In Just Two Weeks

Yes, it's that time of year again!  The 2013 SAQA Benefit Auction gets underway two weeks from today, on Monday, September 9, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time (that's noon hour for those of us in the Mountain Time Zone).

Over four hundred SAQA members have contributed this year; many of us have now done so for five years or more -- all because we want to stand behind and support this now-international organization that has done so much to enable us as artists.  As SAQA members, we have been able to add to our skill sets, our artistic knowledge, our colleague-and-friendship base, and our life experiences -- entering shows, having work juried and/or critiqued, making and meeting Visioning goals, travelling to beautiful locations for conferences and incorporating all we see, touch, taste, smell and hear into future work.

It fills me with Wonder  ;-)

You can see my piece (with a much better photo -- and a zoom in!) HERE (yes, it's on the SAQA Pinterest site, with permission) -- as well as all the other fabulous contributions to this annual event. 

Or, if you prefer, you can view them directly on the SAQA website.  For those of you interested in bidding, you can find out how the auction works HERE.

On your marks...Get set...GO!

SAQA's Benefit Auction 2013

The deadline has just past for submissions to the annual Online Auction to benefit SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) -- which opens in September.  The latest e-bulletin from SAQA's Executive Director, Martha Sielman, is that there are 400 quilts that will be on the auction block!  

In past years, these quilts have been available for viewing only on the SAQA website, or, generally selectively, on member-contributors' blogs or websites.

This year, Pinterest has entered the picture.

Now, I have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest.  I have an account on the site if only to monitor who's using images of my work without due credit/permission.  (Generally, I have no reason to refuse a request to share images of my work.  I'm not an ogre.  Just ask, or at least credit the correct source, eh?  You can send me a message on Facebook or e-mail me at margblank AT xplornet DOT ca.)

That said, it is a great venue for these pieces because there are so many of them.  If you visit the SAQA Pinterest "board" HERE, you will see that each piece has been identified with its title and its maker (see photo below).  If you click on the photo, it will enlarge.  There's an opportunity to 'like' each given piece and to post a comment.  And yes...to 're-pin' it.



I've noticed that my piece has been 're-pinned' a few times...but have yet to find out by who. (Whom? -- I have trouble with those two, grammatically!)

So.  It's a mixed blessing.  I'm flattered that some viewers liked my work enough to 'pin' an image of it to their collection.  At the same time, I want to trust that those who've 're-pinned' my piece are perhaps SAQA colleagues and friends, or friends from other parts of my life, or at least folks with enough integrity to credit the source. I want to trust that I won't find a facsimile of my piece floating around in cyber-space, credited to some other creator.

I've decided to be positive and upbeat about the whole thing and view it as an opportunity to share my work with a wider audience and moreover, to share it for the benefit of the terrific arts organization of which I am a member.

And if you'd rather visit the Benefit Auction 2013 quilts on the SAQA site rather than via Pinterest, you can do so HERE.

Enjoy!  Make note of your favourites -- and come back online for the Auction, starting Monday, September 9 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.