Subversive Fiber Art by Women on Off the Wall Friday

Wonderland, Miriam Schapiro, 1983

 Over the years, I've written posts ranting about how nobody gets what we really do.  I'm mean sure people might understand what a quilt is.  What they don't get is the blood, sweat and tears that goes into a quilt.  Okay, so that's a little dramatic...but really have you met me?  Realistically though, it's that extra "something" that makes quilt making much more than a simple craft.  It's definitely an art form no matter if you do

detail, The Bitter Nest, Part II

traditional or modern or art or a mixture of all three.  

And that's what was celebrated at the Renwick Museum's exhibit, Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women.  This was the final stop in our recent visit to Washington DC art museums. Looking back at the experience, I spent my whole time investigating how each woman made her pieces, wondering what her creative process was like.  I looked at the mark of the hand that was on display and marveled at the artists' choice of textures.  

What I didn't do was really look into the backstory of each piece.  For me, it's normally one or the other.  I can look at a piece as a form of independent art or I can see what the piece is trying to express to me.  Normally, I can't do both in one sitting or at least not on the first visit.  I figured that there would be plenty of the story of each piece on-line, so on my visit, I focused on the art by itself.  

The Bitter Nest, Part II: The Harlem Renaissance Party,
Faith Ringgold, 1988

And I wasn't disappointed.  I only recognized a few of the names I saw.  Most pieces were more than 30 years old, only proving that fiber art has always been around. (Which by the way the world seem to discover when the Gee Band quilts made such a splash)   The one that left me in awe was I finally got to see a quilt by Faith Ringgold in person.  Her quilt, The Bitter Nest, Part II: The Harlem Renaissance Party tells the story of an imaginary family.  The story is depicted through the figures in the center, while written in words around the edge.  Another thing checked off my  life's bucket list....see a Faith Ringgold quilt in person.  

The exhibit wasn't just about the art pieces themselves, but the stories that went behind them  To that end they held an open house where the artists and visitors got to mingle.  Gosh, I would have loved to been at that. Please click here though to see the pictures, because it will show you how amazing the exhibit looked in person.  They also produced a 10 episode podcast, Backstitch to feature each artist talking about her pieces in her own words.  Plus they even have a lecture on YouTube, that I haven't gotten a chance to watch.    So I was proven right - there was plenty of information about each piece online for a deeper dive into the meanings of the art.  

Besides the pieces themselves, the highlight of the exhibit was a small room that featured a peak into the work product of the artists.  When I'm doing an art quilt, I tend to have all sorts of "research" before I create.  Apparently, I'm not alone.  Not often is the viewer treated with peak behind the curtain.  Lia Cook was kind enough to show us her thought process. 

The piece I liked the most was Carolyn Mazloomi, Family Embraces (1997).  When I saw it, I said, "OMGosh!  It's hand quilted."  A voice behind me, countered "Oh it can't be.  Nothing that modern would be."  Luckily my back was to the woman because I literally rolled my eyes.  Seriously, the stereotypes of our art will never cease.  Anyways, I digress.  I thought Mazloomi's use of line in such a strong graphic statement really masterful.  And yes, the hand quilting was amazing too.  

The Family Embraces, Carolyn Mazloomi, 1997

Needless to say, it was a fitting end to our visit to DC.  The Renwick never ceases to disappoint.  I just wish it was bigger.  

And that leads me to say...

What Have You Been Up to Creatively?

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American Art and Portraiture on Off the Wall Friday

Scenes from American Life, Beach, Gertrude Goodrich, 1914
(Treasury Dept, From the Cafeteria, Section of Fines Arts Mural!)

 

Our recent trip to Washington DC also included our first visit to The Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture.  It is better known as the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  To tell you the truth, until I got home and read the Wikipedia article, I didn't quite understand where one museum started and one ended.  Apparently, the way it's laid out now, it just flows together seamlessly, which is what I observed.  It's such an interesting museum since it's not really laid out in a gallery setting, but more, like it actually is...a reuse of the old Patent building.  

Cape Code Morning, Edward Hopper 

The art is ... well... just astounding.  Since it's not set up like a conventional gallery, there is art everywhere- every hall - every little room - next to the staircase.  You never know when you're going to turn the corner and see a painting that you only thought you'd see in books.  At one point, I spotted my husband after looking for him for 10 minutes and walked right past a treasure that I caught out of my perifacial vision. I stopped dead in my tracks.  OMG!  There was Cape Code Morning by Edward Hopper.  I've always loved that painting because of the great use of color blocking and PLUS I want to know what the woman is so urgently looking at.    Anyways, it made me gasp! out loud.  So much so that the docent laughed.  I had to apologize and say, sorry I just didn't expect to see a Hopper just hanging out here in the hall.  She laughed harder.  

Barack Obama, Kehinde Wiley, 2018

The Presidential Gallery was amazing.  It was fun to go through the chronological order of the portraits and see if you could remember who would be next!  If you're wondering, Obama's painting looks much better in person - way more depth - less characture.  Really it's quite breath taking and I didn't expect that at all.  Trump had a somber powerful photo in place till his painting is done.  He'll probably have the numbers 45, 47 next to his in keeping with Cleveland's 22,24.  Lincoln's portrait was nearly as impressive as his monument.  

One thing I did notice was that there a concerted effort to feature previous marginalized artists through the museum.  On that note, I found a new favorite piece, Three Figures by Lorna Simpson which is an ink and screen print portrait of a race riot being hosed to dispersed.  

Gorgeous right?

I would call this just an intro visit since we only saw 2 floors before I called "uncle" to my husband.  Apparently, 15K steps is all this ole gal could take for one day.  I do love that the museum is open 11-7, so you can see another museum in the morning and this one in the afternoon.  It does have a great art museum gift shop but no place to have lunch of a snack.  Plus, it this amazing atrium which was all lit for Christmas.  I love that it's become vague to put in gorgeous atriums into museums, especially those that are in winter climes.   It always feels like summer in there.   

Obviously, we'll be back.  

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Paris 1874 on Off the Wall Friday

One of the First Rooms of the Paris:1874 exhibit

 Okay, show of hands...who here when you think of art history, think immediately of impressionist paintings?  I wouldn't doubt that out of all art movements, impressionism is by far the most known and beloved.  I know, that's where I started my art history journey. It's still one of my favorites.  I think it's partly due to the fact that it's representational (which also makes it approachable) without being too stuffy.  Plus, the colors and the subjects just capture moments in everyday life that let you  live them over and over.  

The Railway, Edouard Monet, 1873

So when the National Gallery in Washington, DC put together an exhibit, Paris, 1874: The Impressionist Moment, we put it on our "must do list".  It exhibits 130 paintings from what is now considered to be first impressionist art show. To my art quilt friends, see if this scenario sounds familiar. Apparently, in 1874, the most successful artists were creating large dramatic paintings of historical and biblical scenes.  The Paris Salon was the annual art show of the time, where half a million people visited.  Of course, it favored this more conventional art style where wealthy patrons would buy art and sponsor artists.  

In comes who we now know as the impressionists.  Artists, most famously Claude Monet, had been experimenting with a looser style of painting where the subject is stylized in a more relaxed way.  Also, the canvases were smaller.  These paintings were all rejected by the Salon's jurors to be in the annual show.  Because of this, 31 artists came together to organize their own show.  In April of 1874, 200 artists (not all impressionists) showed their work.  

The Ballet Rehearsal, Edgar Degas, 1874

Although, it was not a huge commercial success with only 3500 visitors, it really was the birthplace of the impressionist movement.  It's amazing how many world-famous paintings were in the exhibit that year.  Even Monet's Impressionism Sunrise 1872 was featured, and that painting gave the name to the whole movement.   You can read the full story here.  

To say the exhibit was stunning would be an understatement.  To me, it was a bit surreal. So many paintings, I've been admiring for years, were just a finger reach away.  The colors are all so much more vibrant in person. You could see the individual paint strokes and then you would stand back to see the whole composition.  Just stunning.  And overwhelming.  

Impressionism, Sunrise 1872, Claude Monet

The exhibit has been super popular as you can imagine.  Never before had these paintings been brought all together from all over the world.  We got there at 10 am on a Monday morning and there was line a block long at least waiting to get into the gallery.  The docent said it is much, much worse on the weekends. 

The highlight for me was seeing the work of the women artists of the impressionist movement.  Just seeing The Cradle by Berthe Morisot in person was a thrill. Several of her paintings were featured.  Everywhere you look you would see real women of the time painted with - get this - their clothes on. 

The Cradle, Berthe Morisot, 1872

We finished our time at the Gallery, by visiting the Impressionist rooms and a bit of the American section from the early 1900's.  My husband is fan boying over Sargent right now so we hunted all of those down as well.  I've learned from past visits, its better to take the National Gallery in 4 or 5 hour bites.  

The Gallery's Rotunda at Christmas

I know, I know for a quilting blog I've been doing a bunch of art posts lately..but what can I say?  At Winter Solstice on Lake Erie, it's grey days and long nights.  It's a good time for some colorful art.

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DC on a Dime on Off the Wall Friday

The Renwick Gallery, The National Museum of Craft

 So this past week, I got spontaneous.  Yep, you read that right...the princess of plan decided at the last minute to take a quick trip to Washington DC.  Two of our favorite art museums, the National Gallery and the Renwick Gallery had some great exhibitions that are going to close in the beginning of January.  We've been trying to make time to see them, but with our early winter here on Lake Erie, it's been hard to find a few good weather days.  I saw that it was going to be 65 in DC this week, so I thought it was now or never. 

Washington DC is a wonderful place to visit.  Still when I talked to my friends, so many people haven't gone because they found the whole trip a little intimidating.  It's not.  No, really, it's a pretty easy place to plan an inexpensive, interesting trip.  My version of ....

DC on a Dime...warning what follows is purely my opinion and anecdotal experience

1.  Choose a date.  Since, I don't do hot, humid very well I shoot for fall or spring (not cherry blossom season which varies year to year).  I will also do warm winter days because DC will get spells of 40-60 degrees in the winter which is actually pretty nice for walking. I also check when Congress is not in session, because with all of Congress AND their staff, the hotels are booked and more expensive.  
2. Drive.  I personally love a nice road trip and we are only 5.5 hrs from DC which is very doable.  Driving through Pennsylvania is a blessing and a curse though.  The blessing is that the Turnpike takes you through the north end of the Appalachia region which is gorgeous any time year. The curse is that the PA Turnpike is literally the most expensive toll road in the world...yes ...THE WORLD. Anyways, if you're within 8 hrs of driving, I suggest take a ride.

   

   Ballston Neighborhood, Arlington, VA

   
   
3. Stay in the Suburbs.  After a bit of research, I decided on staying in Arlington.  It's a quick Metro ride to the capital and it always feels clean and safe.  We stay in the Ballston neighborhood which is walkable and there are a ton of places to eat.  We stay at the Ballston Comfort Inn because they have free parking, clean, reasonable rates (this trip my hotel was $99/night - taxes included!), breakfast included, super friendly staff and a shuttle to the Metro station.  It could use some updating, but for just a quiet place to sleep, it was fine. (I like how Comfort Inn website will give me the prices for the calendar year so I know not to book my stay on January 20th when it would be $600/night)
4. Use the Metro.  The Metro is DC's subway.  Unlike what you might see on TV, this subway is clean, safe and easy to navigate.  Traffic in the area is so horrendous, I'm not sure why anybody would drive to work.  It has a great website, which makes it easy to plan out your day.  You put in where you are and where you want to go and it tells you how to get there.  Rides are usually
   
   
   somewhere between $2.50-$5 each way.  You can pay with your phone, but we just bought cards that can be reloaded at the stations or online.  They have stations everywhere and it's always fun to see where you are going to pop up.  Also, a lot of stations in the suburbs have parking lots so you can drive to an outer station, park and ride into city. (This is handy on days you're driving home).  If you've never used the Metro, I suggest you read the New Rider Guide.  
5. Pick 1 - 3 Places.  There is a TON to do in DC, a lot of which is iconic and free.  So, it's easy to get carried away and want to see it all.  I highly suggest you just do 1-3 places a trip because it can be overwhelming and exhausting.  We keep an eye on the websites of our favorite museums and venues and see what exhibitions are being offered.  We also try to visit mid

   

   Courtyard,
   National Portrait Gallery

   
   week because it's all quieter then.   I keep wanting to take a Monuments by Moonlight tour, but I'm always so exhausted when the museums close, I haven't made it yet.  
6. Wear comfortable shoes and clothes.  I keep saying this trip is low maintenance and inexpensive but it's a lot of walking.  I usually do about 10,000 to 15,000 steps a day there and for this office girl who normally does about 4,000 that's a lot.  Still, most of it is very flat, there are elevators at all the museums and there are plenty of places to sit and people watch.  I definitely suggest you do that.  There is no better place to sit and take in your surroundings than on the National Mall.  
7. Use TripAdvisor/Smart Phone.  Between TripAdvisor and your smart phone you can easily find food you want to eat, places you want to go and facts you want to look up.  We always find meals for $10-$20/each.  We have a habit of one big meal a day and one smaller one.  I used Google Maps to get me easily from place to place, but really it's all in one central area so it's hard to get lost. 

What did a day in DC in December cost for 2 of us?  For a 2 night/3 day stay...$200 for our hotel, $150/food (breakfast is free, we brought snacks and we ate one big meal out a day), $30 in metro fees, $0 for the museums and $30 for a new t-shirt.  Plus our gas & Tolls where $120.....$530.  For you math people that's about $88.33 per day per person.  I'm thinking for a vacation in big city, that's not bad at all.

I felt comfortable and safe the whole time.  The only thing that made me sad, was that everywhere we went outside, we would go in and out of the smell of marijuana.  Since, it's legal there, it has a tendency to be smelling the city up.  I guess it's a sign of the times. sigh

I promise to do posts of the exhibitions over the holidays..

Does Anybody Have Any Washington DC Trip Tips?

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It's Been A Week on Off the Wall Friday

Dorothea Lange, Seeing People Exhibit

 Okay so here is this week's tip....don't think you can take a quick 2-day trip to Washington DC and not come home exhausted and your mind a big creative blur.  We only saw 2 museums, The National Gallery and the National Museum of American History and it still was stimuli overload. It wasn't just the museums which were amazing in themselves, but also the whole National Mall area.  We took the metro in from Arlington, VA, and popped up in the Federal Triangle station which is the middle of 10 neoclassial HUGE buildings.  I truly could have gone and toured the architecture of the buildings you hear every day - IRS, EPA, etc.  

The Dorothea Lange exhibit was just as amazing as advertised.  The thing about the National Gallery is that they own so much art, that you never quite know what they are going to have up on view.  Not to mention, I keep getting lost in their galleries!  One of these trips, I'm going to take the map and just mark galleries off as I go through them.  

The American History Museum added the Entertainment Nation exhibit on the 3rd floor.  It's a mass of pop media culture with lights and music to match.  It truly was crazy!

So I came home with my creative soul full and my Fitbit happy.  And it got me thinking....the National Gallery is a free-use museum with all of Lange's work stored at the Library Congress....and it so happens they have a very useable website.....andddddd

Down the rabbit hole, I went!

I am suggesting you take time to look at all the amazing stuff the Library of Congress has put online BUT don't blame me if you end up looking for three days straight.    

I do have a very cool idea for my next series...but I promised my husband I would not start another until I finished my Calendar Cows.  To that end, August Vacation Cow is officially sewn!

Seven down ....Five to go....On to finishing up June Bride Cow!

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6 Facts You Didn't Know about Dorothea Lange on Off the Wall Friday

 

Dorothy's Lange

This week finds me traveling to Washington DC to visit the National Gallery.  We love the National

Dorothea Lange, Formerly enslaved
woman, Alabama, 1938

Mall since we are kinda museum junkies.  But we haven't been back since 2019 due to the dreaded plague.  I keep an eye on the National Gallery's webpage and discovered that they are running a Dorothea Lange exhibit through March.  So Paul is indulging me with a quick trip down to see it as well as the Mark Rothko exhibit and Masters of American Furniture, the Kaufman Collection (see a little something for me....a little something for him).

Am I the only one who is totally in love with Dorothea Lange's work?  Lange was a photojournalist who is best known for her work of depression-era migrant farm laborers in California and the documentation of the Japanese Internment during World War II.  What I love about her work is that she had a way of capturing her subject's true selves and it's like you are there talking to them.  

Dorothea Lange, Migrant agricultural worker's family, Nipomo, California, February 1936

Dorothea Lange, Nettie Featherston, wife of a migratory laborer with three children, near Childress, Texas, June 1938

It's been a while so I thought it was time for another installment of "Facts You Didn't Know".

6 Facts You Didn't Know about Dorothea Lange

1.  She had polio as a child.  Due to her polio, it left her right leg with a limp.  She felt it, "formed me, guided me, instructed me, helped me, and humiliated me."  She credits this life experience with shaping the rest of her life and how she saw other people. 

2.  She was married twice.  She married young to the famous artist Maynard Dixon who had his own prolific career as a painter.  The couple had two children.  After 15 years of marriage, Lange was recruited by  Paul Taylor to work on his research paper on the migrant farm workers of the Dust Bowl. He felt that her photographs would be a good pairing with the written word.  During this work, both divorced their spouses and married forming a long working partnership till her death in 1965.

3. She started her career as a celebrity photographer first in New York City and later in San Francisco.  Here she learned about lighting, atmosphere, and composition.  She also realized that to get the best photos, you needed to be in touch with your subjects.  With the onset of the Depression, her business was affected leading her to start photographing street people.

Dorothea Lange, Human Erosion in
California (Migrant Mother), 1936

4. She could not be hired as a photographer for the government, but rather her title was stenographer.  Paul Taylor was given a grant through Roosevelt's New Deal initiatives.  With these monies, he was able to recruit Lange but the government wouldn't accept her as  "photographer" so instead she had to accept the title of "stenographer".

5. Her iconic photograph of Migrant Mother, Rose Thompson almost didn't happen.  Lange on the last day of the project, she was heading home when she passed the migrant encampment.  She traveled on for 20 more miles, before deciding to go back and photograph them.  She took 5 exposures.  Not only did the photograph become one of the most reproduced in the world, but once it was published in San Francisco, it raised $250,000 for the migrant workers crisis.

6.  Her work was censored.  In 1941, she deferred a prestigious fellowship, so she could document the Japanese internment camps.  Her work was so powerful, that the government seized the photos in hopes that they wouldn't persuade public opinion concerning the unconstitutional camps.  The photos were not publically shown till after the war in 1946.

Dorothea Lange, Grandfather and grandson of Japanese ancestry at a War
Relocation Authority center, Manzanar, California, July 1942

If you want more information concerning the life of Dorothea Lange, I can strongly recommend the YouTube documentary, Dorothea Lange - An American Odyssey. 

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Art .... DC Style on Off the Wall Friday

So I'm quite sure that most of you know that Washington DC is known for its expansion National Mall, majestic monuments and first class museums.  But did you know that the city is also home to some the best art museums in the country?  For our fall adventure, we decided to take a long weekend to visit these amazing galleries.  It turned out to be more low maintenance and affordable than you might think.

How???

Step 1.  Pick where you want to stay.  We stayed in Arlington, VA in the Ballston, MU area at the
Westin Arlington Gateway.  They had a family get away special going so we got our rooms for about $110/night which was great for a 4 star hotel.  I loved the area.  We parked our car and really never moved it all weekend.  There are plenty of restaurants and stores close by with the metro stop about 3 blocks away.

Step 2.  Pick the museums you want to see.  We saw the National Gallery, the Renwick Gallery, and the American Art Museum.  We also wanted to take some time to walk the mall.

Step 3:  How are you going to get around.  We used the CityMapper App to get us where we wanted to go.  You just put in where you're going and it tells you how to get there  - via a bunch of modes of transportation - how long its going to take and how its  going to cost.  We took the Metro Orange/Silver lines pretty much everywhere.  For $2.40  you could get to the gallery quickly and easily.  If  you've never road the the metro - its super easy. It was clean and I felt safe the whole weekend.  

Step 4: Enjoy the gallery or museum to the fullest and don't rush!   The National Gallery is made up of two buildings.  The West  Building houses art up to 1900 where the East continues on with 1900 to the present.  It took me a full day to go through it.  With that I took several hour long free tours which feature some fascinating information on the more prominent pieces.

Step 5:  The practical information. Most galleries are open  till 5:00 or 5:30 seven days a week and are free.  The American Art Museum is open till 7 which is nice so you can do the Renwick and 10,000-15,000 steps of walking so wear comfortable shoes!!
it in one day.  Most galleries feature really nice museum shops which also have online sites.  The National Gallery is quite amazing and probably one of my favorites of all time.  We tended to eat a big breakfast at the IHOP by the metro station, maybe have a small snack midday and ate dinner back in Arlington.  Even with the Metro there was a lot of walking ... like



We only got to see three art venues and there are so many more!!!   The Renwick is not to be missed since it houses the Arts & Crafts collection of the nation and for me the most exciting pieces I saw all weekend.  I will share what we saw in a later post.  What I want to stress is don't just rush through these museums.  They have so much to offer - tours, audio tours, short drawing classes, great shopping - even good food.  Plus where else can you get up close to a Van Gogh, Di Vinci and a Hopper all in the same day??

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John 4:24 - Accepted - Dancin' with Praise to Sacred Threads

Just a quickie to let everyone know that John 4:24 was accepted into the Sacred Threads 2013 held

this summer in Washington DC.  I'm so excited to be accepted since I love the theme of this show - spirituality, healing and inspiration. This is the second time I've entered - but the first time my quilt will go to the country capital.

They had more entries to this show than ever so its quite the honor. I'll be joined with some VERY talented artists.

Since its Paul and mine's 20th anniversary, we are thinking of taking a romantic road trip down to see the show in July.  Plus I would love to see the National Gallery!

Here are the particulars on the show:

Exhibit Dates: July 10-28, 2013

Show Hours: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, Sunday 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Meet the Artists Reception: July 13, 2013, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Not Fade Away, Oral History Conference: July 20, 2013 (8:00 am - 6:00 pm)
Location: Floris United Methodist Church, 13600 Frying Pan Park Road, Herndon, VA 20171 (near Dulles Airport).