SPOTS - Give it Some Color

                        This is after fusing it to the background.

Had to show the place where the doctor did the cutting.

And now the real fun begins.   To the sewing machine I go!

SPOTS - The Second Phase

I attempted to draw, which I'm not very good at, a body shape.  I wish mine looked this nice!

Then I cut my body apart....to be reassembled at a later date.

SPOTS by Cathy Jeffery

Of all the cancers that humans can get, skin cancer is the most common.  People with light skin who sunburn easily have a higher risk, but anyone can get skin cancer.  Some of the risk factors are:  sunburn, exposure to x-rays, weakened immune system, scarring caused by a disease or burn, exposure to cancer-causing compounds such as arsenic, using indoor tanning beds or sunlamps and in my case a family history of skin cancer. 
Since almost everyone in my family has had it, I thought it was best that I get checked.  So off I went to my friendly family dermatologist.  I didn't know what to expect on that first visit.  I was thinking it can't be that bad.  Boy was I wrong.  The doctor proceeded to freeze 30 spots all over my body with liquid nitrogen.   He could tell just by looking that these were places that could turn into cancer.  One of the spots, however, was suspicious to his talented eye.  He numbed that spot and cut it out for biopsy.  The results were Basal Cell Carcinoma.  I was lucky to have caught it before it grew into something bad.
On my second visit he found 18 more spots.

Of course, being a fiber artist, I am inspired to make a piece about this experience. 

So I dug out some of my spotted fabric.

I have a plan and I will share on this blog as I progress.
.......to be continued........

12 x 12 CHALLENGE: ABUNDANCE

The Uncommon Threads group has been interested in the projects done by the Twelve by Twelve International Art Quilt Challenge.  http://twelveby12.blogspot.com/.   We decided to make 12" square quilts every other month during 2011.  Merrilee Tieche chose the first inspiration picture shown above.  She selected the picture based on the copious food and wine consumed at the annual Uncommon Threads retreat in October.

 Kathy Kansier

 Carol Bormann

Cathy Jeffery

Dianna Callahan

 Donna Olson

 Diane Steffen

 Emmie Seaman

 Lettie Blackburn

 Lily Kerns

 Lucy Silliman

 Maureen Ashlock

 Merrilee Tieche

Roberta Ranney

The next challenge is due in March and was suggested by Diane Steffen.  Our quilts will be interpretations of the phrase "Winter White". 

Houston AQS Quilt Show

Quilt Show review by Diane Steffen


This year I attended the 2010 International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas for the second year. Every year it seems to get bigger and bigger. There were 40 Special Exhibits including some exhibits where photos were not allowed such as art quilts from the book 500 Art Quilts and Artbra where fiber artists embellished bras for a calendar that was available for purchase. The following photos are a few quilts that were my favorites and, of course, I included two of my own quilts that were on display.

Ruffled Feathers by Roxanne Nelson

Roxanne is a Canadian quilter and this quilt has earned several Canadian awards including Viewers Choice and First Place - Excellence for Representational Wall Quilt in the 2010 Canadian National Juried Show.

Hope by Michelle Jackson

Special Exhibit - Text On Textiles: Words as Design in Quilts
This exhibit showcases quilts in which words and fabric come together to form a unique statement. This is the second year of a 3 year project.

Innocence by Hollis Chatelain

 

This quilt portrays a boy that Hollis saw in a dream, 37 images of children's faces are quilted on the face of Earnest. Hollis also showed an exhibit titled "Imagine Hope, Awareness through Art". The exhibition is comprised of 11 textile pieces by Hollis, and 22 black and white photographs from five prominent photographers. The exhibit addresses key social and environmental issues facing our world today.

Yes, I Am by Deborah Sylvester

"Yes, I am strong" is the inspirational message that Deborah wanted to portray after a divorce.

Soul of Art by Mary Fisher

Special Exhibit - Art & Soul
This collection of art quilts includes Mary Fisher's mixed media, fiber and handmade paper. As an international speaker, she travels the world advocating for those who share her HIV status.

Wings & Feathers by Mark Sherman

Mark created this quilt for his daughter Sara, who loves butterflies.

High Heel Daze by Diane Steffen

Special Exhibit - Celebrate Spring! 2010
Quilts from the annual spring edition of the IQA Judged Show in Chicago. Both winning and finalist works featuring a wide array of interpretations were on display.

Rare Catch by Diane Steffen

Special Exhibit - Quilts: A World Of Beauty 2010
Both winning and finalists quilts from the annual fall Judged Show of the International Quilt Association in Houston were on display. "Rare Catch" is in the Art - Pictorial category.

 

Retreat at Creek's End

Seven members of Uncommon Threads took off for our annual retreat on October 15.  Emmie, Donna, Diane, Dianna and Merrilee are pictured here, with Cathy taking the picture and Susan on her way from the other direction.
Our destination was the beautiful Creek's End Retreat near Jasper, Arkansas.

We stopped for a great lunch at Neighbor's Mill Bakery and Cafe in Harrison, Arkansas, and took time out on the way to do a little shopping at Emma's Museum of Junk and other fine shops in Jasper, Arkansas.

We stopped at the Buffalo River to take in the amazing cliffs and gorgeous surroundings before proceeding on to our destination.

The drive to Creek's End was beautiful, though the fall foliage was not as colorful as we'd hoped due to the prolonged drought in Northern Arkansas.  Driving on the back roads was sometimes a challenge, but always lovely.

Creek's End was delightful!  Neat as a pin and plenty of room for everyone to spread out. The retreat was situated on the banks of the Little Buffalo River (which was mostly dry at the time), and we were eager to hike and explore the stream bed. A beautiful sheer cliff bordered one side of the stream.  This afforded everyone  a real "photo op"!

Saturday's time was spent as each person chose - sewing, knitting, catching up on quilting magazines, hiking, doing yoga, or just plain relaxing!

Each participant provided a meal for the group.  The food and wine was fabulous and most abundant!  Many of us (no names, please) ate too much  and even enjoyed the wine a little too much!

On the way home Sunday morning we made a stop at an overlook of the Buffalo River Valley, where one could see only wilderness from horizon to horizon.  Then on to enjoy the view and the little gift shop at Cliff House.  We had planned to lunch there, but everyone was just too full.

It goes without saying, "A Good Time Was Had By All!" and we look forward to visiting the lovely little "Fairy Cottage" again.

Threads of Memory, Part Deux

I hope you enjoyed seeing the first part of our exhibition, Threads of Memory, shown at the Pool Gallery Art Center.  Here are some photos from the rest of the show.

Here are some of the UT members gathered at the opening reception.  Left to right, back row, Cathy Jeffery, Merrilee Tieche, Carol Bormann, Emmie Seaman.  Front row, Maureen Ashlock, Roberta Ranney, Donna Olson, Dianna Callahan.

Some of the pieces in the show that you haven't seen:

Do You Like Butter?  That's the question asked by Lettie Blackburn's beautifully framed piece.  "Of course I do" is the answer given by generations of laughing children on a warm summer's day, "my chin is yellow!" The glittering threads and sheers play perfectly off the grassy background, taking one back to remembered days of itchy grass, fireflies and golden dandelions.

This lovely oil pastel portrait of the artist's mother, done by Dianna Callahan and entitled Momma is a charming tribute.  A lace collar and tags from clothing add personal touches to the piece since Dianna's mother worked in a garment factory.

Three Sisters, submitted by Lucy Silliman utilizes a different surface design technique to achieve a beautiful and interesting look.  Lucy first thread painted her flowers on cloth, then colored the raised portions with oil pastels.  The three small pieces were then mounted on stretcher bars giving the trio a great design element.

Rainforest, a mixed media piece from Diane Steffen, uses the artist's great abstract style to evoke the sunless depths and bright canopy of a rain forest.  Mosses are stylized with the use of wool roving, and bright parrot blue draws our eye.

A secondary exhibit within Threads of Memory showcases our members contribution to a special exhibit.  In 2008, UT member Kathy Kansier  was the recipient of the prestigious Jewell Pearce Patterson scholarship awarded to "Teacher of the Year" by IQA.  In return for the many perks this award entails, Kathy had to develop a class based on something she had learned during the scholarship period,  and then mount an exhibit of works on that theme made by herself and her students to be premiered at the 2009 Houston IQA show.  The show then traveled to Quilt Market at Minneapolis and the fall IQA show in Long Beach, CA.   Kathy had 24 quilts in her exhibition.  Several of our UT members rose to the challenge and made art quilts based on Kathy's chosen theme of "Making a Grand Entrance" 

Down Olive Way is Maureen Ashlock's contribution.  The doorways are based on the different homes Maureen lived in during her husband's military career. Maureen worked long and hard to achieve the perfect perspective evidenced on this complicated quilt.  Choice of fabrics, the great machine stitching and even the kitty on the doorstep bring a warm feeling to it.

Reflections of Tuscany: Limonaria at Spannocchia selects an image beloved by artist Carol Bormann of the ancient building in Italy where lemon trees are stored during cold weather.  Carol and her husband, Nick, have returned to this enchanting place in Tuscany for it's particular beauty.  Note the reflection of the vines in the glass over the doorway.

Greek Archways by Dianna Callahan portrays an ancient entrance photographed, and now captured in fabric, during Dianna's recent travels to Greece and Turkey.  The amazing depth and realism of this piece is enhanced with paint, applied by both brush and spray.

First of four quilts made by Kathy Kansier for her exhibit is Entering a Competitive World, hilariously picturing aging bathing beauties on the beach.  Kathy's use of fabric and sense of humor play a big part in this quilt.

On a Hill Far Away by Kathy Kansier shows an ancient arch and landscape focused on three distant crosses.  Note the realism and excellent use of perspective in this quilt.

Kathy's quilt, He's Not There, shows the shock of discovering Jesus's body was missing when Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary, mother of James, looked in the tomb.  Kathy's use of color and imagination add to the realism.

Damascus Gate is a sister piece to He's Not There in more ways than one.  Both were originally created as one very large quilt but Kathy determined that each should have been separate, so she cut the quilt to make two.  The Damascus Gate was exit from Jeruselum that was used to transport Jesus to the site of his crucifixion. 

Chaco Canyon by Donna Olson shows a series of entrances, photographed by Donna's husband, in an ancient Anasazi Native American ruin in the Four Corners area of the U.S. Southwest.  The age of the worn adobe brick and the shadows made by sun shining through the collapsed ceilings make a perfect backdrop for Donna's favorite Native American myth - the Trickster, the crow.

L'Entrata di Siena, by Merrilee Tieche, translates a photograph taken by the artist in the ancient city of Siena in Italy.  The modernity of the shiny new bicycle in front of the old building and the shadows growing longer, created a contrast she couldn't resist.  In the original photo, there was a very modern black plastic garbage bag to the right of the door. 

Well, my friends, that's the whole show.  I will insert a caveat here and tell you that no photograph in the world can do justice to our fiber art - the texture, depth and color of the fabrics add an element that must be seen to be appreciated.