Trip Report: Mayne Island Hospitality!

Last Tuesday, the Mayne Island Quilt Guild hosted Hands Across the Water, an annual get-together that attracts visitors from several Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island.

A kind Saturna captain gave us a ride to Village Bay, on nearby Mayne Island (a very nice half-hour on the water) where we were met by Judy, our hostess. Judy drove us to the event, and provided many insights on Mayne Island along the way.

The event was held in a seaside pavilion at Dinner Bay Park, near the grounds of the Japanese Garden. Many quilts were on display in the Japanese Garden, right on the fence. A beautiful outdoor setting! Great lunch al fresco, fantastic Show and Share, something I haven't enjoyed in years because I don't attend guild meetings anymore...



This is my slide show of that sunny day. Hope you enjoy it!

Barbra and I really basked in this opportunity to meet people from Galiano, the Penders, Mayne (of course!) and Duncan, on Vancouver Island.

Visiting quilters will want to know that the Mayne Island Quilt Guild meets on the second Tuesday of the month at 9 am, at the Agricultural Hall, near Miners' Bay.

My special thanks to our Mayne Island hostesses: we won't forget your hospitality.

Discharging Colour on Fabric = Experiment

While I was at Quilt National 2009 (see my report on that trip here) in Ohio, a couple of weeks ago, I was fascinated by some of the pieces on display. Some of the artists used - very effectively - a special technique to create their images, the "discharge" process. When you discharge colour, you remove it from an area, using various chemicals and tools.

Bob Adams, celebrated artist and teacher, has considerable experience with this process. In this video, Bob explains very nicely how you go about discharging dye from fabric:



While it's easy enough to do, Bob clearly explains in his video that safety precautions are a must: use a proper respirator mask and gloves to protect yourself. Personally, it's something I would do outdoors, or under a covered area - like a carport.

In Canada, surface design supplies (including Thiourea Dioxide, one of the discharge chemicals) can be ordered online at Maiwa Textiles or G&S Dye. Maiwa also posts this detailed PDF instruction sheet that gives you the recipes for discharge paste (like the one Bob used in the above video). To find out where you can buy the chemical elsewhere, just Google Thiourea Dioxide.

If you prefer a simpler approach, try this little experiment with a bleach pen, an eraser carved with your motif, and a little bit of dark fabric:

My thanks go out to "Smidgen" who posted the above video on Youtube.

Well, I don't know about you, but it's time for me to go play outside. Later!

Meditation at Sunset

Last evening, the sunset stopped me in my tracks. I was in "catch-up mode", trying to get a few things done, when I looked out the window and had to stop.

I was reminded that - even in my neck of the woods - we tend to live too fast. Take on too much, try to please too many.

So I told myself to slow down and watch the sunset. For a while, anyway.

Red, red poppies

Since I returned from Ohio and Quilt National (check out my reports on that trip here), I have not spent a great deal of time in the studio... You see, my garden is a riot of poppies. They have invaded the perennial flower bed and, because the spring rains were generous, they are as tall as I am (five foot three...) and dwarfing the perennials - even the roses. It's quite the show right now.

The picture above was taken at "face height"... face to face with flowers. Paradise!

Above: An oriental poppy, in the early evening light...

In another corner of my garden, oriental poppies have taken over an herb bed, and provide a dramatic contrast to the sage and lavender.

Nobody sees a flower, really, it is so small. We haven't time - and to see takes time like to have a friend takes time.

If I could paint the flower exactly as I see it no one would see what I see because I would paint it small like the flower is small. So I said to myself - I'll paint what I see - what the flower is to me but I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it - I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers.

...Well, I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flower you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower - and I don't.

- Georgia O'Keeffe (click here for her bio and slide shows of her work)

Oriental poppies are the show girls of the garden. There is something over-the-top about these flowers, even or especially when they start to come apart, after a day or two... This one got sprinkled when I was watering and I just loved the water droplets on the petals.

So, I will return to the green composition on my studio wall, but with a few more sketches and ideas brewing about a red, red, very red composition...

Quilt National - A Report, Part 2

Quilt National is a biennial exhibition held at the Dairy Barn Arts Center, a building saved from demolition in the late 70s and converted into an exhibition space and shop. On my second morning in Athens, I visited the Barn early and took some detail pictures of the structure. A hawk flew high in the sky.



Love corrugated steel, it has great lines.

The Quilt National party was held at the house of sculptor David Hostetler. Very gracious hosts, Mr. Hostetler and his wife Susan entertained the large crowd with a real sense of fun.

Above: The Hostetler house at night. Note the old wooden silo, which was incorporated into the modern house design. Very cool.

Lucky us! We visited just in time to admire a grouping of David Hostetler's pieces, which were readied for shipping to his gallery in Nantucket. They are sensuous and impressive.

Above: Some of the party people, left to right: Susan Plotner, Anna Hergert, Andrée, Inge Hueber,Christine Milton and Pat Pauly. In the background: David Hostettler, hamming it up!

Above: Anna Hergert and our host, in studio conversation.


Above: Proudly posing with my quilt. Photo by Mathea Daunheimer, a Maine artist, who also has a quilt in the show and attended the opening, despite a broken ankle. Dedicated artists can overcome serious difficulties!

On our last morning in Athens, many of us returned to the Barn for a final look at the show. There were many photo ops during this last morning... Here is one.

Quilt National... A report - Part 1

Above: Early morning at The Dairy Barn, Athens, Ohio.

It took me a week to get over my trip to Athens, Ohio. What a weekend! I enjoyed meeting so many talented people during the SAQA conference and the Quilt National opening reception.

Here is my mini-photo essay of some of the artists and their pieces, a few snapshots taken during the preview at Quilt National 2009.

Above: The entrance area, featuring the Kathleen Loomis piece, Memorial Day (winner of the Quilts Japan prize). To the right, Anne Smith's work - Calon Lân - chosen as Best of Show.

Kathleen Loomis's artist statement:

"As of Memorial Day, May 26, 2008, there were 4,083 U.S. military dead in Iraq. Here is a flag for each of them".

Above: Susan Krueger and her wonderful piece, Swallowing Roses, winner of the Cathy Rasmussen Emerging Artist Award.

Susan's artist statement is also a winner:

This piece is about falling for various societal myths regarding Power, Fame, Beauty, Luck, and Money--the things we wish for. Notice the tiny images from Mexican lottery cards, women celebrities from the entertainment section, and fruit from seed catalogs. I could get all "feministy" on you and talk about the pressures to undermine women psychologically and politically but, suffice it to say, swallowing roses involves lots of physical and emotional training.

Above: Australian artist Ruth De Vos and her wonderful eucalyptus piece.

Above: Canadian artist Anna Hergert and her gorgeous work, Summer Day at the Lake: Dawn to Dusk. This piece glowed.

Above: Beth Carney, from Yonkers, deals gracefully with the paparazzi.

Above: Jane Lloyd, from Northern Ireland, whose work I have admired for years.

Above: Marianne Burr and Paula Chung, two West Coast artists with very big grins, checking out the exhibition catalogue.

Here is another snap of the exhibition space, once the people started circulating. Many of the artists knew each other and the ambiance was very warm. First-time exhibitors wasted no time in getting to know each other and had a great time!

And here's a shot of my work, Tunicates #1... It was a thrill to see it in the show.

If you live within driving distance of Ohio, I invite you to go see the show. The countryside near Athens is beautiful, with lovely rolling hills of hardwoods. It's a nice drive to this quaint university town... If you can't make it to the show, you can get the Quilt National 2009 catalogue. It's not the same as seeing the exhibition, though.

Escaping for a few days

Going on a trip soon. First trip this season and oh so awaited... I'll see some old friends, meet some new friends, and look at a lot of textile art. Can't wait!

Going to visit my quilt at Quilt National, in Athens, Ohio. Here is a calendar item from the American Craft Magazine website. Also, if you look at the banner at the top of this blog, this is a detail shot of the piece, Tunicates #1.

Only a few more days before departure.