Art Quilters

Join us for ART PLAY DAYS
on the First Tuesday of each month.   This is designed to provide hands on time with concepts and techniques discussed in the Explorer's Club.   Art Quilters can use more messy techniques than other quilters, and having a specific time and place for this type of exploration can avoid mishaps.   We have good light, lots of space and messy mats to protect the tables.     Unless a specific technique decided apon as a group and requires instruction or class materials, there is no fee.  


Art Explorers Club
will meet next on March 13, 2-4 pm. 

At the December meeting,  two lovely finished landscapes were on the wall.  They cannot be published here now for a variety of reasons, but they were great.    Enjoying totally finished work is a treat for a group that so often shares only works in progress.   

Our discussion began with reminders to be kind to ourselves when critiquing our own work.   We often are kinder to others when this sort of analysis is shared.   We owe it to ourselves to be just as kind during self critique.     

We also introduced the thought of image making as a kind of non-verbal language.   Artists are encouraged to develop their own particular non verbal vocabulary, a set of symbols,  typical colors,  a style of drawing, that is their own "Unique Voice".  There is the language reference again.    Gentleness and honesty in ones self critique process can heighten the awareness of this personal language.   Discussion also included the value of documenting your work,  so that you can look back at the body of work as a whole and identify elements of your language more easily.   Diana even shared some pieces she had recently found that she had done in High School,  many years ago, which showed the beginnings of her fabric obsession even then. 

We all decided that in light of the discussions,   the theme of floral was too impersonal,  and decided instead to follow the guidelines for the "From Sketch to Art Quilt" Reader challenge that has just been announced in the pages of Quilting Arts magazine.  The implied hope is that each of us will explore some image that is significant to our own non verbal language.    The parameters of the challenge  are on page 54 of Dec2011/jan2012 issue,  and I am sure, on the Quilting arts website. 

To paraphrase,   Do some sketches in your sketchbook of some object,  in any way, in any media,  but get something down on the pages of your book.    Then take that as your inspiration and create an 8 x 10 inch art quilt from it.     It needs 3 layers held together by stitching and the edge must be finished.   It must also NOT contain any copyrighted text.    

That is our challenge, due at the March meeting.   The deadline for the QA challenge is March 16,  and our subject of discussion at our meeting just a few days before that will be about how to make a good online submission.    For an official entry, you will need an image of the sketchbook page,  the whole finished quilt, and one detail shot of the quilt.   

For our purposes, bring the sketchbook, the quilt,  and your camera.   I will have backdrops and other extras that may make the process smoother.