The Art of Quilt Making, by the Pelham Quilters at DMA Gallery

I can't believe this is still sitting in draft.  This show was in April.  My sincere apologies, but this has been a crazy year.  I lost my mother in May.  She was 87 and lived a good life, but she was suffering and it wa very hard to see her in such pain.  She is finally at rest and reunited with her true loves, God and my father... The best husband in the world according to her :-).

Once I got myself out of my slump, it was time to focus on my daughter's wedding and her wedding quilt.  She was married on August 31st and was a lovely bride.  But that is for another post.  

So this is a show that 5 women in my local guild, Pelham Quilters, had in a local gallery, DMA Gallery.  Unfortunately the gallery closed shortly after the exhibit closed, but for us it was extremely successful. 

Opening night was packed and then the gallery held a book signing (first two pictures below) for two local authors, that also brought folks in to see our work.   

This is "Umoja, Goddess of the Sea" by Donna Chambers. 

Here is a local artist viewing one of my pieces, "In the spotlight". 

Donna is discussing her artistic process in the making of "Fashionista". 

The curator, Lynnette, welcoming everyone during the opening reception.  You can see my kimono inspired piece "Pathways" hanging in the window, and a part of one of my woven pieces, "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" on the easel.   My piece "Sista Chat" is hanging on the front of the pedestal from which Lynnette is speaking.  

The next three pieces were made by guild member, MaryAnn Ciccotelli.  

Here I am, thanking everyone for coming and sharing some back ground on Pelham Quilters, and the five exhibiting quilters.

These three pieces are by guild member, Sandra Parrott.

This is my most recent piece, "Which Path would You Take".  I was very pleased that it sold during the opening reception.

Here's Sandra, in front of one of her small pieces, "Tumbling Blocks".  

To the left you can see a corner of MaryAnn's quilt and on the right is my parrott piece, "Jungle Paradise".  

This is another of Sandra Parrott's work.  She does wonderful small art quilt pieces.  

I know it is late, but I hope you enjoyed seeing our show.  I will have a solo exhibit in January 2015 at Etui Fiber Arts in Larchmont, NY.  

I've been busy.. sorry it has been over a month since I've posted.

So March and April seems so much like a whirlwind.

Our exhibit, "The Art of Quilt Making" at The Design Management Art Gallery, in Pelham, NY in March was a big hit.  4 pieces were sold, including 2 of mine, "Which Path Would You Take?" (subject of my last post) and "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy".  I have been quilting for just over 13 years and in the last two years, have gotten the confidence to show my work outside of the normal quilting circles, family and friends.  I have been honored to see the reaction to my work, but most importantly have grown, since with the exposure comes my awareness of how much more I have to learn.  I think that is one of the reasons quilting speaks volumes to me...  as long as you are open to experimentation and practice...  the possibilities seem endless.

Well a few days after the exhibit in Pelham closed, my fiber art group, FiberArts Northeast (FANE), held there yearly gallery exhibit.  This year's exhibit was entitled "Architectural Elements" and I couldn't think of a more fitting gallery for the exhibit to launch than at a new fiber arts store and gallery, called 'Etui Fiber Arts".  Etui is located in a renovated old pharmacy, where the owner, Julie Saviano had the foresight to expose some of the original brick work and high ceilings.  Larchmont, the town where the shop is located has so many old buildings, just full of architectural wonders.  It was just a fabulous launchpad for the exhibit (besides the fact that the store is absolutely wonderful!).  Each piece in "Architectural Elements" had just one requirement, beside size, it had to include or represent an architectural element.  Size limitation was 18" x 30" and the piece could either stand up on  pedestal or hang on a wall.  Our leader encouraged us to include a 3D element, of which many members did.  Since the members of FANE come from all different backgrounds .... collage, felting, dying, quilting, printmaking,  etc....  the pieces were all so different.  Here is a picture of mine.  It is entitled "Just Knock...I'll Be There For You".  It does hang on the wall with timtex as its structural element.  My original theme was the knocker, which in does swing up and down, for the viewer to knock on my door, but once the knocker was made, the door itself, became such a strong visual statement.  I had fun adding the old wrought iron accents to the red door, in tribute to Larchmont, which has many homes and churches with red doors with ornate wrought iron hardware.

On top of the Architectural Elements show, I was also busy working on this years challenge for FANE.....  Opposites.  Meant to include a visual representation of opposites the piece had challenging hanging requirements as the concept had to be clear if the piece, which had to be made in two pieces, was hung on a wall, side by side, or over a stand, similar to the way our kimono inspiration pieces hung last year.  The Opposites exhibit opens next weekend at the Northern Star Quilt Guild show as a special exhibit.  The show runs May 3-4th at Kennedy High School in Somers, NY if you are free and can come by.

I will do separate posts on all the pieces in both FANE exhibits, as well as a post on the Pelham show in the coming weeks.  I promise :-).

The Art of Quilt Making: Featuring Quilts of the Pelham Quilters (that's me) @ DMA Gallery, Pelham, NY

That's right, I will be one of five fiber artists featured at a gallery exhibit in Pelham, NY.  DMA Gallery in Pelham, NY has chosen to feature quilts of 5 members of the Pelham Quilters in their upcoming Fiber Arts exhibit.  I am so happy to have been chosen to participate.  They even used a part of one of my quilts for the artwork on the evite for the opening reception!

The exhibit will run March 6th to April 6th, with an Opening Reception on Thursday, March 6th at 6pm.  If you live nearby, I hope you stop in for the opening, or at least stop by the gallery during the month.  They are open Tuesday-Saturdays from 1-7pm EST. 

I am so excited!!

I got pictures this time!

So I finally made it to NYC to the Art Quilt Gallery to see the Kimono Inspirations exhibit.  You have heard me talk about the exhibit and the kimonos that we made, so I won't go on and on.  But I had promised pics that I never got, so here they are....

Hope you enjoy the look see:

The gallery hung them all as designed, draped over a pole, except one.  I thought it gave it a really interesting perspective.  It really does look like a kimono :-)

 It's position really allowed me to get up close to take close up pictures....

They did display a few of them on the stands as originally designed.  This is how they were exhibited at the original show in Somers.

Of course, I had to take a pic of me with my kimono, Pathways, hanging in the gallery...

Hope you enjoyed!

Poetic Fragments

On April 28th, my Fiber Arts group, FiberArts NorthEast (FANE), hosted an Artist Reception for the Poetic Fragments exhibit at the Gallery at the Mahopac Library.  The exhibit is hanging until the end of May, so if you are in the area, please stop by.  There is no admission and there are almost 30 unique pieces!

This post will just be a series of photos, as I share all the wonderful small works done by the group.  Each piece could be no more that 14" on any side, had to be made of more that one element and was to be inspired by a line in a poem or a song.  The finished pieces were attached to an 18" canvass and displayed on the wall.

My apologies to the few artists whose names I missed....

Summer Kiss by Vivien Zepf

NY State of Mind by Donna Chambers

 A Pest Sense of How Not to Fly by Jane Davila

 A Rally Cry Unites Us  by Christine Wilheim

Arrangement in Grey and Black by Andrea Shedletsky

 Blue Grass  by Nike Cutsumpas

 Butterflies by Maxine Oliver

Circles by Elaine Sullivan

 Enkindled Spring  by Carolyn Drillick

Enlightened by Natalyia Aikens ....  this piece amazed me, because except for the thread and the dark brown building on the left that was felted, the rest is made on recycled plastic bags!!  Yep, you read that right :-)

 Float and Dance by Artist Unknown

 Golden Bugs by Nancy Mirmen

I Hope You Dance by me, Renee Fleuranges-Valdes

I Have a Song to Sing by Fran Osinoff

Seasons  by Artist Unknown

Serenity by Claire Oehler

 The Taven by Linda Long

 Title and Artist Unkown

 To Time by Artist Unknown

Tree Study VI Forest Shadows  by Barbara Sferra

 Tree by Kathy Tahnke

 Variations in Red by Carolyn Spiegel

White Crane Spreads Its Wings by Martha

Zen Garden by Judy Gignesi

A view of the company my piece is in :-)

A New York State of Mind and Forest Shadows, have already sold.  Most of the others are available for purchase via the artists.