Color! Texture! Movement! Using Repurposed Materials!
Category: Art Creating Beauty
Art creating beauty comes in many forms and in many unexpected areas. This post reflects that wide reach of interest to the public regardless of genre.
My art quilts are all about the quilt artist creating abstract, whimsical or impressionistic pieces. Inspiration comes from the natural world as well as from Mexican and Native American influences. My materials of choice are often redirected fabrics from the San Francisco Design Center and found objects. Art quilts free me to play with color and texture. My technique, Scribble Quilting allows me to create movement on many of my pieces.
From the Fashion Show at Pacific International Quilt Festival
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From the Fashion Show at Pacific International Quilt Festival
I owe some of my inspiration to two artists from Santa Cruz County, California. Meri Vahl, an award winning art quilter has been recognized nationally for her work. Teacher of the fabric layering technique, she was patient. Understanding that each student brought individual strengths, weaknesses and abilities. Ellen edith;friend, art quilter, fabric designer and artist extraordinaire made whimsical, personal quilts. Her influence lives on well beyond her life. I have great appreciation for these two local leaders of the art quilt world.
SAQA (STUDIO ART QUILT ASSOCIATES)
I am proud to be part of an evergrowing group of art quilters. SAQA started by Yvonne Porcella in Northern California in 1989. It has grown to an international organization. Art quilters have transformed the quilt into a 21st Century art form. I continue to explore new forms and ways of working with unusual materials on this journey.
ABOUT THE ARTIST,BIO
I was born and raised in Palo Alto, California. In high school I studied sewing and clothing construction for two years. I continued to sew much of my wardrobe. In 1974,I took my first quilting class at a neighborhood fabric store. Over the years, I continued to sew clothes and make quilts for my family. I stopped counting bed quilts at 300. After teaching 30 years in Watsonville as a bilingual teacher, I retired to spend more time on creating art quilts.
MY FIRST ART QUILT
Homage to a Dancer,45″ x 56″”>Homage to a Dancer,45″ x 56″” data-medium-file=”https://i2.wp.com/annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Homage-to-a-Dancer669x669px.jpg?fit=287%2C300&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i2.wp.com/annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Homage-to-a-Dancer669x669px.jpg?fit=580%2C606&ssl=1″ data-recalc-dims=”1″ />Homage to a Dancer,45″ x 56″
In 2008, I made my first art quilt, Homage to a Dancer. It reflects my participation in Los Méxicas,the University of California,Santa Cruz ballet folklórico group.
A STUDIO IN THE ART CENTER
In May of 2016, I opened a studio in the Santa Cruz Art Center, 1001 Center St. Downtown Santa Cruz. I have space to work and display my work. For First Fridays and Open Studios, I fill the lobby with art. In June, 2019 New York Art Center accepted my work into their gallery. 7 Franklin Place, TRIBECA, New York City.
AWARD WINNING ARTIST
Great Blue Heron at Dusk,31″ x 25″”>Great Blue Heron at Dusk” data-medium-file=”https://i1.wp.com/annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Great-Blue-Heron-crop1000px.jpg?fit=242%2C300&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i1.wp.com/annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Great-Blue-Heron-crop1000px.jpg?fit=580%2C719&ssl=1″ data-recalc-dims=”1″ />Great Blue Heron at Dusk,31″ x 25″
Great Blue Heron at Dusk entered into an art show in 2010. The following year it won a merit award at the Olive Hyde Art Gallery in Fremont,California.
In 2013, Visions of New Mexico won third place in the Neo Membreno Vessels 2013 Show at the Western New Mexico University Museum in Silver City, New Mexico.
Inspiration and the Wonder of the Collider Event Display
Inspiration and the Collider Event Display on a Tuesday 7/3/18
Ben, the physicist studies collider event displays. I, the art quilter looks for inspiration. We had our second meeting at my studio in the Santa Cruz Art Center, 1001 Center St. Downtown Santa Cruz. My studio is 243 square feet small but I have 3 walls to show my work on.
Fabric Layering Technique
I had a fabric layering piece in progress on my table. Then I explained the technique to Ben. First, I lay a piece of backing fabric on the table. I cover it with batting, the soft material inside of a quilt. Finally, I cover the piece with tulle netting and free motion quilt the three layers together. I like using this technique for making underwater fantasies and landscape quilts. I had previously made an interactive activity with precut fish and kelp for visitors to create an underwater scene. Since Ben had expressed an interest in creating some art as well, I thought that this would be a good introduction to the materials. It’s hard to create art on demand so Ben took it home to play with.
My inspiration comes from Fabmo
My inspiration comes from the materials and how they play together. Many of the materials I use come from FABMO(Fabric and more) http://fabmo.org/fabmo/Home.html. It is an all volunteer nonprofit based in Mountain View. It turns out that Ben lives nearby and jogs on the same street regularly. Each week FABMO volunteers visit the San Francisco Design Center. They collect materials; fabric samples, decorative details, wall paper sample, tiles, that would otherwise end up in the landfill. These materials available to the public for a donation. They even come to Harvey West Park in Santa Cruz about 5 times a year. I have been volunteering there for about 9 years. I am very passionate about sharing the work FABMO does as well as using their unique materials.
How do I Solve Problems?
Ben asked about limitations that I might have in my work. How do I solve problems? I find it necessary at times to stop when working on a piece.Then I return later to look at the work with “fresh eyes”. What else can be done to make it better? Are the colors and textures balanced? I had to admit that I do not stress too much about choices I make while making my art.
Let’s take a break.
Time for . . .
Fun Facts for Nonscientists
A cell is made up of molecules. A molecule is made up of atoms. An atom is made up of sub-atomic particles. Sub-atomic particles are made up of electrons and nucleons. A nucleon has protons and neutrons in it. A quark is smaller than that.
THE MYSTERY OF THE COLLIDER EVENT DISPLAY
At our first meeting, Ben, the collaborator had shown me photos of some collider event displays. Incredibly, they looked like fibers. He hoped that they might prove to be an inspiration. Some threadlike lines created a circle and crossed at the diameter. As far as art, they struck me as fairly uninspiring. However, after hearing the science behind it, they became much more interesting. Do not confuse a collider event display with a cardboard event display from a sales convention.
Path of One Particle
For example,each line represents the trajectory or path of one particle after a crash like event. The scientists break apart the particles to study them. The fallout from the crash like events can be predicted. The lines represent what it would look like after many collider events. When someone understands what they are really looking at, it becomes more interesting. Eureka! I created a truly inspired fiber piece with different threads, thicknesses, and colors. Above all, the scientific explanation solved the mystery of the uninspired photo.https://annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/2019/02/fusion-of-art-and-physics-ii/
Jessie T. Pettway (born 1929) String-pieced columns c. 1950 Cotton 95 x 76 in. (Collection of the Tinwood Alliance)
Fabric of Their Lives
The quilters of Gee’s Bend, Alabama lives have been transformed by worldwide acclaim for their artistry By Amei Wallach
SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2006
This article from 2006 is still a great resource.
Recollectin’
Annie Mae Young of Gee’s Bend is looking at a photograph of a quilt she pieced together out of strips torn from well-worn cotton shirts and polyester pants. “I was doing this quilt at the time of the civil rights movement,” she says, contemplating its jazzy, free-form squares. Martin Luther King Jr. came to Young’s hometown of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, around that time. “I came over here to Gee’s Bend to tell you, You are somebody,” he shouted over a heavy rain late one winter night in 1965. A few days later, Young and many of her friends took off their aprons, laid down their hoes and rode over to the county seat of Camden, where they gathered outside the old jailhouse.
Martin Luther King Jr., his visit
“We were waiting for Martin Luther King, and when he drove up, we were all slappin’ and singin’,” Young, 78, tells me. I visited Gee’s Bend, a small rural community on a peninsula at a deep bend in the Alabama River. Wearing a red turban and an apron bright with pink peaches and yellow grapes, she stands in the doorway of her brick bungalow at the end of a dirt road. Swaying to a rhythm that nearly everyone in town knows from a lifetime of churchgoing, she breaks into song: “We shall overcome, we shall overcome….”
His Words
“We were all just happy to see him coming,” she says. “Then he stood out there on the ground. He was talking about how we should wait on a bus to come. We were all going to march. We got loaded on the bus. But we didn’t get a chance to do it, ’cause we got put in jail,” she says.
Many who marched or registered to vote in rural Alabama in the 1960s lost their jobs. Some even lost their homes. The residents of Gee’s Bend, 60 miles southwest of Montgomery, lost the ferry that connected them to Camden and a direct route to the outside world. “We didn’t close the ferry because they were black,” Sheriff Lummie Jenkins reportedly said at the time. “We closed it because they forgot they were black.”
Most Miraculous Works
Six of Young’s quilts, together with 64 by other Gee’s Bend residents, have been traveling around the United States. The exhibition that has transformed the way many people think about art. Gee’s Bend’s “eye-poppingly gorgeous” quilts, wrote New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman, “turn out to be some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced. Imagine Matisse and Klee arising not from rarefied Europe, but from the caramel soil of the rural South.”
From the South
If you think I’m wildly exaggerating, then you must see the show. Curator Jane Livingston helped organize the exhibition with collector William Arnett and art historians John Beardsley and Alvia Wardlaw. Livingston said the quilts “rank with the finest abstract art of any tradition.” After stops in such cities as New York, Washington, D.C., Cleveland, Boston and Atlanta, “The Quilts of Gee’s Bend” will end its tour at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco’s de Young Museum December 31.
Young’s Work
The bold drama of the quilt Young was working on in 1965 is also found in a quilt she made out of work clothes 11 years later. The central design of red and orange corduroy in that quilt suggests prison bars. The faded denim that surrounds it could be a comment on the American dream. But Young had more practical considerations. “When I put the quilt together,” she says, “it wasn’t big enough, and I had to get some more material and make it bigger, so I had these old jeans to make it bigger.”
Good Money for Raggedy Old Quilts
Collector William Arnett was working on a history of African American vernacular art in 1998. At that time, he came across a photograph of Young’s work-clothes quilt draped over a woodpile. He was so knocked out by its originality, he set out to find it. A couple of phone calls and some creative research later, he and his son Matt tracked Young down to Gee’s Bend. They then showed up unannounced at her door late one evening.
A Quilt for Free?
Young had burned some quilts the week before (smoke from burning cotton drives off mosquitoes). At first she thought the quilt in the photograph had been among them. But the next day, after scouring closets and searching under beds, she found it and offered it to Arnett for free. Arnett, however, insisted on writing her a check for a few thousand dollars for that quilt and several others. (Young took the check straight to the bank.) Soon the word spread through Gee’s Bend that there was a unbelievable white man in town paying good money for raggedy old quilts.
The First Show
When Arnett showed photos of the quilts made by Young and other Gee’s Benders to Peter Marzio, of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), he was so impressed that he agreed to put on an exhibition. “The Quilts of Gee’s Bend” opened there in September 2002.
Reviving a Dying Art
The exhibition revived what had been a dying art in Gee’s Bend. Some of the quilters, who had given in to age and arthritis, are now back quilting again. Many of their children and grandchildren, some of whom had moved away from Gee’s Bend, have taken up quilting themselves. With the help of Arnett and his nonprofit, Tinwood Alliance, fifty local women founded the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective in 2003. Their mission to market their quilts. Some of which now sell for more than $20,000. Part of the money goes directly to the maker. The rest goes to the collective for expenses and to share with the other members.
A Second Exhibition
Now a second exhibition, “Gee’s Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt,” has been organized by the MFAH and the Tinwood Alliance. The show features newly discovered quilts from the 1930s to the 1980s.It also includes more recent works by established quilters and the younger generation they inspired. The exhibition will travel to seven other venues, including the Indianapolis Museum of Art (October 8-December 31) and the Orlando Museum of Art (January 27-May 13, 2007).
Arlonzia Pettway
Arlonzia Pettway lives in a neat, recently renovated house off a road plagued with potholes. The road passes by cows and goats grazing outside robin’s-egg blue and brown bungalows. “I remember some things, honey,” Pettway, 83, told me. “I came through a hard life. We weren’t bought and sold. But we were still slaves until 20, 30 years ago. The white man would go to everybody’s field and say, ‘Why you not at work?” She paused. “What do you think a slave is?”
Her Family Quilted
As a girl, Pettway would watch her grandmother, Sally, and her mother, Missouri, piecing quilts. She would listen to their stories. Many of the stories were about Dinah Miller. She had been brought to the United States in a slave ship in 1859. “My great-grandmother Dinah was sold for a dime,” Pettway said. “Her dad, brother and mother were sold to different people. She didn’t see them no more. My great-grandfather was a Cherokee Indian. Dinah was made to sleep with this big Indian like you stud your cow…. You couldn’t have no skinny children working on your slave master’s farm.” In addition to Pettway, some 20 other Gee’s Bend quiltmakers are Dinah’s descendants.
A Long Quilting Tradition
The quilting tradition in Gee’s Bend may go back as far as the early 1800s. At that time, the community was the site of a cotton plantation owned by a Joseph Gee. Influenced by the patterned textiles of Africa, the women slaves began piecing strips of cloth together to make bedcovers. Throughout the post-bellum years of tenant farming and well into the 20th century, Gee’s Bend women made quilts.They were needed to keep themselves and their children warm in unheated shacks. The shacks also lacked running water, telephones and electricity. Along the way they developed a distinctive style, noted for its lively improvisations and geometric simplicity.
Hard Laborers
Gee’s Bend individuals grew and picked cotton, peanuts, okra, corn, peas and potatoes. When there was no money to buy seed or fertilizer, they borrowed one or both from Camden businessman E. O. Rentz. The interest rates were such that only those without any other choice would pay. Then came the Depression. In 1931 the price of cotton plummeted. Cotton went from about 40 cents a pound in the early 1920s, to about a nickel. When Rentz died in 1932, his widow foreclosed on some 60 Gee’s Bend families. It was late fall, and winter was coming.
The Depression
“They took everything and left people to die,” Pettway said. Her mother was making a quilt out of old clothes when she heard the cries outside. She sewed four wide shirttails into a sack. The men in the family filled the sack with corn and sweet potatoes and hid in a ditch. When the agent for Rentz’s widow came around to seize the family’s hens, Pettway’s mother threatened him with a hoe. “I’m a good Christian, but I’ll chop his damn brains out,” she said. The man got in his wagon and left. “He didn’t get to my mama that day,” Pettway told me.
Problems Continued
Pettway remembered that her friends and neighbors foraged for berries, hunted possum and squirrels. But mostly went hungry that winter. Then a boat with flour and meal sent by the Red Cross arrived in early 1933. The following year, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration provided small loans for seed, fertilizer, tools and livestock. Then, in 1937, the government’s Resettlement Administration (later the Farm Security Administration) bought up 10,000 Gee’s Bend acres. The land sold them as tiny farms to local families.
A Memory Quilt
In 1941, when Pettway was in her late teens, her father died. “Mama said, ‘I’m going to take his work clothes, shape them into a quilt to remember him, and cover up under it for love.’” There were hardly enough pants legs and shirttails to make up a quilt. But she managed. That quilt made of rectangles of faded gray, white, blue and red is included in the first exhibition. A year later, Arlonzia married Bizzell Pettway. They moved into one of the new houses built by the government. They had 12 children. But no electricity until 1964 and no running water until 1974.
In the Same House
A widow for more than 30 years, Arlonzia still lives in that same house. Her mother, Missouri made a quilt she called “Path Through the Woods.” The quilt was inspired after the 1960s freedom marches. A quilt that Pettway pieced together during that period, “Chinese Coins”, is a medley of pinks and purples. A friend had given her purple scraps from a clothing factory in a nearby town.
Better Times
“At the time I was making that quilt, I was feeling something was going to happen better, and it did,” Pettway says. “Last time I counted I had 32 grandchildren and I think between 13 and 14 great-grands. I’m blessed now more than many. I have my home and land. I have a deepfreeze five feet long with chicken wings, neck bones and pork chops.”
Lots of Pettways
The first exhibition featured seven quilts by Loretta Pettway, Arlonzia Pettway’s first cousin. (One in three of Gee’s Bend’s 700 residents is named Pettway, after slave owner Mark H. Pettway.) Loretta, 64, says she made her early quilts out of work clothes. “I was about 16 when I learned to quilt from my grandmama,” she says. “I just loved it. That’s all I wanted to do, quilt. But I had to work farming cotton, corn, peas and potatoes, making syrup, putting up soup in jars. I was working other people’s fields too. Saturdays I would hire out. Sometimes I would hire out Sundays, too. I needed to give my kids some food.
After Work
When I finished my chores, I’d sit down and do like I’m doing nowI would get the clothes together and tear them and piece. Then in summer, I would quilt outside under the big oak.” She fingers the fabric pieces in her lap. “I thank God that people want me to make quilts,” she says. “I feel proud. The Lord lead me and guide me. He give me strength to make this quilt with love and peace and happiness so somebody would enjoy it. That makes me feel happy. I’m doing something with my life.”
A Dam and Lock
In 1962 the U.S. Congress ordered the construction of a dam and lock on the Alabama River at Miller’s Ferry, just south of Gee’s Bend. The 17,200-acre reservoir created by the dam in the late 1960s flooded much of Gee’s Bend’s best farming land, forcing many residents to give up farming. “And thank God for that,” says Loretta. “Farming wasn’t nothing but hard work. And at the end of the year you couldn’t get nothing. The little you got went for cottonseed.”
Quilts all the Time
Around that time, a number of Gee’s Bend women began making quilts for the Freedom Quilting Bee,. This organization was founded in 1966 by civil rights worker and Episcopalian priest Francis X. Walter. He wanted to provide a source of income for the local community. For a while, the bee (which operated for about three decades) sold quilts to such stores as Bloomingdale’s, Sears, Saks and Bonwit Teller. But the stores wanted assembly-line quilts. They had to be orderly with familiar patterns and precise stitching. A far cry from the individual improvised and unexpected patterns and color combinations that characterized the Gee’s Bend quilts.
Personal Quilts
“My quilts looked beautiful to me, because I made what I could make from my head,” Loretta told me. “When I start I don’t want to stop until I finish. If I stop, the ideas are going to go one way and my mind another way. So I just try to do it while I have ideas in my mind.”
Loretta’s Work
Loretta had been too ill to attend the opening of the first exhibition in Houston. But she wore a bright red jacket and a wrist corsage of roses to the opening of the second show last spring. Going there on the bus, “I didn’t close my eyes the whole way,” she says. “I was so happy, I had to sightsee.”
In the New Show
In the new show was her 2003 take on the popular “Housetop” pattern. It is a variant of the traditional “Log Cabin” design. Her piece is an explosion of red polka dots, zany stripes and crooked frames within frames. It is a dramatic change from the faded colors and somber patterns of her early work-clothes quilts. Two other quilts made by Loretta are among those represented on a series of Gee’s Bend stamps issued this past August by the U.S. Postal Service. “I just had scraps of what I could find,” she says about her early work. “Now I see my quilts hanging in a museum. Thank God I see my quilts on the wall. I found my way.”
Mary Lee Bendolph
Mary Lee Bendolph, 71, speaks in a husky voice and has a hearty, throaty laugh. At the opening of the new exhibition in Houston, she sported large rhinestone earrings and a chic black dress. For some years, kidney disease had slowed her quiltmaking. But the first exhibition, she says, “spunked me to go a little further, to try and make my quilts a little more updated.” Her latest quilts fracture her backyard views and other local scenes. They are fractured in the way Cubism fragmented the cafés and countryside of France. Her quilts share a gallery with those of her daughter-in-law, Louisiana Pettway Bendolph.
Mary Lee Bendolph
Louisiana now lives in Mobile, Alabama. But she remembers hot, endless days picking cotton as a child in the fields around Gee’s Bend. From age 6 to 16, she says, the only time she could go to school was when it rained. The only play was softball and quiltmaking. Her mother, Rita Mae Pettway, invited her to the opening in Houston of the first quilt show. On the bus ride home, she says, she “had a kind of vision of quilts.” She made drawings of what would become the quilts in the new exhibition. The shapes seem to float and recede as if in three dimensions.
Quilting helped redirect my life
“Quilting helped redirect my life and put it back together,” Louisiana says. “I worked at a fast-food place and a sewing factory. When the sewing factory closed, I stayed home to be a housewife. You just want your kids to see you in a different light.You want them to see you as someone they can admire. Well, my children came into this museum. I saw their faces.”
Quiltmaking is History and Family
To Louisiana, 46, quiltmaking is history and family. “Generally,we think of inheriting as land or something, not things that people teach you,” she says. “We came from cotton fields. We came through hard times. Now we look back and see what all these people before us have done. They brought us here, and to say thank you is not enough.” Now her 11-year-old granddaughter has taken up quiltmaking. She, however, does her drawings on a computer.
Well Deserved Fame
In Gee’s Bend not long ago, her great-grandmother Mary Lee Bendolph picked some pecans to make into candy. She had to have candy on hand for the children. The only store in town is often closed. Then she soaked her feet. Sitting on her screened-in porch, she smiled. “I’m famous,” she said. “And look how old I am.” She laughed. “I enjoy it.”
Marion Coleman Art Quilter receives an impressive award! Today the National Endowment for the Arts is announcing the newest recipients of the NEA National Heritage Fellowships. Moreover,they range from an old-time fiddler to a Day of the Dead altar maker to an R&B musician. The NEA National Heritage Fellowships are awarded annually by the National Endowment for the Arts. Certainly,they highlight the breadth and excellence of the artistic traditions found in communities across the United States. As a result,the 2018 recipients will receive a $25,000 award. Furthermore they are honored in Washington, DC at an awards ceremony. In addition they are presented at a free concert on September 28, 2018. The concert will be streamed live at arts.gov.
Ethel Raim(New York, NY)—traditional music and dance advocate In addition,Raim is the recipient of the 2018 Bess Lomax Hawes NEA National Heritage Fellowship. It is in recognition of an individual who has made a significant contribution to the preservation and awareness of cultural heritage. 2018 NEA National Heritage Fellows
“The 2018 NEA National Heritage Fellows have dedicated their lives to mastering these distinctive art forms. As well as sharing them with new audiences both within their communities and nationwide,” said Mary Anne Carter, acting chairman for the National Endowment for the Arts. “We look forward to celebrating them and their incredible artistic accomplishments this fall.”
About the NEA National Heritage Fellowships
The National Heritage Fellowships is the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. It recognizes the recipients’ artistic excellence. Furthermore it supports their continuing contributions to our nation’s traditional arts heritage. Over the years including the 2018 class, the NEA has awarded 431 NEA National Heritage Fellowships.
200 Distinct Art Forms
Recognizing artists in More than 200 distinct art forms. Former winners included bluesman B.B. King, Cajun fiddler and composer Michael Doucet, sweetgrass basketweaver Mary Jackson, cowboy poet Wally McRae, Kathak dancer and choreographer Chitresh Das, and gospel and soul singer Mavis Staples. More information about the NEA National Heritage Fellows is available on the NEA’s website. https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage
Nominated by the Public
Initially,the public nominates the Fellowship recipients. The recommendation is often by members of their own communities. Then a panel of experts in the folk and traditional arts judges the work. After that,the panel’s recommendations are reviewed by the National Council on the Arts. Afterwards they sends the recommendations to the NEA chairman. Finally,the chairman who makes the final decision.
Class of 2019
In addition,the NEA is currently accepting nominations for the 2019 class of NEA National Heritage Fellowships. The deadline is July 30, 2018. Finally,visit the NEA’s website for more information and to submit a nomination.
First of all, I am delighted and excited to announce that I am the recipient of a 2018 NEA National Heritage Fellowship. Certainly,many thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts for this tremendous honor. Above all,I remain grateful to the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland, the Women of Color Quilters Network, family and friends for your support through the years.
Thank you Congressman Eric Swalwell
In addition,thank you Congressman Eric Swalwell for your visit. It was a delight to share my quilts with you. Moreover, thank you Ora Clay for your encouragement and support. In addition,thanks to the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) for helping me and others reach and teach community members to enjoy quilting. Certainly,congratulations to the other NEA fellows. #NEAHeritage18
Links between art and science are growing fast. This happens to what end? It can take many forms. It could be a formal collaboration between artists and scientists. Maybe a call for artists in residence at scientific institutions will take place. It could happen as a gallery showing of research images as art. Something is in the air. Some of this work is truly brilliant. Some is genuinely good. While other works may be well intentioned, some may well be detrimental to both art and science.
What Exactly is the Point?
So, what exactly is the point of this art and science movement? Here I present what I view to be the most compelling reasons for collaborations between artists and scientists. Most of us who are involved in this area see collaborations between artists and scientists as a good thing. What exactly do we hope for from this brave new world? In addition, I include my vision for where I hope things might go.
Exciting Art
Science and scientific ideas have long inspired art and artists, from Leonardo DaVinci and Picasso, to Turner and Kandinsky. In harnessing the scientific zeitgeist of their times to the making of their art, they showed how scientific ideas can inspire great art. So in some sense, this is nothing new: science is simply part of a larger cultural discourse with which art can engage. However, more recently the ways in which artists are engaging with science are deepening.
Transience 1, 2013 Susan Aldworth
New Media and Methods
Science offers a range of new media and methods for artistic exploration. Who ever said that the tools of the artist were limited to the paintbrush, pencil, or chisel? Susan Aldworth’s most recent exploration of human consciousness involves not only brain images, but also brain tissue. This was not done cavalierly: it was done with utmost care and in partnership with the Parkinson’s Brain Bank at Hammersmith Hospital. But, by using the tools of neuroscience as part of her pallet of media, Aldworth is able to provide an insight into ourselves that science itself cannot manage.
Greater Engagement with Science by Artists
A precondition of this greater engagement with science is that artists themselves be literate in science. Well known for their reading of philosophers such as Proust, Foucault and Deleuze, should art students not read Stephen Hawking and Charles Darwin as well? I am not saying they need to become scientists themselves or ditch the philosophy (quite the opposite). Rather, by immersing themselves in the ideas of science, artists expose themselves to the big questions of life from a different perspective and add new and exciting set of media to the toolbox with which they are able to explore these ‘big questions’.
Better Science
In collaborations between artists and scientists the payoff for the artists may seem the more obvious: a piece of art. So, does science benefit? Or is this simply something for scientists who are also passionate about art or public engagement?I would probably argue that both are correct in different circumstances.
Communicating with a non-specialist
The most obvious benefit to a scientist may well be be better communication skills resulting from prolonged engagement with a non-specialist. This should not be sniffed at: speaking at the British Science Association’s annual Science Communication conference, Brian Cox noted that many scientists are so used to playing to their peers as an audience, they tend to still do so when speaking to non-specialists. Rather we should speak at the level of which our audience is capable and prolonged engagement with non-specialists can help in this respect.
Better Science will Come
However, there is some evidence to suggest that engagement between scientists and artists may even result in better science. At the recent State of Matter symposium, Ariane Koek, who leads the Collide@CERN programme, reported that the scientists involved in the programme find that artists often ask questions they would never think to ask. Sometimes this is because they are very basic questions, but it is also comes from a different way of thinking.
The Potential Detours
Chemist James Gimzewski began collaborating with artist as he was looking for fresh ideas, pushing out reductionist thinking, and interested in being exposed to a different way of questioning. Rather than taking the direct way to solving a problem, artists may pay more attention to the potential detours that scientists are often trained to ignore. Botanist Stephen Tonsor, who has collaborated with Natalie Settles, notes that an artist in residence explores areas that are related to the area of scientific practice, but do not get readily addressed by the scientific method. The artist thinks and acts upon ideas in ways that challenge and permeate their engagement with the world, enriching their scientific process.
Serendipity in Scientific Discovery
Often unacknowledged and impossible to manufacture, serendipity plays an enormous role in scientific discovery. While there is no guarantee that the collaboration between an artist and scientist will lead to that ‘Eureka!’ moment, at least some scientists hope this sort of engagement may help them to approach their science in a slightly different way. Although the pay-offs may be less immediate than the production of an individual piece of art, they are potentially more enduring.
A Vision for the Future
While recognizing the degree of specialization required in both practices, I also hope that the art and science movement goes some way to addressing the way that we identify ourselves as ‘artists’ or ‘scientists’. Many of us begrudge our secondary education. We had to pick one field or the other. The study of music belongs alongside the study of chemistry. Scientists can collaborate with both artists and designers. Being literate in both art and science could become a critical element of being an educated person. Once again as it was in the Rennaisance.
Mutual Benefits of Art and Science
I don’t claim any of this will be easy. Along the way, some fairly bad art will undoubtedly emerge, as will scientists and artists who find themselves jaded by the whole experience. In most cases, some shared common practices are needed for the collaboration to truly be successful. But with all manner of collaborations bubbling away, with art and science programmes in higher education, and with increasing recognition of the mutual benefits of art and science, the future is bright.
What else would you hope for from art and science?
The gloomy June coastal overcast was just lifting as I stepped off the bus on Science Hill at the University of California, Santa Cruz(UCSC). The sun was out but a coolness in the air remained. A slight hint of redwood filled the air. Having been on campus numerous times but I hadn’t recalled the loveliness of the fragrance. Enchanting, it was.The collaboration between the artist and the scientist is about to begin learning from guarding chalk to black holes.
Bridge from one side of campus to the other.
The Physics Office
I enjoyed the short walk to Benjamin Lehmann’s office in the Interdisplinary Science Building. I had never been there,but I had been to the nearby Science Library. After arriving a bit early, I took the opportunity to look around the lobby . I snuck a look at the photos of professors and PhD candidates on the wall. As it was finals week, the lobby was busy with a diverse group of students working on their laptops. The days of science being a males only field are over.
Ann Baldwin May 2018, art quilterBenjamin Lehmann, Phd physics studentBen’s office
Ben’s Office-From Guarding Chalk to Black Holes
When Ben arrived, he showed me his office, a small room with 4 desks and a chalkboard. Evidently, physicists resisted the change to white boards. They have been able to continue with chalk and blackboards for their labors. Each grad student guards their special stash of chalk. As a retired elementary school teacher who spent most of her career teaching from a chalk board, I found the practice relatable and charming.
The Search for Common Ground
We began taking baby steps to find common ground to work together. Ben pulled up some images,photos,charts and graphs on his computer that he thought might be a starting point of inspiration. They were incredible shots of space. I prefer my art be more impressionistic rather than photo image perfect. However, I plan on keeping an open mind on this aspect. I may be adjust my opinion for this project. Ben expressed an interest in being an active participant in some of the artwork.The fabric laying techniques easily accessible to newcomers. He would create a scene and I would do the sewing part. The possibility is worth looking forward to.
Learning about Dark Matter
Ben asked what I understood about dark matter. My response pertained to my very limited knowledge of black holes. Ben graciously commented that many words seems similar but have different meanings. As a theorist, he explained that he studies the beginning of the universe by studying particles and their actions right after the Big Bang. Dark matter is matter(solid, liquid, gas)that is all around us but we can’t see it. I thought of wifi. As an educational system, a core part of UCSC curriculum fosters interdisciplinary studies and collaborations as essential to the future work environment. Ben, as one of its students was successful in communicating these difficult ideas. While I understood his explanations, I warned him that I might need to have them repeated again.
Scientists need to Communicate Clearly
The issue of scientists communicating to others is crucial, more now than ever. Explaining complex scientific concepts to people, however educated they my be in their own fields, is a crucial skill. Ben shared that monthly lectures were offered by the Physics Department. At those meetings, different physicists to share their work. He admitted that he sometimes couldn’t totally understand the physicists whose work was in a field of physics different from his own. We must all work to break down the silos of communication.
Creativity -Thinking with an Open Mind
Creativity involves being open to new thinking or trying something new. One must venture forth without knowing what the end process or destination may be. In other words, Ben, theorical physicist and I, art quilter both had a creative day.
Finals Week
As the early afternoon heated up, Ben had to leave to proctor a final exam. I continued to sit on the bench we had found outside inhaling the redwoods until it got too hot. UCSC rightfully holds a place on the list of most beautiful campuses. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. I undoubtably was the only person relaxed and smiling on that finals week afternoon.
Simply,my art quilts may be abstract, whimsical or impressionistic. Furthermore,inspiration comes from the natural world as well as from Mexican and Native American influences. In addition, materials of choice are redirected fabrics and found objects. They come from the San Francisco Design Center. In addition,art quilts let me to play with color and texture. My technique, Scribble Quilting allows me to create movement on many of my pieces.
A Short Bio
I was born and raised in Palo Alto, California.In high school I studied sewing and clothing construction for two years. Later,I continued to sew much of my wardrobe. As a newlywed, I took my first quilting class at a neighborhood fabric store in Huntington Beach. My husband and I lived and traveled in Europe for a year.Then we moved to Santa Cruz, California in 1980. I continued to sew clothes and make quilts for my family.I stopped counting bed quilts at 300. After teaching 30 years in Watsonville as a bilingual teacher, I retired.
Groovin High by Faith RinggoldTar Beach , an art quilt by Faith Ringgold
Faith Ringgold Quilt Artist
Sacramento, Calif –UPDATED December 22, 2017 –
On February 18, 2018, the Crocker Art Museum will bring to Sacramento Faith Ringgold: An American Artist. This exhibition features Ringgold’s famous story quilts. In other words, tankas, inspired by thangkas, Tibetan textile paintings. Also included are Ringold’s oil paintings, prints, drawings, masks, and sculptures. Furthermore, on view are the original illustrations from the artist’s award-winning book Tar Beach.
Harlem-born Artist and Activist
After a trip to Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum in 1972,Harlem-born artist and activist Ringgold began working with textiles. After that,a gallery guard introduced her to Tibetan thangkas. Above, all,thangkas are traditional Buddhist paintings on cloth, surrounded by silk brocades. After returning home, Ringgold enlisted the help of her mother, a professional dressmaker.Importantly, Ms. Ringgold made politically minded thangkas of her own. Certainly,she sewed frames of cloth around depictions of brutal rape and slavery. In 1980, Ringgold crafted her first quilt. Again,with some sewing help from her mother. Ms. Ringgold created Echoes of Harlem (1980).Moreover,she portrayed 30 Harlem residents in a mandala-like composition.
Moreover,these works combined visual and written storytelling to explore topics. In addition, the underrepresentation of African Americans in art history stands out. Moreover, she explored her upbringing in Harlem. After that, the legacy of Aunt Jemima. According to the artist, the textile medium allows her political messages to be more digestible. “When [viewers are] looking at my work, they’re looking at a painting. Certainly,they’re able to accept it better because it is also a quilt,” she says.
A main motivation of mine besides making stunning art is to reuse materials. Pieces of yarn and decorative threads that some people may discard become unique design elements. I couch (zigzag) them on a strip of fabric, cut them and use as fabric. Yet, sometimes there are decorative threads that one just has to buy. There is one like that in this piece. The ribbon alternates rusty orange and green with 3D native inspired tied knots. Bring Your Bravery! Be Brave!
Choosing Colors- Be Brave!
Choose your color scheme. I recommend three to four colors. Sort hues from light to dark in the same shades. Be brave. Experiment with different colors on your design wall. Don’t be afraid to eliminate fabrics. Start with more material than you think you might need. Include one bright fabric that makes the piece pop.
Creating Details Bring Your Bravery! Be Brave!
Couch (zigzag) decorative threads on 5”wide strips of cotton. Try something new. Bring Your Bravery! Be Brave! Emphasize the art element of line by couching with thread that matches the yarn to make the sewing thread disappear. Double or triple the ply for a thicker line. Repeat four to six times using different colors and types of decorative threads. Couch the decorative threads fairly close together about 1/8-1/4 inch apart. Leave a 1” space on each side of the fabric strip. This gives you flexibility. You can always make it smaller.
Tucks add texture.
Bring Your Bravery! Be Brave! Tucks add texture. Fold a 12” length or longer strip of fabric wrong sides together to create a fold. Stitch 1/8” or 1/4” close to the fold edge. Choose your thread to blend into the fabric or to stand out as a design element. Make 3-5 tucks on the same strip of fabric. Remember to save room for the seam allowance on the sides. Press to lay flat. Cut up the strips into 4”- 8”pieces. Balance their placement on the design wall.
Temporarily Mark your Design Wall
Plan to make your finished artwork about 24”square. Mark with pins the approximate size of your finished piece on the design wall as a guideline. Remember when you are putting fabric on the design wall, the finished product will be smaller. Start with fabric pieces that are a bit larger.
Photo 2 Small strips are being sewn together.
Place the Pieces Randomly
So, you have assembled your own “fabric” with couched decorative threads and tucks. Now it is time to mix those fabrics with others on the design wall. Bravely put the pieces up randomly and start to move the pieces around to see what goes together. What fabrics jump out at you?
Photo 3 Almost all squared up.
Balance the Fabrics
Limit those to an odd number of them. Balance the different fabrics making sure that they are spread out evenly over the top. Beginners might choose to piece their top using straight lines up and down. Placing the pieces on a diagonal adds interest. A diagonal quilt will go past the guideline pins and be trimmed into a rectangular or square.
Show courage. Sew, cut and move fabric around the design wall. Keep cutting and sewing pieces together until it pleases you. The top doesn’t need to be totally finished to start to sew. Sew straight or curved line seams. Continue to sew pieces together into about 8” strips. Pin them to the design wall either in straight lines or on a diagonal. Allow time for this process. Trust yourself.
A “Painful” Time
This can be a “painful” time for an artist, if the piece isn’t coming together as one wishes it would. I find that if I don’t like a part, it gets more interesting after I cut it up and rearrange the pieces. Leave items on the design wall and return later to look at the piece with fresh eyes. Complete sewing the top when you are happy with it. Prepare the quilt sandwich and quilt. Scribble Quilting is fun and adds movement to your piece. Whichever way you quilt your piece, you will have an artful abstract art quilt as testament to your bravery.
About the Author
Ann Baldwin May lives in Santa Cruz, California. In 2012, she retired after teaching elementary school for 36 years. She has won several awards for her work. She participates in the juried Santa Cruz County Open Studios Art Tour from her studio in the Santa Cruz Art Center. May is a member of SAQA( Studio Art Quilter Associates). Contact her at baldwinmay49@yahoo.com or www.annbaldwinmayartquilts.com. Or visit her Etsy shop at annbmayartquilts.etsy.com
Directions for Curved Line Piecing-optional
Lay two pieces of 5” cotton squares on top of each other right sides up on the cutting mat. Cut a slightly curved line through both fabrics with a rotary cutter. There will be four pieces. The top of one fabric will fit the bottom of the other fabric like two puzzles pieces making the original square. Take those two pieces that fit together and sew right sides together with a ¼” seam. Only the part of the fabric going through the foot will line up to a ¼” seam due to the curve. Slightly adjust the top fabric as you move them both through the foot. Press open. This technique is very forgiving. You will be amazed at your curved line. Practice making curves of different widths.
Advice for Beginners
Let each person’s eye see the hues in their own way. Let go of controlling the way the colors mix together. The color of thread changes depending on the color of the fabric that it is sewn on. The color of the fabric is influenced by the color it is next to.
When I started making art quilts, I had a lot of experience sewing clothes and bed quilts. I would think of how a traditional quilter would do something and then I would choose to do it differently.
Consider expanding your stash to include a wider range of shades and hues.
Tips
It is imperative to be cautious with certain aspects of our lives, but cutting up fabric is not one of those times.
Create texture by including fabrics other than 100% cotton. While a variety of fabric adds interest, provide some solid fabrics as a needed resting spot for one’s eyes.
Include a bit of fabric that will pop. Shiny synthetics work well for this.
Supplies and Materials
Rotary blade, cutting matt, design wall(white flannel thumbtacked to the wall) sewing machine, batiks, found threads(decorative threads, yarns, rickrack, colored string, synthetic raffia), a variety of small pieces of cotton fabrics(fat quarter or smaller), fabrics of different textures (optional), thread, batting, cotton backing fabric, scissors, walking foot for quilting.
As he retires from painting his striking Santa Cruz murals, James Aschbacher is re-inventing his art.
The Life of James Aschbacher
Sadly, after a action-packed 66 years, artist and muralist James Carl Aschbacher passed away. His wife author Lisa Jensen, and several dear friends, were at his side. James was born October 9, 1951, in Evanston, IL. For 16 years he was co-proprietor of Atlantis Fantasyworld comic book store with Joe Ferrara. At age 40, with no previous artistic training, James gave up retail to pursue art full-time.
His first Magic is Magic.
Though he’s best known now as Santa Cruz’s most popular muralist, James Aschbacher once wrote a column for Magic Magazine.“I had a little stage show when I was 16,” he reveals. “My dad and I did magic acts—sawing the lady in half, that kind of thing. Even some Houdini tricks.” As he readies himself for another Open Studios season, transformation is still part of Aschbacher’s visual magic.
Murals
Over the past 15 years, James Aschbacher muralist painted with his wife, GT film critic Lisa Jensen, some with entire classes of fifth-graders from around the county—have sprung up everywhere, 18 in all. Working with private clients and city partners, Aschbacher has created wall-sized fantasies populated by his whimsical flying fish, twirling birds and cats, and fanciful folk with wild hair. Retiring this year from the mural game, citing back trouble, Aschbacher now devotes himself full time to painstakingly crafted, shaped, incised and painted artworks.
Atlantis Fantasy World
A Chicago native, Aschbacher came west in 1975 with a girlfriend who was attending UCSC. “I saw the palm trees and I loved it immediately.” He began supporting himself with a mail-order business in illustrated and vintage children’s books. To expand his valuable collection of comics, he searched all over. “I went to flea markets,” he recalls. “And that’s where I met Joe Ferrara. We were both go-getters. In 1978 we opened Atlantis Fantasy World on Pacific Avenue.”
Aschbacher recalls the scene as “fun, weird, wild times. We handled some Star Trek stuff, and when Star Wars opened six months later, sci-fi came out of the closet. We were the first with TSR role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons.”
He started Experimenting with Art.
After the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989, Aschbacher retired from the comics scene. He started experimenting with art. “I had all these ideas, but no skill,” he says with a chuckle. “I never took an art class. Having grown up working in construction with his dad, Aschbacher was no stranger to woodshops. With cans of spray paint and hand-cut stencils, he began feeling his way into a style. “I did 200 paintings that way, spray paint through stencils on illustration board. I was obsessed,” he admits. “To work late into the night,I installed lights in the back yard.”“I learned on the job,” he says with a grin from an astonishingly neat work table at the studio end of his mid-county home.
Painting Fanciful Figures
The next breakthrough came when he started painting fanciful figures onto the stencils, each coated with hundreds of coats of sprayed color. “Lisa’s mom gave me paint brushes one Christmas, so I started carving in wood, then brushing paint into the carvings.” His familiar style was born. First a plywood base, then the painted board nailed onto the wood, and finally a border of encised and painted hieroglyphs. “Paul Klee’s quirky drawing gave me confidence that I didn’t have to have an academic style, I didn’t need perspective.”
The size of each painting was originally determined by the sizes of the recycled scrap board. Only later did he make large foundations for the highly popular pieces, available at the annual Church Street Art Fair, at Bargetto, on Pasta Mike sauces, etc.
Entering the Art Field
Aschbacher entered his first Open Studios in 1995. “I’ve been doing it for 25 years,” he notes. And it has been very very good to him.
“Then I started getting galleries,” he says, including Many Hands in Santa Cruz and two in Chicago. “Those were big for me, since my family was from that area.”
Color and Certain Symbols
As the years went by, Aschbacher’s palette got brighter. “I wasn’t brave enough at first.” Color is now a central feature of his style, along with the hieroglyphs. “Certain symbols—the circle, the cross, the star, the wave—are universal. And I like to alternate lines and solids. I’m a Libra, so I want balance.”
A devoted pizza and pasta chef, Aschbacher says he never tires of creating in his highly recognizable style. “It might bore other people, but not me, because I always love seeing how it will look.”
Do his smiling creatures reflect his own persona? “Absolutely. My mission is to make people smile.”
James was a board member for many yearsof the Santa Cruz Arts Council.
LOCAL COLOR Now in his 25th year participating in Open Studios, James Aschbacher has had a great deal of success locally with his vibrant signature style. PHOTO: CHIP SCHEUER.
Santa Cruz Art Center 1001 Center St. Downtown Santa Cruz offers a wide range of design businesses and art.
A visit to the Art Center in not complete without a visit to 11th Hour Coffee. The coffee is roasted on site. Food is also available. Spacious seating area inside or outside in the back or front courtyard. Find your sun or shade!
A visit to the Art Center in not complete without a visit to 11th Hour Coffee. The coffee is roasted on site. Food is also available. Spacious seating area inside or outside in the back or front courtyard. Find your sun or shade!
Other Businesses include
Santa Cruz Food Lounge, Suite 1 – a downtown special event venue. Available for community meetings. A community hub focused on outstanding food, art, entertainment, education.
Ann Baldwin May Art Quilts, Suite 4 Working studio and gallery. abstract art quilts, nature or Mexican inspired fabric collages. Pre covid,I filled the lobby each First Fridays and Open Studios. Color! Texture! and Movement! 831.345.1466
Follow the art activities on our Facebook Page, Arts at the Santa Cruz Art Center.This group is open to the public. Anyone can post there. The only rule is the activity must take place at the Art Center.The purpose is to highlight the arts related businesses and activities. Located at1001 Center St. Downtown Santa Cruz, CA. Many venues feature art for the monthly First Fridays Art Tour.
The Public is Welcome.
We invite those who present or host events in the SC Art Center to join this group. All events taking place there are welcome. The usual activities include music, theatre, visual arts, or dancing .In the past there have been poetry readings, comedy, mystery dinners and book launchings. Advertise your show.
Georgia O’Keeffe: Art, Image, Style By Susan Flynn
Independent Streak
Georgia O’Keeffe’s independent streak started early. Her high school yearbook described her this way: “A girl who would be different in habit, style and dress. A girl who doesn’t give a cent for men and boys still less.”
A class photo seems to further this reputation as a woman determined to do things her way. Unlike her peers with a penchant for puffiness, O’Keeffe poses in a dress with fitted sleeves and cuffs. She wears her hair pulled straight back into a long ponytail. She does not style her hair in the trendy high pompadour with a big floppy bow.
Clothes designed by Georgia O’Keeffe
A World of her Own Design
With exacting detail and fierce intensity, Georgia O’Keeffe controlled how the world would see her. She orchestrated her life from the clothes she wore to the way she addressed a letter to the objects she placed on her mantle and finally, to the compositions of her paintings. —AUSTEN BARRON BAILLY, PEM’S GEORGE PUTNAM CURATOR OF AMERICAN ART
“For more than 70 years, Georgia O’Keeffe shaped her public persona. She defied labels. She lived life on her terms so that she could make the art she felt she was called to make.”
Never before Seen
Georgia O’Keeffe: Art, Image, Style, which opens December 16,2017 at Peabody Essex Museum(PEM)Salem, MA, offers a radically new way to consider an artist we think we know from her iconic paintings of flowers and Southwestern landscapes. Through 125 works, the exhibition expands our understanding of O’Keeffe by presenting her wardrobe,for the first time, alongside photographs and paintings.
Sections divide the exhibition by the time of her life. From her early years, when O’Keeffe crafted a signature simple style of dress. Then to her years in New York, in the 1920s and 1930s, when a black-and-white palette dominated much of her art and dress. Finally to her later years in New Mexico, where her art and clothing changed in response to the surrounding colors of the Southwestern landscape.She continued styling right up until her death in 1986.
Georgia O’Keeffe ‘s dresses
A New Way to look at O’keeffe
“We are able to explore Georgia O’Keeffe and her art though the lens of her self-fashioning and her self-presentation,” said Bailly, the exhibition coordinating curator. “We can recognize that her clothes and the way she dressed were their own authentic form of artistic expression.”
Her whole life was a work of Art.
Before working on the exhibition, Bailly said she had no idea that O’Keeffe made many of her own clothes. In fact, the renowned modernist artist was a gifted seamstress who favored simple lines, minimal ornamentation and organic forms.
“When you see how exquisitely she crafted linen tunics or silk blouses, you are going to be blown away,” Bailly said. “There is such understated simplicity and elegance to her designs. There is the beauty of the fabrics with the tiny little feminine details. You start to see similarities between the aesthetics of her clothes and her paintings. Without opening up her closet, you never would sense that her whole life was a work of art.”
Decades Ahead of Everyone
Georgia O’Keeffe was decades ahead of everyone. Today, social media makes it easy to curate one’s own public image. Scroll through your Instagram feed. You’re likely to encounter friends skilled at projecting their self-identified brand. O’Keeffee’s presented a unified aesthetic vision in every aspect of her life.
“I think people are really captivated by the fact that she maintained such a strikingly coherent style throughout her long life, “said Bailly. “Her ability to achieve creative and aesthetic excellence according to her vision in every aspect of her life far eclipsed her peers. Her remarkable personal style continues to inspire.”
Above all,human spaceflight inspires humans to create art in many forms.In addition,watch the video of a collection of fiber art quilts entitled Fly Me To The Moon. In addition,the show has been touring the country since late 2016. Moreover, many more stops are planned for the schedule. Subsequently,a group of those art quilts honored space travel was displayed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in 2015. So this is in honor of the recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire. After that,the show’s curator, Susanne Jones comments on the artistic elements of some of the pieces. Ultimately,she notes the educational value of the exhibit to a nation inspired by space exploration.
Blue Collider Event Display art quilt in Stitching, CA
The ‘Space for Art’ column recognizes the inspiration from the interaction between space and art. This inspiration presents itself in many artistic forms. For example,creative artists present the story of space exploration.
Quilting adds a New Level
The world of quilting adds surprise and a new level to recent discoveries. Another whole world of fine art that I was completely unaware of. However, thrilled I am to have now discovered it. The space-themed quilts in particular hold much interest.
Finally,these are quilts created and sewn by fiber artists. In addition to fabric and thread, they also incorporate many forms of mixed media.This adds texture and dimension. Read the complete article here.
Above all, Sandy Takashima Shaw sees art as a place to begin conversations. Furthermore, she is a lifelong painter. In college, she majored in business and studied fine art. She’s half Japanese. Sandy grew up in Ohio. After graduation, she moved to Japan. That is to say she wanted to learn more about her heritage. She then traveled around Asia. Finally, she moved to San Francisco to begin work as a marketing manager in the technology industry. After years of painting in the evenings, Sandy was able to quit her day job. At last,she began to travel the world and paint.
Now she lives in Aptos with her family. Furthermore,she paints while the kids are at school. Her work appears in galleries around the U.S. Moreover,she teachs art. Google San Francisco recently commissioned a work for their office. She still travels annually with her family to surfing destinations. AND, fun fact, she’s also a certified life coach!
Sandy Takashima Shaw in front of her art
An authentic Artist
Foremost,Sandy’s main goal is to be completely authentic in her personal life. That is to say,Hher vibrant, mixed media acrylics feature hundreds of layers of paint, Japanese rice paper and ink. Similarly,my goal as an artist is to create art to spark positive social impact, thoughtful conversation, and meaningful connections.
the AND series
In her newest series is the AND series. For example, each painting represents an issue in our current political, social and cultural landscape. In addition,the word ‘and’ is prominently featured in each and brightly illuminated.
Art Inspired Salon
Out of this series, the idea was born to create an Art Inspired Salon. In addition,the salons bring people together to create positive actions. For example, we can take create the world we want. Furthermore,she holds the event at her studio. Attendees come together to enjoy food, beverages and conversation. They study the series on display and discuss.
Looking ahead,I believe that if we stay optimistic that positive change is possible. We will be more motivated to take personal action, both small and large. We can make the world a more compassionate and kinder place. It is time for feminine leadership to rise and heal our country and world.
Thanks, Sandy! We look forward to joining in the discussion.
Current and Upcoming Events
October 1, 2017 – September 30, 2018
Resilient and Revived Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History The Chamber of Heart and Mystery Exhibit January 5 – February 4, 2018
Spoken/Unspoken Juried Exhibit Santa Cruz Art League Reception: February 2, First Friday, 6:00-8:00pm February 8 – March 17, 2018
I had the pleasure of meeting Sandy Takashima Shaw, a kind and generous artist.
Do you want to be a great and highly effective artist? I do. I might be getting a bit obsessed with it, actually. Ideas pop into my head unexpectedly. I keep a long running list of ideas for improving my work.I also study how the most successful artists got where they are, and I pore over every word that they write. If you want to be a great artist, you should, too.
I wanted to find out what all these top artists had in common. Their mindset, their mental habits. I spent a lot of time observing, which led to this list of the six success traits shared by all top artists I’ve found. I’m happy to share it with you.The good news is that even if you don’t have all these personality traits already, most of them can be developed over time. Best of all, if you can cultivate these traits, you’ll become more effective in the rest of your life as well.
Westside Egret
Here We Go! Six Proven Habits of Effective Artists
1. Highly Effective artists are prolific.
The first key to being a successful, highly effective artist is to create. A lot.
The more you create, the better you get.
There’s no way around it; it takes work to be prolific. And effective artists work hard. Putting a successful art career together requires a lot of time in your studio, and not surfing LOLCats or Twittering about what you had for lunch.
2. Highly Effective artists are lifelong learners
If you’re a new artist, you’re probably on a steep learning curve at the moment.
Maybe you tell yourself that things will get better when you’ve been doing it longer. There won’t be so much to learn. You’ll have systems in place soon and everything will run smoothly.
Sadly, I think this is a myth. I’ve been painting and working my career as an artist for more than 15 years, and it keeps changing. Just when you’ve got one element sorted out, something new happens. Or becomes obsolete. Or mutates in 20 different directions.
If you want to stay ahead in art, you have to keep learning.
Fortunately, being curious and wanting to learn keeps you young and your brain active. A love of learning doesn’t just set you up for a successful art career, but for a successful and happy life.
3. Highly Effective artists are focused and consistent
Highly effective artists move consistently toward their vision. Their work has a consistent voice and approach. Even when they move toward something that may be off topic, they relate it back to their greater vision.
4. Highly Effective artists plan ahead
Highly effective artists know where they’re going. They have a master plan and they stick to it. Yes, they adapt based on feedback, but always in service of a vision.
They don’t let themselves get derailed. They follow the plan.
5. Highly Effective artists are persistent
Highly effective artists understand that success doesn’t happen overnight. Real success rarely happens quickly.
Time is on your side. To get to the top takes consistency, hard work, serious study, and lots of persistence. Successful artists don’t give up.
I’ve noticed a lot of people like the idea of working from home, working for themselves, being their own boss. But if you want these things, you need to be able to manage yourself.
No one is going to sack you if you’re late. No one reminds you of important deadlines or nags you to get your sales numbers up.
If you want to be a successful artist, you need to be a self-starter. It’s not enough to have good ideas. You have to act on them.
Eli Leon and Lemmy. Photo: Courtesy of Eli Leo Living Trust
Eli Leon Collects Unique Textiles
For 55 years, Oakland psychotherapist Eli Leon collected unusual textiles. Above all,his collection included kitchiana, aprons, vintage clothing, traditional standard quilts, and, most famously, Afro-tradition quilts. On the one hand,he bought most items in California. But he would go on repeated research and collecting trips to East Texas, northern Louisiana, and southern Arkansas.
The Sale of the Unique Collection
This June 23- 25, Geneva and Julie Addison will be selling his collections from his home at 5663 Dover St. in Oakland. Above all,the collections are breathtaking. For instance,they are manifestations of a collector with a sharp eye for acquiring and displaying in his home. Moreover,proceeds from the sale will go towards Leon’s care. See their blog about the sale, with more than 500 photographs. However, his Afro-tradition quilts are not included in this sale.
At my Quirky Berkeley blog, I explored Leon’s life, home and collections. Here is a small bit of the wonderful items that will be for sale this weekend. For example,the first weekend of the sale will deal with the non-textile collections. Then,the traditional quilts and other textiles will be sold later this summer. Further,the sale is first come, first served. Subsequently,it represents a perfect chance to pick up some pre-collected quirky material culture and to honor a great scholar and collector.
Most importantly,Leon’s most famous collection is of African American quilts. However,his trust plans that the collection will be preserved intact by a museum. Furthermore,the collection includes 100 of the traditional American quilts,. Here are a couple photos.
Yellow double wedding ring quiltRed Sampler Quilt
Above all,Leon was a passionate and driven and skilled collector. In addition,I have never seen a better opportunity for buying quirky little things. In other words,visiting Leon’s house will give a glimpse into the world of that driven and talented collector.
Quilt collectionQuilt collection
Tom Dalzell, a labor lawyer, created a website, Quirky Berkeley, to share all the whimsical objects. The site now has more than 8,000 photographs of quirky objects around town.It also includes posts where the 30-year resident muses on what it all means.
The fabric layering technique of making art quilts uses a table rather than a design wall. In short, I create a scene and then cover it with tulle netting and free motion quilt the three layers(back, batting,top) together. I use this technique for my Nature portfolio; underwater fantasies, trees, landscapes. The photos in this post are of an underwater fantasy, more impressionistic than realistic.
To Begin
To begin, I choose the top fabric. I prefer to choose a fabric with some dimension already on it, light and dark spaces. If I choose a dark background, then I will choose lighter colored materials for my plants, fish, rocks and other items . If I choose a lighter background, then I will choose darker color to create the scenery.
Step 1
The back fabric is flat on the table. A piece of batting is laid on top of that. You can see the white batting hanging a bit over the edge. Then I laid a piece of moddled commercial fabric on top. The piece is about 14″ by 14″. I let the fabric’s different shades of coloring do part of the work in creating interest and depth in the piece. I lightly baste the layers together with an Avery glue stick.
step 1 in fabric layering technique for making art quilts
Step 2
For this piece, I cut out light colored rocks and placed them in the foreground. I cut out irregularly shaped dots of different colored batik fabric for the jellies(formerly called jelly fish). I place the jellies as if they are swimming in the current. An art trick or rule is to have an odd number of items, three, five or nine objects.
step 2 in fabric layering technique another look
Step 3
Next, I cut out plants and place them between the rocks. I add decorative threads for the tenacles of the jellies being aware of the movement of the water. When everything is in its place,I baste the pieces in place with a light dab of glue. One can use different brands of glue. Test before hand that the glue does not discolor the fabric and make a mark after it has dried.
Step 4
Next, I cover the scene with tulle netting and pin the tulle in place.
step 4 in fabric layering technique another look for making art quilts
Step 5
Then,I free motion quilt the three layers together. I lower the feed dogs on my machine to allow me to move the piece however I want. The quilting creates another level of movement.
step 5 in fabric layering technique another look for making art quilts
Step 6
I finish the piece by zigzagging the edges twice. For larger pieces, I often attach a facing and turn it to the back and stitch by hand.
step 6 in fabric layering technique another look for making art quilts
Here is a photo of the back of the piece where you can see the machine stitching easier.
Free motion quilting is at the apex of skill for quilters. The technique takes a lot of practice to master. Before I took Meri Vahl’s class, I had been practicing. To be honest, I was so frustrated that I had almost decided to give up. Luckily, I didn’t. The fabric layering technique is a forgiving way to practice the skill. I highly recommend it.
Here are my suggestions for success in free motion quilting.
Use Aurifil brand thread. It can be found in fine quilting shops or online. It is totally worth the higher price. The thread is strong yet thin. I once pieced and quilted a double sized bed quilt using only one spool.
Aurifil thread 50wt
“Fast feet, slow hands.” This is the mantra for free motion quilting. This means that one pushes the pedal of their machine so that the throttle goes quickly. With the feed dogs down, the quilter slowly moves the quilt with her hands. This does take a fair amount of practice.Practice using the fabric layering technique. Begin by outlining your figures with the free motion quilting.
Have fun practicing with this technique! Let me know how it goes for you! I hope you have as much fun as I do using this technique.
Read this interview about Cindy Grisdela,art quilter by Studio Art Quilt Associates(SAQA) too good not to share.
Art Quilter Cindy Grisdela
JourneysEndDetail-CindyGrisdela
SAQA: When did you begin making art with fabric? Do you work in other media as well?
GRISDELA: I started sewing when I was 10. My mother decided I was old enough to be trusted with her beloved Singer. I studied art in high school and college experimenting with painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture and weaving.I made my first quilt in 1983. After seeing an article in a magazine of a queen size Trip Around the World, I wanted to make one. After that I was hooked. I spent a number of years making traditional quilts as a creative outlet while I raised my family. About 15 years ago, I got bored with following patterns. So I started seriously trying to make my own art in fabric.
Color and Texture
SAQA: What inspires you?
GRISDELA: I’m inspired by abstraction, color and texture. I enjoy playing with color and seeing how various colors and shapes interact. One of the reasons I create with fabric instead of with paint is the ability to add another dimension to my compositions. I can add texture with dense free motion quilting. The stitching is an integral part of the composition. It is not just a means to hold the three layers together.
SAQA: Have any artists or art movements influenced your work?
GRISDELA: I have a degree in Art History. There are always lots of influences rattling around in my head. I love Abstract Expressionism, especially the Color Field School of artists. Matisse’s cut outs are important to me, as are Klee, Kandinsky and Klimt. I’m also drawn to the work of Robert and Sonia Delaunay. Among quilt artists, I am indebted to the work of Gwen Marston who was an early influence.
SAQA: What techniques and materials do you use?
GRISDELA: I use hand dyed fabrics to create almost all of my current work mostly by Cherrywood Fabrics. I experimented with dyeing my own fabrics a number of years ago, but realized that’s not my skill. So I’m happy supporting others who do it well.All of my work now is created using improvisational piecing techniques and free motion quilting. I enjoy the dialogue that happens when I’m just cutting out colors and shapes intuitively. One decision leads to the next. It’s a little like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Only I get to decide what the picture is going to look like. I do all my quilting without marking ahead of time or using a computer program.
A Lakeside Studio
SAQA: Where do you create?
GRISDELA: I have a studio in the basement of our townhouse. I look out on the lake while I’m sewing. It’s a very peaceful retreat. The commute downstairs is great too! I also have a shared space with nine other artists a short distance from my home. I’m the only fiber artist in the group. But it’s good to be around other creative people and share inspiration. I try to spend one day a week there.
Artmaking and Business
SAQA: How do you reconcile the artmaking and business sides of your creative life?
GRISDELA: That’s the tough part. For the last ten years I’ve been traveling extensively showing an selling my work at fine art and fine craft shows all over the country. I do about 12-14 shows a year. I also have an active blog and presence on Instagram and Facebook. I’m a regular contributor to the SAQA (Studio Art Quilter Associates)Journal.
I spend about half my time on the business side. This entails writing, applying to shows, keeping my website up to date, marketing, and other business. I like to spend time in the studio in the morning and early afternoon. That’s when I’m most creat I work on other business later in the day. I keep lists and work backward to make sure enough time is allotted to keep my inventory up for the shows. Sometimes I’m writing blog posts or marketing pieces on the road.
Publications
SAQA: Have you published books or been a guest on an art-related media program?
GRISDELA: I will continue doing shows. Probably not as many as I did in 2017. I’m doing a lot more teaching now to promote the book. It’s such fun to see a diverse group of artists come together for a day or more to explore their individual creativity. Each person’s work is different from the others and different from mine. We all bring our own personalities and backgrounds to the table.
I also have plans to work on a new series of larger improv quilts. The great thing about improv is there’s always something new to explore!
Long strips of cotton with the threads couched on them.
Introduction
Yarn Adds Texture to an Art Quilt
Use yarn to create fabric to add texture to an art quilt. I zigzag or couch multiple pieces of yarn on strips of 100% cotton. Then I cut them up and use the pieces as fabric in my art pieces. Decorative threads can also be used.
Yarn I inherited from my mother.
My First Inspiration
I have several small spools of yarn I inherited from my mother. Their bright colors attracted me. I don’t know what my mother had used them for. I wanted them for something,although I didn’t know for what. They languished in my studio for a long time before a perfect use came up.
My Second Inspiration
Several years back at a large quilt show, I saw a piece that had a large amount of yarn jammed on top into big blob. To be honest, I didn’t like effect at all. But it gave me the idea to use yarn in a more orderly fashion. I stumbled upon a way to create more texture for my pieces.
Materials
First, I chose the colors that I want to use in my art quilt. I go through my box of decorative threads and yarns looking for yarn with texture and complementary shade of color. Using a long strip of cotton fabric, 20”-40” long and 5” to 6” wide, I begin. Other backings like ribbon didn’t work well as it was slippery and was not easy to sew with. I zigzag(couch) the yarn to the cotton strip. I prefer to match the sewing thread color to the yarn as that the color of the yarn stands out more; the stitching appears invisible. But that is a personal choice one can make.
Suggestions
Don’t worry about the lines being straight. A thin piece of yarn can be doubled or tripled to become thicker . Vary your use of threads for texture. Remember to leave space for the 1/4″seam allowance. Don’t sew too close to the side edges of the cotton fabric.
Next,various strips of cotton with yarn and decorative threads zigzagged on them.Then,long strips of cotton with the yarn couched on them.
More Suggestions
Sometimes I keep the threads straight and sometimes I cross one thread on top of another. I like the movement this creates on my art quilts. Overthinking this process is not necessary. I find it fun and relaxing. If things don’t turn out as I would like then I can just save the piece for another project. After 5 or 6 pieces of yarn have been couched, then I randomly cut them into pieces to use as fabric.
Sometimes I use linen with a slight design on it for added texture.Finally,I cut up the long strips. They are ready to be used as fabric.
Conclusion It will be easy to find interesting yarns and decorative threads at flea markets or garage sales. There won’t be enough yarn for a scarf or a sweater but there will be more than enough for your couching projects.
Check out the group fiber show at the R. Blitzer Gallery 2017.
Fiber Show at R.Blitzer Gallery 2017
Fiber Reflections:Shared Dimensions will be at the R. Blitzer Gallery. Santa Cruz, CA April 5-28, 2017 Here are some of the participating artists.
Beautiful jacket by Marilou MoschettiMarilou Moschetti fiber piece
Marilou Moschetti, Fiber Show at R.Blitzer Gallery artist
I began creating Nuno felt 15 years ago. It is a technique used to fuse silk and fine Merino wool together. In 2002 I fell in love with the art of felt making during a trip to New Zealand. I teach felt workshops throughout Northern California. I received my Bachelor’s Degree from San Jose State University.
Primarily,Carole Rossi is a quilt & fiber artist. She lives in Sacramento, California with her husband. Creating her art is how she thrives. The fabric, the colors, the textures are her passion.
Long ago,Carole learned to sew from her Italian grandfather. He was an accomplished tailor. Carole is a lawyer specializing in higher education & employment law. Currently, Carole uses piecing techniques to create representational images. her art quilts are based on her photographs of her travels.
Ocean by Carole Rossiby Carole Rossi
Alexandra Sanders,artist at Fiber at R.Blitzer
I am an artist in Santa Cruz, California. I have my Bachelor’s degree in Art from San Jose State University. My emphasis is in Textiles-batik, and silk painting. I choose to paint birds with watercolors.
Egrets by Alexandra SandersTree Batik by Alexndra Sanders
My art quilts may be abstract, whimsical or impressionistic. Inspiration comes from the natural world. Similarly, I am influenced by Mexican and Native American cultures. My materials of choice are redirected fabrics. Art quilts free me to play with color and texture.
Shore to Sky F by Ann Baldwin MayPack Animal by Ann Baldwin May
