Friday, April 13, 2012

Fantastic Fibers 3

Let's move on to the quilts, always a large component of fiber art exhibits.  Here are some that caught my eye.

I was pleased to see a bunch of what I would call "plain old quilts" -- pieced, nice and flat, abstract, with no fancy twists (no raw edges, no wonky edges, no embellishments).  I know this reflects my own delight in this unadorned format, as most of my own work fits this description, and indeed, one of my "plain old quilts" is in this Yeiser show.  But sometimes there are only a few such quilts in a mixed fiber show; this time there were many.

Gail Baar, Structure: 13

I liked the simple shapes, the simple color palette, especially the three or four different shades of white.  Such basic elements, and yet combined in a style that doesn't look the least bit like any other quilter that I know of.  This one goes on my short list for awards (not that anybody asked me...).


Valerie Maser-Flanagan, Ovum Blocks #2


















It was hard not to notice this quilt since it was on the front wall next to the show signage.  I was particularly happy to see this quilt because I had just seen another work by Valerie at Form, Not Function: Quilt Art at the Carnegie.  The egg shapes and the general sensibility of the two quilts are the same, but this one is executed in surface design while the one at FNF was pieced.  Interesting to see how an artist uses the same ideas in different techniques.


Maria Shell, Dance Party at Tamara's House


A classic pieced quilt, in a traditional-looking pattern, but clearly original in its sensibility.  I recall seeing another quilt of Maria's several years ago at FNF, whose claim to fame was brilliant free-motion quilting on whole cloth.  This one has a totally different feel and I love it.


Marcia DeCamp, Jet Trails #8 (with my quilt Crossroads 4 barely visible next door)


Marcia has made a bunch of quilts with this same motif, some fused and some pieced.  This one is pieced, which I like a whole lot better (and not a whole lot harder to do, in my opinion).  I was happy to find her quilt next to mine; I think they complemented each other with two different takes on narrow pieced lines.


Maser-Flanagan - "Ovum Blocks #2Valerie Maser-Flanagan - "Ovum Blocks #2Valerie Maser-Flanagan - "O

4 comments:

  1. Beautiful quilts! Thanks for sharing them.
    I was at the San Hose Museum of Quilts and Textiles and got to see your quilt in person. It is amazing!

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  2. Thank you Kathy for the complement. I've loved your work for a long time. It looks like a really nice show.

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  3. There does seem to be a lot of emphasis on surface design techniques in the bigger art quilt shows. So I also like these "plain old quilts". That's the category my artwork would fall into as well.

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