the Pilgrim & Roy Exhibit at Boston MFA

Worth the trip if you're within driving distance.  Yes, they allowed photos (sans flash) so I took a ton.

Here are a few of my faves, although the photos don't begin to do them justice. The beauty of this exhibit was partly that the walls behind the quilts were painted to enhance them, and there were contemporary pieces of art that related to some of the quilts.  There is nothing new under the sun.

 Here is a detail of this remarkable quilt.

Came home inspired but have been busy all week with the dreaded apartment clean-out (supposed to have been done today) and trying to fix a closing date with the buyer's attorney who seems to have been abducted by aliens.  

Tomorrow, the retinologist and then - yes, I am going to my studio. Dinner out with friends and a chance to catch up on our lives since we last saw each other.  If all goes well for the rest of this week, I might even be in the studio for more than one afternoon.  Stay tuned.

unwinding

Leaving for home  tomorrow after a lovely time teaching, dining, and being treated to a visit to the Boston MFA to see the Pilgrim Roy quilt exhibit.

First, I promised a few class pix.  One of the exercises was to use a visual as a jumping-off point to create a piece that captured the feeling/essence without replicating the original.  Rita picked this picture by Leger

and interpreted it like this.

Marla based her piece on a phrase she picked that said "up the walll."

There were lots more, but no room to show them all.  Today, students were free to bring in non-art quilts they had started and wanted to turn into art quilts, or at least less tradtional looking pieces.

This block became something else more interesting.

And the rest of them will follow suit.

The above beauty is on the way to beecoming sometthing better.  Here is a very preliminary look at a  bit of progress:

Tomorrow, I leave for home and will post pix of the don't miss exhbit of the Pilgrim Roy quilts.

Nite - I am going to gear up for tomorrow's drive back to  NJ

!New England warmth

But

The weather may be chilly, but the New England hospitality is warm and the class group had a very busy, intense,a and fruitful day.

We started with exercises designed to stimulate those creative juices and give us a  springboard for talking about color and composition.  One of the exercises was to make a small piece based on a phrase picked randomly.  Another was to use a visual as a takeoff point. Etc.   how is this for a visual takeoff point? Anybody care to capture the essence without reproducing it?  

Will have pix of class work tomorrow.

speechless, but not wordless

##$$@!)*($!^)&#$&*)($#!)

Do you believe this?? Yesterday I had the a/c on in the car and the windows wide open in the bedroom to let in some air. In about 10 hours I am leaving for New England -- by car. Yahoo weather assures me that it will  be sunny and 50F degrees. But not where I am going.

selfies

Yesterday (Sunday) I was honored to have been invited by Rachel Ray, author of this gorgeous book, Quilting with a Modern Slant, to be part of a panel at the Art Quilt Gallery in NY, talking a little bit about my work, my process, and to show some of my pieces.  I was so happy to meet Rachel after all the back-and-forth on phone and email over the last couple of years, while the book was being written and designed.   

I have to tell you how wonderful this book is -- and I get nothing but pleasure out of recommending it because I believe it is the most important book on contemporary quilting to come along.  The great thing about this book is that it is inclusive; showcasing a variety of quilts and quilt makers who might not call themselves "modern" quilters but have an aesthetic that has influenced the modern movement.  There are not only gorgeous pictures of quilts, but interviews with the makers, tutorials, and even a few patterns.

Also in the book and on the panel, my friend Victoria Findlay Wolfe, who has become a dynamic force in today's quilt world.  She would not call herself a modern quilter, either -- but like me, she works inprovisationally. Here is the selfie of us. LOL

 The gallery was packed, including two people who had come all the way from Philadelphia for the program, and a visitor from Brisbane on holiday.  City Quilter did a brisk business in books and fabrics and we had a great time meeting people who had come to see us. 

Because it was a Sunday, I drove into the city and - hooray - parked for free on the street.

All in all, a good day.  This morning, I am off to see my dentist, which is always a pleasure.  Really!  Then, supermarket and home to start my Passover cooking for next Monday night.  Let's see...eggs, onions, potatoes...

catching up -- again!

Checking in before the day gets away from me...which it is doing very quickly. It has been too hectic the last couple of days and today, I am not leaving the house. (it's raining - good excuse).  

I'm working on an article and need to take my own photos, since some of them are process pix that can't be done later. But my two digital cameras are ready for the garbage: my beloved 13 year old Canon S40 has too many things that don't function and it doesn't pay to have it fixed.  My little Nikon, almost as old, is hopeless and the photo quality was never as good as the Canon's.  SO - with this camera emergency in mimd, the first thing I did when I got home from my workshop was head out to buy a new one.  Before I left, I had done my research and I bought a Canon S110, which got rave reviews, shoots RAW (a necessity for me) and can use WiFi to upload pix to my computer.  I have charged the battery but haven't had a minute to read the instruction manual or set it up.  Maybe later today.

While the class complained that 3 days wasn't long enough, they managed to do a remarkable amount of work. Here are a few more, finished and ready to quilt.  

If any of you are within driving distance of Burlington, VT, you can take a one-day workshop with me in early May.  The Champlain Valley Quilt Guild's workshops are open to non-members, so if you want a day or two of fun and creativity, you can sign up for one of the still-open spots in Cinderella Quilts or Jump-Starting the Art Quilt.   Check my sidebar and contact Janet Brunet to reserve while you can.

Ok, so now I have to go fiddle with my new camera and play around with it.  Back to work!