Earthly Treasures show

The show that I and three other artist friends, Terry Grant, Mary Goodson and Chris Brown, have been working toward is finally here. Earthy Treasures was our chosen title since we each are inspired so closely by our Pacific Northwest environment.  Twigs Gallery is part of the Stitchin' Post quilt shop in charming Sisters, Oregon.  This is where the popular Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show is held every year.  

The artists reception for our show is on July 22 and runs through August 25.  I know we have been all working steadily, since at least the first of the year, so it is a nice feeling of accomplishment to have everything hung and ready in the gallery.  Here are a couple of pieces that I produced for the show and the inspiration photo following. All but one of these are 12" by 12" in size.

 

Morning Light 

The photo for this was taken driving on Interstate 5 early one morning.  I just took a quick shot through the rainy car window. It is amazing what phone cameras can capture.

 

High Mountain Pass

 This picture was taken at a rest stop at the top of the Santiam Pass in the Fall.  A forest fire burned a very large part of this area a few years ago leaving many charred trees. Some of them are now being bleached by constant exposure to the sun and harsh winter weather.  It creates quite an amazing scene of contrasts especially when the vine maple turns fiery red and orange. Mt. Washington is on the horizon.

Here are two more pieces made for this show. I hope to see some friends there!

 Crackle

 

Prairie III

 

Weekend Wonders

I had the pleasure of traveling to the southern part of Oregon this last weekend to see two excellent art quilt shows.  Both involve artists that are members of Studio Art Quilt Associates.  The first show was in Medford at the Rogue Gallery.  It is a juried show put up by the members of the Oregon and Southern Washington region of SAQA.  The show is titled Blending Poetry and Cloth.  Each piece is the artist's response to a poem or inspirational quote.  Although the individual poems were not included on the wall tags there is a catalog that shows the title of the related poem.  There are 45 quilts in the show so there was a lot to enjoy.  Here are some views of the gallery and the quilts.

Although there are any wonderful quilts in the show, Mandy Miller's piece Georgia Does Midtown is one of my favorites.  It is pictured here on the far right.  It was inspired by the poem "Chicago" by Carl Sandberg.  It has such great depth and movement. 

Another very dynamic quilt is by Anne Daughtry A Painted Ship done after "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.I think you can see the texture and dimension Anne archived with her choice of fabrics.

I am pleased to say the my piece, Rolling In, was also chosen to be a part of the exhibit.  Mine was inspired by the poem "The Voice of the Rain" by Walt Whitman.

I was also very pleased and proud that the gallery chose this piece to show a portion of on their postcard and as THE image for their listing of the show on the their 2016 schedule of shows.  For as long as I have worked at my craft, it feels good to be finding my voice and earning some recognition.

The second show was the juried international SAQA show Concrete & Grassland at the Grant Pass Museum of Art.  Photography was limited at this venue so I just snuck a quickie of my quilt in the show, Rift Valley.  It was a satisfying way to spend the weekend with others of similar passion.

New/Old Work

Prairie II

The end of 2015 brought me to a new job - in retail work.  The months have flown by since I last posted, while I got "trained up" and went through the holidays.  However, my art work did not lie idle. In December and January I had the honor of being in the Small Pleasures Invitational at the Jacobs Gallery in Eugene, Oregon.  All works had to be no larger than 12" in any one direction.  Prairie II was one of my pieces.  It was inspired by a photograph I took at a place called Ebey's Prairie on Whidbey Island off the coast of Washington.  Below is the original photograph.  I think you can see that I greatly simplified the scene.  The good thing about it is that I can come back to this photo again for future ideas.

 

Prairie I was also part of the Small Pleasures show.   Although this is a marshy scene it is actually a place in what we call Central Oregon, an environment that is considered high plateau desert.  Yes, that's right, Oregon has a vast area that is considered a desert ecosystem.  Although the landscape can be very stark, it has a beauty that can grab my heart.  I have always loved great wide open spaces with an unobstructed view of the sky.

Prairie I

I tried my hand at being a little more abstract in Shangri-La. Moving more toward the abstract has been a struggle for me.  I get caught up in the details too easily.  Often I start with a fairly abstract design as I build my background but then the stitching detail takes me back down the path of life-like representation.  In Prairie I, however, I think it is the detail stitching that makes the piece really shine.  In Shangri-La I was able to hold back a little better. So, the battle of personal style continues.