Art at Stone Lake

Obama Artquilt Book Published!

Hello Friends!

As many of you know, I had an artquilt in 2 different exhibits celebrating the Inauguration of President Obama.  Sue Walen, the organizer of one of the shows, suggested to the participating artists that we self-publish a book!  and, we all pitched in a small financial contribution, and self-published our complete catalogue of the show in FULL color.  It's now available. 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE BOOK.

Here's the cover...it's one of the artquilts in the book--fabulous isn't it?  And, all of the Profits from this book will be donated to a Scholarship fund for students at Montgomery College in Maryland.  Montgomery College has a wonderful arts department and their gallery is where we held the show. 

 

Thanks so much for your support.

My Online Interview: Obama Inauguration Artquilts

Hello!

Recently, I was interviewed by Karen Musgrave of the Alliance for American Quilts Save Our Stories Project.  It was fun talking with Karen about making the first two artquilts about the Inauguration. 

Here's the link to the interivew transcript. Carole Lyles Shaw Interview     I hope you enjoy it, and I would love to hear your comments.

Obama Art Show Reception

Please join us at our Opening Reception for a show of Artquilts celebrating the election of President Barack Obama.  You will see many different perspectives on what this historic event means to a group of very diverse artists.

Here are the details!

President Obama: A Celebration in Artquilts

Montgomery College Cafritz Art Center, 930 King Street, Silver Spring MD.  Open February 9 through March 5, 2009. 

Opening Reception   February 13, 6 to 9 p.m.  Gallery PH: 240-567-1368 .  PARK IN THE FENTON STREET MONTGOMERY STREET GARAGE .  there is no onstreet parking in this part of Silver Spring on a Friday Evening. 

 Regular Gallery Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This show, organized by Sue Walen, is an exhibit of artquilts created by an all-volunteer, grassroots, multi-ethnic group of fiber artists from all across the United States and as far away as Australia.  The work in this show is a tribute to our new President, in gratitude for the hope and inspiration he has brought us. 

Here's a photo of the work that I will have in this show.  It pays homage to the service of early 20th century African American soldiers who served in a segregated armed forces until 1948, and then in very restricted roles until the Vietnam War era.  How very proud they would be to serve under President Barack Obama as their Commander-in-Chief.

 

 

And, here's a detail of one section of this artquilt.  As you can see, this piece is very content dense, so I would call it a story quilt or narrative quilt. To start the quilt, I painted a piece of canvas with red and white stripes to simulate an American Flag. I then added photos & memoriabilia from my collection (including things from my Father and Uncle).  I also added materials relating to the civil rights movement, Election Day and the Inauguration.

 

   

More Inauguration Artwork

I've also created more collages in the Obama Inauguration series.  Here are a couple of them celebrating the extraordinary participation by so many American citizens in this election campaign.

My collages are on display at the Touchstone Gallery in Washington DC through early February.

These works are stretched on canvas, using acrylics, photos, fiber and more.  Here are some detail shots.  To see the work, please visit my gallery. CLICK HERE.

Here's a detail shot from "American Dream" with the words "On the Wings of Hope" and a copy of my absentee ballot.  I voted Absentee because I had to travel to Toronto Canada on Election Day.  That was a wonderful experience because so many Canadians were congratulating me as an American. 

 

Here's a view of a full collage called "Wired Democracy".  I think it speaks for itself.

2nd Obama Inauguration Artquilt Completed!

I am so excited to add another piece to TWO series.  This new piece is part of the War, Honor and Freedom series honoring African American Veterans.  And, it also is part of my series of artquilts and collages celebrating the Inauguration.

so, here is a photo of the piece. It represents the pride that African American veterans feel as they celebrate President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration as 'Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces'.  What a journey--Truman desegregated the forces in 1948  and today, we have Obama in the White House.

 I notice that these artquilts are pretty content dense.  In fact, they 'read' like pages of books to me.  There is a page with a letter from a veteran to his family, along with pictures (upper left corner).  There is a page that has 2 photos of my father and a letter from President Truman acknowledging his service.  There is a page with photos and a copy of the program from the March on Washington, and more...  Please share your thoughts about this piece, the series and anything else about my work.  Love to hear from you!!