Thursday, May 19, 2011

Anderson Valley Open Studio Tour

The AV Open Studio Tour dates are Memorial weekend, May 28-30 and June 4-5.  This is a great opportunity to view art and studios all around Anderson Valley.  You can get more details from the AV Artist Guild website here.

Here is a tiny peek at some new work of mine.  I don't want to show the whole quilt as I may want to enter it in some quilt shows, so can't post it online yet.  And yes, I have been  busy at my photoshop class and learned many new tricks.  Yes, the sign is sideways in this part of the quilt, but it is repeated upright elsewhere. 

So come up to my studio Memorial weekend and see the whole thing as well as some other new work using photoshopped images in quilts.  Also, local jewelery and glass artist, Judy Nelson, will be demonstrating her glass bead work and showing her jewelry at my house too. 

May 5 Art Quilt Meeting at ACU

Hello Everyone,

1. We discussed the upcoming show at Art Center Ukiah to be up by the first Friday August 5. The cost will be $200. I put down a deposit of $100. We can offer art for sale; the Gallery will take a 40% commission on any items that are sold.   The title and theme will be Explorations in Color and Cloth.

Everyone who wants to show will have to fill out a form at the June meeting stating the number and size of pieces you will be showing, for insurance. It will expedite this if everyone joins the Art Center.

We are still searching for the ideal name for the group.  Keep sending suggestions.

We need people to do publicity for the show.

2. Coming meetings:

June will be Japanese-themed, don't forget Japanese street fashion. We'll have more discussion of the nuts and bolts of the coming show.
July will be memory and/or memorial quilts
August we will put the finishing touches on the show, to open the next day.
September: Sue will present a focus on the work of a single artist (not necessarily a quilt artist)

Additional ideas: passing a project from one person to another, each adds something.

3. There is a mosaic show at the art center, and people were working on a large mosaic to be installed in Ukiah. It is not too late to participate in this: check the Art Center Ukiah website for details. There is a lot of variety in the show, so stop by if you haven't seen it.

Mosaic and quilting have a lot in common, so we studied the show with the view of applying ideas to our own work. Face images, new color combinations, and the search for the strange were among the ideas we picked up. We are also attempting to make work more dimensional and add more randomness to our work. Can tiles be added to quilts? Is there an equivalent in quilting to the lines of grout that are seen in tile?

4. Show and tell was a high point of the meeting. I cannot put this into words. Many people showed work. Mary Ann is making a complex quilt honoring ancient peoples including metamorphosis images. She showed the templates which she makes using the Illustrator computer program, and some of her amazingly precise paper pieced blocks made using those templates.

5. Miscellaneous:

Sue recommends experimenting with paint sticks.
Cheryl is seeking styrofoam trays and plastic net bags, so contact her if you have some.
Bernina is offering free webinars (online tutorials). Check their website.


Keep thinking about the show.

Best wishes,

Catherine