Home from the quilt show

with some very mixed feelings. 

It all started when I was filling out my forms, to enter those pieces that I felt were good enough. Imagine my disappointment when, upon reading the judging criteria, I realized that none of my pieces were eligible for entry!  After calming down and thinking about it for a couple of days, I recognized that they had the option of setting any criteria they wanted for their show, and I had the option of choosing whether or not I would enter. Since it would have meant starting from scratch and creating pieces specifically for the show--pieces that it would be unlikely I could use anywhere else--and that would have to be created under a very demanding deadline ( 2 weeks), I reluctantly decided not to enter.

But that didn't stop me from volunteering!  I was very involved in the supervision of a travelling art quilt exhibit, that had been invited to exhibit in conjunction with the larger show.  There were a few glitches, but the show was hung and was very well received-- by the public.  How gratifying it was to hear all of the comments!  We even managed to sell a piece.  But at the same time, there were comments made by show committee members, and other Guild members, that made me wonder if we were only there on sufferance,--subtle comments, that left you wondering if you had actually heard correctly. 

I attended the banquet associated with the show, and the guest speaker left no doubt about her feeling regarding the "Modern" quilt movement.  She has no use for it, or anyone else, that made other that very traditonal quilts.  When the prizes were awarded, as they always are at such banquets, I was shocked when it was announced that, because there were few art quilts entered, the prizes had been moved to a different category.  Not that there weren't quilts worthy of the prizes, (there were) but just that there hadn't been enough entered--after they had provided criteria so rigid that it was almost impossible to enter any art quilt.

Later, in conversation with someone in a position to be knowledgeable about such things, I was told that the show critera and the judging classes had deliberately been set up to minimize the participation of art quilters. This person thought that the whole thing had been a planned strategy to prevent art quilters from taking any prizes, and to discourage art quilters from becoming involved with the Guild. Some of this may have been in response to an art quilt taking Best of Show at the a previous show, but that quilt was actually a wonderful example of hand applique--however, done by a recognized "art"quilter!

If it is really true that this was a strategy aimed at discouraging art quilters from participation in guild activities, it was a successful one.  I have been a member for over 30 years, and have particpated at every level, serving many years on the executive, and having been awarded a life membership, but I don't think they are going to see much of me in the future.

new work

Here is a full view and close-up of the piece "Too Far Away", that has gone off to the Fibre Art Network exhibit "From Away", which is being shown in conjunction with Quilt Canada in Halifax in May.  Later the show will travel for about two years.  the piece is free motion quilted, painted with silver acrylic paint, and then hand beaded.  The piece is 36" by 16".

This is a small beaded piece that I've been playing with lately.  It will finish at 12" by 12" before framing.  I used hand dyed cotton, hand made straw beads, and Flexi-firm shapes that had been either painted, or covered with the same cotton fabric,but a different section of the fabric in a slightly different colour.  There is mainly hand stitching, and all of the beads are stitched by hand. I'm currently working on a companion piece using the same hand dyed fabric.

And what happened to "Waterfall" you ask?  Well, my support group had several suggestions for "fixing" it.  I tried a couple of them, and then my husband and I agreed that it was beyond fixing.  Quite a disappointment, but I won't display work I'm not proud of publically.  so, I'm not sure what to do.  I will certainly re-make it, in a different design, but I don't think it will be done in time to enter into the show that I had originally made it for. There is another show about a year from now, that it may suit.  I have another piece in mind for the pending show, but I will take it to my support group on Monday for an opinion.

Posting re-considered

I'm feeling very sorry for myself, full of self-doubt, and was going to post about it.  After all, this is the main function of the blog--posting about my never-ending journey as an artist, and the thoughts a feelings associated with the journey. But, very recently, while out in the car I saw one of those silly messages on a church sign.  It said " Don't bother advertising your troubles, there is no market for them".  Very true, even when taken out of the context of religion.

So, while I won't be starting the new "Waterfall" until I speak with my support group, the planning has started.  But recent conversations in my head have confirmed my ideas about the direction of my art.  The decision I made, and the one I must live with, is that I am going to continue working on pieces and images that my soul tells me I need to.  When I get in trouble, it's because I'm trying to force an image that I am uncomfortable with, to meet an external challenge. I enjoy the exhibitions, and realize that they are the only way in which my work will ever be seen by others, but it is not in me to deal with deadlines.  This means accepting that others may be very focussed on taking their work, and career in a different direction. There are different measures of success, depending on the individual goals we set for ourselves, and my measures of success are important only to me.  I need to do the best work I can, and be satisfied within my heart that what I put out there to be seen really is "the best work  I can (do)".

Shopping

To help make the decision about re-designing my "Waterfall", I went out today to see if I could find more of the organza ribbon that I rusched to use as foam.  No point in starting over if there was no more ribbon!  Yep, they had it and it was on sale!  She never questioned why I wanted 30 metres of white organza ribbon, though.

Second thoughts

My "Waterfall" has been hanging on the wall where I can see it whenever I'm using my laptop or watching tv.  The more I look at it, the more doubts I have about entering it in the exhibition, as had been planned.  I have no reservations about the actual workmanship, or the the concept behind the design but the design itself appears faulty.  I think my proportions are wrong in the waterfall, termoil at the bottom of the falls and the stream flowing away from the falls.

A week Monday is the monthly meeting of my fibre art support group, Ravenesque, and I plan to take it for, what I hope will be, an honest critique.  This will probably mean re-doing the whole thing.  My new idea is for a series of rapids rather than a high falls, and a landscape rather than a portrait presentation.

I guess that, if I'm already planning the new version, the decision is probably made.

Back in business

I am still using the functional little splint that I liked so much.  The OT talked to the Plastics Resident, and they decided that, as long as I'm comfortable with it, I can continue to use it. But the finger must be immobilized until the end of April.

My machine is back, so I started back to work on my latest exhibition project today.  Two sides are contoured and needed to be faced and two aren't. So I planned, and plotted, and cut fabric, and tried to figure out how to do it. Finally, I realized that there was nothing preventing me from facing the whole thing in an "envelope'"technique.  ( sew a fabric over the front, right sides together, slit the fabric and turn the whole thing right side out, close the slit) It worked!!  So much easier than how I had been planning to do it.  So 'tis done, and hanging on the wall.  And I'm well ahead of the June deadline.

On to the "next".  Well, I don't have a "next" planned, so I'm going to finish up a couple of UFOs, and maybe do some playing with odds and ends.  I've been experimenting with a very nice piece of hand dyed fabric, but the project only started to come together yesterday,  It will require quite a lot of hand stitching, but there are a couple of events coming up where hand stitching will be allowed.  Sorting out this project sent me to my stash of "threads".  I'm amazed at what sort of things I have accumulated over the years.  I found a large skein of Silk Mori that is exactly the right colour for the project, and a spool of  Trebizond that works as well.  Why I've held onto them over the years, I'l never know, but for today, I'm glad I did.

Overwhelmed with beads!

Bought some beads in Fargo yesterday.  I believed that I needed some unusual beads to round out my collection, and found some, on sale.Then I spent last evening putting them away.  Boy, do I ever have a lot of beads!  The down side of this is that I will never have an excuse to buy beads again.


Now, I must start planning projects to use them all up.  I have promised my Ravenesque group first dibs on my stash, when I go, and I don't want those ladies to start fighting over the stuff! So, while in bed, last night, I had all these wonderful ideas running through my head.  I should have written them down, but didn't.

Part of the impetus to buy them was the need for the right colour of bead for a project I started awhile ago.  I should have taken the fabric with me, because I didn't do well matching the colours, and still don't have the beads I want for the project.  This same project had me painting shapes of Flexi-firm before I went away.  Getting the right colour was a real problem there as well, and the results were so poor that I need to start over.  I may try using the same shapes and just covering them with acrylic paint, rather than using fabric paint combined with acrylic (Bad Idea!!  Do not try this at home! Since the fabric paint is acrylic-based I had thought that it might work, but the actual acrylic paint is heavier in weight and sank down through the Flexi-Firm, so that one side is the colour of the fabric paint and the other is the colour of the acrylic paint.) 

Lots to keep me busy.  My sewing machine had to go in for servicing, so I'm limited to hand work for the next little while, and I was a little concerned aobut what I might end up doing.