more essay thoughts

Protection and/or fertility symbols are found in nearly every traditional quilt pattern.

over dyeing

These are details of a quilt that I overdyed red in the washing machine. It had been completely finished right down to the binding.







Here it is before the over dye.

Two sided quilts

I make two sided quilts. This makes them difficult to hang in art galleries. Curators prefer to hang work flat against a wall and must choose between the two sides. Nobonie's embroidery is on the back of my newest quilt.




front of quilt

not isolated

In preparation for art quilting tonight, I am downloading and printing dye supply catalogues for my students to look at. To make things easier for myself, I've put two wonderful Canadian dye supply houses into the shopping area in the sidebar. G and S in Toronto, Ontario and Maiwa on Granville Island, British Columbia.

art textiles of the world

I have been doing a lot of reading this summer and recently re-read two of the amazing Art Textiles of the World books, Japan volume 2 and Great Britain volume 2. These books are really inspiring and I highly recommend any of the series. For example, here are quotes by some of the artists from Great Britain.

Jo Budd: "fabric allowed me to work abstractly" "I work from memory"

Alice Kettle: "I view the creative act as awesome and miraculous" "I am a contemporary artist. I work with modern materials. I am aware of the social dilemma around us"

Caroline Broadhead: "I am interested in the borderline between the self and the rest of the world. There is an outside and an inside. A side to be seen by others and a private side."

Janet Ledsham: "the spiritual and the functional find their expression in one artifact"

Polly Binns: "The answers come to me if I let them" "My fluency lies in my work"

work progresses

I'm so glad that I'm able to work a bit on my newest large quilt while visiting with our daughter Oona and her husband and baby here in Anchorage.

Nobonie and me

This is an image of some of the BACK of my new large quilt that I am calling Protection Blanket for Africa. I am very excited about the central embroidery in this construction as it is one of the ones I purchased from African Threads, Valerie Hearder's project for Stephen Lewis' grandmother to grandmother campaign. I asked Valerie to find out more information about the artist and what the imagery meant and this is what Jackie Downs, the co-ordinator of Keiskamma art projects in Africa wrote back in an email.

"The cow sampler you asked about: This was made when we were focusing a lot of our work on cows. In these pieces we encouraged the embroiderer or beader to draw a picture of their own cow. Cows are the wealth of the Xhosa nation and in customary Xhosa culture the cows are a mans responsibility. In our project it is the women who are taking responsibility for their families and lives so through needlework they are working with the cows.
The name of the artist appears on the top in this case Nobonile (at least it looks like Nobonile), she is from the village Bell which is about 15 km from Hamburg. The name of the cow is at the bottom, Flepu. My friend Noseti says it is just a name but probably has significance to the family"
As you can see, this is a very strong embroidery and I am in love with it. I hope that the artist Nobonie, doesn't mind that I've combined our art work in this way. Thanks Nobonie.

solitude

"To discover the conscious mind in a world where intellect is held to be valuable requires solitude - quite a lot of solitude. We have been very strenuously conditioned against solitude. To be alone is considered to be a greivous and dangerous condition.

Most people have never been alone enough. I suggest that people who like to be alone, who walk alone will perhaps be serious workers in the art field."

Agnes Martin

Kitchen timer

One word question: How? Two word answer: Kitchen timer.
Set kitchen timer for one hour. Chain sew 2" squares of hand dyed silk velvet into grids.
Buzzer! Reset timer for another hour. Type research on Picasso into the computer.
Buzzer! Make lunch. Begin new recipe for oatmeal bread.
Set kitchen timer for one hour: Continue chain sewing of blue velvet.
Buzzer! Reset timer for another hour. Put shelves and piles of overflowing books into new bookcase. Also do laundry.
Buzzer! Reset timer for another hour. Cut more fabric. Continue sewing blue velvet.
Buzzer! Take dog for walk in the fresh snow. Start dinner, bake bread.

symbols of protection

I added a border of darker zigzags to my new protection quilt last weekend. I have a May deadline for it.

"The masks were magic things. They were against everything. Against unknown, threatening spirits. I understood.
I too am against everything. I too believe that everything is unknown, that everything is an enemy! Everything!
They were weapons. To help people avoid coming under the influence of spiritis again. To help them become independent.

I understood why I was a painter." Pablo Picasso

zig zags

I'm preparing a lecture to go with my new workshop, Narrative Traditions. It's been wonderful to sink into the pile of books I've gathered over the last twenty years or so and be ever astounded by the bold design and spiritual meaning that people from all over the world put into their textiles.
At the same time, it's been nourishing to handle fabric and watch this strong zig zag pattern emerge from a pile of three inch squares.