Recent Acquisitions from the TCQC

A Love Affair with Quilts

Recent Acquisitions from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection

November 1 – January 19, 2014

Del Thomas personifies the kind of art collector that artists love. She adds quilts to the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection for a variety of reasons, but mostly because she develops a little love affair with each new piece. She wants to know everything about the work, what inspired it, what techniques were used, and how the fabric choices were made. She wants to meet the artist, learn about other quilts the artist has made, know what excites the artist about her work and propels her to design quilts. Del is the ideal collector. Meet her at the opening reception for Recent Acquisitions from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection on November 9^th from 5-7 p.m. Admission is $5, and free for members of Visions Art Museum: Contemporary Quilts + Textiles.

As a quilt-maker herself, Del Thomas didn’t decide to be a quilt collector. She fell in love. In 1985 Del bought a quilt at a guild auction because it was love at first sight. A year or so later, she fell in love again, and soon she was falling in love with more and more quilts until she realized this must be what it means to have a collection. The Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection was born.

Today, the collection has 250 quilts. In the beginning, Del was seduced by traditional quilts, but over the years quilters began experimenting and Del became smitten with art quilts. The Collection is nearly all art quilts.

The Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection is really several collections. It comprises the largest single collection of Ruth McDowell’s quilts. The Collection has over 60 twelve-inch square quilts. There is a strong selection of landscape motifs in the Collection especially quilts with trees and birds.

Recent Acquisitions from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection features 29 quilts by 22 artists including eight quilts by Ruth McDowell. Several of the quilts have won awards at recent quilt shows and the newest quilts to the Collection will be on view for the first time.

Join Del Thomas on December 9^th at 2:00 p.m. when she gives a tour of the exhibition and talks about each quilt and how the romance began quilt by quilt. Del generously shares information about her collecting experience and will be available after the talk for questions.

Visions Art Museum: Contemporary Quilts + Textiles is located at 2825 Dewey Road in Liberty Station, San Diego, California. Museum hours are 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $5. Children age 12 and under are free when accompanied by an adult. Visions Art Museum members enjoy year-round complimentary admission.

Solo Exhibit for Suzanna Bond

Hover cursor over images for more details.

Fiber art and oil paintings of Suzanna Bond will be featured at

Libreria Martinez de Chapman University

216 North Broadway

Santa Ana, CA 92701

November 2 – 23, 2013

Artist Talk Saturday, November 2, 6 – 9 p.m.

Seating limited: RSVP (714)973-7900 or

libreraimartinez@chapman.edu

“Relationships draw us to symbols that express a heart language.” says Suzanna. “Often these images evoke our longing for understanding of the world around us, whether remote or personal Common textiles used as medium can evoke memories of our earliest experiences, often unconsciously. We incite our own healing process as we connect to modern icons of portraiture.”

Suzanna is a native Californian who studied commercial art at The Burnley School in Seattle, WA. Recent studies have included textile arts and portrait painting with Kirk Miller.

“Putting Pieces Together” by Suzanna Bond

Suzanna Bond had an opportunity this past fall to make a small piece for a local cafe. The cafe is run by volunteers who are members of her church and all proceeds go to compassion projects locally and globally.  The design for Putting Pieces Together was inspired by a photograph Suzanna took in a sewing workshop which was part of the business skills department of Missions of Hope International in Nairobi, Kenya.

“I start out by tracing the photo with pencil. The photocopied enlargement of the pencil sketch creates a nice character to the lines and helps me loosen up a bit. Working from a sketch helps me to get away from a mere reproduction of a photo to something that takes on a life of it’s own. I make pattern pieces with tracing paper and cut them from the right side of pre-fused fabric, fusing onto the batting. Taking a class with Patty Hawkins got me jump started on these techniques. The facial features were machine quilted over a light pencil sketch. A small piece that was really a joy to make,” shared Suzanna.

Summer Garden Series – Janet Hartje

Janet Hartje’s solo show art quilt show entitled Summer Garden Series willl be hanging at Central Park, an indoor park in Woodbury, Minnesota, through the month of September.

Janet created the pieces using raw edge applique, fabric paint and thread painting.  She was inspired by photos she had taken at a garden show in Woodbury.

Also included is a piece representing Janet’s interpretation of tree bark, made for the Studio Art Quilt Associates exhibit at the Minnesota Quilt Show in June.

For hours and directions check out Central Park.

Kay Laboda Installs a New Exhibit at Visions Art Museum

Kay Laboda has been a volunteer for Visions Art Museum in San Diego, CA, since 2007. Initially she worked with the exhibition hanging crew taking down the current exhibit and hanging the new one. Soon she was asked to be part of the exhibition committee. Her involvement in the process is now complete, from planning to hanging.

The committee, chaired by museum Director Beth Smith and including nine dedicated volunteers, meets once a month to plan the next three years of exhibitions for VAM. The committee has 2013 and 2014 planned and booked. Details for 2015 are being fleshed out now and the process of brainstorming for 2016 has begun. In addition to specific exhibits that will be booked, the committee coordinates a member challenge that will coincide with and compliment each exhibit.

For the past three years Kay’s duties have included designing the exhibits. Kay particularly enjoys the responsibility of placing each quilt. Considering the elements of individual pieces is only the starting point — the next question is, “Will the quilts play together well?” Showing individual pieces along-side art produced by another artist in a harmonious way takes an artist’s eye.

Kay walks us through her recent experience of preparing and hanging a new exhibition, Tracing the Steps: The Diversity of Fiber, new work by 17 artist members of California Fibers. Before the new exhibit is hung, the current exhibit is taken down, the art is returned to the artists and the walls are patched and painted. Now the new exhibit can be hung.

Lisa and Jan unpack a quilt for the exhibit.

Mapping out where the art quilts will be hung. Blue painter’s tape outlines the spaces.

Kay measures the spaces. Each quilt is centered on a space 60″ from the floor.

Hanging one of the art quilts.

Sally on scaffolding adjusting the lights.

Kay leveling three pieces.

Also on exhibit is Insights, a juried exhibition of 12 quilts by the members of the Visions Critique Group.  View the current exhibit here:   http://www.visionsartmuseum.org/index.asp

Gardens as Inspiration

According to Nobel-prize winner Patrick White,

Inspiration descends only in flashes, to clothe circumstances; it is not stored up in a barrel, like salt herrings, to be doled out.

Many members of Postmark’d Art seek those flashes to clothe a current need in their gardens. For example:

Karen Musgrave recently used alcohol inks on her mailbox topper. Karen said, “It provided double fun! Once in the making and a second time when the neighbors came to check it out.”

Vivian Aumond-Capone finds the sunflowers in her garden to be a source of inspiration. Here’s a photo she took of one

and a mounted piece of artand a 12″ x 12″ art quilt.Sara Kelly spent some time in Tacoma, Washington last winter and captured this image in a nearby garden.And here is the art quit it inspired.Franki Kohler says the ancient ginkgo is a constant source of fascination to her. The tree in her yard continues to fuel her art.

Both of these art quilts measure 12″ x 12″.

Lynn Chinnis loves to meander the many paths of her garden.

And here is her art quilt Garden Path. This quilt was donated for Laura Cater-Woods’ fundraiser following hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Where do you find inspiration?

Postmark’d Art Members Support Studio Art Quilt Associates (Three will be at Houston’s International Quilt Festival)

SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) holds an online auction of donated 12″ x 12″ art quilts each year. Last year’s auction had 309 artworks donated and they raised $52,925 for the organization.

In 2012, 394 artists donated art quilts.  Most will be sold through SAQA’s online auction.  A special group of 106 quilts will be sold in the SAQA booth at International Quilt Festival – Houston (October 31- November 4) and three were donated by Postmark’d Art members:  Franki Kohler, Suzanne Kistler and Sarah Ann Smith. In addition, Postmark’d Art members VIvian Helena Aumond-Capone’s and Sara Kelly’s quilts will be available during SAQA’s online auction. Bravo to all! The online auction will begin on Monday, September 10th at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time and conclude on Sunday, September 30 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

A Visit to Visions Art Museum

I simply had to go! The traveling SAQA exhibit Art Meets Science opened on February 3rd at Visions Art Museum in San Diego, CA. My quilt Nature’s Fractal is a part of this traveling exhibition and this is the only West Coast venue.

Fellow Postmark’d Art buddy Kay Laboda laid out and hung the exhibit and invited me to stay with her during my visit. I hopped on a plane last Tuesday morning and Kay met me at the airport. Here’s how I spotted KayWe drove straight to the museum

I wish I could have been there February 3rd when the museum was buzzing for the opening of the current exhibits. The announcement of the naming of their large gallery space as the Del Thomas Gallery also occurred during the opening celebration. Del (another Postmark’d Art member) is an avid collector of art quilts who established the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection in 1985. I lingered over two exhibits hung as you enter the museum. The first features 40 twelve-inch square quilts from the TCQC. A return engagement for TCQC is scheduled for the summer of 2013 as New Quilts from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection and will feature works acquired since a summer 2007 exhibit at the Museum.

The other exhibit features fourteen-inch-square quilts from the Canyon Quilters Guild challenge Magical Mystery Tour: Homage to the Beatles. Here is Kay with her entry Baby, You Can Drive My Car (top, left)

Next I took in the Art Meets Science exhibit which filled the rest of the museum. Here I am with Nature’s Fractal

This is a sun print of two Woodwardia fern leaves on cotton fabric. It is heavily quilted using silk, metallic and rayon threads; painted and hand beaded. The Woodwardia fern is one example of the quasi-self-similar fractal as defined by mathematicians. Leaves repeat — though not exactly — in ever-smaller forms.

I completed this work in 2009 and almost immediately sent it off for this traveling tour which will be completed late this year. Everyone I spoke with at the VAM indicated that the exhibit has been very popular and they received lots of positive comments. They sold out of the exhibit catalogue within the first week. It was quite a thrill to see the entire exhibit.

This is the first time Kay and I have met in person, though we’ve communicated on-line for several years now. We enjoyed the opportunity to get to know one another more intimately. Kay is an avid giraffe collector. I had a hint of that before I even entered her home.Her golden lab Casey made me feel right at home.

On Wednesday Kay shared a few of her favorite places with me. We drove to La Jolla to enjoy the Bay. First stop: Seal Beach.

I don’t have to tell you that it was a day far more beautiful than most expect during the winter! It was the stuff picture postcards are made of. We walked a large circle around a beautiful park following the water and animals. There seemed to be something interesting and fun every few feet — I couldn’t stop clicking the camera!

We encountered wildlife at our feet, in the air and in the water. Brown Pelicans are native to California. They are an endangered species so it was wonderful to see so many in one place. On the sides of cliffsand in flight

Then there was Tristan, the seven-year-old Toy Pomeranian. He and his human companion enjoy a walk by the water every day. She told us that Tristan would soon have his own page on Facebook.

Even the lifeguard box, tightly locked, was beautiful

For lunch we drove near the airport to catch the spectacular city views.

We still had about an hour before I needed to be at the airport so we went back to the VAM. Just down the hall from the Visions exhibits is the home of the San Diego Watercolor Society. We toured their current exhibit A Match Made in Heaven. It was wonderful.

In the hallway between the two exhibit venues were some incredible benches

Just outside the museum, in a covered walkway were more benches

So much art . . . so little time. Thank you Kay for sharing your beautiful city with me! If you are in the area, don’t miss the opportunity to see the VAM exhibit.

Visions Art Museum

I wish I could have been there February 3rd when the museum was buzzing. It was opening night for three new exhibits which will run through April 22 and the announcement of the naming of their large gallery space as the Del Thomas Gallery. Del is an avid collector of art quilts who established the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection in 1985. One of the three exhibits which just opened at Visions Art Museum features 40 twelve-inch square quilts from the TCQC. A return engagement for TCQC is scheduled for the summer of 2013 as New Quilts from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection and will feature works acquired since a summer 2007 exhibit at the Museum.

The traveling SAQA exhibit Art Meets Science also opened and features Nature’s Fractal, a work by Franki Kohler and Blue Boobs are Best, a work by Sara Kelly. This exhibit explores the unexpected intersections of two seemingly different disciplines, Art and Science. The works focus upon inspiration from scientific theories or phenomena expressed in new or unexpected ways, from the harmonies of randomness to the dynamics produced by scientific imagery.

Also showing are quilts from the Canyon Quilters Guild challenge Magical Mystery Tour: Homage to the Beatles. Read more about Visions by clicking on the link above. I think there is something here for everyone.

But wait, there’s more:  Our own Kay Laboda hung the Art Meets Science exhibit last week. It is truly a small world.

Vivian Aumond-Capone shows at Timberline Gallery

Timberline Gallery

in Oakhurst, California

has just hung their show Totems.

Opening reception is Saturday, January 14th.

Among the artists featured is Vivian Aumond-Capone with her art quilt Birds of Many Colors. This original art quilt used machine applique, hand embroidery, beading and buttons and measures 11 1/2″ x 34 1/2″. It was completed January 2012.                 . Vivian says of the piece: “The Blue Bird signifies happiness within. Enjoy life with a balance of work and play. The birds’ song awakens confidence, internal peace, contentment and fulfillment. Touch the joy and dance in your life.”

The gallery features a special theme exhibit every two months. On continual display are a host of art mediums including fiber weaving, art quilts, watercolor, oil and acrylic paintings, glass, jewelry, gourds, digital art and more.

For more details about the gallery, directions and featured artists for Totems click Timberline Gallery.