SAQA and Sentinels at the Festival of Quilts

Wonderful to be back at the Festival of Quilts in 2014 - and be able to share SAQA's 25th Anniversary Trunk show with so many visitors. caught up with Dijanne Cevaal who brought the Sentinels exhibition to Adelaide - spectacular exhibitions and wonderful to be able to see it in the cloth, as was Brenda Gael Smith's  Living Colour exhibition adjacent to my SAQA table. 

In full retreat ... at Boonah

Three days of magic time spent with friends at The Outlook in Boonah last weekend let me finish a quilt top (that has travelled with me to at least three retreats), share the SAQA 25th anniversary exhibition of art quilts, hand dye about 14 yards of fabric and collect enough scrim for a gorgeous bowl. Thank you ladies.

Remember that shower scene?

It seems so long ago that I took a selfie in the shower - printing a series of fabrics that have been  incorporated into a free range log cabin quilt - unbelievable freedom and able to use a number of hand dyes, printed and reworked aubergines and deep rubines - contrasted against black and white mono-prints from a wonderful day with Ankie King. Loved thread drawing and stitching  using  Aurifil threads - from SAQA Signature Thread range.

Adelaide's Festival of Quilts ... five more sleeps

Adelaide's Festival of Quilts kicks off next week and runs from Thursday 7 November through to Sunday 10 November at the show grounds in Wayville (Adelaide). This year, instead of spending money on direct advertising the guild collected blocks from members and they became this quilted car cover -SAQA's "This is a Quilt" travelling trunk show will have its final outing at the Festival of Quilts before returning to the US. I'll be at the show each day giving floor talks on the SAQA exhibition and giving demonstrations of different processes and techniques used in art quiltmaking. Hope to see you at the show.

A selfie in the shower? How ordinary ...

Seriously - there's a call for entry from SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) challenging us to create an art quilt through the process of rethinking the known and ordinary. So where better than the shower ...on retreat? I got to thinking about the ordinariness of taking a shower (if you are a privileged western and probably white person) - the un-thought assumption that a tap turned means pressurised water will fall from the shower head  - I remain struck by the ordinariness of "taking a shower".  Door mats, drain and shower heads make for a rather interesting and not-so-ordinary fabric.

Floor Talk #3 - Nancy G Cook

Tomorrow I head off to Newcastle (NSW) to see SAQA's travelling trunk show C "This is a Quilt". One of the five quilts I chose as a focus for makers, materials and methods is Nancy G Cook's The Rose has Some Hips. Nancy's botanical work is exquisite. One of the many things that drew me to this piece is Nancy's use of stitch. The use of dense echo stitching around the rose flowers, which themselves are free from quilting, gives a gorgeous sense of movement in and around the flowers - just as in a garden. The quilting of the leaves with the veins sharply defined balances the softness of the inverted  "V" defining the petals. Beautiful texture has been created with hand embroidered centres while the emerging hip provides visual balance against the large flower heads. Another beautiful piece by Nancy G Cook.

Floor talks in Newcastle on 17 August

One of my favourite pieces from the "This is a Quilt" Trunk Show C, currently travelling around Australia and New Zealand, is Vivika Hansen DeNegre's piece "Songbird #1 - Robin". Each of her pieces in this series is anchored in a place - with the text/music, flora and fauna all connected to a specific location. The nest has been constructed from a number of special fabrics, including from Vivika's predecessor at Quilting Arts Magazine, Pokey Bolton. There is a collage feel to the background piecing and the calm eye of the robin draws the viewer in for a closer look. While on show at the WA Craft Fair people were overwhelmingly drawn to the bird - patiently watching the egg. Vivika sometimes uses a pebble or similar, also specific to the area from where the quilt has its origins.  Sheet music, musical programs - all part of the songbird. I'll be attending the Stitches and Craft Show in Newcastle (NSW) on Saturday 17 August and giving a floor talk on Trunk Show C at 1.00pm.   I'd love to share this exquisite art quilt exhibition with you.

WA Craft Show 2013 and SAQA's "This is a Quilt"

Songbird  #1: Robin, Vivika Hansen DeNegre

On Wednesday Dad and I fly out to the WA (West Australian) Craft Show at the Claremont Showgrounds in Perth. The Craft Show and the WA Wood Show runs from 2-4 August. Okay - in truth Dad is visiting his sister but I will be at the show with SAQA's Trunk Show C "This is a Quilt". The exhibition comprises 43  framed art quilts - each 12 inches square - and I'll be giving floor talks throughout the show. I've chosen five of the quilts that, for me, give an fabulous insight into the breadth of materials and methods used by their makers to create a quilt. Artists such as Vivika Hansen DeNegre have shared personal insights specifically for the floor talk. This is a very special exhibition of SAQA's talented membership. Anyone joining SAQA and becoming part of our Oceania region gets a 10% discount on membership - simply quote the code AGT in the discount code box, and your reduced membership fee will appear at checkout. "This is a Quilt" exhibition will also tour to Newcastle, Sydney, New Zealand, Melbourne, Brisbane, Townsville and Adelaide before returning to the United States in November. If you happen to be in Perth next weekend, please come by and say hello. I'd love to meet you!

Visit Alison Laurence's Studio (Auckland, New Zealand)

There are a few advantages of being an “empty nester” and one is that you can take over the space formerly held by the children. I now have the entire rumpus room to call “my studio”. The room is about 10m x 5m but with a sloping roof, so that wall is used for storage.






This particular room is upstairs and because we have street access both to the front and back of our house, I have level access when carrying sewing machines and such paraphernalia to my car.







I use a table tennis table for sewing and cutting – just because it has always been there! – and I love the space it offers

I only have a few drawers for fabric and all the accessories that are collected over the years – I have been quilting for just four or five years so haven’t amassed the quantities - yet. And, I only buy for the project I am working on at the time.

I have a small design wall which I can move around but when working on a larger project I have a portable frame that I can bring out. I also have a table for drawing or designing, a radio and TV (and the piano that never gets played now the children have gone, but where else can you house it!).

But often for me the best place for auditioning is on the floor!

And I use an old courier bag as my rubbish bin - I never empty it until I have completed a project just in case I want to dive back in there for a pattern piece or bit of fabric!

The room is large enough for a seating area when people come to “visit” – my husband might bring a glass of wine at the end of the day One wall is entirely windows with a bi fold door at the end which looks out towards the city.

Studio Blog Hop continues ... with Dale Rollerson

(c) Dale Rollerson

Dale Rollerson's studio is on view today, as part of the SAQA Oceania groups Studio Blog Hop. Dale will be well known to many of you through The Thread Studio. We're featuring a different studio space and artist every second day throughout May - tomorrow it will be time to join Averil Stuart-Head and I can't wait to see more of the Oceania group's creative spaces. Hoping that you too enjoy the ongoing tour.



Studio Blog Hop Schedule for May - SAQA style

This is not a studio - at least not any more. It was the sole and soul place where I worked for most of the last seven months and the space worked perfectly - if accompanied by a disciplined approach to "tidy".  It really does not matter how big or small or where your place to be creative is located - so long as you have a space. This month the SAQA Oceania members are participating in a Studio Blog Hop - every other day in May. We've had two great "reveals" already this month - Mel Forrest and Sue Dennis with Lisa Walton's studio on view from today. The schedule is listed below - simply click on the artist. SAQA is an incredible organisation supporting artists who create art quilts - so if you would like to know more about SAQA please don't hesitate to get in contact with me or Lisa Walton - or anyone of our Oceania group. Enjoy the tour!

Mel  Forrest (1st  May)

Sue  Dennis (3rd  May)

Lisa  Walton (5th  May)

Linda  Robertus (7th  May)

Dale  Rollerson (9th  May)

Averil  Stuart-Head (11th  May) 

Beth Miller (13th  May) 

Sally  Westcott (15th  May)

Ali  George (17th  May)

Pam  Holland (19th  May)

Felicity  Clake (21st  May)

Brenda Gael Smith (23rd  May)
Alison  Lawrence (25th  May) 
Jenny  Bowker (27th  May)
Sue  Domeney (29th  May)

SAQA Oceania group gathering



(L-R) Mel Forrest, Brenda Gael Smith, me, Lisa Walton, Sue Dennis, Felicity Clarke



A big thank you to Sue Dennis who hosted what we think is the largest Oceania group get-together for SAQA members held to date. Mel Forrest, Brenda Gael Smith, me, Lisa Walton, Sue and Felicity Clarke (accompanied by some of our significant others) gathered at Sue's place on Friday night to share a meal and talk art quilts. Lisa and I are the SAQA Oceania co-representatives in 2012. The annual SAQA Conference, being held jointly with the Surface Design Association,  is on later this week in Philadelphia - and I'll be blogging live from many of the events and exhibitions being held over the weekend. Thanks again to Sue and Bob for a lovely evening - something we all plan do again!

Gulf Streams - a new series

The Studio Art Quilt Association (SAQA) is an organisation where you can take as much or as little as you need - quite literally. About the middle of 2010 it felt like I was on a launch pad, engines burbling and ready for lift off. These days I'm in outer space, tethered lovingly to the ground by a few people and organisations whose influence, input and encouragement  have guided my professional development as an artist. SAQA's mentoring and visioning programs have offered me the support and tools to transition from "passionate quilter" to "professional artist". Part of that professional development relates to the creation of bodies of works, and Gulf Streams is a new series that will be my focus over coming weeks... and months. The lino cut was inspired by  my time working with the Mornington Island community in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The cliffs on one part of the island meet the swirling waters of the Gulf and the debris of washed up offerings lies on the upper most tidal mark. Dugong, turtle and crocodile inhabit the fast moving waters. Exquisitely large snakes frequent the warm road shoulders in the late afternoons.  Mornington, Bentink and Sweers Islands are some of the most beautiful and unmolested places on earth and I hope the yet-to-be created series goes some way to doing that beauty justice.

Flood #1

Pieced and pristine

SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association) wisdom is sent to my inbox every other day and one of the recent posts involving Australian textile and fibre artists Alison Schwabe and Jenny Bowker has become the basis of Flood #1.  They did the thinking. I got to read it and ended up in the studio. The images of dirty brown absorbing everything in its path will stay with many of us for a long time. I can remember the floods of '74 and many of the natural disasters that have occurred across the globe in the years since. I know that eventually this too will also pass.

Shiva silt

I wanted to convey an aerial and expansive view of the very beautiful Lockyer Valley area not so far from where I live - prairie points now mountains, tubes of  railways and bridges; patches of blue for the inexplicably untouched areas and everything else under the spread of mud. Small communities, towns and localities sprinkled across the landscape - represented by the smaller half-square triangles - mostly aligned and then some not.  Images also of soiled things - again the muddy silt. I've played with the quilting lines in my journal -  they are sharp and urgent, swirling around fixed objects but ever so straight and unstoppable. It's one of the great things about being a SAQA member. Thanks to Sue Dennis and her never waning encouragement, SAQA membership has provided me with exposure to many artists and ideas, lively debate, and the opportunity to grow.

Journal to quilt - the indigo version

Indigo version

The decision to go "blue" was easy. After mucking around with different colourways and "literal" fabric,s the pile of Indigo from a day with Ankie was screaming to be used. I'm most grateful. The original journal drawing now looks like this and I'll start working on the individual "paddocks" and other pieces this weekend. My only complaint about being in a frenzy of creativity is that life speeds up and it feels like I'm hurtling through the living and working dimension. What has been good is to run out of time to keep going last Sunday  - and enjoy a margerita with Lorraine - because standing back and taking a breath is somethingI forget to do. The door to the studio is closed and I won't open it until tonight ..... progress will be posted over the next few days.Feedback always greatly appreciated - any comments on the balance / flow (or lack of it)? Feel free to contribute, and thanks.

The original drawing



Live from the studio ... Journal pics



Nashville to Chicago @ 30000 feet

 The amalgam of paddocks, highways, interchanges, residential estates and farms - waterways, motorways and varying heights - the change in perspective occurs during the flight - we climb - we descend - and all the time I'm drawing whatever is out the window.
I've included another page of the journal - from another flight - this time in Australia - different paddock, different day , same world.

Northern NSW


Different landscape and density flying to Brisbane earlier in the year - I've added notes on beads, ribbons and such - ways I might be able to add texture. And it won't happen if I don't get off the computer and back across the hallway ...

From the air ... Journal to Fruition III - going "live"

Nashville to Chicago

On our trip to the US in September one of the last legs was to fly to Chicago from Nashville to catch the mighty Amtrak South West Chief back to Los Angeles. Some people hate the time they spend in 'planes. I don't - I 'm not too impressed by the time spent in airports but I love getting into a tube of aluminium and  hurtling across the landscape. It's all about the different perspective. I love to journal the "blocks" - and one of the next "day projects" is to transform the journal drawing inspired by the view to an art quilt.  That's the plan for today ...and I have until 4pm when Lorraine and Keith come up to celebrate the removal of her plaster cast with ... Margaritas and kebabs on rosemary sticks ...  I'll keep posting as the day progresses - sort of my first live post ...