Art at Stone Lake

30 Americans: A Groundbreaking Exhibit

 I want to congratulate the Corcoran for mounting an inspiring and important exhibit of works by contemporary African American artists.  I visited the show and saw work by both familiar and new (to me) artists working in a wide range of media.  I won't describe any of the work--suffice it to say that this is a show not to be missed.  It isn't scheduled to travel very much as of this writing, but you can buy the catalog from the Corcoran if traveling to the Washington DC area isn't feasible. (And, definitely buy the book from the Corcoran because Amazon is selling it at an outrageously high price.)

30 Americans Website

And, one other fact that is extraordinary:  This show is mounted from a PRIVATE collection.  Read more about the owners here:

About the Rubells

Rubell Foundation Website

 

 

Working in Series: Scale

For the next assignment, we were challenged to work wth variations in scale.  I chose to dramatically increase the size of the letters in the first pieces. 

First, here are the two Journal exercises--I am so pleased that I slowed down enough to make 2!  Both are done using spray paints--one of my favorite mediums.  I used a limited palette that echoed some of the colors from the foundation piece.  The large letter stencils were created by me using Word and cut out by hand.

Here's number 1:

I only used a tiny bit of fancy stenciling in the upper right corner.

Then, here's number 2:

 I played wth Large scale letters (R, X), and then used the commercial stencil in the background to create smale scale letters and symbols. 

 

Finally, I made an artquilt working with scale and color.  Big letters--I find that I am intrigued by the effect.  I also painted some of the letters in colors as well as in black.  Acrylic paints and Spray paints.

TWO CLOSEUPS:

 

 

New Documentary: Why Quilts Matter

YAHOO!!!!

PBS has issued a new documentary titled: Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics.  It is a 9 part series that will air this fall.  However, you don’t have to wait.  The series is available for immediate purchase. I’m very excited about this series because it spans the centuries, with a clear balance that honors  traditional quiltmaking while featuring contemporary quilt artists as well. 

 In addition, unlike many other  documentaries about the textile arts, this one includes African American quilt artists and scholars!!  

 Here’s the link if you want to find out more and purchase it:

 http://www.whyquiltsmatter.org/welcome/about/the-series/

Lois Mailou Jones

Hello All:

 If you are in the Washington DC area (or even within a couple of hours by car or train), I really urge you to stop by the National Museum of Women in the Arts to see the Lois Mailou Jones exhibit.  If you are not familiar with her work and life, you will be absolutely blown away.  Her mastery of contemporary art genres is breathtaking.  And, she struck out and was in the forefront of new movements—she was a groundbreaker, not just a follower of movements.  She should be talked about in the same way so many women artists revere Georgia O’Keefe and Frieda Kahlo. 

 On the social front--She broke amazing ground as a woman and artist of color back when her life was actually unimaginable.  By that I mean, she decided to become an artist in the early part of the 20^th century when the opportunities were completely and utterly  limited.  Nonetheless, she found a way to live her dream despite these odds.  She persevered and studied in Europe, to return and build an amazing life as an artist and teacher. 

To read more about her life, go here:

WikiPedia Article

 Run, don’t walk, to see this exhibit and learn about this amazing woman’s life and body of work!  Unfortunately, it is rare to see so much of her work in one place.  She is truly one of the most underappreciated artists of the  20^th century. 

 If you can’t get to DC, then I suggest you add a book or two about her work to your bookshelf.  She is an inspiration to us all.

 Link to the Museum site for information about the exhibit.  It closes January 9, 2011 so time is short.

http://www.nmwa.org/

Link to site where you can see a few of her works--these collections own her work and after the NMWA exhibit, you can see some of them on display in the DC area:

Smithsonian Collection

Howard University Site

Link to online bookstore if you want to purchase the catalog:

Xlibris bookstore to purchase exhibit catalog

Regards,

Carole

Artquilting in Costa Rica!

Hi,

 

I think I mentioned on an earlier post that one of my quilts is being exhibited in Costa Rica!  It's part of an exhibit curated by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, who is a truly world class quilt curator, historian and artist. In addition ot the exhibit, several of the artists also traveled there to conduct talks and classes.  Here is a link ot the FABULOUS blog by Marion Coleman that is a moving documentary.  Please click below to share their amazing journey.

Costa Rica Blog

And, here's a detail of the artquilt that was in the show.

 

 

 

 

New Collages -- May 19, 2010

More new work!  Playing with painted papers, found text, purchased scrappy stuff and my own photos & poetry.

This one is a self portrait titled "Joy in the Music 5-16-10"

This one is titled "Doorway Dreaming 5-19-10".  It's a spiritual journaling page.  I love doorways....

My MiniStudio is Launched!

Well, I had an epiphany on Sunday.  Although we are in small, temporary quarters, I realized that I COULD make art!  I would simply have to focus on certain types of materials and techniques that would be easy to clean up, compact to store, etc.

I decided that using watercolors, pencils,  and the like would be safe enough in the apartment.  So, off I went to buy a few supplies, and a work table.  A couple of hours later, I was up and running.  I decided to focus on making collages using watercolor, found and purchased papers, other materials and my digital art.

Here's one of the first pieces:

Title of this one is simply #101.  I painted tissue and watercolor papers, collaged them and added snippets from an old book of Japanese poetry.

Here's another experiment that went rather well:

TRANSFORMATIONS: 102 AND 103

These two pieces are siblings.  I created 2 collages on watercolor paper.  Then placed one on top of the other, cut them into 4 pieces and reassembled them by using 2 parts from one with 2 parts of the other.  You can't see the cuts in this photo.  I like them both and plan to continue to transform them.

I am building my stash of painted papers and this weekend, I'll start working on photos that I will print on various papers to be used in collages.  I also plan to scan some of the painted papers to use in digital collages.  Wonderful!!!

Sometimes a limitation can lead to greater freedom.

Stay tuned as I continue on this Journey. 

War Honor Freedom: New Work on Tour

I just completed another work in the War, Honor and Freedom Series.  This is a small piece (about 24 inches square) that just left home (smile....) to tour the U.S. and other countries.  Judy Howard, of BuckBoard Quilts and Heavenly Patchwork has organized a show of small artquilts called "God Bless America".  The show fees and sale profits support a project for creating quilts for wounded veterans.  If you would like to book this show for your organization, please contact Judy Howard at BuckboardQuilts@cox.net

My piece is titled:  War, Honor and Freedom: African American Veterans,  2-27-09.  I've now started using DATES as part of the series titles. It's just easier.  The date is the official completion date of the piece.

Here is a full photo. the photo with the word HOME on it is of my Mother and Father.