My Quilt is on a Billboard

"Fireball" on a PA Artisan Trails Billboard

How cool is this?  An image from my art quilt “Fireball” is currently on a giant billboard just outside of Gettysburg, PA.
For years I’ve been a member of a local artist’s group, The PA Arts Experience, which has provided me with exhibit opportunities (and has been a wonderful way to meet other artists, who I now count as friends).  They are part of a larger group, PA Artisan Trails, which works to promote art tourism along several “Artist Trails” in different regions of PA.  Last year I answered a call to upload pictures and information into their online database, and their marketer chose my Fireball to use on this billboard because she liked the colors and graphic appeal, and also because I had provided a high quality image.


A unique photo op like this called for a road trip.   Here I am on the shoulder, heading eastbound on Rt. 30. 

And here I am doing my best Vanna White impersonation.  There’s some glare from the sun in these photos; the quality of the image and the color reproduction was actually excellent, I was very impressed.

Thank you PA Artisan Trails!  And if your travel plans include Pennsylvania, be sure to take advantage of their extensive listings to help plan your journey.

1000 Artisan Textiles

I'm pleased to announce that 3 of my works are included in 1000 Artisan Textiles, published by Quarry Books. I'm familiar with the work of many of the other featured artists, and it promises to be an excellent and inspirational book; I'm waiting for my copy to arrive.

The works included are Fireball:

Cold Cave:

and November Pawpaw:

4/17/10 Addendum: Now that I have my copy, I've made the happy discovery that a fourth work, Sumac, is also included. More details in a new blog post here.

"More Than Fiber" Reception

Last Thursday I attended the opening reception for the "More Than Fiber" exhibit at the Goggleworks in Reading, PA. There I am standing happily in front of my Fireball. I love it when my work is well displayed, well lit, and in the company of a diverse lot of wonderful works of art. The Goggleworks is a great facility and they did things up right for the reception, including tasty nibbles. They also had the good taste to put Fireball up on their home page--how cool is that?

Here's Jill Rumoshosky Werner, who came all the way from Kansas for the opening, talking about her "Picniced" to an appreciative audience. Jill specializes in conceptual and 3-d work; this piece won the second place award. I've known Jill online for many years, and was delighted to finally meet her in person and have a chance to talk with her.

I also met Toni Kersey, shown here standing with "Urban Voodoo 3", one of two works she had int the show. I love the energy and vibrancy of this piece, and chatting with Toni was a real treat. I hope to see more of her and of her work in the future.

I was too busy talking to get more pictures, but I also had a great time meeting Mary Stoudt, who had two quilts in the show. Mary showed me her studio space upstairs at the Goggleworks, where I was lucky enough to see more of her work and her process.

The exhibit is up until April 18th--go if you get the chance!

"More Than Fiber" at the GoggleWorks Center acceptance

I am very pleased to announce that "Fireball" has been accepted into "More Than Fiber" in the Cohen Gallery at the GoogleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading, PA. The Juror for the show is Warren Selig. There will be a catalogue for the exhibit.

The show runs from March 7th until April 18th, with a public reception on Sunday, March 14 from 11 am to 4 pm. I plan to attend, and hope to see some of you there--it promises to be a fabulous exhibit!

PNQE--Judge's Choice

I made a quick trip to view the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza in the Philly area on Saturday, where my Fireball won a Judge's Choice ribbon, awarded by Sonya Lee Barrington. You can see I am feeling rather chuffed about it!

Also at the show was Sycamore, which always looks so much better in person--there's a lot of beading and detail that doesn't photograph easily.

I wish I had had more time to explore--there were a lot of great quilts on display, and a huge array of vendors. It seemed like a large crowd of attendees, as well, so perhaps it's a sign that the recession is easing up.

PNQE 2009 Acceptance

Good news in the mail today--both of my entries were accepted for the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza. Both Fireball (full view above, detail below) and Sycamore (full and detail shots further down) will be at the exhibit on September 17-20th.

This show has been at the Farm Show complex in Harrisburg, PA, for the past several years, which was convenient for me, but is moving back to the Philadelphia area this year to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, in Oaks, PA; a bit less convenient for me, but probably a welcome change of venue for many.

I'm excited to have both of these recent works in the same show, and am looking forward to attending.

Opening Reception at York College

Update: Read an article about the exhibit in the York Dispatch here.

I had a great time at the opening exhibit for the PA Arts Experience show (see previous post). My work was well displayed and well lit, which I always appreciate, and generated a lot of interest--I spent the better part of the evening talking to a lot of friendly and wonderful people (like these two women) about what, why, and how I do what I do.

The galleries were packed all evening long, with people engaged in lively discussion and art appreciation. It's a wonderful and unique set of artworks, and I'll reiterate how pleased I am to be involved with this group. They produced a good looking catalogue, and it looks like this exhibit may be traveling to other exciting venues--I'll post details as I receive them.

The exhibit is up at the College until February 28th, so stop by if you are in the area. Rob Evans, the curator and one of the exhibitors, will be giving a gallery talk Wednesday., Jan 28, 2009 at 7 p.m.

Fireball at York College

I'm pleased to announce that my newest work, Fireball, will be on display at the Wolf Gallery at York College (PA) from Jan. 22 - Feb. 28, as part of an Exhibit of Works by Member Artists from the Susquehanna Valley - Pennsylvania Arts Experience. (You can see Fireball as a work-in-progress by clicking on "Fireball" under Labels in the right sidebar.)

From the show announcement:

"The focus of this current exhibition at York College is the newly launched Susquehanna Valley portion of the PAE Artist Trail, the first of the three regions to open (the Brandywine/Schuylkill and Delaware Regions are currently in development). Presented here in two parts, the exhibit features a group of extraordinary portraits, created by renowned photographer Bill Simone, of selected trail artists in their studios, plus a sampling of works created by these and other trail artists representing a diverse cross section of the many talented artists and artisans working in the Susquehanna Valley.

We hope that seeing these remarkable artworks, the portraits of the artists who created them, and the unique and fascinating spaces in which they were created, entices you to explore our trail and take advantage of this rare opportunity to visit and interact with these artists as a participant in the Pennsylvania Arts Experience."

Please take a moment to go the the website for the details of the exhibit, and be sure to click on the preview link to see the works that will be included. I'm really happy to be exhibiting in such great company!

I will be at the opening reception this Thursday, Jan. 22, from 5 - 8, so if you are in the area, do stop by and say hello.

New Work - Fireball

Here's the third of my featured new works, Fireball. This is a large -76" x 50"- and dramatic quilt named for a large and dramatic plant. The Fireball variety of hardy hibiscus is a completely outrageous plant. It's got purplish cutleaf foliage, which is gorgeous in its own right, and giant red flowers up to 10" across. I've got a landscape full of native plants and beautiful understated elegance, so this shameless floozy of a specimen plant makes quite a splash.

The centerpiece of the quilt is a cyanotype on cotton that printed up very crisply. The two red leaf panels on the sides are heliographic prints on silk. The smaller prints are cyantypes on silk made from transparencies of photos, and digital prints directly from photos. The smaller prints are hand embroidered to emphasize the stamens:

The patchwork is my usual mix of handpainted and commercial fabrics, in cottons and silks. I am very pleased with the energy and movement I was able to put into the design. There's a lot of quilting, but no beading, as it seemed dramatic enough already. This turned out to be a very cheeful work!

You can click on Fireball under "Labels" on the right to see previous posts about the work in progress.

Back in the Saddle Again

I'm back in the saddle, back on track, and back in the studio with the pedal to the metal, literally and figuratively. I spent the better part of the Labor Day weekend working, which seems appropriate, and finished the quilting and binding, etc., on Fireball. It finished out at 76" x 50", which is not the largest I've done, but still rather challenging to manuever under the machine for quilting.

At the end of a project I like to step back, look it over, and see if there's anything I would do differently. I'm very pleased with Fireball and wouldn't change a thing! It's a happy quilt, and a bright and energetic one, and I'm excited about sending it out into the world for other people to enjoy. I'll have official pictures up in a little while.....

Multi-tasking and Industriousness

I have been hard at work in the studio lately, working simultaneously on three large projects. I'm continuing to add beads to the Big Root Geranium. You can see the cloud forms above.

I'm also got the hibiscus quilt, now titled Fireball (after the variety), sandwiched and basted, and am beginning on the quilting. This is a Very Large Quilt, and requires a lot of upper body strength to maneuver it under the harp of my domestic Pfaff for stitching. I have stepped up my workouts at the gym to keep my back and shoulder muscles up to the task. This sounds like a joke, but it is all too true!

And finally, I am concurrently working on the design and construction stages of another Very Large Quilt featuring the Plume Poppy, a very large plant and one of my all time favorite perennials. I almost drove off the road the first time I spotted these in someone's front garden, and couldn't rest until I identified and acquired them.

I've used the leaves in a lot of fiber postcards and collages, they were one of the plants I used in Five Days Last Fall, below, and now I'm excited to spotlight this gorgeous plant in a quilt of its own. I've put labels for all three of these works-in-progress on the right so you can track them back if you so desire.
All of my hard work and focus, however, pales by comparison to the endeavors and dedication of a pair of Carolina wrens I am privileged to watch through the back door of the studio. They have built a nest in a potted plant just outside the door:
It seems like an unlikely spot to me, especially considering the presence of a neighborhood feline I have nicknamed Blackie the Attack Cat--she's a stone cold killer of small furry things-- and my comings and goings through the door, which are cause for alarm and diversionary tactics. But apparently wrens are apt to nest in planters, and so far it's a success. Here's the best shot I could get of the nest without undue disturbance:

I love wrens, not only for their perky demeanor and beautiful song, but because they consume huge quantities of insects. My garden is free of bean beetles for the first time in recent memory, and I'm sure the proximity of the wrens has a lot to do with it. I can see them darting to and from with little insect bits hanging from their beaks, and it does my heart good.

Hibiscus and daffodils

I'm working on some prints for the hibiscus quilt. Here they are in progress with some hand embroidery added. I no longer do much hand quilting because of incipient carpal tunnel issues, but I still love doing handwork like embroidery and beading, partly for the pleasure of the stitching, and partly for the aesthetic appeal of it.

It's shaping up so far to be a cold and windy spring. The daffodils taking their time about blooming, but a few have opened. This bit of vintage embroidery is from an Eveline Foland pattern. I have a set of them, with all different flowers, that I am slowing working up into a large quilt. I love the sparse elegance of the lines, a sort of Art Deco look.

Hibiscus in Progress

I'm making progress with the stitching on the hibiscus images. I really enjoy doing the leaf veining--always as botanically correct as I can make it--and the echo quilting. It really makes the images "pop" as they gain definition and dimension. The echo quilting is a good zen exercise, as the ideal is to make countless small decisions quickly without disturbing the flow of the line. I don't mark any of it ahead of time, just make it up as I go along.



When I was first teaching myself to free-motion quilt, I found it helpful to have just a half glass of wine or beer--no where near enough to befuddle, but sufficient to relax and not clench up. Now I know where the mental zone is, and can usually get there with just a short warm-up on a scrap piece.



Here's more of the hibiscus: