new beginnings

Summer has ended.

A new school year has begun.

It is time to return to a scheduled routine .... but before I can do that, a quick reflection on completed tasks and goals met during the lazy pace that comes with summer.

As well as progress made on outstanding - unfinished - projects  .... or maybe I'll go read a good book instead!

2009 Breaking Traditions ....

With this year's theme of Home, proceeds benefiting A Place to Bark, my earliest idea for this exhibit was of my cat Tabitha. She was a wonderful calico kitten -- a birthday gift many moons ago when my family first moved to Texas in the middle of my sixth grade year. Growing up military, I was accustomed to moving and perpetually being the new student in school, but this was the first time we moved during the school year, and we moved just before my birthday. My frequent request for a kitten was finally granted that year. Tabitha brightened my childhood, living to a ripe old age of nearly 15.

However my quilt for this year's Breaking Tradition show is not of a cat. In fact here is an early photo ....


Instead of memorializing my beloved pet (and also honoring the beneficiaries of this year's show), I began creating a yellow brick house. The bricks are made of hand-torn handmade yellow paper. This was taken while auditioning backgrounds .... needless to say, this batik did not survive the cut.

To personalize my little home, I added photos of my dearest ones in the windows -- and yours truly is about to walk through the front door.


Inspired by two Beyond the Border's friends Connie Fahrion (with her thread trash technique and article in Quilting Arts) and Mary Ann Littlejohn (with her free-motion embroidery tree postcard), I created a tree for the sideyard of my quilt.

I was surprised at the fun I had playing and creating with loose threads and yarns. Thank you Connie & Mary Ann for the inspiration!

Also, thank you Lynn Krawczyk for changing the orginal 'must receive by' date to a 'must postmark by' date, as this enabled me time to finish and mail my entry in time for this year's show!

To see a full view of my finished quilt, stay tuned for the opening of the 2009 Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit later in September at the American Sewing Expo in Novi, Michigan.

I get by ...

I get by with a little help from my friends

Hannah Mallon, organizer of the recent QGGH quilt show, made this quilt for the theme challenge, Houston Undercover. (Where did she find the time?) The show was a wonderful success. I am guessing that Hannah will down play her hard work and give all the credit to the help received from her friends, as many stepped up to assist with the multitude of tasks that come with putting on a quilt show. Congrats again to Hannah and all her friends for an excellent show!

I love the memories her quilt conjures up, not only with the title but also with the familiar Pink Panther lounging on the park bench.

The BTB forest

Beyond the Branches

Here is our finished piece from my Beyond the Borders (BTB) challenge to make a "Tree" quilt with these two restrictions:

1) The color green may not be used.
2) The size must by 20" long and 6" - 12" wide.

It is quite fun to see everyone's tree together our funky forest!
I am still confirming which tree belongs to which friend but believe this may be correct:

Trees on the top row, left to right:
Ann Schafer, Susan King (Monarchs in the Pine Boughs), Rex Watson, Susan Byrne, Susan Carter

Middle row:
Ann Schafer, Bethany Carter, Elaine Connelly, who?, Janice Daniel McKeehan

Lowest row:
Cheryl Johnson, Jo Sweet, Cathy Winter (Solitude), Connie Fahrion and Sara Sissenwein Norris



Congrats to the group -- We have won our Second Honorable Mention ribbon (the first was for our Pizza quilt at the last QGGH show).

QGGH 2009 show

A few of my favorites by Beyond the Borders friends recently exhibited in "Houston Undercover - a Quilt Show!" held this past week-end....

"Where to Start" is the artwork of my friend Janice McKeehan. The name refers to her puzzle when facing her collection of black & white fabrics during a BTB retreat. I love the movement she created in her swirls and curves.

"Fiesta Baskets" is by Jo Sweet, another friend and long-time BTB member. The playfulness of the baskets' contents tickle me, as do the wonderful color and bonus trimmings that Jo used to finish her quilt (rick-rack & pom-pom trims, etc).


"Stepping Out" by Sara Sissenwein is a wonderful scrappy quilt (above) that began in a workshop with another QGGH friend Lynn Roddy Brown (author of two quilting books!).

"Here Comes a Twister" (below) is another one by Sara.


Of course, I have to share my two (again!) -- they hung side by side:
"Sitting on Top of the World" and "Legend of the Bluebonnet".

Kudos galore to Hannah Mallon and her team of diligent workers as this quilt show was a wonderful success!

It is always a thrill to see your work hanging in a show (big or small). So I dare you, if you haven't yet, to enter your work into show ... anywhere, as long as it is this year!

Tapumes

I wandered this morning over to the Rice Gallery on the Rice campus (the only university museum in the country dedicated to installation art), to see the current exhibit. This is a little of what I saw while wandering there.

Looking through the windows before entering the art gallery, you can see the massive piece, Tapumes by Henrique Oliveira, spread across the entire back wall, overlapping onto the sides, clinging to the ceiling and spreading out onto the floor.

It is wonderful!

(Question: Is my new lens (which replaces my old one, damaged months ago) up to the challenge of photographing this work? I hope so.)

The dimension of this piece is as amazing as the actual size. The shot above zooms in on the dangling piece in the first photo.

The work bends and curves so gracefully -- yet it is made of wood salvaged from construction sites throughout the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, which is home to the artist, Henrique Oliveira.

This is a lovely blue onion, one of a pair and easily stands 4 to 5 feet tall.

Do you see the face profile here? The nose leads the way ...
(It also reminds me of the racing profiles of the Tour de France cyclists).

I would love to crawl through this tunnel -- but this is art, not a playground, so I refrain from letting my inner child run free.
Wouldn't it be fun to try?

Another view capturing a small slice of the full piece (1/6 - 1/8 of the whole), including a second peak at my tunnel.

The gallery has included three short videos for viewing: one of Henrique working on other art pieces (in Portuguese, his native tongue), an interview with him about this Tapumes installation at Rice University, which I've included below (courtesy of YouTube and Rice University Art Gallery),




and a slideshow/video of the installation of the piece in the RIce Gallery, which is below (a second thank you to YouTube and RiceU Art Gallery).

To read two reviews of the Rice Gallery's exhibit Tapumes, click here or here.

Here he is -- the imaginative artist Henrique Oliveira who is the ultimate salvage/recycle/reclaim artist, creating colorful pieces (like the one I've shared here) built entirely from wood collected from the streets and construction sites in Sao Paulo.

He calls these installations "tridimensionals" as they incorporate painting, architecture and sculpture. He also participated in the invitational Something from Nothing show held in New Orleans last year. I look forward to seeing what this young man creates next...

If you live in or near Houston, be sure to stop by the Rice Gallery on Rice University campus, as his installation Tapumes has been extended through August 17, 2009. Note: there is ongoing construction in this building so the actual exhibit may or may not be open for visitors. I popped in today and was lucky to find it open. Tapumes is not as easily visible from outside the building as the website suggests.

Houston Undercover

In one week, the QGGH 2009 show, Houston Undercover, opens.

One of the quilts on display will be "My Houston Neighborhood" seen below.

This quilt began as a guild challenge in 2006. Members were given 2 pieces of fabric (a light blue and a black print) to use with their own fabrics to make a block on the theme "My Houston Neighborhood".

Since Houston has no zoning laws, members were given free rein concerning the style and content of the blocks. They are quite diverse, just like our wonderful city!

This quilt is 80" square and is our QGGH 2009 Raffle quilt. Tickets will be $1 each or 6 for $5. The winning ticket will be drawn on December 15, 2009.

Come to our show, buy raffle tickets, enjoy the fun!