Creative Life Sampler

Q=A=Q 2025 at Schweinfurth Art Center, Albany NY We arrived a bit later than planned for the opening night of the Q=A=Q exhibit at the Schweinfurth Art Center on October 25. It was a rainy evening; the cloak room was filled. People were milling about taking in the show, reconnecting with friends, enjoying refreshments.  Opening Night 10-25-2025 This is always a special event, showcasing a wide range of unique voices from the quilting world in a wonderful setting. The staff at SAC handle the art work with great care and professionalism. The staging is thoughtfully and tastefully presented. This year's j urors,  Petra Fallaux and Paula Kovarik , chose 70 art quilts from pieces submitted by 330 artists who could submitted no more than two pieces for consideration. Curating a show is a major feat and their choices spotlight quilts from across the country as well as Australia, Canada, Germany, Norway, and  South Korea.   When you enter the space, you are aware ...

Midnight & Noon- sides "A" & "B" The two sides of this quilt could stand separately, but I think they are stronger together. The navy background top, (side "A"), was finished first. Since it has a vertical, portrait, orientation, I deliberately approached the composition of the second top with a different vision. For side "B," I chose to do the reverse, making the shapes dark with a light background and a horizontal orientation. When the two sides were complete they evoked very different feelings.  The forms on side "A" take on a sculptural quality. This side brings to mind walking down the street on a cool night and seeing a streetlight up ahead which spotlights an object. Within that cone of light the form is illuminated but the environment around it falls away into the darkness. We instinctively know that there's more there than we can see.  In contrast, side "B" looks more like a landscape with structures. Its ...

Midnight and Noon, 2025, side "A" The focus of my work lately has been on creating more dynamic compositions. Of course, this is rather a broad, open ended challenge. It might be easier if I were drawing from reality, we are so familiar with arranging images these days. But, I have chosen to strip out the details of known objects and work with shapes. Even narrowing down what will be in the composition, the question still stands; "Where do you get the shapes?" "What is the starting point?"  I use the scraps from earlier projects to construct shapes for two reasons. First, I enjoy the challenge of creating new forms that I haven't seen before but that still reference their origins, the work that came before. Second, using every bit of fabric is a quilting tradition. It is mindful of resources, minimizes waste, and honors the history of this art form. Midnight and Noon is a double sided quilt, hand appliquéd and hand quilted. I designed the cream on na...