Redefined

Breaking my end-of-year curse

For the past several years, a strange pattern has developed in my art career. From January to about August, a lot of things seem to go right for me. I get accepted into juried exhibits, invited to be in invitationals, offered solo shows and so on. Then from the end of the summer until the end of December, it all dries up. I can't seem to find anybody to take my work, even though I've been burning incense and dancing the Exhibit Dance around roaring bonfires like all artists are supposed to do. I don't know why this pattern has been happening, but I think the curse has finally been broken.

Today, I received a phone call from the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey. One of my works was accepted into their International Juried Show, which is probably the top all-media exhibit in the U.S. today. The juror, Adelina Vlas, who is the Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, chose 80 works from 1600 entries and Unmatched was one of them. Now I expect the two sides of my brain will begin fighting as to whether I should attend the opening or not. I have to admit that it's very tempting.

Conceptual craft

I have always had difficulty categorizing my work. In fact, when someone asks me what kind of art I create, I just hand them one of my brochures and let them make up their own mind. I find that so much easier than saying I'm a quilter because everyone has an image in mind of what a quilt is, namely a blanket with block designs like their grandmother made. Even if someone knows what an art quilt is, that doesn't help because what I create is so different from what other art quilters make. I finally started to call myself a conceptual artist, for lack of a better term. Sometimes I call myself a sculptor, but since I also make wall hung work, that doesn't always apply.

Recently, I've read about a new category of art that is called conceptual craft or conceptually-based craft. It is being made by artists who work in what are considered to be traditional craft mediums, but who create fine art with it instead. The concept is the important thing, not the functional or decorative qualities. So, is what I make fine art or or fine craft? As the prominent painter, Roger Shimomura, once said about my work, "There is a split second of non-recognition of what I'm looking at, which should be taken as a compliment given all the things I have looked at and evaluated in my life. You sit right on that dangerous border between art & craft and I respect that stance." So, I guess it's both and it's neither.

Miniature artwork

Here's a gratuitous picture of a new work that I've thrown in to make this post a little less boring. This whole piece is only 8" square and is destined for a traveling exhibit for SAQA's 20th anniversary. It is a non-juried exhibit and will travel for a while, then be given to the International Quilt Study Center for their collection. I don't need that particular line on my résumé because the IQSC already owns a quilt of mine, but I made this as a challenge to myself. I wanted to see if I could make a miniature artwork that was 2D and still reflected my style. When the organizers receive it, they will mat and frame it, so I didn't even need to finish the edges. I even have a second long, skinny quilt like the one I used here that I will make into an artwork for me to keep, although I will probably make the overall size 8" x 10" instead.

Modern Materials gallery space

As I've mentioned before, I am curating a national invitational exhibit of exceptional art quilts, Modern Materials, for an Oklahoma City gallery, Untitled[ArtSpace, scheduled for July-August, 2009. A couple of weeks ago, I traveled to OKC and took pictures of the space, plus did some planning with the staff.

Here is a picture of part of the main gallery space. I couldn't stand back far enough to get everything into the picture because of a couple of movable walls that were in my way. There are also two side galleries that you cannot see. All in all, there's about 8,000 square feet of space for me to fill. The pillars are 16' apart and the ceiling is 13' high, if that gives you some sense of the size. The strange white artwork that sits on the floor in the back left of the picture is a wonderful installation work by Petah Coyne, not Cousin Itt from the Addams Family.

Yesterday, I finished creating a scale model of the gallery out of foam core, scaled at 1/4" = 1 foot. I plan to print itty bitty pictures of the artwork and use them to figure out the placement of everything. If you see the pillar to the left of the entryway, that's about where I was standing when I took the picture above, facing toward the opposite corner.  Now all I need is a white rat to run throughout the model, looking for cheese. It would drive my cat crazy except she's the only cat I've ever known who has let mice run all over her body and even rescued a baby mouse in distress.

I also started a curator's blog documenting the exhibit. I will be writing about the planning process, plus highlighting the artists and the work that will be in the show. If you would like to follow along, here is the link. Feel free to subscribe using the Feedblitz link in the left column. I have to admit that this post is very much like one of the posts I published for the new blog today, but I also wrote about one of the artists, Angela Moll. Given time, I will write about the rest of the 23 artists, in no particular order.

Convoluted

Here is another new artwork I recently created, called Convoluted. It's the fourth one in this particular style, following Discombobulated, Melted and Tangled. The quilt is 2 inches wide by 10 yards long and is installed on site, so it will be different every time. As shown here, it's probably about 6-8" high by 14"x 14". I made this because artwork is generally considered to be "old" after only two years and the others have been so successful that I felt it was time to make one more. I dearly love the color scheme and wondered whether to put a black binding on it, but I'm glad I did.

It may appear as though I've used all the colors in the rainbow, but if you look closely, you will see that there is no purple. When I create a piece that has lots of colors, I will often leave one out on purpose. For some reason, this makes the color scheme a little more interesting even though you may not consciously know that something is missing.

I'm not going to sign it until January, 2009. Officially completing it in 2009 instead of 2008 makes it seem so much younger, even if the binding ends up turning prematurely gray.

Miscalculated

I've been beseiged by paperwork, dental appointments, trips to various places and other non-creative activities for quite a while but this week was blissfully free of any. so I've been taking the time to work in my studio. I've almost finished the piece shown here, called Miscalculated. It's fairly large, at 65" high by 52" wide. The colors shown are not totally accurate, but my photographer will do better.



Miscalculated is even living up to its name. I was sewing a black trim around the inside section and ran out about two inches from the end. I was sure I'd purchased a yard more than I needed. So, the dilemma now is whether I leave it the way it is, purposely fix it sloppily so the error is still visible or buy some more trim and fix it fairly invisibly.

Tom Otterness and his "Millipede" sculpture

On Wednesday, the Ulrich Museum of Art here in Wichita welcomed a new sculpture by Tom Otterness into its collection. The Ulrich, which is part of Wichita State University, already has one of the top ten outdoor sculpture collections on U.S. college campuses and this was one more (and very giant) feather in their cap.

Tom Otterness, a Wichita native who now lives in New York City, was there for the dedication. This picture shows Millipede (affectionately known as Millie) with the dedication wreath around her neck.  I took pictures of the sculpture without the wreath earlier in the afternoon, but there was a crowd around her at all times, making her difficult to see. All of the feet rest on the ground with the exception of one back foot, which is being helped along by a very little female creature. The dedication included a street party complete with music and refreshments, an original dance by members of a choreography class at WSU and speeches by about 50 million people. OK, it really wasn't 50 million. In fact, the speeches ended quite a bit earlier than planned. The director of the Ulrich, Dr. Patricia McDonnell, was the MC.

After the dedication, everyone convened at the campus theater for a Powerpoint presentation by Tom. He talked about his career and how he made the Millipede in particular. Apparently, as the sections of the sculpture were joined together, the workers had to crawl inside to weld the joints. He indicated that he probably wouldn't make another piece that way again.

On my way back to the car, I took a couple of other pictures. One was of the ivy that was climbing the museum walls and turning colors for the Fall, which I thought was very beautiful all by itself. The other was of a work by Andy Goldsworthy, called the Wichita Arch. A tree is planted underneath the middle of the arch and will interact with the structure of the arch as it grows over time.

New England in the Fall

Last week, my husband and I travelled to New England for a 20th anniversary trip. We flew into the White Plains airport in NY and stayed overnight with Jeri Riggs. Jeri is a dear friend who I met through art, even though she lives just a few blocks from my childhood home in Dobbs Ferry. Here's a picture of us together and Jeri is wearing the hand dyed cotton scarf that she won in my blog contest. This scarf was displayed on the "corkboard" during my recent solo exhibit. She was one of three winners, but the only one who had her prize hand-delivered.

While we were in Dobbs Ferry, we had lunch at Sam's Italian Restaurant and ordered a specialty pizza. It was the best pizza I've ever eaten and even better than what I remembered from eating there as a child. If you are in the area, go try it yourself!

The next day, Tuesday, we travelled north along the Hudson River Valley and had a wine tasting at the Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville, the oldest winery in America. We stayed overnight at the Minnewaska Lodge at the base of the Shawangunk Mountains and had a spectacular view of the Shawangunk Ridge. Here's a picture of my husband, Steve, on the back porch for our room. As with all our accomodations on this trip, we walked in around 3 pm and asked if there were any rooms available. Most of the time, we were given a discount, often for an extra special room.

Wednesday, we stopped at the Culinary Institute of America, famous for training top chefs. We had a wonderful lunch at one of their restaurants and the mushroom soup will haunt my dreams for a long time to come. We drove over into Connecticut that afternoon, stopped at another winery for a tasting, then stayed overnight at the Tollgate Hill Inn, which dates back to the mid-1700s. This is the view of the inn from our porch.

Thursday, we drove through CT and stopped at the University of Connecticut bookstore. I had attended UConn for 3 semesters of graduate school, but the campus had totally changed since I was there and it was almost disorienting. We ended up on the shore near Mystic Seaport and found a wonderful place to stay at the Inn at Stonington. We ate dinner at a gourmet Mexican restaurant up the street, enjoyed the posh room and the quiet surroundings. Here are pictures of the lobster boats at the dock and the sunset from the back door of the inn.

Friday, we did the tourist thing and toured Mystic Seaport. They were preparing to restore one of the large sailing ships and we had the opportunity to see them dismantling parts of it so they can take it out of the water. A ride on a steam train in Essex completed the day.Our stay that night was at the Griswold Inn, the oldest inn in the country. The room did not have many of the usual hotel amentities, but we had met a wonderful family from England and had a great discussion with them. We even sat with them at breakfast the next morning and they will remain one of the highlights of the trip.

We returned home on Saturday evening and I would be remiss if I didn't include at least one picture of the glorious Fall foliage, which was at its peak during our trip. As an artist who loves color, I couldn't get enough of it. What a fantastic experience!

Art and meaning

After my recent solo show at Newman University ended, the gallery director told me that the students particularly enjoyed my exhibit because it was "political". I had never thought of my work that way, but there were some pieces in it that definitely had a political point of view, particularly Dispensed, Awarded and Segregated (shown here). These were the works that the students remembered, even though there were many more that were not political in nature. What made these pieces particularly memorable?

I have always been up front about the fact that I do not have any formal art education. A few months ago, I heard the word "narrative" being applied to art for the first time, even though that concept is probably taught in Art 101. It was quite an eye opener and I began to think about the narrative within my own art. Does it speak to people? Does it tell a story of some kind? Do I put sufficient meaning into my work to make the viewer think about what I am saying to them? If not, is my work forgettable, inconsequential or merely pretty?

When I was a junior at Hofstra University, I was required to take a course called Philosophy of Education. It was taught by Dr. Ignacio Gotz, who retired a few years ago with the reputation of being one of the greatest philosophers in the education field. For every class, we had to write an essay that addressed such seemingly simple questions as "What is education?" or "What is teaching?". Being the very literal-minded person that I am, I would often respond with the dictionary definition of the word. He never let me get away with that, of course. I recently realized that I was doing the same thing with much of the artwork in my Definitions series. Once again, I was presenting a very literal version of the word and not much more.

At the sculpture conference I attended last week, the keynote speaker was Jaume Plensa. I was very impressed with the depth of thought and heart he put into each artwork, whether it was immediately obvious to the viewer or not. This idea really resonated with me and I realized that I needed to do this, too. For me, this is what separates the truly great artists from those who merely make stuff. I have several pieces that are partially completed and need to be finished, but I believe that any new work I start after that will come from a lot deeper in my soul. The narrative will be there, to draw in the viewers and hopefully stay with them long after they have walked away from my exhibit.

The mark of a great teacher is that you are still learning from them years later. The mark of a great artist should be the same. Perhaps, to be a memorable artist, you really need to be a philosopher first.

International Sculpture Center Conference

On Saturday, I returned from the International Sculpture Center conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I have been a member of the ISC for several years, but this was the first sculpture conference I attended. It's part of my general move from the art quilt community into the greater art world.

The conference was held on the grounds of the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park and they couldn't have chosen a better location. If you are ever in the area, I suggest you visit the gardens, which has sculpture from some of the best artists in the world. Many of the sculptures are very large scale.

I arrived on Wednesday and that evening, I went to a pre-conference party at the home of a longtime arts advocate in the area. The house was designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright and had a wonderful lake view. The place was so crowded that I was often stuck in a hallway when trying to move around. It wasn't really a problem because it actually gave me the opportunity to talk to some wonderful artists and get to know them as we were stuck there together.

On Thursday morning, there was a preconference panel discussion at the hotel where I was staying. The topic was creating a city dedicated to public art. One sculpture they talked about in particular was a large Alexander Calder sculpture located about two blocks away. At very moment, there was a crowd of about a quarter of a million people surrounding that sculpture listening to a speech by Barack Obama. When I left the hotel to go to the sculpture gardens for the start of the conference, I was caught in the traffic leaving the speech. It was a little strange to see security personnel on the sidewalk just a few feet away from me who were obviously wearing about 60 pounds worth of large weaponry.

The general topic for the conference was public art, which really didn't pertain to me. However, I still learned a lot. The keynote address was given by Jaume Plensa, who creates wonderful sculptures like the Crown Fountain at Millenium Park in Chicago. I was really inspired by the meaning he infuses into his work.

Optional events included the opportunity to participate in an Art Slam. Up to six artists could present their work within the space of an hour. A number of other people turned up to listen to the presentations, too. Here's a picture of me giving my talk. The editor of Sculpture magazine was in the audience and I was glad in many ways that I was showing work that was so different than the others.

The last night of the conference was the monthly gallery hop in Grand Rapids. Here I am with Pam RuBert at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art. It is a great gallery and I plan to submit my portfolio in the near future, hoping to be considered for a show in one of their spaces. The most impressive exhibit was the Big Art Party, a once a year event held in an unused building in Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids Art Museum had recently moved into a new building, so the party was held in their old location. All the marble and wood rooms (and there were a lot of them) were filled with some really impressive contemporary artwork. The music was pumping and the place was crowded. I wish we had an event like that in Wichita.

Overall, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

What's happenin'

This is a general update on some things that have been happening behind the scenes with my art career. If you're not interested in hearing about this kind of stuff, feel free to stop reading now. Really, I don't mind a bit. However, I have to warn you that I've placed some spyware inside your computer and I'll know what you've done.

About a week ago, I wrote to the gallery director at a college 35 miles from my house and asked if she was accepting portfolios. Apparently she went out to my website and liked what she saw, because when I returned from taking down my solo show the next morning, I received an email from her asking if I was able to fill her gallery space myself or needed a second person to exhibit along with me. I ate lunch, then drove there to take another look at the gallery and ended up talking with the director. The result was an offer for another solo show, to begin at the end of September, 2009 and continuing through October. Do you know that "letdown" feeling that can happen after finishing a big project? I didn't get to wallow in it after taking down the Newman University show. Gee, I'm almost disappointed. I said almost.

My favorite gallery, Untitled[ArtSpace] in Oklahoma City, asked if I would curate a quilt exhibition for them. They even allowed me to put together my "dream" exhibit, which will be an invitational show of 20 artists whose work I most admire. A percentage of the artists also work in 3D like myself, which will help fill up the center of the 10,000 square foot gallery. There will be a catalog and workshops associated with this exhibit and the gallery is interested in travelling it after it finishes its run there. The dates for this exhibit will be July 10 to August 29, 2009. I'm going to be pretty busy around the end of June!

Tomorrow (Wednesday), I am leaving for the International Sculpture Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I'll let you know how it went when I return. This is a leap into the unknown for me, but I've never been much of one to shy away from risky things. It's also time I made more contacts outside of the art quilt community and in the larger art world. I didn't make it into the Quilt National exhibit again this year and it may be just as well. I think it's time I acknowledged that my artwork doesn't fit there anymore, but I was hoping to get that particular notch on my belt before I moved on.

Unfortunately, there are no pictures with this post. I have some pictures of Picniced now that it's finished, but I already packed the camera and I forgot to download them first. I'm afraid you'll just have to wait. Big oops. Forgive me?

How I protect my artwork from damage

Right now, almost all my work is back in the house again, so I am going to spend a few days making storage cases for some of the more vulnerable and newer artworks. This practice started a few years ago, when I made a piece called Forest Floor. I realized it was going to get damaged and dusty, so I spent a lot of time making a custom storage case for it.
The light spot on top is where my cat barfed on it recently. Did I mention she was bulemic? I will probably make a vinyl outer cover to protect the case even better, but I guess I didn't do it fast enough. You can't see in these pictures, but there are a lot of handles sewn onto the case. It's so bulky that my short little arms have trouble carrying this piece without them. I also attached extra handles so I can hold onto the case in just the right places to make it easier to slide the artwork in and out. All the flaps close with Velcro.

The next two pictures show the custom storage case for Transformed. A pre-quilted and very colorful fabric is used for the outer case. I printed a picture of the piece plus my contact information on fabric and sewed it onto the flap for easy identification. Another piece I made around the same time, Triangulated, has a similar case.

Open the outer case and you will find the artwork's components.  The wood pieces are nestled safely and warmly in their own sweet and soft fleece fabric bags. Twill tape is sewed on the the flap area so the flaps can be tied down.

The round "roller" parts are simply placed in old pillowcases and rolled up. Someday, maybe I'll make something a little more customized, but I got lazy by this point in the construction.

My cat hasn't barfed on this case yet. I wonder what's holding her back?

Painting pickles and stitching tomato slices

I spent the last week processing a bunch of pears that a nice lady allowed me pick from her orchard. All in all, I probably canned about 100 jars of various jams, jellies, sauces, juice and preserves. If that wasn't enough, I also made 50 servings of chili from my homegrown tomatoes and green peppers. My feet are tired. My brain is fried. My tastebuds are happy.

All this food preparation is spilling over into my artwork, too. If you've been reading my blog for a while, then you may remember a piece called Portable Picnic. A collaborative project, it was originally shown at Untitled[ArtSpace] in Oklahoma City in January. Unfortunately, the other two artists in my group wanted their work back after the show was over. Go figure. I was left with a nice ground cover, cushions, tablerunners and napkins but the dishware, silverware and vase were gone. Never being one to let a little thing like that stop me, I decided to finish the picnic scene myself and exhibit it as a "new" artwork, called Picniced.

I finished the food this week and here's what it looks like. If you can't tell from the picture, I'm serving a bag of potato chips, a BLT sandwich and a dill pickle. The sandwich and chips bag are made entirely of fiber materials, but the pickle was created from a lightweight clay and painted with acrylic paints. The best part of this project is that I got to eat the food models as I went along.

Only one serving of food is shown here, but there are actually two, one for each of the two seats at the picnic. There used to be three servings, but I think my husband had them for lunch yesterday. I told them they had fiber in them and he must have misunderstood.

This is one of the actual plates I'll be using. The next step is to sand, stain and finish the wood so it looks a little darker and classier. I still haven't decided what to do about the drinks yet. If I create some fake soda cans. I'd better buy several real ones at the store for models so I have something to drink while I work.

I won't replace the original silverware since all I'm serving is finger food. Have you ever tried to eat potato chips with a knife and fork?

What's on the board?

Here's a better picture of Posted, the "bulletin board" in my solo exhibit. It looks so real that many people walked right past it, not realizing it was part of the exhibit. Even when they were standing close to it and I told them it was a quilt, bending the bottom upwards to show how flexible it was and how you could see the stitching on the back, some still asked if I used real cork to make it. Nope, it's all made from fabric.

I used a combination of thumb tacks, straight pins and push pins to hold the items onto the board. To protect the wall behind it, I covered the points with pierced earring backs. I am sooooo clever!

The real bulletin board for the university's art department had some pictures of art that had been cut out from magazines, so I added a picture that I had cut from a magazine, too. You can see "Alien Invasion" by one of my favorite artists, Pam RuBert, right under the Art Dept. sign.

The lime green poster in the lower left is the gallery's schedule for the 2008-2009 school year. If you look closely, you can see an arrow to my name, with the handwritten words "Is she related to Mary Werner, the gallery director?" and underneath, "No". This was my way to answer the obvious question, for people who know Mary.

The Art Dept. sign is attached with Velcro to make it removable. The next time I use the bulletin board, I can change the sign to suit the situation. Just to the right of it, I placed a fly (glued to a thumb tack) that looks like it's crawling across the surface of the cork. There are also a lot of extra tacks and pins in the board, to make it look like it's being well-used. You'll also see a fortune from a Chinese fortune cookie and some comic strips from my home bulletin board.

The white papers are fake notices. One is a "Roommate Wanted" sign, one supposedly has course additions for the Fall semester and the other is a For Sale sign for an Gauguin ($37 million OBO/ Moving out of state).

If you have been following my blog for a while, you may remember my blog contest. The three prizes are the blue hand dyed scarf, the artwork in the black oval mat and the round, red, beaded pin just above the scarf. These prizes will be sent to the winners when the exhibit is over.

Going solo

I had a wonderful time at the opening reception for my solo exhibit on Friday evening. Many people turned up with whom I wanted talk longer, but I didn't have the opportunity. Two hours goes pretty fast when you are having fun!

If you think we're friends but you didn't turn up, we may have to renegiotiate our relationship. The art may not have drawn you, but how could you resist free food and wine?

By coincidence, the gallery director is named Mary Werner. A man and wife with the last name of Werner were also there because he works at the university. To my surprise, another Jill M. Werner turned up with her husband and friends. She lives here in Wichita and we knew each other existed, but had never met. I had sent her an announcement postcard as a lark and she apparently couldn't resist meeting the other Jill M. Werner in town. The first three letters of our middle names are even the same. At one point, there were seven Werners standing in a circle talking and, with the exception of the married pairs, none of us were related. That kind of thing never happened to me when I was simply Jill Rumoshosky.

Splashed, which can be seen on the pedestal near the left wall, was most people's favorite piece. Another favorite was Posted, which can be seen on the right. It looks so much like a real cork board that many people were walking past it, thinking that it was a real cork board used by the university's art department. However, if they studied the items on the board, they soon realized that something was a little "off" and it was actually part of the exhibit. I added more bulletin board items after this picture was taken, so I'll take another before I do the gallery talk tomorrow and write a blog post about it.

Many thanks to the folks at Newman University for making this exhibition such a success!

 

My name in lights!

My solo exhibition starts tomorrow, in conjunction with Wichita's Final Friday gallery crawl. Here is the information, if you are in the area.

Newman University
Steckline Gallery - De Mattias Fine Arts Center
3100 McCormick Avenue, Wichita, Kansas

Opening reception- August 29, 5 pm - 7 pm
Art for Lunch presentation- September 2, 12 noon - 1 pm (open to the public and you get a free lunch!)
Gallery hours- Mon-Fri, 9 am - 4 pm or by appointment
For more information, call 316-942-4291 x2199
Gallery director- Mary Werner (no relation)

As I was driving over there yesterday to do some last minute adjustments, I spotted the school's LED sign with my exhibit information on it. My jaw literally dropped! This sign is right next to the highway, so a lot of people will be seeing it.

They even spelled Rumoshosky right. What more could I ask for?

 

Popping up in Oklahoma City

This weekend, I travelled to Oklahoma City for a workshop on pop-up structures with Carol Barton. She is a paper engineer from Maryland, a wonderful person and a very good teacher. Her instructions were clear and she paced the workshop just right, so you didn't feel rushed or bored at any time.

We worked with very colorful paper and after a while, the table looked like it had been hit by a flourescent blizzard of scraps. I always thought I was a creative person, but some of the people in the workshop made me feel very uncreative by comparison. I was sitting next to Elia Woods (who is also an art quilter and textile artist) and she was doing some amazing work. She even created a pop-up table that was covered with bright scraps of paper like our workshop tables and had recognizable pop-up versions of people around it who were in the class, like the teacher.

Here is an example of what I made. I tend not to pour all my creativity into workshop models, but instead absorb the techniques and ideas. All the time I was working, I was thinking about how I could apply the principles to my own work. A while ago, I created a piece based on pop-up ideas that is appropriately called Popped. It is currently travelling with an exhibit through the Kansas Art Quilters group. Unfortunately, I realized too late that you couldn't really tell it was a pop-up when it was installed. This workshop gave me some wonderful ideas about better ways to make that more obvious when the piece is opened and just sitting there. Ah well, you live and learn, which is why I took this workshop, obviously.

Collapsed is done!

I finished another new artwork today! This is going to be shown for the first time at my upcoming solo exhibit in a few weeks. It's called Collapsed (that's the name of the artwork, not the show). To give you a sense of scale, the legs are 28" long. If you have followed my posts about the constuction, you know that the quilt tube changes to different colors all the way around, so I'm going to show you another view of it, too.

For some reason, I took this second picture while sitting on the floor, so you can actually see the underside of the base a bit. You should never see this part of the artwork unless you are under the age of 1 or have had a little too much wine at the opening reception. If both conditions apply, then I think you've got more problems than I can solve in a blog post.

New artwork

New Artwork

I finally finished a couple of new artworks, had them photographed professionally and posted them on my website. The first, which I've shown here before, is called Unmatched. The matchbook cover is a very stiff quilt and the match "stems" are made of wood. The matchheads are constructed of cotton batting and paint. Like real matches, the heads are bigger than the width of the rows, causing the two rows to stagger and appear as if they are really four rows. After I had completed the project, I broke off the one black-headed match which is, of course, supposed to appear burned.

You may not be able to see it in the small picture, but Misti dots her letter i's with little hearts. After I'd already written the name inside of the matchbook, my friend Vicky said that I should have used her name instead and another friend said I should have used the name Bambi. I'm sure there are other names that are just as good, but I guess I'll have to settle for Misti this time. I wonder if she ever hooked up with the guy who got her phone number in that bar?

The second project is called Splashed. I've worked on this piece for several years and it was a lot more work than it looks. The water is constructed by sandwiching hand dyed cotton batting in between two layers of gold mesh fabric. I stitched it all together, trimmed it to size and sewed a satin stitch around the edge. Afterwards, it was backed with black wool felt and stitched again. I probably have about $100 worth of black cotton thread in this.

The water is actually two separate pieces that sit on a two-piece base that is hidden underneath, but which lifts them up from the table.

The spout is made from PVC pipe sections that were modified, glued together and painted with metallic paint from the model train store. The handle that turns the water on and off is a modified Allen wrench. Pull it out and the upper water section separates from the rest of the spout, with just a small section of pipe attached permanently to it. The part that hangs on the wall was originally a floor drain, so it conveniently already had holes in it for hanging purposes. The local hardware store is a wealth of art materials, if you keep your mind open to the possibilities!

Solo Exhibit

My solo show is coming up here pretty quickly. It officially opens on August 29th during Wichita's Final Friday Gallery Crawl, but several days ago, the gallery director asked me to move the installation date forward by 10 days to August 15th. I agreed to do it, but I still need to finish two more artworks that will be displayed, called Collapsed and Posted. Obviously, I can't ship them off to Boston to have them photographed beforehand, but it'll probably happen after the show is taken down in September.

Collapsed

I've been finishing some projects that have been sitting around for a while. This one has only been around for two or three months, but it's getting close to completion now.

If you recall my post about creating a color run, this is how I used the one shown. It's a new work called Collapsed. The first picture is how the fabric strips looked after they were sewn together and mostly quilted.

The two side edges were then sewn together so the quilt created a tube and binding was applied to the top and bottom edges. As you might imagine, when you set it on a table, the whole tube collapses under its own weight. Hey, what a coincidence, that's exactly what I wanted it to do! It looks different from each side and the tube will collapse differently every time it's installed.

I am currently working on a wood base that the bottom of the tube will fit over and there will be six legs holding up the base. I don't have the base cut out yet, but I am in the process of staining and finishing the legs, which are 27" high and  were purchased at the local home improvement store. Go ahead and call me a wimp if you want, but it was a lot easier to buy them than to make them.

Caricature by Jaki McElroy

This is a caricature created by an amazing artist named Jaki McElroy, who lives right here in Wichita, Kansas. I have always been in total awe of her ability to draw people, so I jumped at the chance to have her do a portrait of me today. I really, really love it! I'm going to frame the original and hang it on my studio wall.

Thanks, Jaki!

Unmatched

I just finished a couple of pieces I've been working on for a long time. I'll be shipping them out to the photographer next week, so here's a sneak peak at one of them, Unmatched.

Yesterday, I showed it to a 10 year old girl and she had no idea what it was. I guess she's never seen a matchbook before. Boy, do I feel old!

Material Matters

Last Thursday, I flew to Ohio for the opening reception for Material Matters, an incredible exhibit of art quilts at the Columbus Museum of Art. It turned out to be the largest summer opening this museum has ever had, with over 1000 visitors in attendance. Here's a picture of me standing on the museum steps.

There are 39 artists in this exhibit from all over the world, selected from former teachers and students of the Quilt Surface Design Symposium. Considering the extraordinary level of talent represented, I was very honored to be one of the few who had two works invited into this show, Knitted and Transformed. Knitted's image was used for advance publicity and I was one of several artists who was asked to record a cell phone audio tour for my work. If you would like to listen to it, call 614-448-5095 and press 321#. There is also an impressive book available from the museum containing all the works included in the exhibit, as well as a great section written by the guest curators, Linda Fowler and Tracy Rieger.

Here are installation pictures of both my artworks from the show. Unfortunately, after taking the first picture of Knitted, I was asked to turn off the flash on my camera, which is why the picture of Transformed is not very good color-wise. I tried to tweak it, but just made it worse, so it is shown here unchanged.

One of the best parts of going to such a reception is the opportunity to meet and talk to other artists, the curators and museum staff. A high proportion of the artists attended, including some of my favorite people, Marilyn Henrion and Kathy Weaver. Marilyn and I are in at least four different exhibits right now.

An interesting side note is that the museum has a large section dedicated to the great American painter, George Bellows, who was from Columbus. One of his more famous paintings is Lady Jean, a portrait of his daughter. As it turns out, I knew Jean when she was an adult. She lived a couple of blocks from my house in Dobbs Ferry, NY and her family was good friends with our next door neighbors. I was just a little girl at the time, so to me she was always "Mrs. Booth". I do recall going to birthday parties at their house and trick or treating there on Halloween.

Re-resurfacing

In my last post, I said that I had reached a point of overload and was withdrawing from several art-related obligations. I evaluated what I could reasonably handle and let go of the part that wasn't allowing me to move on.

First, I resigned from a fiber art group I had just joined. I had only been a member for several days but hey, that's longer than some of Britney Spears' marriages.

Second, I resigned as regional co-representative for Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA). After six months or so on the job, I realized that I couldn't give it the time and care the position deserved. Unfortunately, it left my co-representative in the lurch, which is something I truly regret. She's struggling with her own time commitments.

Third, I've decided to enter far fewer juried art quilt shows in the future. My main goal at this point is to step further into the mainstream art world, where my work is a better fit. I want to spend my limited time locating solo exhibits and galleries. As hard as it is to discontinue some of my ties to the art quilt community, I feel it's time to leave a lot of it behind. In many ways, this is how I felt when I left traditional quilting. If I was enjoying success, why take the leap into the unknown? Because it's right for me to do so.

At the same time that I was doing this art-related housecleaning, my husband was finishing his remodeling of one of the bedrooms. Being no dummy, I immediately took the opportunity to move a lot of my finished work from the basement up to the bedroom closet. It seemed ridiculous that I have been taking my art out of the furnace room and shipping it off to museums. My work deserved better treatment than that.

Of course, moving stuff around the house is never that easy. You can't just move one thing, you have to move everything. I was finding a lot of detritus I knew existed, but had purposely hidden from view. What am I supposed to do with three boxes of player piano rolls and a box full of record albums? As it turned out, I kept the rolls, but got rid of the LPs. By the time I was done a week later, I had completed a serious reorganization of three major rooms and two large closets. I also moved a bunch of furniture around to accomodate the table for my new sewing machine.

With all of this happening at one time, I was able to step back and reevaluate what I was doing on many levels. While I was packing and labeling things for storage, I also took down a lot of the artwork from my studio walls. The majority of those pieces were framed collages that do not reflect my current style of art and do not make me proud. Since I had no emotional attachment to them, they are now gone. I'd rather look at blank spots on my walls until I have better things to fill them.

If you hadn't guessed, there is a general moving, shaking and purging going on in my career and my life, but this is a positive thing for me. As part of my move into the general art world, I've registered for a sculpture conference, to be held in Michigan next October. I'm looking forward to meeting a new crowd of people.

I promise my next blog post will be funnier and have more pictures. These serious and text-heavy posts are beginning to bore me. I need a major jolt of color to get my motor running again!

Resurfacing

I know it's been a while since I posted. I've done a lot of thinking about where I'm headed with my art. This started recently when a fiber art group invited me to join them. After about a week, I realized that I wasn't actually creating my artwork anymore. The group was the final straw that took up the last of my "arting" time. I made the decision that I would withdraw from most of the activities that were keeping me from the work I really should be doing, so I sent my "thank you, but I'm not staying" email to the group a few days ago. I also plan to withdraw from a couple of other commitments that are either taking too much of my time or making me feel guilty because I'm not doing them. They are all related to art quilting, which also goes along with my plan to move more into the general art world.

I must be rebelling against my responsibilities, because I've spent the past few days sewing the seams on my latest artwork. I've been sewing the color run together and I know what I'm going to do with it, but I'm not telling yet.

Last week, I bought a new sewing machine, which is something I thought I'd never do because I have such a good one already. However, after struggling to quilt several of my last projects, I realized my Bernina 1260 wasn't sufficient for all my needs. I intend to keep the Bernina for sewing seams and use the Janome 6600 for machine quilting. Of course, this means I need to rearrange my studio to accomodate another sewing table. If everything goes normally for me, there'll be a cascade effect throughout the entire house and nothing will remain untouched by the time I'm done. The Organizator strikes again.

-------------------------------------------------------

In loving memory of Preston Wesley Werner
May 8, 1990 - November 7, 2005
Happy 18th birthday, bud!

Correction

I apologize, but I sent out an incorrect link in my last post. By mistake, I added a "www" in the URL. I have corrected the original blog post, but here's the correct link for any subscribers who tried to get there and couldn't.

http://wernerstudio.typepad.com/color

I know that many of you are experienced quilters and the information I am presenting now might be rather elementary, but I hope you will stick with me. Right now, I'm just laying the groundwork for the information I'll present later.

For those of you who have already visited my new blog and even subscribed, thank you!

Announcing my second blog

I invite you to visit my new blog, called Amazing Stuff about Color and Fabric. It is written more like a book than a blog, so please read the introduction that will explain it better. I still have some cosmetic changes to make, like a more interesting banner at the top of the page and a link back to my main blog (this one), but that will come with time.

http://wernerstudio.typepad.com/color

Once you get to the new blog, you can subscribe by using the Feedblitz icon in the righthand column. As I publish each new entry, the entire contents of that entry will be sent to your email, so you don't need to visit the blog all the time.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it!

My favorite quotes

I keep several quotes posted on the wall above my closet doorway in my studio, so I see them whenever I look up from my worktable.

The first quote is from Grandma, in the Family Circus cartoon.
"If you're afraid of making a mistake, you won't make anything."
I like this quote because it reminds me that it is easy to freeze up, thinking that evrything I make has to be absolutely perfect. I often learn a lot from my mistakes and sometimes the lack of perfection is what makes the artwork extra special.

The second quote is from Jean Cocteau, the writer and filmmaker. "How do you become a successful artist? Amaze me!" When I read this, it reminds me that it's difficult to gain recognition as an artist and my artwork needs to have the "wow factor" in order to make my work stand out.

The third quote, which is my favorite, comes from Jerry Garcia, the guitarist from The Grateful Dead rock band. I changed the quote a bit because the original was written from the standpoint of a band with multiple members. Here's my version. "You do not want to be considered just the best of the best. You want to be considered the only one who does what you do." I do not make art quilts the same way that everyone else does and this reaffirms that I am on the right track.

What's your favorite art-related quote?

Creating a color run

I got tired of working on Evolved and put it away for the moment. It's such a time-consuming project that I have to stop working on it periodically and do something else for a while. Here's what I did this weekend.

Many of my projects are composed of long, skinny quilts that use color gradations along the length and I thought you might be interested in how I create them. This time, I cut 4-1/2" widths and 2" widths from each fabric. The narrower strips are typically used in my bindings.

This is what I call a color run. I usually begin by pulling hand dyed fabrics from my stash and placing them in the order I want them. I don't always use all the colors. If you notice, there is no purple represented here. Once I have created the "first draft" using hand dyes, I go into my stash of commercial fabrics and use them to fill in the gaps. The prints add a lot of interest and helps me to use up the ton of commercial fabric I own. I have to admit that I bought a few fabrics this weekend and it's been so long since I went into the local quilt shops that they barely remember me anymore. The face is familiar, but...

You might notice that I start and end with a black-background fabric. A closer inspection shows that the leftmost fabric is actually an extremely dark green and the one at the right is an extremely dark red. By taking the color run from dark to light and back to dark again, I can still make the colors flow into one another if I want to make the piece twice as long by joining the ends. I also make sure there is at least on white fabric somewhere in the run for sparkle, which can be seen here between the greens and blues. If I had wanted to, I could have taken the middle of the yellow section all the way to white, but chose not to

What do I plan to make with this? I'm not quite sure yet, but I have a couple of ideas. I just needed to get back to bright fabrics for a little while to feed my color addiction. No matter what I make, I know that it will look good, because if they look right on the design wall when displayed this way, then they look good if they are mixed up, too.

What's going on?

- My work was accepted into two Florida venues for the I-4 Corridor Exhibition. Tangled will be at the Comma Gallery in Orlando and Angled will be exhibited in the Rose Room Gallery at the Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach. I don't know the exact dates yet, but it will be sometime in June.

- My favorite contemporary art gallery asked if I would be interested in curating a quilt exhibition for them. Of course, I said yes. The artistic programs committee is meeting sometime this month and I'll have more information after that. The list of art quilters I want to invite keeps growing in my head. Thank goodness, it's a large (and wonderful) space!

- In the next week or so, I plan to launch another blog. When I began teaching traditional quilting years ago, I was asked to teach a workshop on color and fabric. I didn't choose fabrics using any of the common methods, so I analyzed what I did and came up with a new system that was easy to learn and produced a great quilt every time. At one point, I started writing a book, but never finished because I was no longer teaching or making traditional quilts. This blog will be a great place to record my ideas and it will read like the book I originally envisioned. I will cover both traditional quilting/commercial fabrics and art quilting/hand dyes/surface design work. Right now, I'm setting up the blog's structure and will start adding entries in the next couple of days. I'll let you know when it's ready for visitors.

- I've been working on Evolved recently and added a couple of items to Posted, the bulletin board. One of the items I added is a small artwork I created to be one of my contest prizes.

How to hold an Art Party

Every so often, I hold an Art Party for my family or friends. It's a lot of fun and is always successful, so I thought you might be interested in knowing how I do it. I'm a fiber artist, so many of these materials are already in my studio. If you prefer to work in other materials, I'll give you an alternative at the end.

The whole process takes about 3-4 hours from start to finish, so plan accordingly. Materials you need:
- An inexpensive painting canvas for each person. The type I use has the canvas glued onto a cardboard and is primed (gessoed) for use by either acrylic or oil. A good size is 11" x 14".
- Acrylic paints. You don't need to buy more than a few colors. If you can find an inexpensive set meant for students, that works well.
- Cheap paintbrushes, disposable cups for water, disposable plates (I use the styrofoam kind)
- Wonder-Under fusible web (regular strength). Buy several yards at the fabric store. This stuff is nothing more than a web of glue, sprayed onto a release paper.
- Small amounts of interesting novelty yarns. If the yarn is sparkly, has "eyelashes" or texture, all the better.
- Colored glitter is nice, if you have it.
- An iron, protected surface to iron on (like an ironing board) and parchment paper (available in the plastic wrap aisle at the grocery store).
- Inexpensice mats and frames.

1. Set up a painting table. Each person squirts some paint on the disposable plate. You can use several colors and paint them onto the canvas in a mottled pattern. You may want to water down the paint just a little, if it's too thick. Tell them to cover the canvas in any way they want, with any colors they want. I suggest that you do not leave large blobs of paint, because the canvases need to dry in a reasonable period of time. Don't obsess about this stage because the paint will mostly be covered with other stuff by the time you're done.
2. Cut the Wonder-Under (W-U) into large pieces. Water down some acrylic paint and paint the glue (textured) side that has the webbing on it. It's better if you paint in the lengthwise grain of the paper. Metallic paint works really well. The paper will crinkle as it dries, then you will be able to peel the Wonder-Under off the backing paper. You can do this step ahead of time and have it ready.
3. This is the bast part... go out to lunch or dinner together! While you are gone, the painted canvases and Wonder-Under will dry.
4. When you return, heat the iron and show everyone what to do. First, tear off pieces of the W-U webbing (without paper!) and lay them on the painted canvas. You don't want to cover the entire surface. Place a piece of parchment paper underneath and another one over everything to protect the ironing surface and the iron. Iron on top of the parchment (press down, don't wiggle it, no steam), which will melt the painted W-U onto the surface of the canvas. Let it cool, then gently peel the parchment away.
5. Decorate the surface any way you want with bits and pieces of yarns, ribbons and other materials. Use glitter very sparingly. Cover with parchment paper and iron everything down. The W-U is glue, so it will all stick.
6. Continue this process until you have the canvas the way you want it. You can layer on more W-U, if you want. Actually, the acrylic paint will soften with the heat of the iron and small items will stick to it, too.
7. I like to take a fan brush and accent over the top with a little metallic acrylic paint. Use sparingly!
8. Mat and frame each piece.

I am always amazed at how beautiful each artwork is when completed. I've never seen an ugly one yet! If you do not want to use yarns and W-U, then paint the canvas as described. Instead of W-U and fiber materials, use specialty papers, torn into pieces and paste them down using acrylic matte medium, which acts as a glue. No iron is needed. You can paint over the top of the papers, in order to create interesting layers.

Have fun!

Becoming a "Real Artist"

Years ago, I read a science fiction story by Bob Shaw, called "Light of Other Days", that introduced me to the concept of slow glass. The glass was supposedly engineered to slow the light passing through it, so what appeared on the other side of the glass was, in essence, a view of the past. The slow glass could be made in various "time thicknesses" (I made up that term, but it describes the effect). I often think of people as slow glass, especially children. You put something into them and it might not come back out again for many years. One reason that you can usually tell work of young art students is that the slow glass isn't very thick yet. The experiences haven't built up inside them sufficiently to provide the depth that you see in the work of more mature artists.

Much of the time now, I feel like very thick slow glass. All the thoughts, feelings and sights that have passed through me are now reappearing on the other side and you can see them in my work. I see the Art Deco and Victorian influences from my New York childhood. I see science and technology, a remnant from my former professions. I see the highest highs and the lowest lows of my life.

Being self-taught, there are times I feel like I'm swimming in a sea of artists who have their MFA degrees. They know how to do everything from charcoal drawings to massive bronze sculptures. They can critique an artwork while blindfolded, even with both hands tied behind their backs. They are fluent in Artspeak and know how to dress in an appropriately creative manner every day. I already have a Masters degree (in audiology) and have no desire to go back to school again for that length of time, so I have to ask myself whether an MFA would improve my art over and above what I'm already doing. No, it wouldn't, because I don't want to have my work graded by someone else. This is my journey and I'm the only one who can tell if it's right.

In 1999, I made a very conscious decision to leave traditional quilting and explore art quilting. That description worked for a few years, but then it dawned on me that it wasn't the quilting part that was important anymore, but the expression of ideas. The quilting became the vehicle for that expression because I already knew the techniques and it was a very versatile medium. It was about that time that I began to think of myself as an artist. Not as a quilter or as an art quilter, but as an artist. This is how I feel inside of me now. I look at the world differently than I did before.

I suppose I could be doing something else with my life that would be more profitable, but my art continues to emerge from me at the strangest times. That slow glass is finally revealing everything what's been inside, but it's coming out all mixed together. It doesn't really matter whether I have a fine arts degree or not, because this is what I've become. I think I'm finally a Real Artist.

The mystery is solved!

We have our final winner! Terry Grant correctly guessed that the two words at the top of the bulletin board say "Art Department". I started making the sign for it today and you can see it in the picture, but it isn't finished yet.

The whole project looks pretty boring right now because the only colorful thing on the board is the scarf in the Lost and Found section. It should only get better from now on, as everything else that I plan to attach is going to pop with color. It's better to use "boring" as a backdrop if you plan to have a lot of color in the artwork.

Congratulations to Karen Stiehl Osborn, Jeri Riggs and Terry Grant, the winners of my contest, and thanks to all of you for participating!

The rest of the story

In my last post, I wrote about an antique wool quilt that was given to me by Roger Shimomura, the painter. Yesterday, Sara Farley, a quilt historian who lives here in Wichita, came to my house and examined the quilt. She felt the it dated back to at least the early 20th Century and maybe even the late 1800s, but wasn't sure because wool quilts are difficult to date. I gave her the quilt and she is planning to show it to Barbara Brackman, probably the top quilt historian in the U.S., for her opinion.

I wrote to Roger today to tell him this information. In a very interesting twist, both Roger and Barbara live in Lawrence, KS just a couple of miles apart and he even knows her. I don't know what will happen to this quilt, but Roger and I agree that it's now in the right hands.

Old quilts never die, they just get passed around

Last week, when I attended the Kansas Art Commission artist fellowships reception, I met Roger Shimomura, the world-reknowned painter who received the Master Fellowship in Fine Arts. He told me that he was going to send me an old quilt that he purchased at an auction 25 years ago in Lawrence, KS when he was teaching at the University of Kansas. The quilt had been in a box ever since and I think he wanted to find it a good home. I haven't done anything with traditional quilts in about ten years, but I knew more people in the field than he did, so I told him to send it along and I'd figure out what to do with it.

I received the quilt today and discovered it was made from wool fabric and hand pieced. Lines of herringbone embroidery stitches highlight the stitching lines and the outside edge. The blocks are 10" square. However, you can also see that the quilt is in poor condition and the insides are showing. Blue ticking fabric is peeping through the biggest holes, so I suspect that the quiltmaker used an old coverlet inside as batting. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this quilt dates back to the 1800s.

Since I am not an expert on old wool quilts, I called Sara Reimer Farley, a well-known quilt historian who lives here in Wichita. She will be coming over on Thursday to see it in person. If she wants the quilt, she can take it home with her. A quilt like this is a little piece of history and belongs in the right hands.

Evolved - Part 6

The Earth, as it is today, appears in the center. The other human accomplishments shown here include a beautiful vase (representing the Asian cultures), clocks and the telescope. The navy blue area represents the formation of the United States. The bottom picture shows the Old West. The cowboy on the right is telling a tall tale about the future, when a middle-aged woman puts their picture on a quilt and writes about them on her blog. Unbeknownst to him, the other cowboys are taking the opportunity to sneak off and short sheet his bedroll, because they think he is so full of baloney.

In the last picture, you see the end of the timeline. Yes, we've finally gotten to the present. Agriculture and farms are at the bottom and to the right of that, Neil Armstrong is walking on the Moon. The fabric above the Mount Rushmore heads is some I purchased during the year 2000, which is probably why it has the number "2000" printed all over it. In the lower right, you have computers, the Internet and modern cities.

This brings an end to our little tour of history. If you want to know what happens next, you'll have to stick around and see for yourself.

This quilt has been a work in progress for ten years. I finally finished quilting it and trimmed it to size. I also attached a black facing strip to the top and bottom edges, to stabilize them. I am currently embellishing the Big Bang with lots of shiny stuff. By the time I'm done, it'll be renamed the Big Beautiful Bang.

Evolved - Part 5

Here's the Ice Age as it looked about 75,000 years ago (Greenwich Mean Time). I drew the caveman and cave paintings freehand and was afraid that they wouldn't look right after I quilted them, but they do. Notice that the caveman is sitting outside on the frozen ground without any clothes on and he's banging a couple of rocks together. A wolf is right behind him and he doesn't seem to notice that, either. He wasn't exactly the smartest guy in his clan, which is probably why everyone else is selling their ice cave and moving to a more upscale forest further south.

The Ice Age ends, as do sabertoothed tigers, wooly mammoths and people who sit naked on the ground in the dead of winter. They are replaced by smarter, better-clothed people and other types of animals, such as poodles and potbellied pigs.

This takes us into the final section of the quilt, which covers the wide range of human accomplishments, although I completely forgot to include a reference to the Ronco Pocket Fisherman. Maybe next time.

The third picture shows the domestication of grain, the wheel, ocean-going vessels (the mast will be applied later), the Egyptian civilization and money. Somewhere along the line, as I was transferring the image to fabric, the coins lost their faces, so I'll have to draw them in myself. As you've seen, I'm not very good at drawing, so they may end up looking like smiley faces instead of the Emperor Nero.

The flying monk with the homemade wings is Eilmer, also known as Oliver of Malmesbury. In 1010 C.E., he jumped off of a building and successfully flew to the ground. Other men had tried to fly before, but Eilmer attached the wings to his ankles and was the trick that worked. Unlike the other so-called "tower jumpers", he lived to tell people his name. I'm not making this up.

Evolved - Part 4

Back at the palm trees again. I just discovered that palm trees didn't actually appear until 80 million years ago (mya), even though I placed them here around 250 mya. Big oops, but it's far too late to fix the problem. You'll just have to imagine that some scientist from the future discovered time travel. When he tested his machine and went back to the beginning of the Triassic Period, he happened to have a coconut stuck on the sole of his shoe, where it inadvertently fell off and was left behind when he traveled back to the future. The coconut sprouted and this little stand of trees was the result. Thankfully, it was wiped out when a tornado happened to touch down in that very spot 249,999,997 mya and the proper timeline for palm tree evolution was restored.

Finally, the dinosaurs appear and frogs try very hard to stay out from underfoot. The pterosaur is easy to see, but there's also a little white bird to the right, midway between the orange and green dinosaur heads. I plan to add another bird or two later.

Flowering plants appear and the T-Rex is happy that they do. If you notice, he is stalking the orange dinosaur. The T-Rex, named Chad, intends to pick a few flowers and offer them to the orange dinosaur, Dave, thus confusing Dave and throwing him off-guard long enough for Chad to make his move. Little do they know that their one-on-one is about to go horribly awry, as a gigantic asteroid (the red ball) streaks through the sky and hits the Yucatan Peninsula. I will add the asteroid's fiery tail later.

On left side of the third picture, you can see the scorched earth and darkened skies that were the collision's aftermath. Sadly, Chad and Dave did not survive, but Chad's bones were dug up a just few years ago and they are now on display in a museum labelled with the name of "Sue". I guess that finally explains why he wanted to pick flowers for Dave.

Just to the right of the dark clouds, you can see Earth. Pangaea has split up and the continents are now drifting apart.

Once things settled down a bit, it was a time of mountain building. Horses and other mammals started to look like modern types. These two are going for a pleasant romp in the moonlight.

Fellowship awards ceremony

You are getting two long posts today because yesterday, I traveled to Topeka to receive my Mid-Career Artists Fellowship (Fine Art) from the Kansas Arts Commission. They held a wonderful reception for the recipients and I want to tell you about some of the interesting people who I talked to. There were many others and I hope that I don't hurt their feelings by not including them, but I have to stop the list somewhere before everyone falls asleep, like in a college class right after lunch.

- One of my State Senators, Les Donovan, was there with his wife, Cissy, to hand me my award. I was honored that they took the time to be there for me, as I was the only fellowship winner from the Wichita area. I was so impressed by their graciousness and intelligence.

- Pauline Verbeek-Cowart, who received the Masters Fellowship in Fine Craft, is a tremendously talented weaver who teaches at the Kansas City Art Institute. Many people know her from the Surface Design Association. Talking to her came at a good time for me, because of a question I had regarding SDA and the fiber art exhibits associated with their biennial conference. She was the perfect person to ask and I had an opportunity to get to know her at the same time. That was almost worth the trip all by itself.

- Melissa Gregory, who works in the office of Governor Kathleen Sebelius. I have a quilt hanging on the wall in the governor's office right now and Melissa knew exactly which one it was. Coincidentally, she "long distance" commutes from Wichita and her Wichita house is one that my husband and I had looked at when we were buying a home almost 20 years ago. We distinctly remember that house and have even talked about it a few times since.

- Barbara Nelson, who co-owns the Strecker-Nelson Gallery in Manhattan (Kansas), probably the most respected contemporary art gallery in the state. Her husband and gallery co-owner, Jay, was on the selection panel for the awards. Barbara and I first met in 2001, when she was kind enough to host a meeting of Kansas Art Quilters. I was president of KAQ at the time. I'd love to get to know Barbara better, as I remember her gallery/home as being jaw-droppingly amazing, which says a lot about the insides of a person.

- John Divine, a commissioner on the KAC board. He chaired the selection panel for the visual arts awards this year, which is the first time I'd seen him in about 25 years. We used to work for the same branch office for IBM, but he was based in a city 90 minutes drive from me and I only saw him occasionally during that time. In fact, I was surprised he remembered me at all, but I guess Jill Rumoshosky isn't a name you hear every day.

- Roger Shimomura, who received the Masters Fellowship in Fine Art, is a world renowned painter. In 2000, when I received a Mini-Fellowship from the KAC, I attended the selection meeting and one of the panel members made a comment that changed the course of my art tremendously. It took me years to figure out what that comment meant, but I eventually did. When I told Roger about this, he did not recall whether he had served on that panel because he's served on so many over the years, but thought the comment was something he would be likely to say. Whether he has any memory of that moment in time, I do remember it and that's what counts. You never know the impact that your life has on other people, do you?

Evolved - Part 3

I actually finished quilting Evolved this weekend, but these pictures were taken before everything was done.

The first picture shows the part that comes right after the volcanoes and rains. Notice that you can see the cooled land under the wave on the left.

Now we are under the ocean. Fred (the fat one) and his one-celled friends, Wilma, Barney and Betty, are swimming around in the primordial algae. This is a picture of Wilma from when she was very pregnant and about to divide, spawning cute little Pebbles. Later, a couple of happy little trilobytes, the Barbie Twins, play tag around the plants. Finally, right around 570 million years ago and fashionably late, the shellfish and sponges join the party. They love making an entrance and they never bring a hostess gift. Can you imagine?

In the second picture, you can see a couple of jawless fishes and more advanced marine plantlife. The first land plants appear and the arthropods climb up out of the water. You can't see my arthopod yet because he's going to be created by embellishment later, so you'll have to use your imagination for now. He'll be on the left edge of the black rock. The lungfish is next and more sophisticated land plants appear, like ferns. Up in the sky are gigantic dragonflies. Right now the dragonflies have no bodies, but they'll get them soon. I just couldn't figure out how to applique anything that narrow. Sitting on top of the waterfall is the first amphibian and sunning himself on a rock in the bottom right corner is the first reptile. This is a time of insects, trees and swamps. I'm sure insect repellents would have sold well back in those days. If there were people and convenience stores, that is.

The third picture pans over a little more and you can see the butterfly. I'd name it after my Russian grandmother, Agatha, but then I'd feel obligated to name every single animal that appears after this and there are quite a few yet to come. In the background are coniferous trees and I'll be adding vegetation around the swamp at some point.

At the far right are palm trees. You are now located about halfway across the quilt and 300 million years ago in time.

Evolved - Part 2

I posted this picture before, but wanted to put it in sequence with the rest of Evolved. Here. you can see the galaxies forming on the left and the planets forming on the right. There are places on this quilt where I show the state of the Earth at that time and you can see it in the upper right of the picture, portrayed as a hot, molten ball. This section, like many others, will be embellished with metallic trims, beads and anything else I can think of.

Since I had posted this picture before, here are two new ones.

In the second picture, you can see the molten Earth in the top left. The Earth's surface begins forming because of exploding volcanoes and lava flows. There is one big volcanic cone in the middle, plus two in the background, on either side of it. I will add the explosions on the smaller cones later with embellishment. Clouds of smoke and water vapor emerge from the main volcano and form storm clouds. The clouds begin raining and cool the land.

The third picture shows the clouds, the rain and the oceans forming (see the waves?). Right above the waves, a brand new and much more serene Earth is shown, surrounded by clouds and water.

To the right, you can see one-celled life forming in the oceans. Surprisingly, the atom I mentioned in the last post can also be seen here. If you look at the largest of the one-celled animals, Fred, it's part of his elbow, too.

This takes us up through about four billion years ago. However, you will need to take Daylight Savings Time into account.

Posted and Evolved

Wow, I thought it would be easy to guess the words at the top of the board. Some of the commenters are on the right track with one word or the other, but no one has put it all together yet. Here is the next big clue: most art quilters have never have been around a board like this on a regular basis. Even fewer traditional quilters have been around one.

It may seem like I'm giving up on this project because I've dragged Evolved out of the unfinished project pile again, but that is not the case. It dawned on me that the bulletin board needed to grow over time. It won't go on display until August and  I'm sure that I'll think of many items to post on it before then. Rather than forcing the idea, I'm going to tack items to the board as I think of them. The contest will be wide open until the third question, "What are the two words at the top of the bulletin board?" is answered.

In the meantime, I will post pictures of Evolved to show you how it stands right now. The machine quilting is almost completed, but I will still need to trim and bind the edges, then heavily embellish the pictures. Please remember this is a work in progress.

Here is the Big Bang, the first part of the timeline. It's located on the left end of the 18 foot long quilt. I plan to bead and decorate the surface even more after the binding is on. As with all these pictures, the quilt is 12" high.

Here's the next section to the right. It shows the formation of the galaxies and the beginning of the planets. I'll continue to post pictures two at a time until I've covered the entire quilt. Remember that you can click on the images to see a larger version.

By the way, a small atom portrayed as part of the planet at the lower right corner of this picture is now part of my elbow. I thought you might notice the resemblance.

General update on various and sundry things

I'm surprised that no one has guessed the two words that will be at the top of the board. I can tell you right now that it has nothing to do with zoos or animals, other than their mention in the last bulletin board item I posted on my blog (which is something of a pun, considering the artwork's name). I suggest reading the last two bulletin board items again. They have major clues in them. If these two flyers are found together on the same board, where would it likely be located? It would be read by people with similar interestes and I acually passed by two boards just like them on Friday evening. No, they weren't in grocery stores, because I'm far too lazy to shop that much, even for food.

Mea culpa, but I don't have another "clue" bulletin item to show you this time. I promise to have one in my next blog entry.

I spent several days this past week putting together an exhibit proposal. The Surface Design Association has a textile conference every two years in Kansas City, Missouri and many of the galleries there host fiber art exhibits in conjunction with it. KC is only about a 3-1/2 hour drive from me, which is practically next door by Midwest terms, or spitting distance if you're a really good spitter. I know that many talented artists from all over the world will be throwing their hats into the ring for exhibits too, but it's always worth trying. You never know when the Magic Exhibit Fairy is going to bless you and I figured I would get the experience of applying, at the very least.

Sigh, I was hoping for a repeat, but I didn't get into Quilt Visions this year. I had entered Laced, Dispensed and Prepackaged. Maybe that bodes well for getting into Quilt National in some finely-tuned karmic balance. As it turns out, I was recently invited to exhibit a piece or two in a show in Texas, and it must be part of that Twilight Zone karmic thing. This was the third invitational exhibit that contacted me within three weeks. I normally get about one every couple of years.

I had a short discussion with the Steckline Gallery director about a piece I wanted to put in my solo show. It might be considered a controversial work in Kansas, so I wanted to clear it with her first. I started this project ten years ago and haven't finished it yet, but I think this is going to be the proper time. It is an 18-foot long by 12 inches high timeline of the universe, from the Big Bang to current times. It is named Evolved and if I don't finish it in the near future, I am going to have to add a foot or two onto the end to compensate for all the extra time I took to make it. Of course, I have friends who predict the end of the world will happen if I ever finish this, because it's been a work in progress for such a long time.

What you are seeing in the picture is the section right after the Big Bang, where galaxies and planets are forming. Right now, this is quilted, but I still need to bind the edges and then embellish the surface. My experience with making Portable Picnic made me realize that my old "picture quilt" skills were worthy of resurrection, if not on a fulltime basis.

Speaking of Portable Picnic, it will be coming home in the next week or so and I will need to do something with it since the tableware will be going home to my collaborators. My current plan is to make some new table items myself and rename the work Picnicked. Yes, it's spelled with a "k". I looked it up.

What does it say? - You'll get it this time

If this hint doesn't produce a winner, I don't know what will. Here's another item for the bulletin board. If you click on the picture, you'll see a larger image so you can read it.

Remember, I'm looking for the two words that will be at the top of the board, that will explain everything that is pinned on it. The first person who guesses those two words by leaving a comment on this blog wins the final prize.

Today, I attached several "lost and found" items to the board, including a keyring and a lone earring I made. I also attached Jeri's prize, but I'm not going to tell her what it is yet.

Once someone guesses the words at the top, I can start posting some more colorful items. Thank goodness, because this whole brown and white thing is extremely depressing. Right now, I need a healthy jolt of rich, saturated color injected directly into my veins to boost my energy again. I understand that lime green is always a reliable choice, but for a quicker pick-me-up, a little fire engine red can work wonders.

What does it say?

No one has guessed the two words at the top of the bulletin board yet. Hint- the two words indicate the place where the bulletin board is located and the kind of people who would be posting on the board. Another hint- the next flyer I created, which is partially entitled "Changes and Additions" mentions chimps, elephants and small children. What do these have in common?

In case you were wondering, the piece of paper I showed in my last post does not represent the type of prizes I will be giving out to the winners. I promise that the prizes will be a lot more valuable than that! In fact, I will be making small works of art to give away. You won't be disappointed.

Do I have a picture to show you today? I guess not. Maybe tomorrow I'll make something and show you, now that the laundry is done.

We have the first two winners!

Karen Stiehl Osborn from Nebraska, USA is the winner of the first prize. She correctly guessed that I was making a cork bulletin board. I know Karen from the Kansas Art Quilters group and we are on the board of directors together. I couldn't be more pleased that she is the first winner. Her prize will be one of the bulletin board items I create for this project. I will display the corkboard as part of my solo exhibit next August/September, then send the prizes to the three winners.

Jeri Riggs from New York, USA is the winner of the second prize. She correctly guessed that the name for this artwork will be Posted. I met Jeri through art quilting, but she happens to live just a few blocks from the house in which I grew up and she goes past it nearly every day. She is also one of the neatest people I know and a very dear friend, so I'm glad she won the second prize. Yay, Jeri!

There is one more prize to be won. There will be two words of text on the top of this bulletin board (the "title") and you need to guess what they are. The picture shown here should be a real giveaway. The first person who can get their comment posted telling me the two correct words will win the third prize.

I haven't decided yet if this bulletin board item will be made from fabric or if it will stay paper, as shown here, but this is the first draft of how it's going to look.

Good luck!

What is it? - Now you should be able to tell

Since my last post, I covered the raw edge of the quilted piece with binding and did most of the work on the second piece, which looks like wood. I still want to do some more quilting on the newer piece.

OK (drum roll please), here's the giveaway I told you about. I roughly pinned the two pieces to my design wall so you can see how they will look together. The first person to guess what this represents will win my first prize. Leave your guesses as comments on this blog entry. Good luck!

What is it? - Part 3

The quilting is finished! I trimmed the edges and pinned it to my design wall for the picture. It's square, but my camera shot isn't. This quilt now measures 43" wide x 28-1/2" high and I will not be changing the surface anymore, so this is the way this part will look.

I'm also going to include a closeup picture so you can see how closely this is quilted. I used many shades of brown and used up over 20 spools of thread. I think I have now gone officially insane.

The next step will probably be the part that will give you the clue you need to figure it out. I have been loving all your guesses so far! They range all over the place, but they are all intriguing. I promise that this project will start looking a little more interesting soon.

Big Hint of the Day
This is meant to imitate a natural material that we all have somewhere in our home, often in many unseen places.

Keep guessing!

What is it? - Part 2

I'll admit it. It's going to take 2-3 more days to finish the quilting on the mystery artwork, so you may not hear from me till I'm done with that stage. Everything still looks like it did yesterday, so I didn't post a new picture for you today. To make up for that, here's a gratuitous picture of an untitled and unexhibited piece I made about 6 months ago. It's never been seen before outside of my studio.

Big Hint about the Mystery Project
I decided to trim the edges, but otherwise leave it as one piece. I also decided not to paint over the top, as it already looks perfect. In fact, it's eerily like the stuff it's supposed to be representing, even from close up.

I already started creating some other parts for this mystery artwork, three of which will become the prizes in this contest. You haven't seen them yet because you'd figure out the mystery too soon. I'm going to make you wait, yes I am.

The next step that I do after the quilting will be the real giveaway.

What is it?

I'm still quilting the same piece. If you click on the picture, a larger image will be displayed, where you can see the texture being created by the stitching. I'm hoping to be done with this tomorrow, but I've been saying that for the last three days.

Recently, I've developed the tendency to obsessively quilt my work and this piece is no exception. I'm not really crazy, I'm just a bad quilter. I figure that the best way to hide my mistakes is to hide them in millions of other stitches. It works for me.

I can't begin to tell you how many spools of thread I have already emptied while quilting this piece. I've probably used up at least 15 so far.

Win an original artwork!

I started my next project, but it was stalled for a few days because my sewing machine was in the shop. Heaven help me, I had no more excuses, so I cleaned the toilets. No wonder I quilt, if that's the alternative.

The Contest

I am announcing a contest open to everyone who doesn't already know the answers (and I know who you are). The first blog reader who correctly gives the right answers to each question wins a piece of this artwork. It will be mailed to you, postage paid, around the end of September, as I intend to exhibit this artwork as part of my solo show.

There are three questions and the correct answer to each one wins a prize (one prize per person). Leave your guesses as comments on this blog, so they are time-stamped. I will continue to post pictures of this project as it progresses. You can guess the answer to any of the questions at any time.

The Questions

1. What will the quilt be when it is completed?
2. What is the name for this artwork?
3. There will be some text incorporated into this project. What will it say?

The Big Hints

To give you an idea of what you are looking at, I painted a fabric with brown acrylic paints, dark streaks and all. I used that fabric (whole cloth) as the quilt top, with layers of Thermore batting and black wool felt as the middle, then used black Kona fabric as the backing. I am stitching it heavily with brown thread. In the picture, this quilting is partially finished. When the quilting is done, I may paint over the entire top again, changing the color.

Remember, I use quilted forms as if they are raw material in my artwork, so what do you think this is going to be? At the very least, I'll be trimming the edges clean, but do you think I will cut it up and use it in something wild and crazy or will I keep it the general size and shape it is?

Leave your guesses on the comments!