Ellen Lindner: Art & Creativity

I recently got to see the “Master Art Quilts 2” exhibit in my hometown.  It was especially exciting since the curator and book author, Martha Sielman gave a gallery walk.  It was fascinating to learn a little about the various quilts, their makers, and the artists’ processes!

Since the gallery walk coincided with a SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) event, the room was full and there was much excitement and interaction.

Nancy Billings, Sandra Donabed, and Jayne Gaskins cracked up when I said “Y’all act normal.”

(Although photography is not normally allowed, we had special permission for this one time event.  However, it’s still taboo to post quilt photos without the artist’s permission.  As a result, you’ll notice that I’ve blurred out many of them.)

Beatrice Lanter’s piece, “Vergnugt,” generated lots of interest.  Everyone was in awe of the MANY TINY pieces she stitched together.  Not only because of the technical expertise required, but also because of the overall effect.  It was very compelling.  (Beatrice gave me permission to use this photograph.)

Click on any image for a larger view

 Martha had a great idea when she asked each artist to submit a small sample that could be handled, and that would reference their quilt on display.  These were gathered into books, which were like toys for all the art quilters present.  There were even people waiting for their chance to handle them!  (See below.)

Artists pouring over the sample books

 All the quilts in the exhibit were interesting.  Many were beautiful.  Maybe even translucent and breezy.  Others were dark, political, complex, etc.  Techniques ranged from painting to hand stitching and materials included sheer fabrics, men’s suiting, plastic and much more.   A very diverse collection.

One of my favorite pieces was “Came Out of the Sea,” by Emily Richardson, below.  (You’ll definitely want to click on this one.)

Emily uses lightweight silk fabrics which she hand paints.  She composes her designs very intuitively and uses a ladder stitch to secure each piece.  Emily doesn’t use batting in her quilts and hopes the light weight will allow it to move as you walk past.  Wonderful!  (She gave me permission to use this photo.)

I do so love to view art.  Don’t you?

I hope you get a chance to see this exhibit in Melbourne, FL.  It’s on display through August 24th.  Plus, you can see ALL the quilts here!

Ellen Lindner

I always enjoy doing a presentation for a quilt guild.  But, it was especially fun when I got to do it for my own guild, in April.

It was great to greet people whom I hadn’t seen in a while.

And, of course, I LOVE to talk about quilts and creativity!  My slide lecture was called “Playing with Fabric.”  I showed a wide variety of quilts and techniques and then gave everyone permission to touch the ones I brought.  They loved that!  (There’s one you can even stick your finger through.)

Many quilters were intrigued by the way I created shadows and dark borders in “Ripening”.

This was a very fun event for me!

Ellen Lindner

The last “note” in the most recent series:

With the addition of hand embroidered trees, this piece is the closest to my original vision.  I also love the “goose bumps” quilting on the left and the blue hand stitching.  Maybe one of my favorite “notes.”
 
Click on any image for a larger view.

This piece is available for purchase, either individually or as a trio with its companion pieces, #7 & #8.  In addition, they can be purchased with a rather unique framing option.  See this piece framed as well as additional series pieces.

These small pieces work well with my current time (and energy) constraints, so I think I’ll be making more.

Ellen Lindner
P.S.  Unframed, these pieces are $59  individually, or $149 for a matching trio.  Framing incurs an additional price.

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See this piece framed “in” a see-through frame. 

Enjoy the entire series.

Ellen Lindner

My latest set of three “Notes for a Friend” is now complete.  Here’s #7. 

Click any image for a larger view.

And here’s a detail shot.

My original inspiration was a cloudy winter day.  But two things happened along the way: 
1 – I didn’t have the barely grey fabrics I needed for such imagery.
2 – I just HAD to throw some color into the mix!

In the end, I love these colors just as much as the first two sets.

Watch upcoming posts for Notes #8 and 9.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Check out the web page to see my unorthodox way of framing these.

The fabric bombing in my front yard is so awesome!  And I’m happy to report that, so far, it’s holding up to the elements – including a heavy rain.

Check out some of the wonderful details.  (Click any image for a larger view.)

The piece above was made by Katherine Robinson.  The hand is 3D, and when you lift it you can see a heart on the other side.

In addition to the prayer flags which were strung between the trees, the tree trunks were also decorated.  So delightful!

Gabriele DiTota made this lovely sheer panel.  It caught the breeze beautifully.

Can you pick out Elvis in the background fabric of this next one?  It’s a good joke on me, since I took that fabric to a meeting for the purpose of giving it away.  One of the gals cleverly snatched it up, knowing that I’d be getting it back again!

Susan Rienzo included a variety of encouraging words on her prayer flags.  Here, they’re shown with the morning sun on them.  In late afternoon, the sun sorta shines through them.

I’m not sure who made this yellow prayer flag.  It, too, waved easily in the breeze.

Mary Dyer made the prayer flags below.  They have words like Faith, Peace, and Hope on them, as well as a cross.  Mary explained that the A in Peace is skewed because Peace doesn’t always come in a straight line.  How true!  The Christian tones of Mary’s piece tie in perfectly with the way my family is handling our current challenges.

And here’s the rest of the installation crew.  From left to right:  Susan Rienzo, Gabriele DiTota, Jill Brown, and Ruth Anne Parker.  They did an excellent job!

A HUGE thank you to all those involved in this project!  I can’t think of anything I would have appreciated more.

Ellen Lindner

I’ve been bombed!  And it’s a good thing.  That is, I’ve been fabric bombed.  Or more accurately, my yard has.

What is fabric bombing?  It’s a very new thing, following the example of yarn bombing.  With either, a venue is surprised to find their trees, fire hydrants, and other outdoor features have been covered with fabric (or knitting and crocheting.) Often, the installation occured overnight.

Ever since learning about yarn bombing, I’ve been suggesting fabric bombing to my fiber art friends.  They seemed excited about it and we’ve been loosely looking for an opportunity to do it.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I came home and found my yard had been bombed!  Not only that, but several friends pulled into the driveway as I did, there to enjoy “the reveal.”

Click any image for a larger view

Isn’t it awesome?  Can you see that it wraps around and back on the left?  And the sheer panels hanging from the far tree on the right?  Plus, there’s more obscured by the foreground tree.  Oh my!

I was floored!  How absolutely fantastic!  Things have been challenging for my family lately, and I immediately recognized the fabric bombing as a show of caring and support.  I was so touched!

The entire installation is sorta U shaped, but I’ve created a wonky compilation photo, so you can see the whole thing, below.  (Definitely click on this one, for a better view.  If you have a large window open it will show pretty big.)

My friends really put a lot of effort into this.  Not just in the preparation and hanging of the pieces, but also in the planning.  They solicited fabric from friends who’ve moved away, and scouted out the number of trees in my yard.  I’m completely amazed and touched by all of this.  I feel loved!

All of this looks especially wonderful when a light breeze catches the fabrics, causing them to wave and flair.

There are many stunning details in these pieces, which I’ll share with you in the next post.

Ellen Lindner – who hopes you’re feeling loved today, too!

My art quilt buddies and I recently went on a “Photo Safari.”  This is an outing in which we notice our surroundings, and photograph specific things.  Things like something pretty,  something ugly, contrasting items, the same item from three different positions, etc.  It’s a fun and excellent exercise in observation and composition.

We went to a local botanical garden, where there were PLENTY of lovely things to photograph.  The photo above was my favorite composition of the day.  Although the one below was a very close second.

(If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ve seen other photos – and quilts – inspired by this vibrant pink plant, a Japanese Ti Plant.)

When prompted to photograph the same item from three different distances, I ended up with this, my favorite shot of the day.  I love the crossing angles and the variety of values!

There was also an assignment to photograph something from an unusual perspective.  Gabriele really got into the spirit, below.

We had a good chuckle when we realized that many of us had photographed the “flowers” below.  They were actually flags marking new plantings!

If you’d like to have your own photo safari, you can find the prompts we used on my website.  Hint:  Go somewhere less pretty, so  it’s more challenging.

Ellen Lindner
P.S.  There are lots of useful articles and tips on my website.  Look for Learn with Ellen/Articles.
P.P.S.  Another art group had their own safari and got really interesting results.

Oh my, don’t you love a bead store?

And, of course, the pleasure of picking up a  handful of these beauties and letting them run through your fingers.

What great eye candy!

I seldom use beads on my quilts, but I can’t help but love them!  How ’bout you?

Ellen Lindner
P.S.  These beads were part of the huge collection at “Karen and Friends” in downtown Melbourne, FL.  It’s definitely worth a visit!

I recently updated an antique chair that I inherited from my grandmother.  Many years ago I tried something similar with this same chair and painted it glossy black.  What a mess.  Every little drip and uneven spot was magnified by the glossiness and it looked terrible!  So, the first thing I had to do was to sand off the uneven spots.

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Next, I spray painted it with a  happy turquoise color.  (Spray paint is definitely the way to go with this sort of thing.)

Although I loved this color, it was too bright for my decorating scheme.  So, I went over it with an antiquing glaze.  (This turned out to be more challenging than I anticipated.  The results are uneven, but I’m happy with them, nevertheless.)

These two outdoor photos make the color look a little closer to green, but it’s really a blue-green.

Selecting a cushion fabric was challenging.  There were many that looked good with the chair, but they often clashed with the quilt hanging above it.  But, I’m happy with this tan and white print.

What do you think?  I kinda love it.

Now, I have a new project:  the high chair used by my mother-in-law and her siblings, c. 1930.  Isn’t it cool?

For this one, I think I want it to look well used, so I may actually sand some of the paint off.  Still pondering.

Doesn’t it look good in front of  the quilt by Elizabeth Barton?

Ellen Lindner