Quilt National visit redux

It's nearly a month since I have returned from a whirlwind trip to Athens, Ohio for the opening weekend of Quilt National 2017. What a fun weekend it was! My friend Gail was my copilot as we let Waze guide us along the roads of NJ, PA, MD, WV and OH. The routes were all very scenic, but we had no time to stop for pictures, we had a destination to get to!

I have to say that as much as it was a thrill to see my art hanging in this prestigious exhibit, it was even more of a thrill to commune with all the artists who were there!

There's nothing better than hanging out with fellow creative souls. Sharing ideas, techniques, trials and tribulations and just basking in each others company. I was delighted to meet all the artists that I could, and wished every single one could have attended!

Here's the gallery view with my piece, Iron Spine 5XL hanging between work by Paula Kovarik and Kit Vincent, and then followed by Amy Meissner and Kerri Green

Here's moi talking about my work.... apparently I talk with my hands....

The powers that be took videos of the two minute talks that each artist gave about their work and when those videos become available I will gladly share where they can be seen. I always find public speaking rather nerve-wracking, but I was told that I spoke well and made sense. What more could I ask for?

Upon my return home, there was a lovely surprise in the mail - SDA magazine wrote a bit about the exhibit and used my art to illustrate it! So cool!

I'm still reliving bits and pieces of conversations that took place. So much to consider and enjoy remembering!

stitched paint strokes

Usually I stitch with a plan in mind. Meaning that I have seen in my minds eye what I want to achieve and I am stitching towards that vision. But sometimes.... just for the fun of it I want to stitch with no plan. Just meandering and enjoying the process, the colors and the texture that is being created.

For inspiration I'll pull out a picture and use my stitches to interpret that picture. I don't mean exactly, just the feeling of it. Like a moody autumnal landscape for example. I'll concentrate on the color, the direction of the vegetation.... This exercise is lots of fun to do with painting by famous artists. I'll open up a big heavy art book or print an image from the internet and try to capture the feeling of it with my stitches.

So where am I leading with all this? Well... I am trying to entice you to take a vacation with me. Yes. a vacation. In Ticino, that's in Switzerland. In August. I know it seems so far way, August and Switzerland. But August will be here in a blink of an eye and Switzerland is just a hop, skip and a jump away!

a detail of a Klimt

my stitchy interpretation

Picasso is fun to play with

fun to choose the fabrics and the stitches

Rothko's serenity is interpreted well in silk

simple is best

that's the hotel!

and that's the scenery!

So? Come stitch some paint strokes with me and enjoy the end of summer in Ticino!

serene

That was one of the first thoughts that crossed my mind when I first saw the installation. This summer I got lost in the hallways of the Vermont Law School. I was looking for an art exhibit and got a double treat when I stumbled on the sticks. Yes sticks. But such perfectly arranged sticks. Or reeds. Because first I saw these reeds in the Cornell Library... I wanted to walk through them..

Phragmites by Elizabeth Billings

Phragmites detail

Then as I was wandering the hallways I found the sticks. They were whittled. Perfectly. I thought about the methodical, meditative way the artist must have sat there and whittled for days... I wished I was whittling along with her...

Unfortunately there is no name for this installation. It goes down a very long hallway...

There was no signs anywhere in the hallway or the library to tell me who this artist was. Fortunately once school started a quick phone call solved the mystery for me. Now I'll be on the look out for more serene art by Elizabeth Billings. Hopefully there will be signs. But I may not need them.

back to school!

Are you tired yet at looking at only Wordless Wednesdays here? I am! Summer is very busy around these parts with kid excursions, camps, travel and all other things that summer with children entails... But now it's back to the school routine, the after-school routine and back-to-the-studio routine. Woo hooo!!! As much as I enjoy planned and not, spur-of-a-moment and crazy activities of summer, I also love the dependability of routine.

So back to our regularly scheduled programming here, aside from WW. I have a few blog posts planned to share some delightful sights that I saw over the summer and I'll also fill you in on the goings on in my studio.

If you are ever in upstate NY, north of Albany, I highly recommend a visit to this little gem of a museum. Located on the grounds of the Russian Orthodox Holy Trinity Monastery, (which makes you feel as though you are in the Russian countryside) it's actually geared toward the non-Russian speaking visitor. The museum contains wonderful artifacts of representing four centuries of books and art in Russia. I thought I'd share with you the few that really captured my attention.

a detail from the Book of Gospels circa 1575...handwritten....

Book of the Twelve Great Feasts from 1825, also handwritten...

Gold-work detail from a Regimental Standard 1875

more gold-work from the Standard

Gorgeous cover of a book titled The Tzar's Hunt 1896

detail of gold-work from an Epigonation from the late 20th century

exquisite gold-work on a Shroud from the late 19th century

Hope you enjoyed this little tour of Russian history..

aaaahhh......

Summers are tough. Tough for me to spend any real time in my studio that is. But I do get to spend lots of time in nature, so that compensates.

Here are few views that I enjoyed recently and inhaled deeply.....

Hope your summer is going well!

what the fiber

There is a wonderful exhibit that I can recommend for you to see if you're anywhere near New Jersey. It's called What The Fiber and it's on view at the West Windsor Art Center in Princeton Junction. Some great art representing terrific women artists whom I honored to be among! It's up until May 2nd.

My work on the right is in awesome company with Diane Savona

Another one of mine on the right, in company with Judith Plotner and Judy Langille

Me giving a two minute speech at the opening last week...eeek!

It's lovely large, well lit gallery that does great work, totally worth a visit!

whirlwind..

A whirlwind trip it was... to the suburbs of Chicago and back in one short week. Seemed so long in coming and so quick to be over! I had the pleasure of teaching at the North Suburban NeedleArts Guild this past week. I presented a lecture on my artist journey and taught a two day workshop that had everyone playing with Photoshop, printing and stitching...well.... we had to much fun playing in Photoshop that we hardly got to the stitching! This could easily have been a five day workshop! I barely remembered to take pictures till the very end, so involved we all were..

Here are a few shots of student work and me with my lovely host Cindy. Thank you NSNG!

 

decorative arts

Russian decorative arts have a long and storied tradition. There is weaving, embroidery, wood carving, ceramics... the list goes on and on. Just the decorative painting alone can be broken down into quite a few different styles, here is a small list from my book shelf: khokhloma, zhostovo, permogorskaya, mezenskaya, and gorodetzkaya. A scholar I am not, thus the links to each of the styles. Hard to find detailed information in English, so if you'd like more and want to play at translating online, here are more links in Russian: khokhloma/хохлома, zhostovo/жостово, permogorskaya/пермогорская, mezenskaya/мезенская, and gorodetzkaya/городетская. By the way, most of these styles break down into even more styles.

I am currently fascinated by the decorative painting inside Russian churches. Not the icons, but the decorative paintings on walls. Right now restoration efforts are in full swing in many Russian churches, especially those that were desecrated during the Soviet rule, which are innumerable. So there is quite a bit of new eye candy to look at. Unfortunately not all allow photography, so here my meager findings:

This "little" cathedral is a symbol of Moscow and has been in the restoration process for most of it's life.

I adore the before and after details at St. Basil's.

the vine motifs are supposed to replicate the glory of heavenly gardens

sky at St. Basil's

leafy swirls at St. Basil's

door trim at St. Basil's

This is a brand new wall in a St. Petersburg church that had NONE of it's paintings left, it was actually a skating ring for a long time. Now this is where the icon embroiderers work.

Another detail from the same church.

I also could not resist a few stone details, these are from St. Basil's

newly restored Kazan Church at the Novodevichy Convent in St. Petersburg

more from the Kazan church

and for comic relief the Russian Buddy bear painted in the Khokhloma style

my personal little Russian decorative collection: Khokhloma and Mezenskaya

If you'd like to read more about Russian decorative traditions the Museum of Decorative-Applied and Folk Arts in Moscow has quite a bit of information. You can see the influence this tradition has on my work when you look at this piece here.