Week in Review 2013 - 06/21

Experiments with threads, Derwent Inktense
pencils and paint.

It was a gutsy move for me when I shared that I had entered "Tangled Up in Blue" before I knew whether I was getting a thumbs up or thumbs down. I knew I had a strong piece, with Adoration, but so much depends on what else is submitted and how Adoration would play with the other work selected. I am delighted to say I got the thumbs up. Adoration can be seen at The Brush Art Gallery, in Lowell, MA from August 8 through September 7. If Lowell is doable for you, I recommend going during the Lowell Quilt Festival and saturating yourself with all the exhibitions in town that weekend.

I have made it my mission to get my work out there. In order to achieve this I have been submitting my work to a different call for entry, either public or private ones, every week this year. It has paid off. My work can be seen in 12 upcoming exhibitions, mostly in the USA, but one takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa in September. Most are posted on my website under events.

It isn't easy coming up with all that work to submit to galleries and exhibitions. That is why I pledged to work 120 days a week in my studio during the fiscal year October 1, 2012 - September 30, 2013. It only took a couple of weeks to get into the rhythm. Now I can't imagine working any other way. Here is what I managed to accomplish during the week ending June 21, 2013.

1) Adoration

a) Attach the label - Done!

b) Add to my website - Done! Here is the proof. 

2) “Oyster Bay” (deadline 8/20/2013)

a) Experiment with ways to add the purple staining and lines seen on the inside of an oyster shell. - Done

Finally an experiment that works. I decide to
go with Setacolor paints blended with a
floating gel medium.

Here is how the painted oyster shell looks. Thanks to
Annette Kennedy's class I am able to blend the color
I need and fade the color in a gentle gradation using
floating medium.

b) Attach the oyster shells to the quilt. - Done!

Detail from Oyster Bay

Oyster Bay as it looks today.

c) Add a few more ridges of foam to balance the white of oyster shells in the composition. - Done!

This is why you save those scraps. I thought I would
have just one row of  foam, but when the composition
screamed out for more white I was very grateful to
have these left over scraps!

3) Leah Day

a) Express Your Love

         i) Hand stitch the facing in place. - Done!

        ii) Attach the label. - Done!
       iii) Create and attach the sleeves. Both are created and one is attached.

b) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

Sampler of Lava Rocks infused with sea foam.

This week's motif from Leah is called Lava Rocks. Naturally, I couldn't resist adding my own twist. I thought two things, one that Lava Rocks as is would make a nice tree fungus and two, if I added sea foam to the cobblestone shaped gap that is being echoed I could use Lava Rocks with Sea Foam for my beach background in Oyster Bay. In order to see how it would quilt out  I selected a fabric that I might use for tree bark. I have deemed the experiment successful and will use it in Oyster Bay next week.

4) Signature experimentation - Never got any further than Leah's assignment. 

a) Design a new signature motif.

5) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the lesson that demos how to quilt the Canyon piece.

b) Quilt "Canyon."

I am on such a roll with Oyster Bay, that I assume that is where I will focus next week. Still, it is nice to have a couple of other ideas lined up should I need a change. Here are my plans for the week ending June 28, 2013:

1) “Oyster Bay” (deadline 8/20/2013)

a) Quilt Oyster Bay

2) Leah Day

a) Express Your Love - attach second sleeve.

b) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

3) Signature experimentation

a) Design a new signature motif.

4) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the lesson that demos how to quilt the Canyon piece.

b) Quilt "Canyon."

I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

Weekly Review 2013 - 05/31

 I did it! I made the June 1^st deadline for entering “Adoration” for consideration in the ArtQuilts Lowell 2013 exhibition at the Brush Gallery. It was at the Brush Gallery, more than a decade ago, when I saw my very first collection of art quilts hung in a gallery setting. I was mesmerized. It became my goal to get my work accepted into one of the Brush’s future exhibitions. I have been privileged to have my work selected twice before. The theme this year is “Tangled Up in Blue.” Getting juried into an exhibition is always a crap a shoot. I’m willing to roll the dice on this one.

Tips, Techniques and Thoughts:

"Adoration's" formal exhibition photograph. Note how the edges
of the quilt can be seen, but any distracting background cannot.
Also, if you click on the image to enlarge it you should
be able to see the quilting, not just in clothing, but everywhere else.

I have been entering my work in exhibitions since 2001. This has taught me that I cannot predict with certainty whether my work will be accepted or not. Sometimes I get into an exhibition I think is a stretch. Other times I am rejected by an exhibition that I felt was a sure thing. I do know that if I want my work to be considered seriously and not rejected outright that the caliber of my photographs is vital. I don’t have access to a professional art photographer. My husband graciously agreed to learn how to photograph my art. I have learned how to resize his photographs and extract the art from the background in order to adhere to the image requirements of any call for entry. The best resource for learning how to photograph your quilt is Holly Knot’s instructions. Gloria Hansen’s book, “Digital Essentials” is where to turn once you have a digital photograph that needs to be prepared for call for entry, website, blog or on-line gallery such as Etsy.

While I wait to hear from the Brush Gallery I will continue to work in the studio. Here is what I focused on this week.

1) Adoration

This is the detail image I submitted with the entry. Note
how it could be work as a full quilt. Also, because it is
a close up the quilting is easy to see.

a) Finish quilting “Adoration.” – Done!

b) Bury dangling quilting threads – Done!

c) Square up the piece in preparation for facing. – Done!

d) Face – Done!

Bonus – Completed entry for the Brush Gallery, including time spent to provide a high-resolution image of the Adoration removed from its background and a detail image.

2) Express Your Love

"Express Your Love" has been cropped. This works well for
a blog image, but is a definite no no when submitting an
image to a call for entry.

a) Finish last week's assignment from Leah Day. – Done!

b) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next. – Started.

Bonus – Finish quilting Express Your Love!!

3) Signature experimentation

a) Design a new signature motif.

4) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the lesson that demos how to quilt the Canyon piece.

b) Quilt "Canyon."

5) Plan the next art piece. – Done!

Now that “Adoration” has been submitted to the Brush Gallery I can return to finishing up the projects I set aside and starting my next art piece. Here is my plan for the week ending June 6, 2013:

1) Adoration

a) Attach the sleeve

b) Make and attach the label

c) Add to my website

2) “Oyster Shell Shards” (deadline 8/20/2013)

a) Piece the three background strips

b) Create the oyster shell template

3) Leah Day

a) Express Your Love

         i) Square up quilt

         ii) Make binding

         iii) Attach binding

         iv) Make and attach label

b) Finish last week's assignment from Leah Day.

c) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

4) Signature experimentation

a) Design a new signature motif.

5) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the lesson that demos how to quilt the Canyon piece.

b) Quilt "Canyon."