurt anyone and they certainly get your attention!

By this time, I was thinking so much in 3D that I had difficulty switching gears, but I still managed to make two wall hangings. Connected was made for a fabric company's special exhibit and the fabric is at least 50% from their product line.  The three strips in Angled were originally meant to be the three quilts in Triangulated, but they didn't look right, so I created another artwork from them.

Can you guess how many quilts are actually in each picture? There are probably more than you think, as I often create my work in units and then attach them together. Just to give you a hint, Connected is actually made from five separate quilts.

Jamming

Years ago, my niece walked my in-laws' house and the first thing she asked was, "Grandma, do you have any of Jill's jellies?".

I've been quiet lately because I've been indulging one of my other passions, making jams and fruit butters. Most of the time, I use low-sugar recipes so that you taste the fruit, not the sugar. I think half of my friends and family hang around because they're hoping for freebies (and they usually get them).

The tree next to our driveway produces so many crabapples each year that we suck them up using the shop vacuum. I do a preliminary processing of the fruit, then can up the puree into quart jars. I still had a lot of puree stored from previous years, so this time I converted the last 32 quarts that I had in storage into crabapple butter. What you see in the picture is most of the result of three days of work, totaling 11 jars of homegrown tomatoes (in the lower left) and 147 jars of crabapple butter. In the past few days, I've also made batches of plum jam, peach jam, pomegranate jelly and white grape/peach jelly. If we don't give too many away, I'm hoping that will last us a while.

Tomorrow, I will put everything away and go back to arting. I promise.

How many artists does it take to change a light bulb?

One Minimalist to leave the old bulb in place.

One Romanticist to light a candle, providing the right atmosphere for changing the bulb.

One conceptual artist to write out instructions, so others can create the actual bulb-changing process for him.

One Surrealist to use a fish mouth to unscrew the bulb.

One feminist artist to smash the bulb because it looks too much like an erect phallus.

One Abstract Expressionist to strew the broken glass around the room.

One performance artist to roll around on the glass, videotaping the look of pain on his face.

One installation artist to sweep the glass pieces into piles of various sizes.

One assemblage artist to attach the broken glass to a wooden pole.

One graffiti artist to tag the glass with spray paint once the pole is installed outside.

Plus one janitor to put a new bulb in the fixture, so he doesn't get fired.

Balancing the equation in the art world

For the past several years, our city has been involved in a large project where people at the grass roots level discuss ways to make the city even better, then work to implement those ideas. Several days ago, they held their first meeting aimed specifically at the arts community, with the goal of making Wichita an arts destination. Some of the brainstorming ideas from the attendees included setting up a more formal arts district, making a building available for studio space and providing networking opportunities for artists. Unfortunately, everyone missed the main point. We already have plenty of talented artists living and working here, but what we really need is more people who buy art.

Once a month, the galleries stay open on Friday evening and thousands of people have the opportunity to view some wonderful work. However, you rarely see red dots on the gallery signs, indicating that an artwork has been sold. If the price is over $75, you can practically guarantee that no one will buy it. Even if there are high end collectors in town, they travel to other cities to look for their purchases, while the general public treats opening receptions at local galleries as free parties, not places where they spend money. They look at the art, eat the food, drink the wine and then move on to the next gallery.

Until the public is educated about the value of buying original art, this situation will not change. Artists will continue to spend a lot of time and money to get their work seen, but receive nothing in return. How long do you think a CPA, clothing store, manufacturer or restaurant would stay in business if they were expected to operate under these conditions? Artists would like to be paid for their work too. It would even be nicer if we could make a living from selling our art, but I don't know of any artists who do. We are holding up our end of the art world, now it's time to cultivate the other side, the art buyers. Without them, our city will never have a thriving arts community.