Adventure Quilter
Ellen Lindner uses fabric the way a painter uses paint, with extraordinary results
If you’re in the Melbourne, FL area you’ll want to be sure to see the 100% Pure Florida exhibit which will be on display August 30 – October 1, at the Fifth Avenue Art Gallery.
My piece, Florida Native #1, will be part of the show.
Florida Native 1
I’ll be at the opening on September 2nd and I hope to see you there!
Ellen Lindner
As you’ll see, I’m still working in the same series. I’m loving the colors and the motifs.
This is the sketch for the current piece.
And here’s the background, more or less complete.
Or so I thought. But, after studying it for awhile, I decided it was too pastel for my liking. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t exciting me.
This is the second background. The largest shape changed from mostly orange to mostly rust, and the background pale peach changed to soft orange. I like this much better, even though the changes are subtle.
Now what? I auditioned the motifs I was considering. Here you see digital versions added to the existing background.
I thought the white squares showed up well, and set to work adding them. (This time, I remembered to stop and fuse the fabrics first.)
Ellen Lindner
In my previous post, I showed you a big orange/rust blob on my current quilt that needed to be dealt with. Eventually, I decided just to whack it off. Like this.
Knowing that I’d need to attach new batting before continuing, I put the batting under my quilt before cutting into it. That way, the batting had exactly the same edge shape as the portion removed. I butted it up next to the quilt and hand basted them together.
Then, I recollaged the corner and was MUCH happier with it.
Finally, I stitched all the squares in place. (Did you notice the ones in the background too?) I also did some undulating stitching around the flower petals.
And this is where is stands: completely finished except for facing, etc. I started doing that and realized it’s TOO SMALL for the exhibit I had intended to enter it in. Oh no! So, I quickly switched gears and started on the next quilt, leaving this one to wait for my attention.
Oh well. I’m just thankful I have time to do another one!
Ellen Lindner
I guess it’s a good thing making a quilt takes a while because I find that I often get new ideas while implementing the previous ones. Such has been the case with my current abstract quilt.
I left a large orange/rust shape in the top left corner, planning to balance it with something large and orange in the lower right. Maybe something like this.
But first, I wanted to get my flowers into place. I had planned to use one large open flower, but that turned into two. In the photo below, I was putting them in place.
They blend in with the background more than I had hoped, so I’ll add some orange outline stitching, or something along those lines.
While working on the flowers, however, I had time to think about that big orange shape and I thought I could do something more interesting.
I’d been noticing that I really liked paintings with lots of tiny squiggles and shapes in them. I wondered how I could get that effect with fabric. I decided I could just cut shapes and sprinkle them about. So, I tried a few to get the effect.
I really liked that, so I went for broke.
Oh yes! I love it!
But, this definitely doesn’t balance the big corner blob. I’ll have to do something about that.
Will I need to completely remove that big rust shape, or can I just shrink it? I auditioned the latter in this next photo.
I’m not sure yet. But, I’m having fun exploring options and taking detours!
Ellen Lindner
Have you made it to see the Dirty Dozen Fiber Artists’ current exhibit, yet? For those of you in the Melbourne, FL area, there’s still time to do so. The show continues through August 30th at the Eau Gallie library.
See these two previous posts for lots of images: One and Two. It’s really worth a stop, I think.
I have three pieces in the show.
I’m especially proud of this piece, and the others in my Body Language series. Because they’re mounted on acrylic they’re hard to ship. Therefore, I’m always happy to have an occasion to show them locally.
This quilt was made from scraps given to me by Judith Content. Isn’t she generous?
Urban Sprawl
Urban Sprawl 2005
I’m pretty proud of this one, too. Mostly because of the courage it took to make it. I was quilting it when I decided it just wasn’t exciting enough. I finished quilting it with a radical course in mind. Eventually, I did some VERY extreme making over to get this result. You can read about it here.
While you’re checking out art quilt exhibits, you may also want to visit the two currently on display at the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts. See earlier posts about them.
Lots to see in Melbourne!
Ellen Lindner
A View Within is an art quilt exhibit currently on display at the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts, in Melbourne, FL. It features the work of Paula Chung and Karen Rips. Paula likes to interpret MRIs and other medical images in her work. Karen has riffed off the same images and ideas but in her own unique way. It’s interesting to see two different interpretations of the same subject.
This is Mary III, by Paula Chung. Can you see the purple jaw and the yellow teeth?
Her pieces are VERY heavily machine stitched. Amazing, right?
Karen, on the other hand, took an entirely different approach to the subject with her piece Teeth. If you look closely, you’ll see the vertical stitched teeth shapes.
When Paula depicted an MRI of the head and neck in neutral colors, Karen created this piece, Road Trip.
The close up view is amazing, because the entire piece is heavily puckered into rows and rows. It’s a very interesting and appealing texture.
These are just a few of the images from this exhibit. It will be on display, along with the Radical Elements exhibit through August 27th.
Ellen Lindner
P.S. While you’re checking out art be sure to check out the Dirty Dozen Fiber Artist’s exhibit on display at the Eau Gallie library. See earlier posts for images.
We’re very lucky to have the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts right here in Melbourne, FL. This is a state of the art facility which brings in extraordinary textile exhibits all throughout the year.
Every summer they host an art quilt exhibit. Right now they have two: Radical Elements and A View Within.
Radical Elements is a juried invitational* exhibit, curated by the great folks at SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association.) It’s all about the elements of the periodic table. Each artist got to select the element she wanted to use and then made work appropriate to that element. Artists were encouraged to use very non-traditional materials.
This is Chromium, by Diane Melms. It’s composed of artists’ canvases that have been painted and stacked. It definitely pushes the definition of a quilt, but this sort of thing is allowed per the SAQA definition of a quilt.
Trisha Hassler selected iron as her element. She calls her piece
The Irony of it All Was Not Lost on Her.
She used a wide variety of materials, including steel and snake skin!
Mary Pal did one of her wonderful cheesecloth portraits to portray Albert Einstein. She calls it
Elements of Surprise.
Darkness Into Light II is the title for Grace Harbin Wever’s piece.
It has really wonderful details.
Chloros was a very interesting piece by Martha C. Hall. As you can see, it’s double layered with holes cut in the front layer.
I think Martha must have had fun collaging paper and other items to create the first layer.
This exhibit will be on display through August 27th. I hope you get the chance to see it.
In the next post I’ll show you images from the second show.
*(I’m not sure my term”juried invitational” is exactly correct. What I mean is that people apply to be invited, without actually making any work. If the juror likes their portfolio they’re invited to make a piece specifically for the exhibit.)
Ellen Lindner
P.S. If you want to see more of what the RFCTA offers, click on Old Blog above and in the search box type “Ruth Funk.” You’ll find a wealth of posts about exhibits there.
The public library in Eau Gallie, (Melbourne) FL has beautiful views of the Indian River, and now, beautiful views of art made by the Dirty Dozen Fiber Artists. (She says unashamedly.)
Here are some more photos of the exhibit.
Pieces on this wall (starting top left and going clockwise) were make by Dij Pacarro, Susan Rienzo, Terri, Drake, and Jill Brown.
One of the spaces available to us was a small study room. Unfortunately, we had to hang the work while a tutoring session was going on! Thankfully, they were very gracious (and complimentary.)
The wall and door have large glass panels so people can see in, but that glass made it hard to get a good photo without a reflection. Here’s my best shot.
Clockwise from the people on the right, these quilts were made by me, Laura Ruiz, Laura again on the barely visible piece, and Dij Pacarro for the last two.
You wouldn’t think the copy corner was a great place to display art, but it was one of the larger spaces and very visible.
The left side of the wall is shown above. Starting with the wolf and going clockwise, these were made by Terri Drake, Gabriele DiTota, Elizabeth King, and Gabriele again.
The right side of the wall is shown below. The smallest quilt was made by Elizabeth King, and I made the other two.
A pretty great display, right? I’m SO delighted to be part of this group. We learn from one another, challenge one another, and have fun doing it!
The exhibit will be up through August 30th. I hope you get to see it. Here’s the info: Eau Gallie Public Library, 1521 Pineapple Ave., Melbourne, FL. It’s open every day except Sunday. See full hours in previous post.
Ellen Lindner
P.S. If you want to see better pictures of my three exhibit pieces, use these links:
Caring
Taking Flight
Urban Sprawl
It always takes longer than you expect when hanging a show. But, thanks to an efficient crew, the recent installation of our Dirty Dozen Fiber Arts show went very smoothly.
Our exhibit is at the Eau Gallie library, in Melbourne, FL. It’s a nice building with a wall of windows looking out on palm trees and the Indian River. A wonderful setting.
See what I mean? Here’s a better view of the quilts shown above.
The largest piece was made by Ruth Anne Parker. Jill Brown made the ice cream cone and Terri Drake created the bottom piece.
Rudy Pacarro, Laura Ruiz, and I did most of the ladder climbing, while Dij Pacarro and Andrew Lindner guarded quilts and managed signs.
These quilts are on the most visible wall, near the doorway.
Starting with the largest quilt and going clockwise, these pieces were made by Laura Ruiz, Susan Rienzo, Gabriele DiTota, Jill Brown, collectively: Dij Pacarro, Jill Brown, Paula Furgason, and Peggy Horsfield, and the last one was made by Susan Rienzo.
The exhibit will be on display through August 30th. I hope you get to visit it. Here’s the info:
Eau Galllie Public Library, 1521 Pineapple Ave., Melbourne, FL.
Ellen Lindner
P.S. There’s a “poke-stop” (is that what it’s called) just outside the library. It was very popular.