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Archive for the ‘Inspiration’ Category

Sacred Threads in Seattle

Sunday, June 29th, 2014

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Mr C and I spent a nice couple of days in Seattle, enjoying some art and good food. I feel creatively and spiritually fulfilled. We went to two museums, I will post about them tomorrow. Tonight, I will share some photos from the Sacred Threads show. The above pieces are by Vikki Pignatelli. She founded  the Sacred Threads exhibit. Her work is exquisite with loads of curved piecing and beautiful quilting. Here is a tree.

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A detail shot shows the beautiful workmanship.

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Here is my Aspen Quilt, looking dwarfed next to the wedding of Adam and Eve.

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Here is some other interesting work. I thought I took photos of the names, but can’t find them.

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This piece is by Wen Redmond.

 

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And this piece was by Ginny Greaves.

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A added benefit for Mr C and I was getting to see two volumes of the St. John’s Bible.

The Saint John’s Bible is the first completely handwritten and illuminated Bible to have been commissioned by a Benedictine Abbey since the invention of the printing press.

Beginning in 1970, master calligrapher Donald Jackson expressed in media interviews his lifelong dream of creating an illuminated Bible. Following a Saint John’s-sponsored calligraphy presentation at the Newberry Library in Chicago in 1995, Jackson discussed a handwritten Bible with Fr. Eric Hollas, OSB, former executive director of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. Between 1996 and 1997, Saint John’s explored the feasibility of the Bible project, Jackson created first samples, and theologians developed the illumination schema. The Saint John’s Bible was officially commissioned in 1998 and funding opportunities were launched. The public was introduced to the project in 1999 and production was completed in 2011, with the final word penned in May 2011 and touch-up work completed by December 2011.

The Epiphany Parish, where the Sacred Threads exhibit was held has two copies of two of the volumes: The Gospel and Acts and The Prophets. I love the art work in these books. The actual pages are kept at St John’s and copies of the pages were printed so that they could be shared around the world. There are also coffee table size reprints. I came home and ordered the Psalms edition.

Here are some photos of some of the pages:

 

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Some of you may know that I have a soft place in my heart for religious art. So this was a real treat.

We so enjoyed meeting the women at Epiphany Parish. They were so lovely and fun to hang out with for the time we were there. Many thanks to them for hosting this exhibit.

 

Feeling Inspired

Saturday, March 9th, 2013

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Today, I enticed Mr C to join me on an art date. I wanted to see the exhibit of prints by Japanese print maker, Toko Shinoda at the Japanese Garden. I was so engaged with these prints of simple geometric shapes and gestural marks. I have a love of lines moving through a piece of art. It occurs frequently in my work. The above piece is titled, Plenty, and costs $25,000 so it did not come home with me!! Here are some more examples of her work. She turns 100 this year.

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This piece above, with the red square – gaaaa – I love it. I can see some pieces with organza done like this. So don’t be surprised if something like this shows up in my work.

It is always exciting to see Mt. Hood from the Japanese Garden. It was a beautiful sunny day with blue, blue skies so here is the view.

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Here are some other sights from our day.

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And these guys were everywhere. It was difficult not to trip over a tripod.

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Moving On

Monday, June 25th, 2012

I finished my mythology piece, but, I can’t show it until the reveal on July 12. I can’t believe that I am done this early.

I want to make at least one more piece for High Fiber Diet’s elements show. I cut up the fabric that I made in Kerr’s class and started auditioning other fabrics to go with it. I think I have some excellent choices.

I was a little lazy today. Terry came over with her Rituals quilt, and we packed ours together to send to Southern California. I dropped them off at Fed Ex and picked up some groceries and didn’t get back down to the studio until after dinner. My bad.

Here is today’s orange 3 x 3.

Tantra Song

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012

Last Christmas, Lisa gave Stephanie this book. It is a book of paintings by Hindu tantra devotees from Indian cities like Jodhpur and Chomu, the anonymous heirs to a pictorial tradition that dates to the 1600s. They were painted on salvaged paper and were about 12 inches high. These colorful, simple paintings look so modern. I was so taken with the book, I had to order my own. You can read a NY Times article about them here.

Here are some examples of the paintings:

Apparently, the paintings were used during meditation and as a form of meditation. I find them mesmerizing.

It has been a dark and gloomy day here in Portland. I had to turn the heat back on. I also had to walk the dog in the rain. It is supposed to be nice this week-end. My new planters are arriving Friday so I am planning on some gardening time. Today was a bust for getting much done here at home. I had a couple of appointments and Mr C was in Corvallis for the morning so I didn’t get much done.

I did do some more catch up on green 3 x 3s. I do not spend a lot of time on most of these. I like to see what I can come up with in a few minutes.

Thursday This and That

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

This is yesterday’s 3 X 3. I enjoyed doing another machine felted piece. I find it very relaxing as long as the needles don’t break.

Here is today’s which was completed in less than half an hour this afternoon. It is a collage of some little squares of fabric with that black doodle.

I then did some free motion doodling. I have a very difficult time doing the free motion quilting on such a small piece. I need to remember to make something larger and then cut it down to size. It seems a bit wasteful, however.

Today was STASH day at Reva’s. Just sitting and chatting and sharing work. Reva prepared a delicious lunch. It was very therapeutic for me. I need the stimulation of friends for my well-being.

Here is another project I am working on.

This house used to be a 12 inch square, but I wanted to turn it into a 12 x 16 inch quilt for The House Quilt Project. So I cut it out around the house and I am going to mount it on a 12 x 16 inch background. This is made from indigo fabric scraps.  It has to have an American Flag so I need to get some flag fabric so I can fussy cut one.

I have also been working on inspiration photos for the Quilt University class with Elizabeth Barton — Inspired to Design. I am a bit behind, but I will catch up. I need to select a photo for a quilt and then reduce it to simpler lines and shapes for making a quilt. I found some great photos in my archives tonight.

Busy, busy!! My studio is still a mess. Life is good.