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Inside: A special preview of
quarterlyart quilt
Issue No.
12
In this issue…Featured Artists: DAMSS: Daniela
Arnoldi and Marco Sarzi-Sartori . . . . . 6
Branding Part 2:
Build your online brand . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Website design tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
SAQA Global Exhibitions: Guns: Loaded Conversations . . . . . . .12
SAQA Benefit Auction behind the scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Create dynamic PowerPoint presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
SAQA Member Gallery: Great Outdoors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Navigate high-end craft shows . . . . . .24
Inspired: Martha Wolfe . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
JAM Showcase: Isabelle Wiessler . . . .35
SAQA Journal2018 | Volume 28, No. 3
Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc.
Monsieur Bohin106 x 59 inches | 2016 by DAMSS
Thoughts from the president
Volunteer to make SAQA yours by Lisa Walton
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 3
I keep getting asked how I was able
to rise to the role of president of
our amazing organization. Sometimes
I am not sure myself, but one thing
that keeps coming to
mind is that I am curi-
ous. Previous incarna-
tions in my journey
included being a theater
stage manager and a
chef. Both of these roles
are backstage roles. I
like to be involved and
nosy, if the truth be
known. I want to know
what makes things tick
and what is happening
behind the scenes. The
only way I know to do
both of these things is
to be part of them. If you know how
things work, you get a better appreci-
ation of what is happening on stage.
As a new SAQA member, I couldn’t
work out why I was always being
asked for money. Didn’t they already
have my membership money? It
wasn’t until I became more involved
as a regional rep that I saw the full
extent of what SAQA does and how
our membership dues cover less than
half of our activities. It was a light
bulb moment and I gained a better
appreciation and understanding of
the need for more funds. Volunteer-
ing to be a regional
rep also opened my
eyes to what we do
and how we could
do even more. I
became a pretty good
recruiter as I devel-
oped more passion
for SAQA. I think this
is why I received a
phone call one day
from Mary Pal, board
secretary at the time,
with the news: “We
have been watch-
ing you!” I thought
I must have done something wrong,
but I was asked if I was interested in
being on the SAQA board!
Everything we do as regional reps,
board members, or committee mem-
bers is a volunteer activity. Volunteers
are the absolute lifeblood of our orga-
nization and I personally thank every
one of you for your dedication and
commitment to OUR organization. I
say OUR because it is ours. Apart from
Thoughts from the president
Volunteer to make SAQA yours by Lisa Walton
In MemoriamWe are sorry to report the passing of three of our members, and express our condolences to their beloved friends and families. Our members who have recently passed are June Rose, Mary Ann Klussman, and Virginia “Ginny” Abrams. We will greatly miss their contributions to SAQA and the art quilt.
a far too small group of dedicated
employees, everyone working behind
the scenes to provide our amazing
exhibitions, educational opportuni-
ties, and conferences is a volunteer,
working because they believe in what
SAQA does.
Of course, we can never have
enough hands, brains, resources,
or ideas to keep us developing. So
if you, like me, want to be part of
what makes SAQA tick, think about
volunteering. Check out the commit-
tees on the SAQA website and write to
[email protected]. Maybe you are a
future board member or president.
I want to know what makes things tick
and what is happening behind the
scenes.
4 • SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3
There is a great deal of discord
in the world. Still, good things
happen, especially to people who put
plans in place to realize their dreams.
All around me I see people succeed-
ing, whether it is by letting go of bad
situations or by taking steps to get
to the next level. You can’t sit back,
think happy thoughts, and expect
something good to happen.
You need a plan. Want to go to
Tahiti? You’re not going without a
Get ready!Make plans today for future success by Diane Howell
current passport and reservations.
Want to sell your house in a year?
Learn to love beige and paint now!
I love this issue’s professional devel-
opment stories because they demon-
strate how planning delivers success.
Susan Lenz, in her story on high-end
craft shows, gives us the nuts and
bolts of how those shows work. She
takes us on her journey, which most
recently found her at the Smithson-
ian Craft Show in Washington, D.C.
Michele HardyHigh-Country Color #1
48 x 32 inches | 2017
Autumn in the mountains of Colorado is a time of glorious color.
This work is part of Member Gallery: Great Outdoors on page 22.
Editor’s Notes
How did she get ready to be success-
ful? She had a plan and put in a lot of
hard work. Acceptance to and navi-
gation of a high-end show requires
everything from a professional booth
setup to substantial on-hand inven-
tory. Did I mention she had a plan?
Clara Nartey lets us in on the secret
to dynamic PowerPoint presenta-
tions. The secret? Careful planning
and attention to detail. In this issue,
Nartey also completes our series on
branding as she zeroes in on building
an online brand. The answer to how
you best represent yourself online
involves being consistent across
platforms, something you only get
through planning.
Our behind-the-scenes look at the
2018 SAQA Benefit Auction reveals
something bidders might not know.
Our three-week annual event has a
yearlong planning schedule.
So much planning!
I end with two selfish requests.
One, have you put a plan into action
that succeeded and relates to art
quilts? Send me a story idea at edi-
[email protected]. Two, from September
14-October 7, bid high and bid often
in the benefit auction—just not on
the quilt I want.
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 5
We're looking for people who look outward to see the big picture, people like SAQA Visionary Ivy Jensen whose story is at saqa.com/ivy.
SAQA's Visionaries are a leadership group who invest in our vibrant global art quilt movement.
A monthly gift of just $20 makes you part of the Visionaries group. Or you can give a generous annual gift of $240.
We're looking for people who look outward to see the big picture, people like SAQA Visionary Ivy Jensen whose story is at saqa.com/ivy.
SAQA's Visionaries are a leadership group who invest in our vibrant global art quilt movement.
A monthly gift of just $20 makes you part of the Visionaries group. Or you can give a generous annual gift of $240.
Visionaries also receive:• biannual newsletter which highlights early bird news about upcoming happenings in SAQA and exciting global textile trends• exclusive invites to conference receptions and online events • special recognition in the SAQA Journal and website www.saqa.com/gift
isionarY
Do you see the big picture?Become a SAQA Visionary
I findinspiration from
Materials in
my studio.
I find support from SAQA.
Ivy JensenSpring, TX
6 • SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3
Featured Artists
DAMSS:Daniela Arnoldi and Marco Sarzi-SartoriExpansive artwork spreads message of sustainability
by Cindy Grisdela
Italian artists Daniela Arnoldi and Marco Sarzi-Sartori—known
collaboratively by their initials DAMSS—have turned recycling into an
art form. Based in Milan, Italy, they make use of all types of cast-off
textiles to build their large-scale works and installations.
Marco Sarzi-Sartori and Daniela Arnoldi pose with an enormous pile of fabrics waiting to find their way into the couple’s large-scale artwork.
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 7
“Our creations aim at recycling
and at promoting the sustainability
of artistic and industrial products,”
they say. Their first step is to seek out
waste fiber materials. Once they have
the materials in their studio, they
must be classified and stored. The
fabric may be divided into attribute
types such as color, weight, pat-
tern, thickness, quality, and storage
method needed.
One image of their studio shows
Arnoldi and Sarzi-Sartori sitting
behind an enormous mound of fiber
strips rolled into balls. Their materi-
als are not just cotton, but almost
every type of fabric, from voile to
heavy winter textiles, silk shantung
to organdy. Once the material is
on hand, Arnoldi and Sarzi-Sartori
manipulate and process it into
shapes, using a variety of techniques,
such as cutting, restructuring with
acid, and coloring with dripping
alcohol. These processes turn material
into fabric “tiles” for their projects.
“The fabric tiles are reassembled
like bricks,” they explain. The
Roma 300013 x 33 feet | 2017
influence of the French Impres-
sionists is clear in their approach to
textile design with images formed by
the strategic placement of the fabric
tiles. The 2016 portrait of Monsieur
Bohin pictured on the cover is a good
example, particularly in the construc-
tion of his jacket. The process is also
apparent in Cinque Terre Corniglia
from 2015. Thread painting adds
color and detail. “Random stitching
[is used] for a realistic scene and more
precise and careful [stitching] for the
fine details.”
The way the Impressionists used
their brushes to create their paintings
resonates with Arnoldi and Sarzi-
Sartori. “Our methods derive from
in-depth analysis of their brushstrokes
and their way of holding the brush,
the characteristics of their colors and
study of subjects.”
All the work is done by machine.
Sewing machines are set up in the
studio for different tasks. Most of the
work is done on a frame they built
themselves that is nearly 10 feet long.
It has “two sliding layers, set with fast
Cinque Terre Corniglia98 x 98 inches | 2015
8 • SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3
and powerful sewing machines and
presser feet modified to perform more
difficult tasks.”
The fabric tiles are assembled on a
base layer, as seen in the photograph
of the large sewing machine setup in
their studio. “The sewing of various
layers of fabric with rows of stitching
at varying widths allows us to vary
the [textural look] of the textile to
create the appearance of topography,
hills, rocks, and other pieces of the
picture.”
Their studio is located in the same
building as their apartment in Milan,
making for a short work commute.
They work every day of the week,
Milan Cathedral63 x 63 inches | 2010
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 9
see “DAMSS” on page 33
Iron39.5 x 142 inches | 2011spending time in the studio during
the day and doing computer work in
the evening to create the computer
graphics needed for their projects.
They also keep up with email, market-
ing, blogging, and other work related
to their business.
By training, Arnoldi is an engineer
and Sarzi-Sartori is an architect. They
began to explore
the possibility of
working together
to create art in
2000, and were
drawn to the
textile medium
during a visit to
an international
quilt exhibition
in France. “Textile
is a fascinating medium as it is soft
and flexible. It can be cut, disrupted,
restructured and reassembled, spun,
twirled, painted, embroidered,
burned, and wrinkled—a wide range
of manipulating possibilities not
provided by any other medium,”
they say. Iron, completed in 2011,
shows some of these transformative
possibilities. The panels were burned
with acid and then ironed at a high
temperature.
Their first tapestries were fabricated
using vertical looms they built. Later,
their work developed into frameless
textile art supported by metal, using
enameled metal threads.
“We followed any technique that
we thought could be useful in our
future,” Arnoldi and Sarzi-Sartori say.
In recent years, the couple has
created large-scale work measured in
feet rather than inches. Roma 3000,
finished in 2017 and pictured on
page 7, is one example of this gran-
deur, measuring about 13 x 33 feet.
Photographs of the art-
ists standing in front of
the pieces give a sense
of the works’ enormous
scale.
A project such as this
can take many months
to complete. Once the
topic has been decided,
they plan it using com-
puter graphics which
have become an essential part of the
creation. The composition is then
divided into sections and printed
full-size onto canvas to be used as a
template.
At this stage, each artist chooses
an area of the piece to work on. As
the image grows, they exchange their
work so each has input on all the
panels. “It is practically impossible
to define the paternity of the stitches
within our work because they are
mixed in such a manner as to define
our common style.”
In addition to large-scale textiles,
they also collaborated on fiber art
installations such as Connecting
People, installed in 2017 at a craft
exhibition in Vicenza, Italy. The work
features 300 pounds of colorful fabric
strips attached top and bottom in
diagonal lines. The process for one
of these pieces is somewhat differ-
ent from their hanging quilts, as the
artists create a scale model for the ‘Textile is a fascinating
medium as it is soft and flexible.’
10 • SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3
We live in the age of Google.
If your name or artwork
comes up for discussion, chances are
a Google search is part and parcel to
the dialogue. Online access creates
an exciting opportunity by giving
you direct access to an audience. But
how do you stand out from so many
websites?
Your online brand is made up of
two components. The first part is the
written story you tell about yourself:
artist statement, bio, and blog posts.
The second part is your visual iden-
tity: logo, web design, profile photo,
and images on social media posts.
Your online brand needs to:
• Create awareness
• Make you likeable
• Make people trust you
• Encourage people to work with you
I approach online branding by
crafting a compelling story that
communicates how I want to be
perceived. Your story should answer
what kind of art you create, why you
make it, and who you make it for. An
example is:
Art feeds my spirit and I want to
help people find fulfillment in creative
self-expression.
Tailor your branding to effec-
tively communicate your story on
your platform assets, which should
include:
• A professional website/blog
• A professional email address
• Social media accounts (such as Face-
book, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.)
• A newsletter
Build a cohesive identity by main-
taining consistency on all platforms
in terms of your name, design
standards, logo, and profile picture.
I chose to use my given name as my
brand name. This allows people to
search my name and to find me on
all platforms.
DesignIf you would prefer not to develop
branding on your own, there are
design services to create a unified
design for your brand. If you use a
professional designer for your web-
site, discuss up front the colors, fonts,
and mood you want to represent you.
Remember, everything has to relate
to the story of who you are and how
you want your clients and followers
to perceive you.
If you do your own design, two
things you can use to tie your design
together are consistency in color and
fonts. Not only does this make you
recognizable, but it allows you to
have a template for everything from a
website page to a Pinterest header.
Building your online brand means
building your visual identity. A logo
and tagline are effective tools to
identify you, although you can work
without them. A great profile picture
is another key to personal brand-
ing. Use the same professional photo
across all of your online platforms.
This puts a face on your brand and
connects people to the person behind
the artwork. My online profile photo
matches my color theme as well.
Artist websiteYour online identity centers around
your website or blog. The places you
socialize online should direct people
back to whichever of these is your
primary online presence.
To make your website your online
brand central, follow these tips:
• Create a domain name or web
address that is consistent with your
brand name.
• Include an About page where you
share your brand story.
• Curate your art portfolio to match
the story on your About page.
• Update your website frequently
with recent news about exhibitions,
new work, sales, classes, etc. Give
visitors a reason to come back to
your website
• Plan for change. As you grow as
an artist, your brand can and will
evolve.
Clara Nartey is a SAQA member who resides in West Haven, Connecticut. She is an artist who creates video lessons and writes about the practice and science of creativity. Learn more about her at www.claranartey.com.
A brand new youBuild an online brand that lets you shine
by Clara Nartey
Branding: Part 2
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 11
Tips to grow your brandby Clara Nartey
see “Website” on page 30
Your website powers your online brand. Make
sure it tells your story and is easy to use.
What key features make websites efficient? These
answers from SAQA members give insight into how
art and information is best presented for viewers.
“I like to see websites that clearly categorize an
artist’s work by medium and/or dates. I always go
directly to ‘new work’ then work my way back.
Vague series titles don’t really help,” says Sharon
McCartney.
While searching for art online for exhibitions,
Kevan Lunney found the need for clarity. “Most
websites were particularly frustrating to comb
through the images. Paging through images one by
one, looking at thumbnails that were too small, or
at a run-on list of work that wasn’t categorized just
takes too much time,” she says.
Lunney turned her experience into a positive,
though. Her personal website [kevanart.com]
What makes a website zip along?by Diane Howell
Pro Tip #1
To easily remember and get the right color each time, find and save the number code for the colors of your design. This way, when you want to create something new such as an image for a blogpost, a newsletter, or an announcement, you don’t have to visually guess which colors to use.
Pro Tip #2
Email plays an important part in your online brand. Let your email reflect your brand name. For example, when you receive an email from me, it will be from [email protected].
Use an email signature in your emails to reinforce your brand and direct people back to your website. You can also provide links to your social media accounts.
Pro Tip #3
Use templates to create consistency. Create one template with your brand’s colors and fonts. The text or image will change when you need to create a new post, but the overall look will be the same.
Pro Tip #4
Choose your brand colors wisely to evoke the emotions or mood you wish to convey.
Pro Tip #5
Each social media platform has specific image sizes. Check to make sure you use the right image sizes in your headers and posts; otherwise, your images could be cut off or display oddly.
Pro Tip #6
I use Canva.com to design my blog images and social media posts. You can use Photoshop or other graphics software. PicMonkey.com and Snappa.com are other online graphic design tools you can try. These online tools have templates that allow you to plug in information. You could also hire a graphic designer.
presents art images the way a buyer or curator
thinks, with categories for abstract, representa-
tional, and three dimensional. She says other help-
ful groupings would be landscape, still life, nudes,
buildings, or sports.
Closely related to this topic is image navigation.
Terry Howard Grant says she loves galleries of work
where a viewer can easily navigate from one image
to the next without going back to the main page
after each one. Images should also be a decent size,
she says.
Other members focused on teaching informa-
tion. Bern Johnson says: “I like to see clearly where
artists give classes, particularly online classes.” She
also wants easy-to-find instructions to subscribe to a
newsletter. “I find that I follow an artist more when
they send out an email newsletter or blog post.”
12 • SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3
Selections from Guns: Loaded ConversationsToday gun violence feels commonplace. Yet an enormous divide exists between people who cherish their heritage of gun ownership and others who are concerned about the rising tide of gun violence. Guns: Loaded Conversations seeks to engage viewers of differing opinions to listen to each other and to encourage community initiatives that may inspire action in seeking solutions.
The juror for this exhibition was Dr. Vicky A. Clark. The exhibition premiered at San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles in California. It will be installed at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts, Jan. 9-April 6, 2019.
To view more artwork from Guns: Loaded Conversations, visit www.saqa.com/loadedconversations. A catalog also is available for sale in www.saqa.com/store.
Sabrina ZarcoOne Pulse 58.5 x 32.5 inches | 2017Photo by Liliana Hueso Productions
Shawn QuinlanThis Is Not the Time to Talk about Gun Control 53 x 53 inches | 2016
Pamela RoccoWithout Gun Control
44 x 33 inches | 2015
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 13
Kelly BurkeQuilted Reimagined American Flag
Series III: Don’t Lives Matter? 58 x 108 inches | 2016
Photo by A. Stuart Hanson
Alisa GoldenHand Gun 39 x 45.5 inches | 2017
Kathryn PellmanEnd Gun Violence 58 x 39 inches | 2017Photo by Johanna Wissler
Elizabeth Michellod-DutheilThe Madness of Men – La Folie des Hommes 66 x 30 inches | 2017
14 • SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3
SAQA’s Benefit Auction is a fast-
paced competition energized
by the love for textile art. In 2017,
the auction raised nearly $65,000 to
promote the art quilt. But what does
it take to make this three-week event
a smashing success?
It all starts with the artists—443 of
them this year—who pledge to make
and donate a 12 x 12-inch quilt. The
quilts are the engine that drives the
auction. Anticipation builds for weeks
as images of the auction quilts start to
appear on saqa.com/auction. Bidders
make lists. They check the site again
and again, hoping to collect a favorite
From start to finishBehind the scenes at SAQA’s Benefit Auction
Clockwise from upper left: Anna Viadero, Buzz; Carolyn Skei, Prickly Pear Fantasy;
Regina Marzlin, Red Giant; Jim Hay, Two for Lunch; Charlotte Bird, Close Encounters of
the Lichen Kind; Katie Walwyn, Coy Koi; and Catherine Kleeman, Inspiration Exists.
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 15
artist at a steal or snag the work of a
rising star. As the auction nears, many
SAQA members engage viewers with
online Dream Collections, six-piece
mini-exhibitions curated to themes
that members develop.
The first stepsBefore the bidding can begin, the
finished quilts make their way to the
SAQA shipping center. If the donor’s
photography shows the quilt in its
best light, it is placed in a labeled
plastic sleeve and shelved in alpha-
betical order with the other quilts. If
not, it is re-photographed and then
processed.
The digital images are uploaded
to the website with the artist’s name
and title. Later, they are grouped
into weekly time slots for bidding
purposes, which allows bidders to
strategize their purchases. Of course,
there’s always the chance a bid-
der’s most sought-after work will be
purchased on Diamond Day, Sept. 14.
That is the auction’s virtual black-tie
affair, an early-bird opportunity to
purchase any quilt for $1,000 each.
And that’s pretty much it, right? Au
contraire.
People need to know the auction is
coming. The SAQA marketing team
promotes the auction through news-
letters, social media platforms, and
the SAQA Journal. The team also asks
members to invite their friends and
collectors to view the auction offer-
ings. Postcards are mailed to winners
and are also handed out at events and
exhibitions.
We’re live!On opening day it gets real. Bids
arrive, quilts are marked SOLD, credit
cards run, and thank-you emails
16 • SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3
Auction by the numbersThe 2018 SAQA Benefit Auction opens Sept. 14 with 443 donated art quilts. As if to prove that auction fever runs high throughout SAQA, an amazing 23 percent of this year’s quilts are from first time donors and 22 percent are from members outside the United States. Twelve of the quilts are from artists who have donated to all 12 auctions. An impressive 40 percent are from artists who have donated a quilt at least five times.
And then there are the 443 thank-you notes written by SAQA executive director Martha Sielman, one to each donor artist.
This year brought a regional competition for the highest participation rate, determined by the number of donated pieces divided by the number of members. The results are:
Regions over 100 members:First place: OceaniaSecond place: Texas
Regions under 100 members:First place: NebraskaSecond place: Alaska
sent to winning bidders with a list of
their purchases. Unsuccessful bidders
are invited to bid again. Artists are
thanked for the sale, and provided
with the price realized and the buyer’s
contact information.
Daily totals are posted on the web-
site and social media, which continue
to build sales momentum. At the
end of each week, it’s still not over.
Any unsold quilts are moved to the
SAQA Store for sale until December
28, with a brief hiatus to make them
available for sale at the SAQA Booth
Nov. 8-11 at the International Quilt
Festival/Houston. After that, they are
shipped back to the artist or swapped
for another artist’s quilt, according to
each artist’s instructions.
Paperwork The auction event wraps up in
December as final income and
expenses are analyzed. The analysis
is provided to the SAQA Board and
then to membership. Feedback about
what worked and what steps need
to be improved is noted for the next
auction.
In January preparation begins for
the next auction when the auction
donor form goes live. That means the
annual Benefit Auction is a yearlong
labor of love. So remember: bid high
and bid often! —Diane Howell
Joanne Alberda, Sunset Over a Red Field
Stephanie Crawford, The Harbour Inn
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 17
Every quilt is available for a Buy It Now purchase of $1,000 for the duration of the auction, even if the section is not yet open for bidding. Prices change at 2 p.m. ET. No bids will be accepted between 1:45-2 p.m. ET while system updates are being made.
$750 $550 $350 $250 $150 $100Section 1 Sept. 17 Sept. 18 Sept. 19 Sept. 20 Sept. 21 Sept. 22
Section 2 Sept. 24 Sept. 25 Sept. 26 Sept. 27 Sept. 28 Sept. 29
Section 3 Oct. 1 Oct. 2 Oct. 3 Oct. 4 Oct. 5 Oct. 6
The 2018 Benefit Auction is almost upon us! Diamond Day kicks off the bidding at 2 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 14, when all quilts are available for $1,000 each.
The auction’s weekly schedule runs from September 17-October 7. A new section opens each Monday at a bid price of $750.
The price is reduced each day until it reaches $100 on Saturday. The first bid for a piece wins.
At week’s end, any remaining quilts in that section move to the SAQA Store, where they are for sale at $100 each. The quilts will be for sale November 8-11 in the SAQA booth
at International Quilt Festival/Houston. They will make one last appearance in the SAQA store through December 28.
For full details, visit saqa.com/auction.
How the auction works
SAQA 2018 Benefit Auction Pricing Schedule
Barbara Yates Beasley, Kimba
Nancy Bardach, Circus 10Jenny Bowker, Abu Ali, Cairo, Egypt
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ABM International is known for its innovative and cutting-edge technology and products. We constantly strive to stay ahead of the curve; to be at the forefront of major advancements in the quilting industry.
After its debut at the 2017 International Quilt Market and Festival in Houston, it has been flying off our dealers’ shelves!
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With the recent storms that devastated the gulf coast region this past summer, Innova has been involved in quilt drives whose goal is to get comfort quilts into the hands of the hurricane victims, specifically those devastated and/or still displaced by Hurricane Harvey. Innova’s factory and main office are located just north of Houston, so it is perfectly situated to act as a shipping destination for comfort quilts sent to them by quilters from all over the country. Innova, in turn, has been organizing quilt donations to those in most need of these beautiful quilts, and it has been a huge success.
Within just weeks of the devastating hurricanes that hit Houston and surrounding areas, the Las Vegas Massacre occurred. On his recent trip to Nevada, ABM Innova’s president, Neal Schwarzberger, met Chantal McCrorie, an attendee at the concert during the shooting. She shared with him her story, and he knew Innova needed to do something to help the victims and their families. So again, calling upon what seems like a never-ending supply of generosity from the quilting community in this country, Innova sent more donated comfort quilts to McCrorie, and she has been distributing each quilt individually to victims most in need of healing from this horrible tragedy. McCrorie says it has been immensely therapeutic for her and has done wonders in her own emotional healing to be a part of something like this.
One of the major aims of ABM International is its corporate responsibility – not only to the entire quilting community, but its local community as well. Innova has always strived to make it a top priority to give back to the community and those in need.
Comfort quilts are made and donated with love and generosity, and that comes through to those individuals who receive them at times that are often the most difficult. Comfort quilts represent the sheer goodness of complete strangers. They illustrate the goodwill and caring attitudes of people who want nothing more than to help their fellow man. It is a labor of love for the giver, and, for the receiver, a source of comfort and positive reminder of the world’s goodness.
Hurricane Harvey Comfort Quilts
Innova Gives Back
Las Vegas Comfort Quilts
20 • SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3
PowerPoint’s longevity is a testa-
ment to its effectiveness as a
presentation tool—when used prop-
erly. I say when used properly because
everyone knows how painful it is
to sit through a terrible PowerPoint
presentation. You can’t wait for it to
be over.
Do you have to use PowerPoint to
make a presentation? Absolutely not.
If you are motivating a group of peo-
ple or making one or two key points,
a slide presentation is not necessary.
However, a dynamic PowerPoint
presentation can help your audience
remember key points when your talk
is information-packed.
The most common PowerPoint mis-
takes are easy to avoid. Start by know-
ing what you want to achieve with
your speech. You should want your
audience to leave with takeaways.
Decide which points you want people
to remember and craft a storyline to
engage your audience on multiple
levels: intellectual, emotional, visual,
and auditory.
Once a plan is in place, write your
speech. Do this step before you cre-
ate your slides because the slides are
visual aids; they are not your speech.
From your completed speech, identify
the main points found in every two
or three paragraphs. These highlights
are the basis for your PowerPoint
slides.
There are a lot of design and
content possibilities for slides. Don’t
be tempted to use too many of the
design options found in Power-
Point. Keep your choices simple and
consistent.
Think about the most effective way
to make each point. Is it by using
text, graphs, images, or video? What
will keep your audience members
engaged and help them remember
the points or respond to a call for
action? Hint: It’s not always text.
Four elements play a critical role in
designing your PowerPoint slides.
TextText needs to be legible so the person
sitting at the back of the room can
read it. Sans serif fonts such as Arial
are easier to read. A font size of at
least 30 points is recommended.
Limit the amount of text by includ-
ing one idea on each slide. Your slides
should be filled with a lot of white
space, not text. Your spelling and
grammar must be correct.
ColorWhen it comes to color, think high
contrast. For example, don’t combine
a dark-colored or busy background
with equally dark text colors. Colors
on opposite sides of the color wheel
are complements. This combination
gives you high contrast, but make
sure you select a color saturation level
that is pleasing and makes text easier
to read. You don’t want your audi-
ence focused on a discordant color
scheme. If you choose to use a photo
as a slide background, ensure the text
is typed on a portion of the photo
where it will be legible.
GraphicsUse graphics only when they help tell
your story. Blurry photos are not a
Use best practices to create dynamic PowerPoint presentationsby Clara Nartey
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 21
good choice. Diagrams, infographics,
charts, and graphs all help tell your
story visually. However, don’t make
your graphics so complicated that
they require extensive explanation.
A picture must be worth a thousand
words.
ConsistencyPull your design together with con-
sistent design elements. The creators
of PowerPoint know this approach
works, so they’ve provided templates
and themes, which are collections of
colors that work well together.
When you use a template, the
colors, fonts, layout and entire design
of your presentation remains consis-
tent throughout. You are not limited
to the available templates in Power-
Point. You can always tweak them
or brand them to make them your
own. To tweak a template, all you’ve
got to do is edit the slide master. The
changes you make to fonts, colors,
and layout will be applied to your
entire presentation. You can also
choose or change themes.
AnimationsMany presenters believe animations
will keep their audience engaged.
That’s not the case. Indiscriminately
using animations in your presen-
tation can be distracting to your
audience. If at all possible, skip ani-
mations or use them sparingly.
Now that you’re done with prepar-
ing your slides, do a few practice runs
of your presentation. Get comfortable
with the content and the timing.
After all, you don’t want to read the
slides to your audience. Use the slides
as a cue for what you’ll say.
If you have more to communicate
beyond your speech, create handouts
to pass out after you’re done speak-
ing. That way your audience will pay
attention to your presentation and
not read your handout while you
speak.
Remember, your PowerPoint pre-
sentation is effective when it engages
your audience on multiple levels, is
a complement to your speech, and
provides the desired takeaways.
Clara Nartey is a SAQA member who resides in West Haven, Connecticut. She is an artist who creates video lessons and writes about the practice and science of creativity. Learn more about her at www.claranartey.com.
22 • SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3
SAQA Member Gallery: Great Outdoors
Ruth BriggsMending Fences III 27 x 38 inches | 2017
Border fences separate countries and families. These breaches are often irreconcilable. Fortunately fabric is easily mended.
Carolyn CollinsMangroves 12 x 30 inches | 2016
In New South Wales, Australia, the boardwalk through the mangroves on the edge of Jervis Bay is a magical place.
Rickie SeifriedSheila 21 x 21 inches | 2012
The lizard, Sheila, developed a smile during the creative process.
Dianna VanderDoesAutumnal Equinox
46 x 48 inches | 2017
I love being outside at night in the autumn. The mystery never fails to move me.
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 23
Marianne WilliamsonVery Early Frost 43 x 43 inches | 2017
A very early frost catches nature by surprise; the rhythm of the seasons is disrupted.
Margaret AbramsheNarrows
39 x 32 inches | 2017
This quilt was inspired by a photo captured in early spring on a hike
through Zion National Park in Utah on The Narrows trail.
Katie Stein SatherMondrian Paddlers 24 x 24 inches | 2017
A photo from my friend Betty McLeod was transformed in Prisma and interpreted in raw-edge appliqué.
24 • SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3
Six years ago I decided to join the high-end
craft show circuit. I had an established body
of work, a website, and gallery representation, plus
the desire to share my work with potential buyers.
I researched events and focused on three indoor
shows: the Smithsonian Craft Show, the Philadel-
phia Museum of Art Craft Show, and the Ameri-
can Craft Show produced by the American Craft
Council. These are among the most respected and
competitive such marketplaces in the United States.
My first step was to attend a show. I looked at
booth designs, approaches to lighting, and even
the size of pricing labels. I saw the need for a
hidden storage area within the allotted space. I
learned that booth design is important and often
works hand-in-hand with an artist’s branding and
demands of a particular medium.
The setupArtists working in all media are presented side by
side in long convention center aisles. The standard-
sized booth is 10 x 10 feet and rent can be $850 to
$1,280, depending on the show. Larger booths or
corner locations are priced higher. An additional
fee of $95-$160 is often charged for electricity.
I decided against a custom-designed booth. I
purchased a basic structure from ProPanels ($1,349
and up) with four track lighting strips and eight
bulbs ($580). My purchase was delivered on a truck,
which added considerably to the shipping charge.
Since then, I have ordered a matching shelf, a few
extra lights, two shorter wall panels, and a heavy-
duty cart.
Flooring is another consideration and expense. I
started with a package deal on interlocking carpet
tiles for a 10 x 10-foot booth ($188 plus shipping).
For the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, I
was accepted in two categories—decorative fibers
and basketry—and needed a 10 x 15-foot booth. I
had to purchase a new floor because my original
floor tiles were no longer available.
The start-up expenses to participate in these
shows can be overwhelming and the distances
between artist and show vast. As a result, some art-
ists don’t own a booth. They rent pipe-and-drape
units, display cabinets, and other fixtures from
companies specializing in art trade shows. These
providers also store privately owned booths in a
temperature-controlled warehouse and transport
booths to the venue. These services come in handy
for artists living on one coast but exhibiting on the
other. I transport my booth in a cargo van. At first,
I rented a vehicle. Now, I own one.
Selling detailsBeyond the physical considerations of a booth and
the artwork to fill it, many other preparations must
be made. Every artist needs a business license and
the proper forms to file sales tax in the state in
which the trade show is held. For the Philadelphia
Museum of Art Craft Show, a city business privilege
license also is required. To conduct a sale, duplicate
invoices are needed. Credit card processing is essen-
tial; I have a handheld PayPal chip reader.
Customers expect their new purchase to be
appropriately wrapped and/or bagged. Most shows
Research. Apply. Pack.Detailed plans ease navigation of high-end craft shows by Susan Lenz
In Box CCXCII, Detail
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 25
provide a small number of small- and medium-
sized paper bags. Unfortunately, most of my
framed artwork doesn’t fit in those bags. I bring
a roll of bubble wrap and plenty of extra-large
handled bags.
The detailsThen there are the little things. My checklist
includes extension cords, multipronged electri-
cal strips, extra light bulbs, a handheld vacuum
cleaner, tape, pens, business cards, small labels for
prices, and a folding chair. Because my artwork is
framed, I also bring glass cleaner and rags, wood-
toned markers, and other items to keep my inven-
tory in tip-top condition.
Everything must fit into my cargo van and be
packed to allow for quick unloading. Each show
designates a time for artists to arrive on site. There
is usually a line of cram-packed vehicles with out-
of-state license plates waiting to unload at their
assigned time. The typical amount of time for
unloading is a mere half hour. Your vehicle must
be moved immediately to make way for the next
artist. Some shows allow artists to drive onto the
convention floor. Others require artists to roll their
booths and artwork into the space from a desig-
nated parking lot.
With so many artists in so little space, you are
expected to work within your booth space and not
block aisles. Fortunately, there is always plenty
of time to set up and fine tune the look of your
booth. I’ve never been rushed to aim flood lights or
hang artwork. During this period, artists meet their
neighbors, snap photos for social media, and find
the hospitality room.
Susan Lenz adjusts lighting in her booth at the Smithsonian Craft Show.
The Smithsonian Craft Show is held in the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
Booth design often works hand-in-hand
with an artist’s branding.
26 • SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3
The showMost high-end craft shows have a private room for
exhibiting artists with coffee, light refreshments,
and helpful show committee members. The Phila-
delphia and Smithsonian shows hold preview galas
before they are open to the public. These dress-
attire evenings present a perfect way to start selling.
It is paramount that artists know how to best
approach potential buyers. This introduction varies
from artist to artist according to work and person-
ality. The opening conversation is what many call
an elevator speech. Most people who enter my
booth ask, “What is it?” They don’t immediately
recognize my work as fabric. Therefore, I wait for
a bit before saying: “What you’re looking at is
polyester stretch velvet on recycled packaging felt
with machine embroidery and melting techniques.
I know that’s a mouthful so I brought this step-by-
step demonstration piece.”
Quickly, I explain the process using my small
visual aid. I always end by focusing on a nearby
hanging work. If the browser lingers, I talk about
my inspiration: “Much of my work is based on
architecture, especially the fanciful 20th century
buildings designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser,
an Austrian who stressed individualism. My work
represents an aerial view of an imaginary Hunder-
twasser city. In each little box is a unique motif to
reflect the individuals who live there.”
Most people who attend high-end craft shows walk
the entire show before buying. Artists refer to these
people as “be backs”, people with whom a conver-
sation went well, especially ones that suggested a
purchase might happen. It is important to remember
what these people look like. Eye contact and a smile
are often the way a transaction is initiated.
Show survivalI’m lucky because my husband, Steve Dingman,
works the shows with me. When a selection is made,
I hand the invoice on a clipboard to him. He han-
dles the payment while I bubble wrap the artwork.
For artists who do the shows alone, the craft
shows provide booth sitters, committee members
who staff a booth during prearranged times so that
the artist can take an occasional break.
Lenz agreed to fill a corner booth this year after being wait-listed for the Smithsonian Craft Show.
see “Craft shows” on page 29
Careful packing means everything has to fit in the van plus be arranged for quick unloading.
Lenz and her husband, Steve Dingman, add some
levity to setup.
Photo by Teddi Fine
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 27
A tweet was the inspiration for Martha Wolfe’s Privileged Times:
“The epitome of White Privilege = I don’t follow the news.” That short missive caused Wolfe to think hard about who she is. To recognize—and accept—things about herself that were difficult.
“Some of us inherit a number of privileges at birth and never give a lot of thought to all of the protections and advantages they provide through no effort of our own, or how our privileges may impact everyone else.”
Take the men displayed in the quilt, men of privilege who sign bills con-cerning police violence and the ban on Muslim migration, issues that do not affect them but impact the lives of millions, she says. “Their privilege has the potential to shield and isolate them from the concerns of predominately marginalized populations. It’s important to recognize that this is not just about ‘white’ privilege, but it extends to things like religious freedom and protections for LGBTQ community members, and even women’s health issues.”
Coming to termsWolfe’s biggest challenge in terms of personal growth was coming to terms with where she fits into the discussion of white privilege. Her parents were outspoken and actively involved in the civil rights movement. “I’m proud of that, but the missing part was the privilege piece, the fact that we could fight battles
and come home to a safe comfortable house with plenty of food, employment opportunities, and the chance to get an education.”
Considering those two factors—white privilege and personal growth—the quilt can be interpreted as a reminder of how one’s decisions affect others. “It’s also a bit of an indictment of those pictured, I’ll admit, as they have been some of the more prominent faces proposing, imple-menting, or being complacent about troubling things we’ve seen recently.”
Building blocksWolfe used layered organza to give the quilt a gauze-like appearance, a technique seen in her other works. The subtle types of privilege overlay the newsprint, which she created by repeat-ing those descriptions over and over again. The relative dimensions are the same as a standard folded newspaper.
by N.K. Quan
Inspired by
Martha WolfePrivileged Times
28 x 29 inches | 2017
The font is similar to that used by the New York Times.
When creating quilts, Wolfe starts with a subject and then considers what would visually tell the story. Sometimes it is literal, sometimes it is metaphor. If the idea starts from a word or event, she will look up definitions, synonyms, news, and history.
This quilt was created for the Threads of Resistance exhibition and has been part of its traveling exhibition since July 2017. To learn more about the quilts for this project, visit www.threadsofresis-tance.org. To learn more about Wolfe’s work, visit www.marthawolfe.com.
N.K. Quan is a Phoenix-based writer and editor.
ideology
Hundreds of art quilts. Hundreds of bidders.
The competition is on. Bid for your favorites September 14 - October 7
2018 SAQA BENEFIT AUCTION
DETAILS www.saqa.com/auction
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 29
CALL FOR ENTRIES:Oct. 1, 2018 – Jan. 10, 2019Life’s Journeys: Joy, Healing, Spirituality, Grief, Peace
TRAVELING EXHIBIT:Showing in: North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, California, Michigan, Connecticut. Check the website for dates and locations.
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joyinspiration
spiritualityhealing
grief
peace
Craft shows
from page 26
Breaks are needed, especially on
a day that runs from 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Show schedules and times vary, but
there is generally at least one day that
courts the after-work crowd. Com-
fortable shoes are essential. Having a
water bottle is helpful, too.
PracticalityBefore any of this happens, there’s
an application process. It is hard to
gain acceptance into a high-end craft
show. The application fee is gener-
ally $50. The Philadelphia Museum
of Art Craft Show accepts only 190
artists across all media from a field of
applications numbering more than
1,000. I have made it in four times,
including the upcoming 2018 show
in November. The Smithsonian Craft
Show accepts 120 artists; this year,
there were more than 1,200 hopefuls.
I wasn’t among the successful. I was
wait-listed and for months Steve and
I joked that “someone would have to
die” before I got a spot.
Three weeks before the April event,
an artist had to withdraw and I
agreed to take over the booth. Within
24 hours, I had charged the $1,925
booth fee to a credit card, returned
a signed contract via email, and was
listed on the official website. Steve
booked an Airbnb basement apart-
ment. We were soon on our way to
the Smithsonian Craft Show in the
National Building Museum in Wash-
ington, D.C. To be among this tal-
ented group of artists had been one of
my lofty goals. I was only able to take
part because I was totally prepared.
And before going, I agreed to write
this article to help others make their
dreams come true.
Susan Lenz is a SAQA JAM who resides in Columbia, South Carolina. You can view her work at www.susanlenz.com.
30 • SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3
Website
from page 11
San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles520 S. First Street, San Jose, CA 95113
www.sjquiltmuseum.orgJuly 22 - October 14, 2018
2018 Surface Design Association International Member Exhibition
Exhibition Dates July 22-October 14, 2018
July 22, 2018 Opening Reception
www.surfacedesign.org/events-exhibits/exhibits/ Questions? Email us at: [email protected]
Jurors Carole Frances Lung, artist/activist/academic Amy Di Placido, SJMQT Exhibitions Curator
San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles520 S. First Street, San Jose, CA 95113
www.sjquiltmuseum.orgJuly 22 - October 14, 2018
2018 Surface Design Association International Member Exhibition
Exhibition Dates July 22-October 14, 2018
July 22, 2018 Opening Reception
www.surfacedesign.org/events-exhibits/exhibits/ Questions? Email us at: [email protected]
Jurors Carole Frances Lung, artist/activist/academic Amy Di Placido, SJMQT Exhibitions Curator
Catherine McDonald’s comments
expand on teaching information.
McDonald likes to see workshop
menus that provide good descriptions
of the classes. She also wants to read
what teachers request from workshop
organizers, not necessarily pricing,
but other requirements to run the
workshop.
Ellen Lindner’s main focus is to
add dates to her teaching calendar.
“Therefore, I try to sell me, speaking
in first person and including a casual
headshot on every page. I have a
very large ‘Learn with Ellen’ section
[on adventurequilter.com], which
includes not only class offerings, but
lots of how-to articles and informa-
tion. I [want to] come across as per-
sonable, knowledgeable, and willing
to share.”
No matter the focus, keeping the
site updated with new work, events,
or a link to an active blog is benefi-
cial. Susan Lenz says: “I regularly
update [susanlenz.com]. Keeping the
information current is important.
Who really likes clicking on a bio
with 2014 or 2015 listed as the latest
date? Plus, I’ve been told that chang-
ing content on a regular basis helps
a site’s Google ranking,” she says.
No matter the focus, keeping the site
updated with new work, events, or a link
to an active blog is beneficial.
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 31
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Let your artwork travel the world!
“Linking to an active blog helps too.”
Lindner says her blog does generate
visits to other areas of her website.
Elena Stokes says her website [ele-
nastokes.com] stands out because of
user-friendly navigation, well-chosen
color scheme, and large full-screen
images available as a slide show on
her home page. “I purchased a theme
from Imagely that is extremely flexi-
ble, allowing me to change the design
and look of my website at a whim.
One of the design options of the
theme is the header placement, either
across the top or down the left side.
I like the left side header as it allows
the viewer to always have access to
the menu for easy navigation. No
more having to scroll all the way back
up to click to another page. It also
has my name and color scheme so
the viewer knows where they are and
whose website it is.”
Stokes makes a good point about
image use. “I want a website that can
display full screen images of my art-
work. Anybody can create a website
that looks and functions like mine if
they want to, but nobody else has my
artwork. That’s mine and mine alone.
And I want it big and beautiful so
viewers can feel like they’re right up
close to the work. I only use the full
screen on my home page with a slide
show, but I hope that first impression
makes an impact on my audience.”
Linda Colsh’s consistency makes
her website easily recognizable, even
though it has undergone updates.
“When I had my website redesigned
in the last year to improve appear-
ance and full use of screen real estate
on cell phones and tablets, I kept the
basic look of my previous website as I
wanted to transition while maintain-
ing the look I established for present-
ing my artwork on line.”
Diane Howell is editor of the SAQA Journal.
32 • SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3
Grand Rapids, MIAugust 22–25
FALL PADUCAH, KYSeptember 12–15
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For more information, visit QuiltWeek.com
2018
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SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 33
DAMSS
from page 9
project and then acquire the materials
and assemble the piece on site. Fabric
compositions have an optical-kinetic
relationship with the viewer because
they can be experienced in three
dimensions.
Arnoldi and Sarzi-Sartori teach
master classes to students interested
in learning about their style of work-
ing. They teach in their studio, as
well as travel to other venues. “While
teaching we learn more than we give.
This positive outcome is due to the
acts of sharing, discussing, pondering,
confronting, and discovery.”
The scale of many of their pieces
means their approach to exhibiting
and selling their work is specific to
a certain type of collector or dis-
play. “We are bound by the large
dimensions of our displays, which
means that they are more [suitable]
for collectors, hotels, companies, and
institutions linked to the topic of the
work itself, and [who also] have large
areas for display.” Focusing on the
idea that their work is made in Italy is
helpful too, they add.
Arnoldi and Sarzi-Sartori use the
acronym DAMSS to brand their work.
Their tagline is “from discarded mate-
rial to vibrating compositions.”
Cindy Grisdela is a SAQA JAM who resides in Reston, Virginia. You can see her work at cindygrisdela.com
[Editor’s Note: Arnoldi and Sarzi-
Sartori responded to written
questions for this article through a
translator, their English friend David
Ashworth, who also lives in Milan.]
2019 SAQA Annual Conference
Threads of InnovationApril 25-28, 2019
HILTON SAN JOSESAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA
Enjoy a full schedule of activities, informative presenters, local outings,
exhibitions, and more!
Early-bird registration opens in September
LEARN MORE AT www.saqa.com/conference
Phot
os: T
eam
San
Jose
SAN PEDRO SQUARE MARKET
SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF QUILTS & TEXTILES
Issue No. 12quarterly
SAQAStudio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. art quilt
Art quilts in FRANCEJudith LarzelereIndiana State Museum
METAMORPHOSIS
art quilts100
SAQA quarterly publication designed
for collectors, arts professionals, and
admirers of art quilts everywhere!
Subscribe today!www.saqa.com/aqq
34 • SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3
Quick NotesTo find out more about SAQA, contact Martha Sielman, executive director, at 860-530-1551 or [email protected]. Visit our website at www.saqa.com. Annual membership (U.S. and international): artist/associate member, $80; juried artist, $145; student (full time with copy of ID), $45.
Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the art quilt through education, exhibitions, professional development, documentation and publications.
The SAQA Journal is published four times a year. To submit articles, contact the SAQA Journal editor at [email protected]. See the submission guidelines at www.saqa.com/journal-submit.
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Board MembersPresidentLisa Walton, Sydney, Australia
Vice presidentDeborah Boschert, Lewisville, Texas
TreasurerMarvin Fletcher, Athens, Ohio
SecretaryMartha Wolfe, Davis, California
Vivika Hansen DeNegre, Guilford, ConnecticutCarolyn Ducey, Lincoln, Nebraska Susan Else, Santa Cruz, California Jayne Gaskins, Reston, VirginiaGül Laporte, Linho Sintra, PortugalJeanne Marklin, Williamstown, MassachusettsDolores Miller, San Jose, CaliforniaChris Nielsen, Nova Scotia, CanadaGwyned Trefethen, Cohasset, Massachusetts
Executive directorMartha Sielman, Hebron, Connecticut
SAQA Journal EditorDiane Howell, Chandler, Arizona
DesignerJennifer Gauerke, Denver, Colorado
You can help SAQA save on printing and mailing costs by choosing to read the SAQA Journal online only. Login to mySAQA (www.saqa.com/mySAQA) and select Manage Your Account.
SAQA has provided support, counsel, information, inspiration,
and joy over the twenty-seven years I have been a member. I
have learned enormously from others in the organization. It has
given me an opportunity to share my talents and dreams, and
to help others do the same. I want SAQA’s work to continue after
my lifetime—the work of educating people about the art quilt
and providing a “home” for artists like myself who are seeking to
express themselves through art quilts. That’s why I’ve left a gift to
SAQA in my will.
—Judith Trager,
Board member, SAQA Legacy Circle donor
Join Judith in supporting SAQA’s future! Contact Jean Tutolo, SAQA’s Development Director, for details about how you can give a legacy gift.
Is SAQA in YOUR will?
SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly special preview | 1
Issue No. 12quarterly
SAQAStudio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. art quilt
Art quilts in FRANCEJudith LarzelereIndiana State Museum
METAMORPHOSIS
art quilts100
In each issue:• A broad array of art to enjoy, including work by
SAQA’s Juried Artist Members
• Artist interviews offering inspiration and guidance on navigating your creative career
• Galleries of artwork from SAQA’s exhibitions PLUS insider details about private collections
• And MUCH MORE!
SPECIALPREVIEW
Art Quilt Quarterly is published 4 times a year.
To subscribe or purchase back issues:
www.saqa.com/aqq
Contents
As the world turnsSAQA now has more than 3400 members in thirty-six countries, with twenty percent residing
outside the United States, mainly in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the United Kingdom. As
part of SAQA’s Global Exhibitions Program, Masterworks: Abstract & Geometric is touring
Japan, Concrete & Grassland is being exhibited in the British Isles, and My Corner of the World
can be seen throughout Australia, with SAQA’s new president, Lisa Walton, hailing from Sydney.
In recognition of this global interest in art quilts, we have launched an initiative to publish a
series of articles on international quilt artists. This issue brings you Gül Laporte discussing
French artists, and later this year Jacqueline Atkins will be writing about art quilts in Japan, with
more worldwide coverage planned for 2019. In this issue of Art Quilt Quarterly we explore the
Indiana State Museum’s collection of art quilts in an article written by Kate Lenkowsky. SAQA Journal editor Diane Howell shares how several collectors document their quilt holdings, while
our SAQA exhibition feature introduces Metamorphosis, which considers several aspects of the
inevitability of change.
— Sandra Sider, Editor [email protected]
Collecting art quilts at the Indiana State Museum . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Document your art quilts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Focus on Commissions: Merle Axelrad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Art quilts in France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Light Show exhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Artists to watch
Maggie Dillon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Terry Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Jim Hay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Kit Vincent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
SAQA Global Exhibition: Metamorphosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Art Quilts Unfolding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Collector’s bookshelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Portfolio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the art quilt through education, exhibitions, professional development, documentation, and publications.
©2018 Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.
SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly is published by Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization.
Publications Office: P.O. Box 141, Hebron, CT 06248.
ISSN 2379-9439 (print) ISSN 2379-9455 (online)
Editor: Sandra Sider Managing editor: Martha Sielman Artists to watch contributing editor: Diane Howell Collector’s bookshelf editor: Patricia Kennedy-Zafred Designer: Deidre Adams Circulation consultant: Peter Walsh
Subscription is $29.95 for four issues Outside USA: add $12.00
Subscribe online: saqa.com/aqq
Cover: Jennifer H. Landau, Transition 37 x 34 inches, 2017 photo by Sibila Savage Photography
see story, p. 32
Art quilts in Franceby Gül Laporte
Until the 1970s, quilting in France consisted almost exclusively of the
traditional Provençal “boutis,” whole-cloth quilts of which the most famous examples are intricately hand-stitched white quilts from Marseilles. In 1972, the Museum of Decora-tive Arts in Paris hosted a large exhibition of mostly Amish quilts made in the U.S. curated by Jonathan Holstein. That exhibition caught
the attention of the French public. Soon after-wards, Sophie Campbell, an American woman living in France, began teaching classes that helped popularize quilting. But for many years the concept of quilt making as a form of studio art did not exist in France, and outside Paris, which had a quilt shop, it was difficult to find the materials and tools for quilting.
Anne Woringer Huis clos
(Closed Session)61 x 46 inches, 2001
Photo by Bruno Jarret
SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 11
special preview special preview2 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 3
Contents
As the world turnsSAQA now has more than 3400 members in thirty-six countries, with twenty percent residing
outside the United States, mainly in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the United Kingdom. As
part of SAQA’s Global Exhibitions Program, Masterworks: Abstract & Geometric is touring
Japan, Concrete & Grassland is being exhibited in the British Isles, and My Corner of the World
can be seen throughout Australia, with SAQA’s new president, Lisa Walton, hailing from Sydney.
In recognition of this global interest in art quilts, we have launched an initiative to publish a
series of articles on international quilt artists. This issue brings you Gül Laporte discussing
French artists, and later this year Jacqueline Atkins will be writing about art quilts in Japan, with
more worldwide coverage planned for 2019. In this issue of Art Quilt Quarterly we explore the
Indiana State Museum’s collection of art quilts in an article written by Kate Lenkowsky. SAQA Journal editor Diane Howell shares how several collectors document their quilt holdings, while
our SAQA exhibition feature introduces Metamorphosis, which considers several aspects of the
inevitability of change.
— Sandra Sider, Editor [email protected]
Collecting art quilts at the Indiana State Museum . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Document your art quilts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Focus on Commissions: Merle Axelrad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Art quilts in France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Light Show exhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Artists to watch
Maggie Dillon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Terry Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Jim Hay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Kit Vincent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
SAQA Global Exhibition: Metamorphosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Art Quilts Unfolding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Collector’s bookshelf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Portfolio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the art quilt through education, exhibitions, professional development, documentation, and publications.
©2018 Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.
SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly is published by Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization.
Publications Office: P.O. Box 141, Hebron, CT 06248.
ISSN 2379-9439 (print) ISSN 2379-9455 (online)
Editor: Sandra Sider Managing editor: Martha Sielman Artists to watch contributing editor: Diane Howell Collector’s bookshelf editor: Patricia Kennedy-Zafred Designer: Deidre Adams Circulation consultant: Peter Walsh
Subscription is $29.95 for four issues Outside USA: add $12.00
Subscribe online: saqa.com/aqq
Cover: Jennifer H. Landau, Transition 37 x 34 inches, 2017 photo by Sibila Savage Photography
see story, p. 32
Art quilts in Franceby Gül Laporte
Until the 1970s, quilting in France consisted almost exclusively of the
traditional Provençal “boutis,” whole-cloth quilts of which the most famous examples are intricately hand-stitched white quilts from Marseilles. In 1972, the Museum of Decora-tive Arts in Paris hosted a large exhibition of mostly Amish quilts made in the U.S. curated by Jonathan Holstein. That exhibition caught
the attention of the French public. Soon after-wards, Sophie Campbell, an American woman living in France, began teaching classes that helped popularize quilting. But for many years the concept of quilt making as a form of studio art did not exist in France, and outside Paris, which had a quilt shop, it was difficult to find the materials and tools for quilting.
Anne Woringer Huis clos
(Closed Session)61 x 46 inches, 2001
Photo by Bruno Jarret
SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 11
special preview special preview2 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 3
The founding in 1984 of France Patchwork gath-ered together quilters from different geographic areas who worked in different styles. By organizing classes and exhibitions, France Patchwork contrib-uted to the spread of traditional patchwork in France. Soon, however, a more creative movement began to emerge, enabling studio artists to express themselves using textiles, and leading in 1998 to the creation of a new movement inside France Patchwork called “Artextures.” This group attracts a number of fiber artists, most of them professionals. They use innova-tive materials, create three-dimensional pieces, and, thanks to the help of France Patchwork, are exhibited in national museums. A new generation of 30-some-thing artists is joining this movement, an encouraging sign for art quilts throughout France. Most of the French artists work alone, perhaps due to the fact that the French are quite individualistic.
Anne Woringer, Edith Raymond, and Cosabeth Parriaud, who live in Paris, are probably the individu-als most credited with initiating the art quilt move-ment in France back in the 1970s, followed by artists throughout France, including Geneviève Attinger, Maryvonne Deville Guillot, Solange Lasbleis, Lena Mezsaros, Marie Claude Bertin, Lydie Clergerie, France Brechignac, Gabrielle Paquin, and many more.
Anne Woringer studied fine arts. The 1972 quilt exhibition was a major discovery for her, after which she made traditional quilts. But then she found her
above:
Edith Raymond Echelle jaune (Yellow Ladder)31 x 24 inches, 2011
Photo by Yves Denoyelle
above right:
Cosabeth Parriaud Métro parisien (Paris Subway)40 x 40 inches, 2014
Photo by Yves Denoyelle
opposite:
Geneviève Attinger La rumeur (The Rumor)46 x 46 inches, 2011
Collection of the International Quilt Study Center & Museum (Lincoln, Nebraska)
12 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly
own style, inspired by ethnic art, and began dyeing her own fabrics. Woring-er’s art quilts are now in international private collections as well as in muse-ums, such as the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska, and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. Woringer believes the art quilt needs to find more followers in France, and textile artists have difficulty being recognized as such in France.
Edith Raymond is an architect, an illustrator of children’s books, and a fashion designer. She is a self-taught textile artist, influenced by her own naive drawings that she reproduces in textiles. Raymond loves to embroider, as this handwork enables her to relax. About her approach to art making, she says, “Patchwork is the appearance, the large format, a physical work, an open-ing; it’s also the precision of shapes; it’s a day-time work, while embroidery, masks, and small characters are inti-mate, a secret work, thus a night-time work.”
Cosabeth Parriaud explores colors, adapting them to simple geometric shapes — squares, rectangles, circles, and stripes, whose familiar lines are universal. She combines different techniques and materials and continu-ally tries to refine her work, keeping in mind that “less is more.”
Gabrielle Paquin, unable to find an identity through painting, found hers in creating art quilts. She started by making traditional quilts while attend-ing design classes in an art school. Fifteen years ago, after reading a book on the history of striped fabrics by Michel Pastoureau, a French medieval scholar, she started to combine striped fabrics in her quilts. “I consider myself
a part of the group of French artists who explore all the aspects of textile creation without being influenced by any particular style, while the Amer-icans tend to follow a certain trend. The Modern quilt movement is one example,” says Paquin.
Geneviève Attinger lives in Brittany and works alone in her studio. Her work is very personal; she considers herself a storyteller who writes what she feels with textiles and threads. “I am a self-made artist who took some embroidery and lace-making classes. Because I never took any art classes with textile teachers, I have never been influenced by their work, and my cre-ations reflect my feelings exclusively.” Attinger’s quilts have been acquired by various museums and private collec-tions in France as well as in the U.S. One of her pieces was selected for Quilt Visions 2018 San Diego, California. “I
am so proud and happy! I tried many times without success and at last here it is, my work has been selected, which means that we should never give up,” she says.
My apologies to all the artists whose comments cannot be published here for lack of space. We could talk at length about the art quilt situation in France and how much we still need to strive to be recognized as artists and accepted into national museums. Slowly but surely, that will happen!
Gül Laporte discovered quilting when she moved to Houston, Texas, in 1982. Back in Europe, she helped spread new techniques learned in the U.S. to French and other European students. She also authored two quilting books, one in French and one in English, and today she writes articles for Magic Patch magazine. From 2003 until 2016, Laporte served as a consultant for the European Patchwork Meeting. A board member of SAQA and member of several SAQA committees, Laporte now resides in Portugal.
SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 13
special preview special preview4 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 5
The founding in 1984 of France Patchwork gath-ered together quilters from different geographic areas who worked in different styles. By organizing classes and exhibitions, France Patchwork contrib-uted to the spread of traditional patchwork in France. Soon, however, a more creative movement began to emerge, enabling studio artists to express themselves using textiles, and leading in 1998 to the creation of a new movement inside France Patchwork called “Artextures.” This group attracts a number of fiber artists, most of them professionals. They use innova-tive materials, create three-dimensional pieces, and, thanks to the help of France Patchwork, are exhibited in national museums. A new generation of 30-some-thing artists is joining this movement, an encouraging sign for art quilts throughout France. Most of the French artists work alone, perhaps due to the fact that the French are quite individualistic.
Anne Woringer, Edith Raymond, and Cosabeth Parriaud, who live in Paris, are probably the individu-als most credited with initiating the art quilt move-ment in France back in the 1970s, followed by artists throughout France, including Geneviève Attinger, Maryvonne Deville Guillot, Solange Lasbleis, Lena Mezsaros, Marie Claude Bertin, Lydie Clergerie, France Brechignac, Gabrielle Paquin, and many more.
Anne Woringer studied fine arts. The 1972 quilt exhibition was a major discovery for her, after which she made traditional quilts. But then she found her
above:
Edith Raymond Echelle jaune (Yellow Ladder)31 x 24 inches, 2011
Photo by Yves Denoyelle
above right:
Cosabeth Parriaud Métro parisien (Paris Subway)40 x 40 inches, 2014
Photo by Yves Denoyelle
opposite:
Geneviève Attinger La rumeur (The Rumor)46 x 46 inches, 2011
Collection of the International Quilt Study Center & Museum (Lincoln, Nebraska)
12 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly
own style, inspired by ethnic art, and began dyeing her own fabrics. Woring-er’s art quilts are now in international private collections as well as in muse-ums, such as the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska, and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. Woringer believes the art quilt needs to find more followers in France, and textile artists have difficulty being recognized as such in France.
Edith Raymond is an architect, an illustrator of children’s books, and a fashion designer. She is a self-taught textile artist, influenced by her own naive drawings that she reproduces in textiles. Raymond loves to embroider, as this handwork enables her to relax. About her approach to art making, she says, “Patchwork is the appearance, the large format, a physical work, an open-ing; it’s also the precision of shapes; it’s a day-time work, while embroidery, masks, and small characters are inti-mate, a secret work, thus a night-time work.”
Cosabeth Parriaud explores colors, adapting them to simple geometric shapes — squares, rectangles, circles, and stripes, whose familiar lines are universal. She combines different techniques and materials and continu-ally tries to refine her work, keeping in mind that “less is more.”
Gabrielle Paquin, unable to find an identity through painting, found hers in creating art quilts. She started by making traditional quilts while attend-ing design classes in an art school. Fifteen years ago, after reading a book on the history of striped fabrics by Michel Pastoureau, a French medieval scholar, she started to combine striped fabrics in her quilts. “I consider myself
a part of the group of French artists who explore all the aspects of textile creation without being influenced by any particular style, while the Amer-icans tend to follow a certain trend. The Modern quilt movement is one example,” says Paquin.
Geneviève Attinger lives in Brittany and works alone in her studio. Her work is very personal; she considers herself a storyteller who writes what she feels with textiles and threads. “I am a self-made artist who took some embroidery and lace-making classes. Because I never took any art classes with textile teachers, I have never been influenced by their work, and my cre-ations reflect my feelings exclusively.” Attinger’s quilts have been acquired by various museums and private collec-tions in France as well as in the U.S. One of her pieces was selected for Quilt Visions 2018 San Diego, California. “I
am so proud and happy! I tried many times without success and at last here it is, my work has been selected, which means that we should never give up,” she says.
My apologies to all the artists whose comments cannot be published here for lack of space. We could talk at length about the art quilt situation in France and how much we still need to strive to be recognized as artists and accepted into national museums. Slowly but surely, that will happen!
Gül Laporte discovered quilting when she moved to Houston, Texas, in 1982. Back in Europe, she helped spread new techniques learned in the U.S. to French and other European students. She also authored two quilting books, one in French and one in English, and today she writes articles for Magic Patch magazine. From 2003 until 2016, Laporte served as a consultant for the European Patchwork Meeting. A board member of SAQA and member of several SAQA committees, Laporte now resides in Portugal.
SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 13
special preview special preview4 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 5
28 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly
artists to watch
Kit VincentOttawa, Ontario, Canada
Kit Vincent’s painterly, abstract pieces are the work of a master colorist. Strip piecing forms the powerful strokes in her work. Hand-dyed fabrics and surface design techniques build true personal color and layered meaning into each piece.
Catching the bugI came to quilting through the back door for an odd but practical reason. A few years ago, my new din-ing room was an echo chamber. I needed something large and colorful to dampen the sound. A large, mid-century masterpiece was not within my budget, so I made a wall hanging. After all, I could sew a bit, but what I knew about quilting would have fit into a teacup.
I found a Threads article on Judith Larzelere’s strip-piecing technique. I was impressed with her beautiful, bold quilts and also with the efficient
SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 29
“quilt as you go” technique. Inspired by the article, my very first quilt measured no less than 8 by 8 feet. It hung on my dining room wall for several years despite the fact that it was a technical mess.
More importantly, I had caught the quilting bug.
Style evolutionI soon came across the work of Nancy Crow. I had dabbled with several fine arts media over the years, but Crow’s large, bold fabric com-positions stopped me in my tracks. Her stun-ning work reminded me of large and colorful mid-century abstract paintings. Her work proved that quilting could be fine art. I took her classes and have benefitted from her artistic insight ever since.
I found success shaping fabric freehand with a rotary cutter and composing directly on a design wall. I learned how to compose and piece large abstract and semi-abstract works. I experi-mented with several construction methods.
My work is all about color and cloth. I begin without expectation and allow the design to surface. Gesture, movement, and color are the key elements as I stitch across pieced substrate panels with narrow strips of cloth. Each panel sets the tone for its neighbor. The only things I know up front are the approximate size of the final piece and a sense of the overall texture and color palette. The top layer works with under-lying shapes to create a visual dance that feeds its neighboring panels. This is the part of the design process I enjoy the most.
Each surface strip is cut to measure and applied in a specific direction to create a line, a mark, or a group of lines that produce a colored
right:
Tricolor White72 x 72 inches, 2017
below right:
Tricolor Blue72 x 72 inches, 2017
special preview special preview6 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 7
28 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly
artists to watch
Kit VincentOttawa, Ontario, Canada
Kit Vincent’s painterly, abstract pieces are the work of a master colorist. Strip piecing forms the powerful strokes in her work. Hand-dyed fabrics and surface design techniques build true personal color and layered meaning into each piece.
Catching the bugI came to quilting through the back door for an odd but practical reason. A few years ago, my new din-ing room was an echo chamber. I needed something large and colorful to dampen the sound. A large, mid-century masterpiece was not within my budget, so I made a wall hanging. After all, I could sew a bit, but what I knew about quilting would have fit into a teacup.
I found a Threads article on Judith Larzelere’s strip-piecing technique. I was impressed with her beautiful, bold quilts and also with the efficient
SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 29
“quilt as you go” technique. Inspired by the article, my very first quilt measured no less than 8 by 8 feet. It hung on my dining room wall for several years despite the fact that it was a technical mess.
More importantly, I had caught the quilting bug.
Style evolutionI soon came across the work of Nancy Crow. I had dabbled with several fine arts media over the years, but Crow’s large, bold fabric com-positions stopped me in my tracks. Her stun-ning work reminded me of large and colorful mid-century abstract paintings. Her work proved that quilting could be fine art. I took her classes and have benefitted from her artistic insight ever since.
I found success shaping fabric freehand with a rotary cutter and composing directly on a design wall. I learned how to compose and piece large abstract and semi-abstract works. I experi-mented with several construction methods.
My work is all about color and cloth. I begin without expectation and allow the design to surface. Gesture, movement, and color are the key elements as I stitch across pieced substrate panels with narrow strips of cloth. Each panel sets the tone for its neighbor. The only things I know up front are the approximate size of the final piece and a sense of the overall texture and color palette. The top layer works with under-lying shapes to create a visual dance that feeds its neighboring panels. This is the part of the design process I enjoy the most.
Each surface strip is cut to measure and applied in a specific direction to create a line, a mark, or a group of lines that produce a colored
right:
Tricolor White72 x 72 inches, 2017
below right:
Tricolor Blue72 x 72 inches, 2017
special preview special preview6 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 7
30 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly
shape. Pinning and sewing these strips is the slowest part of the process, but it’s not unlike applying daubs of paint or collaging shapes to a colored surface. The fabric strips butt against each other and work together to create patterns within each square and across the piece.
New directionRecently, I felt the need to breathe new life into my work. My goal is to create a magical color vibration with several layers of dyed fabric sewn atop each other. I want to suggest movement using narrow
strips of fabric. It wasn’t until I began cutting and layering thin strips of hand-dyed fabric that I could see this as a possibility. Still working in an improvi-sational way directly on the wall, I have let go of the clean, sewn, quilted surfaces and “no loose threads” rule of my early work. I now feature raw edges and loose threads. These new compositions have taken on a painterly aspect that I like.
In 2008, I began an art-cloth study program with Jane Dunnewold of San Antonio, Texas. For three years, I was immersed in dyeing, painting, discharg-ing, laminating, and foiling. These processes allow
me to build in true personal color and layer meaning into my work. I gained an in-depth understanding of what art cloth is and how I could use it in my textile work. I now buy prepared-for-dyeing cotton and silk fabrics and create my own personal color palette. The resulting fabrics represent a sensual and easily mani-pulated ground that can be dyed, painted, folded, cut, stitched, or embroidered. They can be made to have weight, mass, and texture, and are less constraining than primed stretched canvas.
Making abstract art with cloth involves varying degrees of getting it right, doing something with it, perhaps even redesigning it. I get a thrill by honoring and universalizing my own personal views.
I’m currently focused on creative lines, shapes, spaces, forms, and textures. These elements underpin most images I see every day and with which I am familiar. The variety of ways these elements can be mixed, matched, and reinterpreted is mind-boggling and thrilling.
InspirationAll genres in art are valid. All are authentic. Elemen-tal lines, shapes, forms, and textures are universal in nature and embedded in our subconscious. I seek these out to recombine them into an overall textile composition — not unlike an abstract painter. My goal is to challenge the perception of this chosen material and create an emotional response with the viewer.
Apart from the inspiration that comes from the tac-tile appeal of dyed cotton and silk under my fingers, I am often inspired by other visual art. For me, inspi-ration can be elusive; there’s no formula to it. It could result from a trip to a museum, a news item that grabs me, or simply a piece of fabric.
www.kitvincent.com
left:
Chaos Butterfly65 x 65 inches, 2014
below:
Seagate47 x 67 inches, 2013
special preview special preview8 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 9
30 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly
shape. Pinning and sewing these strips is the slowest part of the process, but it’s not unlike applying daubs of paint or collaging shapes to a colored surface. The fabric strips butt against each other and work together to create patterns within each square and across the piece.
New directionRecently, I felt the need to breathe new life into my work. My goal is to create a magical color vibration with several layers of dyed fabric sewn atop each other. I want to suggest movement using narrow
strips of fabric. It wasn’t until I began cutting and layering thin strips of hand-dyed fabric that I could see this as a possibility. Still working in an improvi-sational way directly on the wall, I have let go of the clean, sewn, quilted surfaces and “no loose threads” rule of my early work. I now feature raw edges and loose threads. These new compositions have taken on a painterly aspect that I like.
In 2008, I began an art-cloth study program with Jane Dunnewold of San Antonio, Texas. For three years, I was immersed in dyeing, painting, discharg-ing, laminating, and foiling. These processes allow
me to build in true personal color and layer meaning into my work. I gained an in-depth understanding of what art cloth is and how I could use it in my textile work. I now buy prepared-for-dyeing cotton and silk fabrics and create my own personal color palette. The resulting fabrics represent a sensual and easily mani-pulated ground that can be dyed, painted, folded, cut, stitched, or embroidered. They can be made to have weight, mass, and texture, and are less constraining than primed stretched canvas.
Making abstract art with cloth involves varying degrees of getting it right, doing something with it, perhaps even redesigning it. I get a thrill by honoring and universalizing my own personal views.
I’m currently focused on creative lines, shapes, spaces, forms, and textures. These elements underpin most images I see every day and with which I am familiar. The variety of ways these elements can be mixed, matched, and reinterpreted is mind-boggling and thrilling.
InspirationAll genres in art are valid. All are authentic. Elemen-tal lines, shapes, forms, and textures are universal in nature and embedded in our subconscious. I seek these out to recombine them into an overall textile composition — not unlike an abstract painter. My goal is to challenge the perception of this chosen material and create an emotional response with the viewer.
Apart from the inspiration that comes from the tac-tile appeal of dyed cotton and silk under my fingers, I am often inspired by other visual art. For me, inspi-ration can be elusive; there’s no formula to it. It could result from a trip to a museum, a news item that grabs me, or simply a piece of fabric.
www.kitvincent.com
left:
Chaos Butterfly65 x 65 inches, 2014
below:
Seagate47 x 67 inches, 2013
special preview special preview8 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 9
38 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly
Portfolio
Nan33 x 29 inches (84 x 74 cm) | 2017private collection
Margaret AbramsheSt. George, Utah USAmetaphysicalquilter.com
SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 53
Garden Party #253 x 36 inches (137 x 91 cm) | 2016
Caryl Bryer Fallert-GentryPort Townsend, Washington, USA
www.bryerpatch.com
special preview special preview10 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 11
38 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly
Portfolio
Nan33 x 29 inches (84 x 74 cm) | 2017private collection
Margaret AbramsheSt. George, Utah USAmetaphysicalquilter.com
SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 53
Garden Party #253 x 36 inches (137 x 91 cm) | 2016
Caryl Bryer Fallert-GentryPort Townsend, Washington, USA
www.bryerpatch.com
special preview special preview10 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly | 11
78 | SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly
Portfolio
Council of Six71 x 73 inches (180 x 185 cm) | 2016photo by Jack Kulawick
Kathleen SharpTucson, Arizona, USAwww.kathleensharpartquilts.blogspot.com
Art Quilt Quarterly
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We hope you have enjoyed this special preview of SAQA’s
SAQA Journal • 2018 | No. 3 • 47
JAM SHOWCASE
Isabelle WiesslerRindenspiel I31.5 x 12 inches | 2016
Nature, life, strength, and durability—there is hardly another symbol that could be as meaningful as the tree. The color and the structure of tree bark, which comes through weather and time, was my inspiration for a varied combination of stitching and mark making. In this three-dimensional sculpture, my aim is to give room for everyone’s own imagination.
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