Color Improvisation 2 in Neumünster, Germany with SAQA participation

Several SAQA-members are currently exhibiting as part of the newly opened Colour Improvisations 2 in the textiles museum "Tuch und Technik" Neumünster, Germany, which opened in the middle of March. This is the second round of an exhibition curated by Nancy Crow, featuring large quilts by students from her classes all over the world.

Edith Bieri, desperate, detail, photo taken from the museums website

The following blogs have posts on the opening or on visiting the exhibition a few days later:

quilt-around, quiltsundmehr, un-multitasking part 1  and part 2, and Uta Hanson.

The museum itself is a wonderful sight with very informative exhibitions about the textile industry in Neumünster, which is sometimes called “the Sheffield of Northern Germany”. Well worth a visit if one is interested in textiles! Add now the lure of Color Improvisations 2, and you should be planning a trip to Northern Germany!

Maya Chaimovich - A Window into Spaces

This is Maya's quilt "A Window Into Spaces" which was selected for the " Tranquillity" exhibition. Congratulations, Maya.

Sizes :           H – 51"   X  W - 39"

Techniques: Small pieces on interfacing fusible fabric. Free motion machine quilted.

Materials:    Recycled different fabrics- cotton, silk, lace, synthetic, embroidered ,wool.

                     Metal and multi-color threads.

and a detailed image

Photos from Art Quilt Elements

Alicia Merrett has just attended the opening of Photos from Art Quilt Elements whilst on her visit to Philadelphia.  A great number of the selected artists are SAQA members - although this is not a SAQA show. 

Alicia with her quilt Port at Dusk Diptych for which she received an award.

Linda Colsh, previously an European member, with her quilt Pretend Pasha.

View of Alicia's quilt with others - the one to the right got Best of Show - Head 10 by Diane Siebels - well deserved.

View of several quilts including Brigitte Kopp's To Tired To - that's the one to the left of the corner.

And a challenge from Alicia - "I think only Brigitte and me are from Europe. European members simply rarely apply."

Thanks, Alicia, for the photos.

Blossom by the Lake - Shoshi Rimer

The quilt below is Shoshi's work which was selected for the SAQA Tranquillity Exhibition - well done, Shoshi

Creative concept
In my work I was trying to depict a moment of serenity I felt while walking by the lake in Birmingham, UK. It was so remote from the hectic life I have in my country. By using calm colors fabrics I tried to pass this feeling to the viewer.

Artist’s statement
Our World is full of violence and sadness. The silence around the lake provides a dimension of sanity and peace.

Materials and Techniques
Commercial cotton fabrics, Polyester batting, cotton, rayon and metallic threads
Fussing, Appliqué, paint embellishment, machine free motion quilting.

Shoshi Rimer
Bat-Yam, Israel
www.shoshir.co.il

SAQA Tranquility and Turmoil Exhibitions

Congratulations to our regional quilters who had work selected for Tranquillity:

Jette Clover from Belgium - "River View"
Shoshi Rimer from Israel  - "Blossom by the Lake"
Maya Chaimovich from Israel - "A Window into Spaces"

and to

Claire Passmore from the UK - "Echoes of Demons" whose quilt was selected for Turmoil.

The odds of being selected were very low - Tranquillity had 26 quilts selected from 246 entries and Turmoil had 24 selected from 220, Really well done, Jette, Shoshi, Maya and Claire.

Here is Claire's quilt and her statement -

Echoes of Demons
25 ½ ” x 38”

Post-traumatic stress is suffered by millions, if not billions of people worldwide. It consumes the brain of those who have been profoundly affected by witnessing or experiencing great trauma. For them, what follows are turmoil, pain and torment. Whether asleep or awake, demons from the past are ever present, echoing on and on, tumbling around in the mind’s eye and hindering the sufferer from freely going about their daily life.

Overlapping tormented faces have been repeatedly screen printed onto whole cloth, emphasizing that suffering is unceasing; often dark and raging, at other times quieter, but ever present. These are the demons that need to be dealt with before recovery is made.

Materials: cotton fabric, synthetic voile, wool batting, water based screen printing ink, fibre reactive dye,  Markal Oil sticks, polyester, metallic and rayon thread and embroidery floss

Techniques: screen printed whole cloth, dyed, painted and partially covered with voile. Side panels are hand dyed, then overdyed with thickened dye. Heavily free motion quilted and embellished with hand stitch.

Claire Passmore February 7th 2016

Transitions – an exhibition by Etcetera

Etcetera is a group composed of seven nationally and internationally exhibited quilt and embroidery artists based in the North of England. Each member of the group has produced a series of works inspired by the word ‘transition’. Their personal interpretation of the theme ranges from the socio-political to the more physical explorations of how stitch transforms cloth.

The exhibition is on at the Ryedale Folk Museum until the 8th of May  -http://www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk/

Linda Bilsborrow is driven by colour and the interaction of shapes. She enjoys the process of combining traditional techniques with surface design and machine quilting. Her Lifeline series deals with the transitions between different life stages – the phases of our lives that we all go through but cannot really see until we look backwards.

Julie Bunter creates textile art that explores the potential of hand stitch and reflects her fascination with the manipulation of materials. Her Transition work is an investigation of the making process: the accumulation of marks and stitches and the transformations that occur as a line of thread becomes stitch, pattern, structure and language.

Helen Conway has produced a body of work that explores the process of transition as experienced by immigrants, particularly in the Brick Lane area of London. Graffiti marks observed there are used to symbolize both the changing nature of inner city spaces and the experiences migrants have in transiting from one language and culture to another.

Leah Higgins has drawn her inspirations from man-made structures and constructs. Her Transition pieces, influenced by visits to Shanghai, seeks to explore the differences between the new public face of China and the government control and restrictions that still thread through every aspect of life.

Isobel Holland explores the question ‘quilts are stationary, safe and hopefully beautiful, but what if a quilt can transform into something else?’ In her Transition pieces she has created a series of work that incorporates an element of change and challenges traditional perceptions.

Magie Relph is heavily influenced by her travels in Africa: the movement of peoples and objects across vast distances and the changes that take place along the way.

Sandra Wyman has created a series of pieces that are autobiographical and represent a time of personal transition and self discovery.

Helen, Sandra and Leah are SAQA members. Report by Leah - thanks.

Maggi Birchenough

We had some very sad news today - Maggi, who has been very ill for almost a year, passed away this morning. She was able to stay at home until the end near to her relations which was her wish.

Thanks for all the work you did for SAQA and especially for our region.

Maggi's quilt which is part of the permanent collection of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky,

Rest in peace, Maggi