About Face

I haven't posted anything for two months. This time, I have been working, but can't post pictures yet. I am working on a quilt for the "Ultimate Guild Challenge", with the possibility that it could get accepted to the AQS show in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

"Challenge" is the right word for it! Against my better judgement, the group chose to have the finished quilts measure 36" x 48"

For a novice machine quilter without a longarm machine, that has turned out to be a real task for me to get quilted. I loved the design work, and loved choosing the fabrics, but now I am starting to quilt it, and that is when it stopped being fun!

Nevertheless, I did get an invitation a while back to submit a piece for the Kentucky Artisan Center's annual show. Each year, they announce a theme, and the show is open to all artists living in Kentucky. It is my favorite kind of show to be in - all media are invited, so the show is an interesting mix of pieces based on a theme.

Two years ago, the theme was "Black and White" and I had a piece in that - Japanese Snow Cranes in black and white silk. Last year, the theme was horses, in honor of the International Equestrian Games being held in Kentucky.

This year the theme is 'Faces" ; art based on the human face.

That is something I have avoided until now. In my house, I have a room with many images of faces - masks, woodcuts, prints, and photographs. In it, I have a print of one of my favorite paintings - "Senecio" by Paul Klee.

That is what I chose to base my quilt on.

It is an interpretation, does not violate any copyright laws...

First, here is a copy of the print. ("Senecio" means "old man")

Next, here is my quilt "Young Man." It is about 16" x 16", and is commercial cottons and batiks, and hand-dyed cottons. The background is pieced, and the head and face are fused...

The show starts in early March, and continues until August. The Artisan Center is just off of I-75, south of Richmond Kentucky at the first Berea exit. It is definitely worth a trip! I am looking forward to the show...