Abstract and Geometric

SYO 69  2013  39 x 53 inches by Harue Konishi

"In SYO 69 the design is extremely simplified in black on white with just two patches of coloured fabric for accents.  The squares are indicated by just two sides and the off-set shapes are also square. For this work I used white silk and navy blue striped silk.   My recent works, including this one, employ a process where I finish the whole thing in the first stage and then rotate shapes by cutting them out, changing their angles, and embedding them back into the original piece."   Harue Konishi

Memory's Playground  2014  found tablecloth machine quilted 27 x 54 inches by Paula Kovarik

 "Memory's playground is a study of the way we remember things and the way we imagine them.  I chose this tablecloth for its wavy edging and playful form.  I stitched a puzzle of odd images that connect in mysterious ways, just as our brains connect experiences and ideas.  The threads hop from one item to the next and are also tied to each other with small hand tied knots just as we try to lock in our memories and ideas."  Paula Kovarik

Quilt Drawing 16  2012  51 by 50 inches  by Daphne Taylor

 "All of my quilts are hand quilted.  Hand quilting is essential to me because it gives the fabric surface the mark of the hand, a human presence that cannot easily be achieved by machine.  The process slows one down and teaches one much about being in the moment with each thread and stitch, easily redoing each part until it is right but never knowing what the final visual presence will be.  Hand quilting is its own meditation, which I value.  It gives me the time to think about my work in a different way - slowly pullling out an image that takes months to achieve."  Daphne Taylor

Hope is the Anchor of the Sould Mt. Lebanon #3  2010  93 x 86 inches by Denyse Schmidt

 "I particularly love antique quilts that are spare or restrained.  It is much more difficult to keep to a simple palette or pattern, and it's very easy to give in to the desire to add more, to use that as a crutch.  So I have great respect for those makers who had or have the courage or discipline to stay the course, to let a single idea shine instead of throwing it all in at once."  Denyse Schmidt

Play of Lines XXIII  2010  45 x 18 inches by Uta Lenk

"When my son started discovering pens and pencils and making lines at age 2 and a half,  I watched how he chose the different colour and how he drew the lines.  It wasn't just scribbling; he seemed to be making deliberate choices about what he was going to do.
I decided that I would like to try to interpret in fabric what he was drawing.  It was the beginning of a large series, but only some of the pieces in the series are based on my son's drawings."   Uta Lenk

crazed 8: Incarceration 2010 82 x 79 inches by Kathleen Loomis

"I think the number of people who are working with elaborate piecing - that is, piecing using a bazillion seams and a fair amount of obsessive construction - is getting smaller all the time.  I feel an almost moral obligation to keep doing it, to help keep this skill alive, and keep this art form in the public eye.  I want my reputation as a quiltmakier to be as a fine machine piecer."  Kathleen Loomis

cover quilt by Pat Pauly, Mummy Bags Influence  2011  73 x 80 inches

This post highlights just six of the 29 featured artists in this new book by Martha Sielman, Art Quilts International: Abstract and Geometric.   Besides these, Martha also chose quilts for an exhuberant gallery from a further 97 artists.  In the introduction she says that she chose the quilts that 'stuck in her head" and that "it has been a real privlege for me to be offered this glimpse into the artists' lives and creative process".  I am proud that Martha Sielman wrote about my work and process and I have put her article about me online here and here.   Her questions were insightful and it was a pleasure and a challenge to be interviewed by her.  Thank you Martha Sielman.