Back from Away

Not far away...just Camrose, Lacombe and Calgary...but away nonetheless. It feels like longer than 10 days since my last post, because the days have been rich and full.

After Easter, I put the finishing touches on all I needed to do to prepare for two back-to-back events.

The first -- April 19 -- was the Trunk Show I presented to the Battle River Quilters' Guild in Camrose, about 45 minutes' drive north of here.  I'd never done a trunk show before...and while I'm used to public speaking, I have to admit I was rather nervous!  The members made me feel welcome though, and overall I was pleased with the response to my work.  Here are some photos they took of me during the presentation...

Sharing "Mackintosh's Garden"

...and "Sometimes You Can Walk on Water"

...and "Mark on the Body I"

The last two (above) took them rather by surprise, I think.  "Sometimes" brought my first ever experience of hearing viewers pause and then say, "oooooh!"  A bit overwhelming, that!  As for "MOB I" -- well, there were two members who have adult children with Type 1 Diabetes, so that one was cause for much discussion after the presentation.

It was a long drive home and a somewhat sleepless night -- as I was wound up like a top! -- but I had work at The Shop the next day.  Blessedly I slept soundly on Thursday night, because I had an early morning Friday, setting up for my booth at the 18th Annual Lacombe Art Show and Sale!

I was ready!

Mono-printing Demo Supplies?
 CHECK!

Small and mid-sized pieces to sell?
CHECK!

Lights, stands, drop-cloth for demo?
CHECK!

This year my booth was very 'open' in that I was right inside the main doors, and backed onto a corner that both I and my neighbour, Gordon Hiebert, used for storage and packaging pieces.  I nearly forgot to take a photo of the booth at all, so here it is on Saturday a.m. -- ready for the second day of the two-day show:

You can see Gordon's work in the background on the right.  He's a photographer who's known for following the weather patterns and getting great shots of prairie and old buildings and vehicles, with wonderful clouds and skies and so forth.  I came home with one of his pieces for my studio: an old shed out by Winfield, AB.

"Shed Near Winfield I" - Gordon Hiebert

In fact, I came home with a few pieces of others' art.  I'm a great believer in "art for art".  That is, when I sell something at the show, I like to go out and buy something from someone else who's selling there.  This year, I had a windfall...

"Sometimes..." sold at the opening bell.

So...

I bought a hand-dyed silk scarf from designer Maxine Whitehead of Eckville, AB.

I bought two large silver rings -- one with jasper (a black and white polished stone) and one with larimar (an aqua-coloured polished stone) -- from Joanne Belicki, whom I befriended and hope to see again.

I bought that photo from Gordon (above).

I bought a mug from featured artist, potter Arne Handley of Medicine Hat, and parked it next to my "Mug Shots" (see the photo of my booth, above, on the left side!) 

And...

I bought a small pewter bowl with a "Scottish" (Glasgow) rose at its heart, for which I've longed for three years now...created by Scots-Canadian artist Louise McBeath Schoepp and her husband, Al Schoepp of Innovative Artisans.  We had a good chat about my up-coming trip to Scotland...so if I see her next year I'll have lots to share!  (Note: they also sell at Siding 14 Gallery in Ponoka, AB, where I showed my work for a brief time in 2015, and have exhibited at Different Strokes Gallery in Olds, AB as well...)

It was most rewarding to meet the young recipient of "Sometimes", whom I guessed to be in her twenties.  Her mother bought it for her.  "Mom" was one of the show volunteers and "Daughter" works at the library down the hall in the same building.  "Daughter" had been in the ballroom where the show was being held, with "Mom", as we were setting up and she'd seen the piece and was, "Mom" told me later, swept away by it.  "Mom" then bought it as a surprise and had me keep it up until late Saturday when they came to fetch it -- a delightful, touching time to say the least.  

And yet at the end of the weekend, on my way to Calgary on Sunday afternoon for visits and appointments (in the snow, but I won't go there!)...I had mixed feelings.

Sometimes You Can Walk on Water
(C) 2017

This piece hung over my bed from the time it was finished, so I could take decent photos of it to enter into two major juried shows.  One of those shows was cancelled for lack of entries; the other didn't have room for the piece.  People told me that there was a reason...I was meant to sell it to that family, for that young woman to enjoy.

It was fairly priced (I'd done some research) but still far more than most attendees at that particular venue would ever think of paying (based on my four prior years there).  I showed it just to show them what I could do, never thinking it would actually sell in that place at this time.

And for the rest of the show, I sold only 6 more pieces.  And, well, yes...I have two more orders for the "little bird" pieces...

In monetary terms, I did very well -- better than I've ever done before (this was my fifth time in that show/sale).

And yet...

Perhaps I've become so accustomed to the "little pieces" being successful that I wasn't prepared for this.

I just sense that in the joy there is a kernel of disappointment, unmet expectations.  I can't put my finger on it, and it seems so foolish.

Every piece I make is unique -- even after I've made multiples (like the "little bird" pieces) of what could be construed as "the same" by the undiscerning eye.  I can never make another "Sometimes..."

So...today I entered three pieces into a Call for Entry entitled "Threads of Resistance" based out of the U.S. -- a project founded by a group of artists, some of whom I know and have met.  The deadline is May 1 so I expect to know in short order whether or not they've been accepted.

"Disintegration" is a series on deteriorating civility that I've been working on for some years now, based on a book by Dr. P.M. Forni entitled "Choosing Civility: Twenty-five Rules of Considerate Conduct" (St. Martin's Griffin, New York, 2003), which I read even longer ago.  I meant it as a triptych, but each piece can stand on its own.

We shall see.

This has been a long post, and today, a long day, so I will leave their story for another post.

And so I leave you for a quiet evening of knitting, and preparation for work at The Shop tomorrow.  I'm linking this to WIP Wednesday over at The Needle and Thread Network, and hope to hear some of your thoughts...

Have a lovely rest of the week!

Caught Up

Like many of my colleagues, friends and relatives, I've been caught up by the impending and then the actual transition of power in the U.S.  Nowadays it's not far from my thoughts, my journal entries, my online time.

As part of a music team at my church, there's a contemporary song we sing often, and the lyrics seem particularly right for this time in history -- especially, in my view, from one friend to another across the (currently) longest undefended border in the world.  It's called the "Servant Song"...

Brother, sister let me serve you.
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.

We are pilgrims on a journey.
We are brothers on the road.
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ-light for you
In the night time of your fear.
I will hold my hand out to you;
Speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping.
When you laugh, I’ll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
Till we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven,
We shall find such harmony
Born of all we’ve known together
Of Christ’s love and agony.

Brother, sister let me serve you.
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.

Richard Gillard of New Zealand - 1976-77 (emphasis mine)

I have vowed on Facebook and on my blog to try my best to be a light, a provider of thoughtful response/opinion, and a purveyor of "real" news and/or facts in light of the propensity nowadays for the opposite of those things.

And I have promised myself, if no-one else, that I will continue to make art, not (to the best of my ability) antagonism.

To that end, for the past couple of weeks (yes; it's really been that long since my last post!) I've ploughed ahead with various projects.

I entered this piece into the SAQA Spotlight Auction, which will take place at the conference in Lincoln, NE at the end of April and into early May:

Winter Walk: Astotin Lake (C) 2017

Look familiar?  It should! (GRIN)  It's the sample I made inspired by my daughter's wonderful photograph of herself doing exactly that -- walking out over the ice on Astotin Lake toward Elk Island (NE of Edmonton, Alberta).  

And it's the basis for this piece which is now finished but for sleeve, label and final photography:

Sometimes You Can Walk on Water (C) 2017
Approx. 42" W x 36" L

And...the basis for my latest piece for the 15 x 15 International Group, as we begin our 2017 year, focusing on working in a series.  

This is just a teaser...but you might 'get' where I'm going with this.  I have the facing to sew down and the sleeve to put in place -- and then final photos and write-up for the 15 x 15 website.  The full "Reveal" will be at the end of this month -- so stay tuned!

Yes...I am exploring two things concurrently (or maybe three, depending on how you look at it): abstraction, improvisational quilting and modern quilting.  To whit: 

• I've purchased a Craftsy.com class entitled "Designing Modern Quilts", taught by Weeks Ringle -- to which I've listened several times and have even done the assignments (which she refers to as 'explorations', which I like very much!);
• I've signed up for a class called "Mod Meets Improv" with one of my favourite teachers, Elizabeth Barton, over at The Academy of Quilting.  This starts January 27 online.  (Sorry; this class had a limited number of spaces and registration is now closed.  If you are interested in future offerings, sign up for e-mail notifications from the Academy HERE.); and 
• I've signed on for "Abstract-a-licious" a class on abstraction from my SAQA colleague, Lyric Montgomery Kinard, which begins in mid-February.  (Note: I met Lyric at the SAQA conference in Portland in 2015; she strode across the lobby to greet me, hand outstretched to shake mine, and said, "I'm Lyric".  Thunderstruck, it was all I could do to squeak out "I know" as I took her hand, my head nodding like some sort of dazed bobble-head doll.)

All of this is in aid of a larger purpose (or two): to expand my artistic repertoire and to enable me to make my DD a wonderful Modern Quilt for her next Big Birthday (a few fast-flying years away).  That would be the same DD whose photography has provided the head shot for Mark on the Body, has complemented my pieces at several of the annual Art Shows and Sales in Lacombe, and has inspired more than one piece of my work, including those mentioned above...

(C) Gina R. Blank, 2017.

So as I link up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...I leave you with these thoughts...

 

The first, from the Apostle Paul -- for the days/weeks/months/years ahead:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, 13, New International Version)

The second, quoted recently by the wonderful Ms. Meryl Streep, from her colleague and friend, the late Carrie Fisher: 

Take your broken heart; make it into art.

The third, those lovely servant song words, sung by the composer:

Have a great rest of the weekend, everyone!

Breather!

I resumed work on "Sometimes..." this morning, and when I looked up it was 12:30 p.m.  I ate something and went back to work.  When I looked up again, it was after 3 p.m.!

Time for a Breather!

The first few hours were spent attaching the 'snow' to the 'sky' -- for real! -- and preparing the entire thing for quilting.  I decided to pin it as I was concerned that spray baste (my basting "process" of choice) would be a challenge with this heavy fabric.

I chose a batik for the backing -- largely because it was one I'd bought to emulate "snow" and never used.  It occurred to me too, though, that the dense weave of a batik could support the heavy cotton of the top better than an 'ordinary' cotton.

Then came testing re: the quilting.  I wanted to do free-motion, especially for the sky.  I tried it out for a couple of hours...with no luck whatsoever.

Huh?

Well...the colour of thread I had on hand was found on a spool of Superior's "New Brytes" (a line designed in association with Caryl Bryer Fallert Gentry) that I'd received as part of one of the company's "Try Me" specials.  It's a 30-weight polyester.  

I wanted to do free-motion in the sky, a bit more densely than I usually do, following some of the dye patterns.

I put in the recommended needle (100/16).

I cleaned the bobbin case and filled a bobbin with white "Bottom Line" (also from Superior Thread).

I threaded the machine and made a sample and another sample and another sample -- several on each piece of fabric.  They looked reasonably good from the front...

But on the back, the story was quite different:

I put in another new needle, thinking there might have been a 'burr' in the first one.  No difference.

I tried lowering bottom tension. Nope.  Raising bottom tension. Nope.  Lowering top tension. Nope.  Feed dogs up?  Nope.  Feed dogs down?  Nope.

I went on to the Superior website and found that this thread needed a heavier weight in the  bobbin (Bottom Line is very fine).  I switched to the only thing I had on hand in the right colour: "Masterpiece", which is a cotton thread but of the recommended weight.  Some improvement, but not long-lasting.  I continued to end up with this:

Shredded Thread!!

And did I mention that even though the machine 'sounded' fine for the first wee bit while doing this, there would come the moment when it seemed to "choke"?

I gave up.  I think the problem lies not with the needle, thread, fabric or tension settings but with the internal workings of the machine when it tries to do free-motion.  And I have no time to drive an hour to Red Deer on snowy roads of questionable condition to take it in for a "look-see".  (Miss Pfaff doesn't do FMQ well, and I have no motivation to test her in this, so don't suggest it, okay?  😉

So.

I went to Plan B:  I put the feed dogs up, put on my walking foot, kept the "Masterpiece" in the bobbin and the "Brytes" on the top and quilted wavy lines in the sky...

And in the snow.  For the snow, I switched to King Tut in a lovely pale blue variegated thread because those of you who live where there's snow know that it's not all white (grin)...

Then I created the shoreline...the distance and the "island".  I fused it in place and decided -- ENOUGH! for today.   Tomorrow...Sabbath...calls for rest.  Worship.  Peace.  Quiet.  Knitting.  Hand stitch.

The thread-painting of the trees/shore and the figure will have to wait till Monday.

What are you up to this weekend?  I'm linking in to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, and checking out what my colleagues are doing...

'Bye for now!