Today's Project

A friend has a number of embroideries done by her mother. She gave me this one:

And asked me to make her a tote bag. I had these:

Design opportunities presented themselves, like using the waistband for a strap and adding a pocket to the inside.

The finished product, a very usable tote bag, which made my friend happy.

More Trees

This past weekend I took my bag of scraps and various other supplies to Augusta for the bi-monthly Art Quilts Maine meeting. I had been asked to teach my Tree Bits technique to the group. With only a couple of hours, we had time to get the trees from conception to adding tulle. Once the tulle was in place, people could carry their trees home without fear of losing all those tiny scraps! Photos of trees in progress have begun showing up on our Facebook page and in my email. I wanted to share a few here--isn't it wonderful how diverse they are!

Celeste's tree with thread painted branches

Jane made two trees! And created a lakeside scene

Laura's tree casts a lovely shadow on the snow covered ground

Such a fun group to work with--I hope to see many more completed trees soon! 

In Conjunction with Dahlov Ipcar

The Portland Public Library recently hosted an exhibit of Dahlov Ipcar children's books. Ipcar would have been 100 this year, and the exhibit featured artwork from some of her best loved stories such as "The Calico Jungle" and "The Biggest Fish in the Sea". In conjunction with the exhibit, I was asked to do a fabric collage workshop in the children's library.

Surprisingly, people of all ages, from 4 to 74 stopped by during the 3-hour workshop and asked if they could participate. It was free flowing and hands on, with each person creating their own image--some abstract, others depicting a realistic scene which they were able to take with them. Here's a fun Big Fish!

In planning for the workshop, I created my own piece, "Stripes and Spots: Ode to Dahlov Ipcar" which we hung on an easel for the day. I love the way the animals play hide and seek with the patterned fabrics. Although the exhibit has ended, Art Quilts Maine still has a collection of pieces on display, also in the children's library. Wander on back!

I don't have a picture of the finished piece, but this is my ode to Dahlov Ipcar in progress.

Taste of Tidewater and The Extinction Event

Summer is nearly over but there is still time to catch some artwork! Here are two events that I contributed artwork to:

Scarlet Macaw, Ara Macao
Rana O'Connor 

First up, The Taste of Tidewater 10 x 10 exhibit and sale is Online Only until September 15. About 30 pieces in all media from stained glass to clay are available for purchase. Each piece measures just 10" x 10", and a portion of the proceeds benefits the University of Maine Gardens at Tidewater Farm. These are the last few pieces left from their gala benefit evening and they are going fast! Here's the LINK.

Spindleworks' seventh annual exhibit runs through September 29 at Frontier Cafe in Brunswick. This year's exhibit, titled The Extinction Event, is meant to both celebrate and raise awareness of the diversity of species on our planet, all of which are affected by our actions and in-actions. 30% of each art sale supports Maine Audubon's continuing efforts to protect Maine wildlife.

Check it out!

MORE Trees

Tree Three Dusk
Rana O'Connor 2017

One of my students, Lisa, thought my trees would be a fine contribution to "A Taste of Tidewater - 10 x 10 Art Sale", benefiting the University of Maine Gardens at Tidewater Farm in Falmouth. The fundraiser is held annually in August. This year it is on Thursday, August 24 at the Parish House of the Episcopal Church of St Mary in Falmouth.

In addition to 75 original works of art by Maine artists, the event includes small plates and desserts created by some of Greater Portland's amazing chefs. Each piece of art is just 10" x 10" and is priced at $200. All art is displayed online prior to the event, starting August 1. I have nearly completed the two pieces I am submitting. Trees, of course, with different backgrounds, mounted on 10" x 10" wood panels provided by the organizers. Painted black, the panels create a perfect frame for the small trees.

I don't know the rules about revealing the artwork ahead of time, so the image here is a teaser--a tree I completed earlier for a friend.

Can't attend in person? Artwork not sold on August 24 will available for sale online for a week following the event, through September 4. Check it out!

Road Trip!

Dana Thank You

Great road trip with a friend last week. Dana proposed driving to Amherst, Mass to see a quilt show. Obviously the right words to get me out of the studio! While Dana is not a quilter, the show featured two artists she knew well, a mother and daughter, both named Valerie. Valerie (the elder, at 92!) quilts while her daughter is a watercolor artist. Their show was hung in a space with lots of natural light and great seating. We spent hours talking about fabric, art and design techniques. The work was colorful and varied, with some lovely fabric landscapes. Valerie's story mirrors mine in another way--she grew up in Iran! Born in Russia, she emigrated to Tabriz then attended high school in Tehran, where she met and married an American serviceman, moving to the US in 1947! I moved to Iran in 1960, returning to the US in 1973. Small world. I wanted to make Dana a thank you card for suggesting the day's adventure and handling all the details. Knowing she spends lots of time at the beach, I pulled fabrics to create a beach scene, cut wavy lines for the ocean and sand dunes and layered them on batting. The sky was a real find--a piece of light blue with white flowers that were just abstract enough to suggest clouds and sun. A handful of shells and beads added a bit of focus. Hope she likes it! Below, two pieces from the show--love the similar color palette!

Try Something New!

I downloaded a video by Esterita Austin called "Dynamic Fabric Art Portraits." I've linked to a short video preview. The technique was intriguing and I wanted to give it a try . . . sometime. Lucky for me, Art Quilts Maine members Jane and Pam issued a challenge in October to create a 12" x 14" portrait. Finished pieces were to be revealed in February. What a perfect opportunity to experiment with Esterita Austin's technique! Her portraits begin with a piece of hand dyed fabric.

Fabric used for Face

By means of judicious cutting, the entire face is constructed from that single piece of fabric. I was amazed at the way the features came together! Part two of her technique involves using tiny amounts of light and dark paint to add a few highlights and shadows. A thin line defines the eyes, a little white paint highlights the bridge of the nose, but there is minimal manipulation other than choosing how and where to cut the fabric. Speaking of which, my fabric looked rather ratty after I cut it all apart--you must be willing to sacrifice your piece of fabric to the portrait! Having created the face from one piece of fabric, I decided to use only one other piece to finish. I found this great, colorful elephant print in my stash and began cutting it apart into separate elements.

Fabric used for Frame

Jane gave us each a piece of red fabric to incorporate in our portraits, which I did though I defy you to find it! There are 6 or 8 pieces of the dark red fabric tucked in with the elephants and plants surrounding the face. This was really fun to do and I learned several tricks to use in future portraits, my current obsession! Here's my finished piece--still working on a name--any ideas?

Portrait 2017

Working the Thread of Life

Watercolor sketch

Art Quilts Maine issues an annual challenge to the members. The challenge is chosen from a list of themes, prompts and ideas members contribute. This year's challenge was titled, "The Power of Three." Discussion centered on the many references to the number 3, culturally, mathematically, mystically.

I knew I wanted to work with the human form. My mind wandered to the three fates and I started researching that thought. The three fates, from Greek mythology, are Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, three sisters who spin, measure and cut the thread of life.

An image from my research stuck with me: "The Three Fates," one of 54 drawings completed in 1884 by the American artist, Elihu Vedder as an accompaniment to the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, the Persian poet. It seemed like Kismet.

Detail, Clotho

Using Vedder's figures, I painted a watercolor sketch of each woman, scanned the watercolor then printed it on muslin. I enhanced the printed images with thread paint and colored pencil. Once satisfied, I cut each figure out and fused it to my starry background fabric. A scrap of brown and gold marbled fabric proved just large enough, with some judicious cutting and arranging, to give the Fates a promontory on which to stand. Swirls of sparkly purple organza provided a sense of the Fates gathering the very fabric of the universe. In a nod to Omar Khayyam, I printed out the verse, "The moving finger writes, and having writ, moves on; nor all thy piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all they tears wash out a word of it." 

We revealed our work at the Art Quilts Maine meeting in June, and exhibited the art quilts publicly at Maine Quilts in July. Mine is one of 10 pieces that will go on tour in Maine for the year. Among the venues are Kimball St. Studios in Lewiston from the September 30 Art Walk through the end of October, and the Children's Room at Portland Public Library during December and January. There are some great pieces in the show--hope you get a to see it!

Working the Thread of Life, 21" x 33" 

Hope Blooms

Hope Blooms 2015 Rana O'Connor

A small tribute to a long time colleague in the world of foster/adoptive care. We worked together for many years on a collaborative team designed to raise awareness of the need for foster/adoptive parents and to support families who work with Maine's treatment foster care agencies and the Office of Child and Family Services.

Jo recently retired. I hoped to recover a banner we once created for a fundraiser with the statement, "Hope Blooms in Foster Care." The banner was long gone, though, so I set about to make Jo her very own memento.

Pulling scraps of fabric for the petals, I found a green swirled fabric in my stash for the flower center and applique letters. The girl with balloons came from fabric we used in a more recent banner. The muslin background seemed plain, but a set of alphabet stamps came to the rescue, and I stamped h-o-p-e randomly across the field. Thread paint for the petals and quilting in the flower center and background complete this roughly 15" square wall hanging.

After years of tireless advocacy on the part of Maine's children and foster/adoptive families, I wish Jo many years of happiness ahead. Cheers!

Makers at the Public Library

Suzie McCormack and I had the pleasure of being "makers" at the Portland Public Library last Saturday. Our workshop, titled "Fused Fabric Collage" was under the Youth cluster. We set up shop in a sunny spot near the children's section of the library. Two ironing boards, a table with samples and a handout describing the process, and a big table with a pile of fabric scraps and scissors.

Participants chose a small fabric base then found a chair and a pair of scissors and went to work snipping up fabric scraps, peeling off paper to reveal the fusible webbing, and arranging their compositions. When a piece felt complete, it made the perilous trip to an ironing board where a little magic and heat fused all the scraps in place, making their artwork permanent.

We had about 30 people come through. It was great fun seeing the parents' involvement--we offered them the opportunity to make their own piece, and many who originally thought they would just help their children soon realized they really wanted a chance to make one too!

We had letters, hearts, houses and a pirate ship, and plenty of abstract images too. The time flew by. Before we knew it we were stuffing the now much smaller pile of scraps into bags and talking about coming back next year.

We had time to walk around and check out other workshops. What an exciting array! Hands on exhibits ranged from robots and electronics to soap making and a band playing homemade instruments. Suzie and I sat in on a story project being developed which will place bricks on India St (the oldest street in Portland) that each tell a story about people and history in Portland. It's called Portland Brick. Very cool.

Lesson Two

More classwork to share. This lesson was about quick fabric sketches from artwork--the samples given were a Matisse and Lillian May Miller. Each sketch took a couple of hours to create, although with the Mt Fuji I went back and spent another evening adding thread work. Today though, I must prepare for teaching class tomorrow--Free Motion at Sew Portland, and it's full!

 

Class with Marilyn Belford

Rectangle Abstracted

I am taking a class series called "Art for Quilters" with Marilyn Belford. You may recognize her portrait quilts or her mythology series. I have been a fan for a long time. When I heard from a friend that she was teaching an online class, I couldn't sign up fast enough. Lesson one started out with a still life and abstracting geometric forms. Lesson two is a discussion of composition. Returning to the basics of art is so valuable for a quilter--after all, we work with color, value and composition no matter what style of quilting we may be doing. Here are a couple of examples from the first lesson. I love being a student. Probably the most fun part of the class so far is the one-on-one interaction with someone I admire--the somewhat scary opportunity to share my experiments with Marilyn Belford and hear her feedback and critique!

Shapes and Arrows

Quilts at the Public Library

We just got done hanging this year's Art Quilts Maine Challenge Quilts at the Portland Public Library children's section. They have such an awesome, open space with lots of light and great wall space above the books. This year's challenge was, "Ocean, Lake, River--inspired by a body of water." The show will be on display through February, so make time to stop by the library.

As always, the challenge theme brought out a diversity of responses, from abstract images of the ocean to a favorite photo of a boat at sunset. The tour continues until May, with stops at Waterville and Skowhegan, and a return to Portland for the May 1 First Friday Art Walk at the Cathedral Church of St Luke. Artwork is returned to the artists at the June meeting. Interested in hosting an exhibit? Contact me through the comments and I'll get in touch with you.

Here are a few photos from the current exhibit:

Great venue at Portland Public Library

Art Quilts Maine signage

Sharing wall space with the library's own Phoenix

Maine FiberArts Reception November 21

The beautiful reading room at the Glickman Family Library (USM Portland) is the setting for an exhibit showcasing over 30 artists, most of whom are from Maine. That's my quilt, "Mom and Auntie Jean Play Gin" you can see in the photo above. I am so excited to attend the reception on November 21, and see the work of amazing artists such as Natasha Kempers-Cullen, Cathy Worthington and Kathy Angel Lee! The reception runs from 3:00 to 5:00 that Friday afternoon.

Won't it be fun for Mom to see 'her' quilt in such a lovely setting? Of course, she enjoys it every day on her living room wall, and she wants it back, but I am sure she will understand why I wanted to loan it for this show.

In addition to quilted wall-hangings, the show includes woven textiles, fiber books, collages and much more. If you can't make it to the reception, the show is up until December 19, so do make time to go feast your eyes!

Chairs, Finis?

Chair 2.1:Blue and Chair 1.4:Pink

 Maybe I have arrived at the final chairs in the series. We'll see. Two sold at the Center for Maine Craft. Four will be at Kimball St. Studios in Lewiston for the month of November as part of the Art Quilts Maine exhibit there. And let's not forget the parade of chairs at the workshop in Trenton this summer!

I plan to be at the reception for Maine FiberArts' exhibit at USM's Glickman Library on Friday, November 21, 3:00 to 5:00. If mom is up for it I'd like to bring her to see her quilt in the show.

One more fun venue coming up--Portland's First Friday Art Walk on November 7. (oops--they just called to reschedule for a date in 2015--stay tuned!). I'm hoping fiber artists and quilters from both Art Quilts Maine and Calico Quilters will join together to offer a diverse variety of all things fabric. We'll be at the Cathedral of St. Luke on State Street in Portland, from 5:00 to 7:30. If there are a lot of pieces (and I hope there will be!) the coordinators have offered to drape them over the pews--I can just imagine it. The Cathedral offers a self-guided tour of its own fabulous artwork and stained glass for people who stop in on First Friday, so make it a point to come. Refreshments available!  

Maine Fiber Arts at USM

Click here to see what made my day today!

If you are in the area, stop in to see Maine Fiber Arts' current exhibit at USM's Glickman Family Library, open every day, now through December 19. I am walking on air.

A Revelation

That's what the first room of the Pilgrim/Roy exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts was to me. The room was dimly lit, as though by lantern or candlelight. The quilts in that room were shot through with cheddar orange--garishly bright orange solid fabric in backgrounds or piecing.  Except in that light, the way the quilts likely looked on the beds they were made for in the late 1800's, in that light they glowed, as though lit with an inner fire. It was magical and revealed why women of the era would have loved that color--who wouldn't?

The rest of the show? Quilt upon quilt of excellent workmanship, representative of so many styles we know and love. Log cabins--some of silk and velvet, Mennonite and Amish quilts of graphic simplicity, an intricate Baltimore Album. Another historical tidbit--the Baltimore Album was made by many women, each contributing a square. Ah hah.

Displayed alongside the quilts were examples of modern art reflecting quilting sensibilities. Vivid color combinations, abstraction and op art, or my favorite, a piece by Sister Mary Corita Kent, 'N is for Caution (Throw Caution to the Wind)' hung beside a double wedding ring with purple background and quilts without pattern, created with abandon. Quilts and Color.. If you can't get to the show, buy the book!

Center for Maine Craft

Alison and I met at the Center for Maine Craft located in the West Gardiner service plaza to hang the Art Quilts Maine exhibit. The Center is a high-traffic location--anyone travelling past Augusta goes right by, and a steady stream of people are in and out of the service plaza. Many take a break from their travels to enjoy (and maybe purchase) Maine crafts. The exhibit runs through July 31. The collection reappears later this year at Kimball St Studios in Lewiston, for the month of November. 

Quiltinis
Rana O'Connor

Six artists contributed to this collection. In addition to a few wall pieces (you can see my two Chairs on the back wall, for instance) I brought along a box full of Quiltini pins,a smaller item I developed and quickly got addicted to making earlier this year. Each pin is crafted from bits of quilted fabric sealed with a satin stitch. Then the fun begins! Embellishments include beads, glitter, stamps, rhinestones, paint and found objects.

Chairs, Chairs in July

While developing a workshop for an August class at Sewing by the Sea in Trenton, I made several versions of Adirondack chairs. These two proved to be too small to be manageable for students. So fussy! Such tiny pieces! I never throw things away though--even if I never use them again, bits and pieces from old projects are pinned to the design wall as visual reminders, like the trial wine glasses for 'Mom and Aunti Jean Play Gin'. (The ones on the quilt are the second pair, created after the experiments on how to make it look like the glasses had wine in them.) Coincidentally, I had two green squares from an exercise in perspective also pinned to the design wall. Put the two together and 'Voila!' Just loved them! A little thread paint and quilting later, mounted on stretched canvas, and the two are nearly ready to hang at the Center for Maine Craft exhibit that begins July 2, featuring several artists from Art Quilts Maine. Swing by the Center if you are out and about this July--it's in the West Gardiner travel plaza where 295 meets 95, so you pretty much have to go by it if you travel past Augusta. Starbucks, rest rooms and Maine crafts--what a concept!

Old Fort Johnson

What a lovely day we had at Old Fort Johnson near Amsterdam, NY on Saturday! We started the day with quilt historian Kris Driessen, who brought many antique quilts to illustrate her discussion of dating and appraising quilts. She was very informative, talking about various fabrics a historian looks for to help date a quilt, such as double pink, or turkey red, and sharing some little known facts that we New England quilters take for granted. For example, quilts designed for four poster beds are an east coast phenomenon--western families did not have four poster beds, so that unique shape is unknown to them. Likewise, shirting fabrics were commonly brought home as cut-aways from shirt factories and mills found mostly in New England. The best part? Kris allowed us to pass her quilts and tops around to handle and examine the fabrics, note the stitching, admire the rich colors. After a grand picnic on the lawn (it was a gorgeous day and one of the women brought a to-die-for chocolate cake) we reassembled for my trunk show. I brought a baker's dozen art quilts--including the unfinished Honu. Like Kris, I enjoy letting others handle my quilts and discuss details of technique and style choices. We worked our way from Back Bay Winter, completed in 2006, to the present. I brought some of my Quiltini Pins--you can see my post on them here. Once I got started making them I found it hard to stop--I get more ideas as I work. I think I've made nearly 100 so far. They were a hit at the gift store!