August 30, 2010

Centralia

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Centralia 
 41"h x 59"w

On the way home from Spoon River, I visited the desolate town
of Centralia.  My new imaginary city is done.
New residents are moving in. Applications are still open.

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August 27, 2010

Magic




how magic is made: the ingredients of a myth

choices skill see
introspection risk
mistakes hope
concentration practice
mastery curiosity
imagination
discipline
patience homework
persistence


July 19, 2010

Spoon River

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Spoon River
40"h x 56"w

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June 8, 2010

1000 Artisan Textiles


Here is the cover--one of my pieces is featured in the
bottom row, 2nd in from the right.  A cover girl at my age!

What a pleasure to have my work included in
the "1000 Artisan Textiles" book due out
May 2010 by Rockport Publishers/Quarry Books.
Thank you Gina M. Brown and also Sandra
Salamony, editor and wonderful artist in her
own right. Directly from them:

"This beautiful collection includes fine artisan examples of 
contemporary textiles and fiber art including quilts, linens, garments,
 wall hangings, and wearable art. A wide variety of techniques
 are featured, including hand and machine embroidery,
 decorative stitching, batik, dyeing, fabric painting, appliquè, felt,
 and all types of surface decoration. Full-color photography
 features both full views as well as close ups that will
 allow readers to appreciate the finer details of many works."


May 6, 2010

May Pop Used Tires

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 urban graffitti
sketched and stitched mix-media


February 12, 2010

Performance Center for the Arts

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I just got back from hanging a second piece in Rock Hill's
new Performance Center for the Arts. Here it is flanked
by Katie Medlock, Technology Coordinator for the
Arts Council of York County. Thanks also
to Harriet (and Martin!) Goode for having me again!

The piece is titled "Venezuelan Symphony" and I made
it as a tribute to my beloved homeland. Be sure to click
to enlarge so as to better see the hand-dyed fabrics.
This is one of several works that will be featured in a
spread in the soon-to-be-released book "1000 Artisan Textiles." 


February 8, 2010

Sightlines Curator's Statement

"It was my joyful task to invite the fourteen artists who created the large and unique installations comprising Sightlines.

My vision for Sightlines was of a collection of artwork that was so strong and meaningful that the required continuous sightline would be subverted and assume secondary importance.

I wanted artists for Sightlines who were making art about Something. Not necessarily something momentous or earthshaking, but definitely artwork about something that motivated the artist to create artwork of the highest standards both in its materiality and its meaning. We have all seen art that is gorgeous and technically brilliant, but so mindless and without depth that we do no more than glance at it and then glance away, disappointed.

As I studied artists’ images and websites, I had this quote posted near my computer (from Barbara Kingsolver, writing in Small Wonders about her definition of a good short story):

"It will tell something remarkable, it will be beautifully executed, and it will be nested in truth. If it can tell me something I didn’t already know, or maybe suspected, but never framed quite that way, or never before had socked me so divinely in the solar plexus, that was a story worth the read.

The invited artists were already creating artwork that promised a personal, dynamic, and coherent installation for Sightlines. Their artwork not only told an intriguing story, but also enlarged our definition of what an art quilt might be.

It may be argued that the overriding theme of the artwork created for Sightlines is the interaction of time, personal history, and memory. Perhaps the requirement of a continuous line throughout the exhibit ultimately could not be subverted and provoked this thematic trajectory in conscious and unconscious ways.

Britta Ankenbauer’s and Annie Helmericks-Louder’s artworks speak to our hyper-consumerism and our shortsightedness as a sentient species. They ask us to slow down and to become more mindful of our place in a larger world.

Shelley Brenner Baird contemplates the role of randomness in our lives, the predictability of unpredictability. Yael David-Cohen explores windows as a metaphor for what we reveal and what we conceal from the world.

Regina Benson’s wildfires, Sue Dennis’s dry lands, Wendy Lugg’s “new land,” and Pat Owoc’s sweeping prairies all distill for us basic stories about history, emotion, and memory tied to very specific landscapes.

In each of their artworks, Linda Colsh, Kathy Nida, and Jayne Willoughby Scott discuss the convoluted triumphs and tragedies of our short lives as humans. These stories are found in a playful interaction with a red umbrella, in the craziness of a daily life full of vigor, or in a poem written for a funeral.

Fulvia Luciano and Mirjam Pet-Jacobs both explore the difficulties of making connections, of building bridges of understanding. Their artworks speak to us about longing and missed opportunities. In contrast, Leni Levenson Wiener’s artwork shows us that relationships are at the core of our existence, even though we all begin and end our life’s journey alone.

Each of the artists has brought to her Sightlines artwork knowledge, wit, passion, maturity, confidence, and a point of view. These fourteen artists are indeed telling stories about Something.

I thank Studio Art Quilt Associates for the opportunity to serve as curator for this exhibit and Peg Keeney for serving as a patient resource."

— Virginia Spiegel