Welcome!

The purpose of this blog is share with others the processes involved in my favorite form of creativity- silk art quilts. The creative process itself is a fascinating thing. I am constantly amazed by it- both its simplicity and its complexity.

I feel strongly that I am a better person since I truly started following my dream. Because of collectors--those who actually buy original art-- I am able to live my dream. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You can see more of my work at my website http://www.rebelquilter.com/.

Friday, October 17, 2008

New work--Reconcilable Differences

This piece was nearly self-created. By that I mean a piece that seemed to know what it wanted to be even before I began. It started several months ago when I was between projects. When I cut my blocks to build my circle blocks I almost always have anywhere from 1-5" strips that are 8" long as leftovers. Consequently I have drawers full of these mostly silk scraps. When I am in my studio without any perceivable direction I will grab these strips in similar colorations and just build long strips. In this case I had over 16 ft of these strips in various shades of brown.
I began by simply hanging four 4 ft strips near each other. Somewhere in there the concept of reconcilable differences popped into my head. ( I seem to have been surrounded lately by people who love each other but can't seem to get along)
The general layout is 4 vertical strips made up of the horizontal strips. Between them are vertical strips printed entirely in circular images. There is a diamond overlaying the whole thing. Inside of the diamond is a melding of imagery- strips and circles. Outside the diamond each vertical strip has quilting that is individual to the strip. Inside the diamond the quilting is an allover looping and semi- floral pattern. Outside the diamond the quilting is jagged straight lines for the odd strips and all circles for the even ones. Outside the diamond there are words--mine, I, me. Inside the diamond are the words our, us, we.
The concept is that when one goes beyond thinking only about oneself then differences begin to disappear and consensus and compromise can be found.
I would love to see this piece end up in a law office or perhaps the office of someone who works to mediate family relationships. The overall size is nearly 4 ft square. These are only my "blog quality" photos. I'll be shoot it again at higher resolution immediately. If you want to see higher res shots-- email me directly.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Dang!!!!! Quilt National anyway!!!

Live Water


Live Water-- detail
Well Gosh Darn!!!! If you know me well you know this is NOT what I have just spit from my mouth. I truly thought this piece had what it took to get selected for Quilt National. The upside is that I can now market the heck out of this piece. Had it been selected it would have been traveling for the next 2 years. Part of the highly restrictive rules of QN is that you can't post the work to anything but your own website. Fear of someone else copying and reposting my work kept me from posting when I completed it. So NOW you can see it in all its glory. This piece finished out at 70" x 105" in three panels. It is a happy piece that takes you to another world. The price is $9750. If you'd like to receive a higer resolution image of this, please email me and I'll get it right off to you. The back side has a similar imagery done in dyes and pigments-- so it could hang against a curtain wall (an interior glass wall) and both sides could work for you.

One of the trickier aspects of making pieces this large is that there are so few venues that will allow pieces of this scale. So my new marketing plan is to send out portfolios to art consultants and architectural firms that have the audience I am seeking.

In the meantime I'll work out my frustration discovering some new avenues with the potato dextrin and see what my next major thing will be. The upside is that my studio is getting a cleaning it hasn't had in over a year.

Good news has also come this week. Barnes Jewish Hospital has selected Burning Leaves to hang in its lobby area. This is a major piece that was most recently shown at William Woods University-- Celebrating Creativity. Thanks to my agent Sandra Kolde. I really appreciate her keeping my work in mind when talking with major accounts. Although I would much rather sell my work outright, leasing provides a foundation that pays my studio rent and frees up my attention for creating.

Now that I am no longer wondering about QN I can get back to wondering if the sky is falling in the stock market. Oh joy!