Grapes on Off the Wall Friday

Okay, I'm not one to complain, but who ever thought putting 4 values of wool strips in one little thumb print size circle sounded like a fun, needs to take a long look at their definition of fun!  I spent my rug hooking time this week doing gradated grapes.  In 4 different gradations.  In two different purples.  Not only is it a lot of work trying to get your loops somewhat smooth in little circles but also it's a lot of, "so where is the light source for this grape?  Is that dark enough?  Is this one of the 1,  2, 3, 4 light to dark grapes?  

Okay, I am one to complain.  But I'm the one that chose a project that was specifically meant for a teacher's workshop when I've only been doing this for less than a year.  This is as far as I've gotten:

And really, when one isn't working out, you unhook it in a second and put it back it beacause - ya know - it's the size of your thumb.  To remind you all - this is what this is supposed to look like...

I do have detailed instructions so there is that....

No worries, I'll get through!

This week I continued on with my "The Rug Hooker's Journey" course with Cindi Gay.  It's taken me a while to get into the rhythm of this course, but I think I finally found it.  Cindi Gay is an experience rug hooking teacher who has taken her mission to the internet. Her site has so much information, it's hard to decide where to start. I started with the free videos on youtube  (which are many), then moved on to the free content on her website (which is a ton), to finally joining the paid of membership of the official Rug Hooker's Journey (which is well worth it).  There you can just take your time working your way through courses that start at the very beginning and move into more involved weekly live lessons. Something that Cindi does which is what truly sold it, is that she has a weekly free Hook-In where you can just show up

and hook - chat and ask questions.  It's so fun!   You get to know her and her style.  The lessons on Tuesdays are live so you can ask questions in live time, or they are recorded if you can't make it.  After watching a few lessons, I'm officially asking my boss if I can work an earlier shift so I can get home to rug hook (can't wait to see the look on his face!  But 15 months in, he knows how I am).  I really like Cindi's style - down to earth, just enough content to be interesting but not to be overwhelming  - confident but not obnoxious.  

The lesson that I tackled this week was on composition, and it was so good...I put it on my "ideas for a blog post" list once I play with some exercises.  

That's what's up on my new rug hooking journey....

What Have You Been Up to Creatively?

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Off the Wall Friday

 

On Vacation... Will chat soon!

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On My Mind, Nancy Crow on Off the Wall Friday

You wouldn't think that living outside of Erie, Pennsylvania would be a center of culture. And it kinda isn't.  But it kinda is.  Really, we're within an hour or two of Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.  Plus 3 hrs out of Toronto. As well as 2.5 hrs out of central Ohio.  Yes, you read that right ....central Ohio.   Central Ohio, for you not in the know, is a hot bed of quilting.  Not only is there a plethora of quilt stores, quilt groups, retreat spots but also there is The Dairy Barn Art Center (home to Quilt National) and the Crow Timber Frame Barn.  The latter is the brain child of Nancy Crow.  

Nancy Crow
(photo credit Schweinwurth Art Center)

If there was a mother of the art quilt movement, I would nominate Nancy Crow.  Born in 1943, she pioneered her way through Ohio State achieving an MFA in Weaving and Ceramics.  Moving into fiber and quilting, she developed what we now know as improvisational piecing to take quilting from folk
craft right into accepted art.  (Well mostly accepted.  There are still some die hard haters who insist it's still craft, but if anybody is an accepted artist, it's Nancy).  She's won multiple awards including the Living Treasure Award from the University of North Carolina.  Her work is part of the permanent collection of many museums including The Renwick Gallery/Smithsonian Institute.  (As an aside, if you haven't put the Renwick on your bucket list, stop reading this and do it.  It doesn't get as much press as the National Gallery but it houses the work of most talented artisans in our country)

I say all of this in a way of an introduction, because I took a drive to Kent University in Kent, Ohio.  (Yes THAT Kent University).  Besides its tragic past, it also houses the Kent State University Muesum with it's renowned collection of fashion, costume, and accessories.  At the core, is the collection of Shannon Rogers and Jerry Silverman who donated over 4000 pieces.  

On exhibit this weekend was a timeline history of fashion, a stunning collection of Katherine Hepburn Clothes, and Nancy Crow's On My Mind showcase.  To say it was a textile junkies dream is an understatement.  

There are four series of works that are included: CONSTRUCTIONS, RIFFS, DRAWINGS, and MONOPRINTS.  Although I've seen Nancy's work many times, it was a treat to see all 40 pieces displayed to perfection. Nancy hasn't been just an artist for the last 50 years, she's also been teaching.  Her classes have spring boarded many quilters into the world of art.  I myself have watched her classes and roomed with her students.  I also lucky enough to sit and listen to a lecture that finally explained to me the idea of composition and depth.  

This exhibit runs through December 15, 2024, and I encourage you to take the drive to Kent to see. it.  The campus is lovely, and they even have a nice museum store (we also went into the bookstore which was cool too). 

(my favorite piece)

Under Things that I Like....

Did anybody hear about the Monet water lilies painting that sold for 65 million dollars at Sotherby's this week?  If you want to watch the 17 min auction you can see it here (although spoiler alert...it's a quiet affair).  How often do you get to see a Monet come up for auction?

It does make one wonder who bought it.....

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Value is My Thing on Off the Wall Friday

Peppermint Reindeer by Laura Heini

 This week in my spare time, I started thinking about decorating for Christmas.  To tell you the truth, I'm not all that much into decorating, mostly because it takes so much time.  What I do like is designing the composition of the decoration scheme.  Yes, you read that right.  Your decorating has a composition just like your quilts.  One thing I've learned, is that all the elements of design I've been studying over the years can be used in a myriad of ways....like planning your Christmas decorations. 

But this post is not about Christmas decorating - you can thank me later - No, I say all this because it brought to mind my favorite way to evaluate a composition....studying the value of the piece.  If you're a long-time reader, you might have noticed that value truly is my thing.  Mainly because 

Color gets all the Credit, but Value does all the Work

Gosh, I must have been told that by the late great Joan Colvin about 20 years ago and it still holds true.  I pulled some truly random quilts from my Pinterest board to show you what I mean.  (I really did randomly choose them - mostly because they could be easily attributed).

Let's look at detailed look at embroidery textile by Mary Ruth Smith

Great right?  When you first look at it your just taken by the great use of shape and line.

Take the color out and you can see how it's all about the value in the composition.  The contrast between light and dark is giving this heavily graphic piece a lot of much needed depth.  Also, it emphasizes the use of line to form more movement and rhythm which would otherwise have come off very flat.  The darkest parts are acting like a solid ground for all that movement of line going on.  Without color to distract you, it's much easier to see what is truly going on.

This is An Evening Out by Colette Behrends 

Talk about a lot to unpack with this piece...WoW!  When you first look it's all about taking in how she so masterfully captured the moment.  It's all so relatable.  I love how it's figurative but still abstract.  The colors just add to the vibrancy of the piece eluding joy and energy.

Step back with this version of it...

Now you can better comprehend the composition.  See how easily you can see how she laid it out in a diagonal line.  Also, the focal points pop with the accents used to move your eye around the piece.  Again, the artist uses value to create depth as well as movement.   (hmmm I'm sensing a pattern).  Without getting too carried away, I also want to mention how well soft and hard lines are used in this piece.  That is a difficult thing to do and you don't see it that often done this well. 

Let's go totally abstract with a favorite of mine ...Emily Richardson's Original Copy (I want to confess a true bias where Emily's work is concerned.  I loved it from the moment I saw it, Then I took a 5 day class with her and it added this whole sentimental twist to my crush on her work)

Amazing right?  Now you can see why I have quilt crush.  The palette is so effective in this piece with it looking ethereal.  I love how the abstraction lets the viewer choose their own take on what it represents.  Honestly, in this form I just get lost in studying how the orange/yellow interacts with the blues. 

But in gray scale we get another look at it..

And for the third piece in a row  - what is value creating? Movement and Depth.  Honestly, this whole composition is about movement and depth.  With the color removed it's truly evident.  

So why do this exercise?  Just to play with pretty art quilts...well yeah...but mostly, it's to show that you can do it with your own work.   Traditional quilts or art quilts, it doesn't matter.  When you're laying out your compositions, take some time to take picture and desaturate it (way easier now that everyone had a camera in their back pocket for sure!)  Even take out the quilts that you think of your "dogs".  Take a value study picture of it and I bet you'll see why the quilt isn't quite working.  

Thanks for indulging me on yet another post on value.  

Oh, one last thing, so my new job has me writing a lot of emails a day. When I say a lot I mean 50-80 a day.  Twice this week - not once - but twice...people I email with mentioned the unique fashion of expressing myself through word and how they look forward to my emails.   Cracked me up - literally.  I thought, oh I know why.  It comes from chatting on blog posts for the last 15 years.  

So, thanks for that as well.  That's me this week...

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Summoning the Wind on Off the Wall Friday

 I really think it's important to feed your inner creative soul.  I know that sounds "artsy", but it's true.  I think after preaching this so much at home, my husband has finally gotten it.  That's why I wasn't shocked when he dragged me out to the Erie Museum to see the latest exhibit, Summoning the Wind, by Qian Li.  

The Erie Art Museum was never this powerhouse in the art world.  Lately, though, I can see that it's upping its game bringing in some really nice exhibits as well as developing its own.  Qian Li, who was born in China, educated there and in Massachusetts, and teaches at Cleveland State University.  Her work which includes mixed media, print making, painting and video has been shown all over the world.  She also does installation art, which was very evident in the exhibit in Erie.  The exhibit wasn't large nor was it earth shattering, but it was very impactful.  I love mindful art because it proves that pieces don't need to be showy or provocative to be good.  

The medallion is gorgeous but look how the reflection becomes part of the exhibit

Although the exhibit included an interesting, animated video as well as an interactive piece, what I liked most was the mixed media and surface design installation.  The gallery was set up in a rectangular formation with paper compositions running along one side, silk screens running along the other and a lovely medallion showcased at the base. I found the artist's statements to be thoughtful and genuine which was a refreshing change to the pompous rubbish I usually read.  But really the pieces spoke for themselves.  

I loved the play of light in the pieces.  She played with transparency though out and it was so interesting.  My husband and I were talking about how we both like the silk screen side best.  He thought the little compositions were interesting and as a whole they look amazing.  I liked how light played even more into these pieces since you could see through them and light surrounded them instead of just landing on the surface.  

And then there was the idea of moving from warm to cool .... like the day does. Just gorgeous.

Like I said - not loud - not shocking - mindful and thought provoking.  

Again, I would encourage you to seek out local art or take a ride to a near by museum.  We put off our trip to see Buffalo's Albright-Knox Art Muesum till November because they are bringing in a new fiber art's exhibit then - I can't wait!!

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Off the Wall Friday

 

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Let's Talk Improvisational Piecing on Off the Wall Friday

 

Curves II,  Nina-Marie Sayre
Improved pieced to a planned pattern

Improv Surface Design with a little bit 
of Improv Piecing, 

Taking a class in improvisational piecing, got me thinking of how many uses there are for the technique.  For that matter, how much a non-technique, improvisational piecing actually is.  The reason I say that is improvisational piecing's only rule is that there are NO RULES.  So, it can basically do whatever you want, whenever you want, letting your fabric, your vision or even your intuition be in
the driver seat. 

That can be very freeing or a little scary for a quilter whose modus operandi is to plan out a quilt before making it.  It's even scarier if they are used to following patterns and the fabric choices.  I never thought of it that way until I watched my class of traditional quilters take the plunge.  By the end of the week though, they all definitely got the hang of it for sure.  

So, want to dip your toe into the pool of improvisational quilting?  Here are some suggestions...

Improv pieced background....Give the background of your applique a little extra interest with making an improv background.  It's also a great way to play with the value of the background to give emphasis on your subject.

Notice in Praise Ladies II, I used an improv background gradate diagonally across the piece to give emphasis and movement to the subjects.

Abstract Improv piecing...In this quilt by Janet Windsor, she uses improv piecing for the whole composition.  She plays with both value and hue to get her point across.  I love how she improvs the strips but then pieces them into columns to give it added structure. 

Unnamed, Janet Windsor

Improv Traditional Blocks....whose says traditional blocks need to be made with a pattern?  The one I tend to see the most is the log cabin block.  BUT I ran across this challenge by Sarah Goer and found it super interesting.  She asked her group to improv the Sawtooth Star and they came up with these.  Traditional + Improv = VERY Interesting!

Sawtooth Star Challenge on Sarah Goer Quilts

Improv to Abstract the Representational...and that was where I'm going with this piece.  Now don't ask me EXACTLY where I'm going but it's at least the beginning of an idea.  To take something everyone recognizes and then to use improv piecing to give it a little twist!

WIP, Houses

See what I mean?  You can take this simple idea of just piecing stuff willy-nilly (or not so willy-nilly) and come up with endless ideas.  Remember the only rule is that there is NO RULES. Remember you are the queen of your quilt.

Speaking of queens...

My classmate, Marsha G. sent me a project she did upon arriving home.  She took all her orphan blocks (left over blocks from other projects), improved them together and added a panel in the middle to get a totally new piece.  Didn't it turn out great?  I was so blessed to meet Marsha and her husband the first night we were there.  Plus, then we got to sit together all week in class.  Let me just tell ya, she literally sewed me under the table.  Nothing better than having a partner in class that will work as hard as you! 

Bring the Orphans Home, Marsha Gordon

So, I hope I gave you some ideas to start experimenting with piecing.  I mean we all have stashes to use right? 

And on that note...

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Improv Piecing on Off the Wall Friday

Hard at Work

You know sometimes all you want to do is sew and boy, have I done that.  Taking Improvisational

Piecing with Veronica Hofman-Ortega at John C. Campbell's Folk School was one of my better ideas.  I love a class that starts with design exercises that will lead into bigger and better ideas.  Not to mention the ladies in my class were great!  There was a full range of quilters in the class  - from the very experienced to the beginner.  All were traditional, so this was pushing pretty much everyone out of their comfort zone.  But let me tell ya, they were up to the challenge.  After the first day our design walls were already starting to fill up.  By the end, it was amazing what we all got done!

Sewing  + Challenges + Great Company = Perfect Class.

We learned all sorts of improvisational shapes - strips, triangles, curves.  All design exercises were pretty loose, and Veronica told us that we could play with them as much as we wanted.

The strips were to be made with black, white and a color.  This is where it took me...

It definitely needed some zing so I added lime green which I thought was much better.

The triangles gave me the most problem since the colors were #1 solids and #2 chosen from a limited palette.  I ended up with a design wall of pretty sad triangles.  We tried some improv curve piecing which I liked marginally better...but still sad.  

What's a girl to do?  Well, cut them up and try piecing them back together.  The most interesting idea was taking two triangles and curve piecing them together.  With a few of those units and more curves piecing, I ended up with this.  Interesting, but not completely finished.  

Finally, we could explore on our own, so I did some brainstorming which led me to these simple ideas (by this time, I was pretty tired)

This time I picked a palette I loved - orange, golden yellow, purple and blue.  By then end of the day I got what looks me to me like a Dr Suess house  - which makes me smile. All it needs is the roof!!  I'm kinda diggin' this idea.  I can see it leading to bigger and better things for sure!  It's fun to play something representational but still give it that improv twist.  

Improvisational quilting is really so freeing creatively.  It was extra fun watching the class see the joy of it.  So although tired ... I do have a full design wall!

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When Your Big Idea Changes on Off the Wall Friday

Our Classroom at Marc Adams School of Woodworking and Time Honor Crafts

Okay, let me start by saying, this is not this clown's first rodeo.  When I get ready for a 5-day design class, I normally have a plan in mind of how it's going to go.  This week with Timna Tarr's Stitched Mosaic was no different.  Since I took this exact same class last year, I thought no problem.  You pick a pretty picture - you edit - you place fabrics - you sew - you get your pretty picture in fabric.  Right?

Well, apparently not.

It started off pretty normal.  I picked a picture.  I drew my grid.  I decided which elements I wanted to keep and which elements could go.

Blocked out my colors - which I now realize I really didn't have to do because ... sunflower field scene...greens, orange-yellows, blue sky ... not rocket science.

After making my little patterns and sewing up a few, it should start to come together...

But it did not...it's a mess.

End of Day 3...still a mess

On Day 4, I had an epiphany.  Recreating this photo into fabric was not where this piece was going.  Actually, it started to look like I took the photo and abstracted it out and I LOVED that idea.  So I got out some paper and started changing out elements of the photo by creating new templates.  I made a conscious choice not to be too fussy making all the lines met perfectly.  I decided that the piece would be just an impression of a girl in a sunflower field..not an actual depiction of the girl.  

So this is where I finished up Day 4...

Cool Right?

5-Day classes are hard.  You're trying to learn and create outside the security of your own studio with new people all around you.  I'm blessed that Marc Adams School of Woodworking gave us a wonderful space and my classmates are great...but....I'll be truthful, I was struggling.  Now, however, I think I'm on the right path and I have a clear composition of where this piece is heading!  

If you want a good review of this class and Marc Adams - you can see last year's here.  It's just as great this year.

And Timna Tarr is amazing too!  Here she is with her latest Work In Progress!

Timna Tarr 

I'll have a class rap up next week...for now, I'm beat.  Our classes have been going 8-5 with about a 45 min lunch, which is a long day!

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