Biophilia: Threads of Natural Wonder

 

My latest piece, Octopus Play, will be hanging soon in the show titled, Biophillia: Threads of Natural Wonder. The Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg, Oregon will premier the show starting March 5, 2024. The Artists' Reception will be on March 15, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. They have agreed to keep the show up for three months so there is plenty of time to get into the gallery for a viewing.

The short definition of biophillia is the love of life and all things living. It also encompasses the human response to our environment. Architects have been starting to incorporate the concept into their designs to make interior spaces feel less enclosed, with more natural light and materials that suggest the outside being brought inside.

There are 40 artists included in the show, all from the Oregon region of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA). Our juror was Sue Benner, an internationally known art quilter with a profound connection to nature in both her art and photography. A catalog of all 40 images will be available. Our graphic designer, Lisa Lauch, came up with a stunning logo for us that perfectly captures the feeling of this show. 

 

I have enjoyed being on the committee, as a co-curator, for this show. I especially enjoyed making my piece, which was a method I had not really explored before. The background is a whole cloth ombre but the octopus and the crab are hand-painted using acrylic paint thinned with textile medium. I had taken a workshop from Susan Brubaker Knapp using this technique, which is her favorite way to work. I have used thickened dye to do the same in the past. Using the paint was easier but it does create a slight "plasticy" feel to the cloth. I haven't decided if the trade-off in ease is better than the more natural feel of cotton painted with dye.

I searched for images on the internet for the tentacles and the crab and then used Photoshop Elements to move and rotate each one. Quilting the background took WAY longer than I anticipated. The horizontal lines out at the edges were added out of desperation once I realized how long (and physically demanding) the inner loops were going to take to complete. It turned out to be a perfect decision because those lines keep the viewer's focus on the center of the quilt. And, it makes the curving lines feel like water moving as the octopus moves. The bubbles were added to further keep the viewer's eye on the center action. In the end, this might be one of my most favorite pieces I have made.