Archive | November, 2019

“Basketry in America” Exhibit

By Ellen Lindner on November 30, 2019 in Uncategorized

There’s a VERY intriguing exhibit at my local textile museum right now. The word basket really sells these pieces short! Some are utilitarian and beautiful in their simplicity. But others are large and sculptural and amazingly creative.

The details to these pieces are extraordinary, so I’m going to show you only one piece.

Here it is. An installation by Ann Coddington, called Mother/Memory.

As you can see, the lighting cast strong shadows and really added to the piece.

Just check out these details.

I didn’t notice the thread around the finger above, at first. Certainly that ties into the memory aspect of the title.

Coddington listed her materials as mixed fibers and found objects. And her techniques as twining, knotless netting, lashing, random weaving, knitting, wrapping, and felting.

I couldn’t quite identify all the materials, but I sure love the combination, as well as the composition.

What do you think? Did that whet your appetite for the rest of the exhibit? Me too! I had only a few minutes when I was there and I saw only about one third of the pieces. I’m anxious to go again and see the rest of it. But, I’ll need to hurry as the last day of the exhibit is December 14th. I hope you can catch it, too, at the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Art in Melbourne, FL.

Ellen Lindner

Presenting Small Works – My Favorite Technique

By Ellen Lindner on November 27, 2019 in Uncategorized

Once, at a retreat, I was working on a horizontal piece about 11″ x 22.” When the public was allowed to wander through one person asked me “How much do you charge for a place mat like that?” That’s when I realized that people unfamiliar with art quilts will often interpret small textiles pieces as utilitarian. Since then I’ve tried to mount or frame my smallest pieces in a way that gives them more presence.

My favorite way to do that was shown in my previous post. Many of you asked for more details, so here you go.

This piece, Croton Leaves #3, is mounted on the front of a piece of framed glass. I purchased the frame, glass, and white mat as a set. I used multiple strips of double-sided tape to secure the quilt to the glass.

I took the above photo with a flash, hoping to create a reflection that would identify the glass for you. That didn’t work so I turned on the adjacent lamp and tried again.

Now you can see what I mean. There’s glass there that’s reflecting the lamp, except where the quilt is. That’s because the quilt is in front of the glass.

Here’s a closer view, from another angle. As you can see, the quilt edges are completely finished.

And here’s an extreme side view showing you a little bit of the depth.

Make sense? Can you see how much significance it adds to the piece?

I’ve mounted small pieces in other ways:
– Same as above, but without the glass. (Mounting onto mat board that fills the frame.)
– Mounted to the front of a “floating” frame: one that has no mat or backing, and is see through.
– If unquilted, mounted behind a mat, framed and with or without glass.
– Hand stitched onto a larger panel or artist’s canvas.

– Glued to a smaller panel or canvas so the work invisibly floats away from the wall.

Here’s a big tip: if you want to try this I strongly suggest planning the size of your artwork beforehand. Pick a standard sized canvas or frame and then size your artwork to look good with it.

What’s your favorite tip for showcasing small pieces?

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Check out this earlier post with additional examples.

Bedroom Redo

By Ellen Lindner on November 25, 2019 in Uncategorized

I recently redecorated my bedroom and I’m LOVING the results!

Here’s the bed wall, with my quilt Rhythm of the City prominently displayed.

More of my work moving across the window wall. This is Croton Leaves 3.

Continuing to look left, a corner featuring my paper collage Three Cherries.

And, to complete the artwork roundup, at the foot of the bed I have Brainstorm.

My tilt mirror was originally painted gold but I switched it up to “dark steel.” Although my technique was lacking it still looks good at first glance.

I wanted a taupe bed skirt, but I couldn’t find one to fit my tall bed. White was the only color available in that length. So, my friend suggested combining the two and I think it works.

It was fun to use a variety of surfaces and textures. Shiny and dull, smooth and rough, modern and vintage. I love the tufted look of the bedspread.

And these fuzzy white pom-pom flowers are the perfect contrast to my grandmother’s vintage water pitcher.

It sure was fun to put this all together and I’m SO delighted with the vibrant colors throughout!

Ellen Lindner
P.S. How do you like the way I’ve presented Croton Leaves 3, above? (2nd photo.) I bought a frame with glass and a white mat and I mounted the little quilt right on to the FRONT of the glass. I love presenting small pieces this way. They need something to give them more substance, but I don’t want to cover the texture of the piece. Lots of double-sided tape does the trick.

More from the International Quilt Festival

By Ellen Lindner on November 12, 2019 in Uncategorized

IQA, the International Quilt Association, has their big juried and judged show at the International Quilt Show each year. The quilts are always spectacular and it’s definitely an honor to be selected as one of “finalists.” (What they call all 400 people who have quilts in the show!) These quilts are just a small sampling of the magnificent pieces on display. Click any image for a larger view.

This piece was made by Claudia Pfeil and is called In Full Bloom. I was intrigued by the way she used simple shapes to create a colorful garden.

Most of it was pieces, but applique was used to add some curves and details. And quilting, too.

This colorful piece was made by Susan Jackan and is called Radiant Roots.

Check out the fragile little details she included. Makes me want to eat my vegetables!

This piece by Noriko Endo is soft and subtle like some of her other pieces. I was first struck by the different colors of trees and their interesting “bark.”

The title is Birds, and I only noticed them after reading the title. Cut me some slack: those trees are REALLY interesting.

(Now I’m not sure this piece was in the IQA show. It’s hard to keep track of it all!)

I thought Kimberly Lacy did an excellent job of showing the layers and colors of rock canyons and formations. This is called Sunset on Coyote Buttes.

Patriot is the name Angela Bowman gave to her striking quilt, which depicts her husband. The black vertical line on the left is the black back drop, not the quilt. His face runs right up to the edge of the quilt. I thought this unusual composition was very successful.

His face was paper pieced.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my photos, but I know what you really want. You want to see the winners don’t you? Ok, then. Check them all out here.

Ellen Lindner

A Visit to the Houston International Quilt Festival

By Ellen Lindner on November 10, 2019 in Uncategorized

I was really happy to visit the Houston International Quilt Festival this year. It was amazing! There were over 400 quilts on display, many of them stop-in-your-tracks gorgeous.

I used restraint with my photography, focusing on the ones demonstrating something new or other interesting characteristics.

First, I had to visit my own quilt, Jubilation. It was in the IQA judged show, A World of Beauty. It’s always nice to see your quilt in Houston! They do a great job with presentation.

I checked out the two SAQA exhibits. My favorite was Layered and Stitched, which was a retrospective of the last 50 years in art quilting. It was very interesting to see what those first art quilts looked like, with solid polyester fabrics, large graphic designs much like today’s Modern quilts, and hand quilting. And, it was even more exciting to see quilts that I’ve admired in magazines and online hanging in front of me.

Although the lighting was uneven, this piece by Ruth de Vos was stunning. She calls it Not Even Solomon. Don’t you love those red floral tendrils floating around?

This quilt by Katie Pasquini Masopust, Spring Equinox was also in the exhibit.

As I approached it I thought it might have been made by Pat Pauly, who loves strong colors and highly patterned fabrics. But, when I got closer I could see that the fabrics were all solid. The pattern was made by small bits of fabric which had been added to create texture. I’m not sure I’d be patient enough for that!

SAQA also had an exhibit in which the pieces were created with recycled materials. Most of them didn’t speak to me, but I did appreciate this one made by Libby Williamson. She calls it Clan of Misfits, and each gridded section starts with four used tea bags.

In addition to the tea bags, she has added fabric scraps and a lot of hand embroidery. Even some measuring tapes. I liked these details a lot.

(I wouldn’t have the patience for all that hand stitching either.)

Terry Grant and Maria Shell both had solo exhibits in the “Rising Stars” special exhibit. Maria wasn’t there when I stopped by, but I got to meet Terry. (I’ve been following her work for decades.) She joked that she wasn’t sure how “rising” she was she’d already been at it for 30 years.

It was great to see her work in person. She has a distinctive style, which is very stylized and accented with thin dark lines. This was my favorite piece, called Camas Prairie Idaho.

We talked a bit about those lines and she pointed out that they’re seldom actually black (although they often read that way.) Here they’re a dark plum color.

She also adjusts the line color throughout each piece as needed to create depth. This quilt, Rooftops Ecuador, is a good example. See how she used softer fabrics and line colors in the background? Lowering the contrast is very effective at making this section recede.

This fun piece by Natalia Lashko is called Being and Time.

It had a LOT of texture in it. (Their faces and hands looked almost woven.) And I really liked the subtle images in the background. I imagine it to be photos and memories of people and events through the years.