Vermont Quilt Festival

Yesterday, I kidnapped two of my friends and we headed up to Burlington for the Vermont Quilt Festival. My friends aren't quilters, but they are still lovely people. They do a lot of other fiber arts, so they do appreciate quilting and seemed to enjoy the show! Hannah's attention was caught by the embroidery machines and she doodled with a Gammil. They took home some Tsukineko inks and stencils - Hannah has some plans to update some jean shorts. I found some geeky fabrics for bow ties and a beautiful Indian scarf, ok, and I also got some Tsukineko goodies!

Oh, yeah, and there was a quilt show! A few highlights for me:

 I love how Angela made the pieced sky, and the colors are perfect.

 The teachers at VQF had some of their work displayed and this piece, with the BLACK-ON-BLACK quilting made my jaw drop!

Katie Pasquini Masopust's interpretation of a painting into fabric is a wonderful explosion of color. There are so many little pieces in there that make this all work!

 This next piece is by Georgia Spalding Pierce, who sadly seems to not have a website. I would love to see more of her work. I love this style of art and she does a fantastic job putting it into fabric.

 

The above piece is by Jodi Scaltreto who is doing amazing thread paintings. That dog looks like he is going to come right out of that quilt!

 Mara's quilt got a blue ribbon and TWO special awards!!

Megan Farkas hand appliqued and hand quilted this gorgeous scene based on a woodblock print by Kikukawa Eizan.

 After we left the show we went to Dobra Tea in downtown Burlington, then walked around for a bit. Burlington has always been a favorite place to hang out, lots of good restaurants and interesting stores. The chain stores haven't overtaken Church Street yet!

This was not at VQF. This is Eyes which I said I would show you this week. It's still in it's awkward stage. I really like the background, which was not entirely captured in the photo, but there's a nice green patina happening, with some gold highlights.

Summer is here!

My Master Class with Lisa Call finishes up this month. It's been very challenging for me - in a lot of ways. The biggest thing I got out of the class, and it was one of my main goals, is that I now consider art-making part of my daily life. I don't have to walk down the hall past the art room to math class anymore. I have looked into the Art Room and the Art Room is me! (hehe... throwing a little geekery in) Anyhoo, if you can take a class with Lisa, please jump at the chance! 

So much has happened in the last couple of weeks, but not much quilty stuff. My daughter and her friends graduated from high school, birthdays, father's day, our anniversary, kids home for the summer... Upcoming is Sarah's 18th birthday (eeeek) and Solarfest. 

Quilty things I have been working on are getting the three new Hay Bales quilts mounted and ready to hang, but my stapler keeps jamming up. ergh. I have one called Eyes that I will show you next week. This the back of one will be in the Yellow Flower Thingie series - #3 to be specific.

That's about it, but I think we are settling into the summer routine, plus the weather is being hot and muggy. I should have more time and incentive to spend in my studio which is in the cool basement.

Dagger or Crucifix?

What do you see?

“Is it a dagger or a crucifix I see 

you hold so tightly in your hands?” 

Blood of Eden, by Peter Gabriel

“Dagger or Crucifix” is an interpretation of Gabriel's lyrics which gives us a very powerful statement on the abuse of power by any organized religion. There is a very prominent vertical slash through the left side of the painting which is rather ambiguous about whether this is a tool for causing injury and possibly death or whether it is a symbol of redemption and everlasting life. The aura surrounding this form glows with the colors that seem to suggest a holy artifact, but the stiletto tipped shaft terminates surrounded by a blood colored splash. The green background suggests there is life beyond either interpretation of the symbol, life after religion, recovery after abuse, healing after war.

Spinning Hay Into Yarn

These are closeups of the quilt that got put in the easel last week. I love the colors, and, so far, the different parts are coming out mostly the way I had envisioned. Maybe not as subtle or nuanced as what was in my head, but I am not a subtle person, so that is always a stretch anyways! I'm going to wait to show you the whole quilt till it's done. 

I turned my hay bales into yarn balls. Just temporarily ( I hope!), though, it's a thick medium that I'm using because of the lines that showed through the paint. I cut out the centers and frosted them with this stuff. When it's dry, I'll sand it and give it a light coat of white acrylic paint. Of course, seeing yarn balls appear on my quilt made me want to make a quilt with balls of yarn in it on purpose.

easel living

Yay! I have something on my windmill easel ready to paint! When I first got the easel, I had some ideas about how to make it work with quilted pieces, but they didn't work out so well. This piece is stretched on stretcher bars, so I am actually using the easel pretty much how it was designed to be used(!). 

The easel can spin and the canvas can lay flat, I can't wait to actually paint on it.

We picked up two sewing machines that we had brought to Michael Jarvis in Newport to have spruced up. This one was Steve's Great-Grandfather's, who was a tailor. It was rusted pretty badly, but Michael made it look beautiful and it purrs like a kitten. and it sews.

This one was my mom's, it was in better shape going in, but now it shines and sews beautifully! 

Haybales in Vermonts

Almost finished. I have to deal with the lines through the hay bales and then mount them, but I think the painting part is done. I would love to hear what you think!

Haybales in Vermont #3

Haybales in Vermont #4

Haybales in Vermont #2

This series of three pieces expands on my earlier piece entitled “Hay Bales in Vermont”. Again there is the bright green new hay growing and the clear blue sky, but this time the bales of hay are seen from different perspectives. First off, Haybales in Vermont #3, gives a closer look at the bales with a vertically cropped view of the grass and sky. The horizon line is level across the piece, in contrast with the hay field which appears to be swirled, as if a wind storm has just passed through. The sky is a nearly solid blue calmly looking over the scene. Next in line is “Haybales in Vermont #4”, in which we see the bales from more of a distance. The hay field looks freshly harvested with bright green gashes almost angrily protesting the havoc caused by reaping its bounty. Lastly, “Haybales in Vermont #2” focusses on the hay bales themselves, with just a peek at Vermont’s natural beauty above and below. This piece captures the rolling hills so prevalent in the Green Mountain State

(Haybales in Vermont #1 can be seen here) 

Blue Skies!

I don't have the right size stretcher bars for my new pieces, so I am painting on the floor again. But at least I am painting. I have three more Haybales in Vermont started, here are two. They are each from different perspectives and orientations. I used two different fabrics for all three, using an almost solid blue for the sky. That worked out better than the floral, but now there is a seam through each of the hay bales, which I don't like. I do have the grass mostly painted in, they just need a little touching up.