Photo suite 177 -- low light

Sign of the week

I don't understand this, either

FNF 3 -- award of excellence

The second award of excellence at Form, Not Function went to Sara Drower of Wilmette IL for a tiny piece (maybe 12 inches wide) based on phototransfer.

Sara Drower, Quilted Construction #2 (detail below)

I apologize for the bad photo; the piece was framed under glass, which made it difficult to see the beautiful details, and even more difficult to take a photo.  Had I bought this piece (I didn't -- somebody beat me to it on opening might) I would have immediately taken the glass out of the frame.

It's a photo of a construction site, strewn with miscellaneous debris, which is rendered on the quilt with tiny beads and metal springs; the machine quilting enhances the grid format of the new construction and the city in the background.

I was delighted to see a small piece win a major award.  Although I personally love to work huge, and believe that size adds to impact, I think too often small pieces are overshadowed by big ones and overlooked by viewers and judges.

And this piece is exquisite.  Except for the glass.

FNF 2 -- award of excellence

The 12th annual Form, Not Function: Quilt Art at the Carnegie show opened last week, and I've already told you about the best in show winner.  Today I'll write about the Award of Excellence in memory of Alma Lesch, the late pioneer fiber artist from Louisville, which went to Jeana Klein of Greensboro NC.

Jeana Klein, Any Day in June (detail below) -- FNF 2015

It started as a phototransfer, with the kitchen sink image divided into four-inch squares, sewed back together and interspersed with blocks of print fabric in a traditional quilt pattern.  Then she painted on top of the fabric to enhance and heighten some of the colors, and finally put on bits of hand stitching.

Many of us who attended the opening recalled that last year's show had a very similar quilt by Klein, with the same technique and the same kitchen sink imagery (but a different sink).

Jeana Klein, Harvest -- FNF 2014

I liked this year's quilt better than last year's; having the warm colors in the main image, surrounded by the more subtle cools in the quilt blocks, did more for me than the reverse.  (Although I did love the watermelons from last year.)

In both quilts the overpainting was a noticeable and effective way of amping up the image a bit, giving an air of mystery to the photo and bridging the divide between image and background pattern.  And both quilts are examples of what I see as a welcome new approach to quilt art: mixed media as a way to move out of the strict quilt format and more toward the mainstream of contemporary art.

Photo suite 176 -- machines from the past

two machines at the textile museum, Osnabruck, Germany

at the quilting retreat house, Centerfield KY

in the hotel stairway, Bernkastel, Germany

in the woolen mill, Donegal, Ireland

in the touristy gift shop, Rome

FNF 1 -- best in show

Last night was the opening reception for Form Not Function: Quilt Art at the Carnegie, a juried show that I take pride in having helped start, back in 2004.  Best in show went to Susan Else of Santa Cruz CA for her 3-D work, "Family Life."

It's a tableau of three almost-life-size skeletons, covered in batiks and embellished with lots of social commentary about how there was no "golden age" of family life -- people always have and always will have problems with raising children.  For instance, the narrative on the mother's foot bones talks about infant mortality.

On her ribs, the narrative talks about divorce.

The quilt is constructed over a skeleton armature and meticulously assembled to replicate all the bones -- check out how perfectly the patellae and finger bones are made and stitched to the rest of the body.

The thought of skeletons may be grim but they're smiling with their baby and the bright batiks bring to mind the brilliant colors and celebration of Day of the Dead.  There is lots of machine quilting but from close inspection I think most of the construction had to require hand stitching.  Clearly not a weekend project!

This piece made me say WOW! Congratulations to Susan!

The show continues at the Carnegie Center in New Albany IN, right across the river from Louisville, through July 11, worth a stop if you're on your way to Quilt National or other vacation spots.  I'll write about the rest of the show next week; stay tuned.