Which One Will It Be?

As I have mentioned, I am going to enter the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. I haven't finished the piece yet, but I can give you a glimpse as to what I'm working on. The catch? I'm not revealing which one I decided to go with until the piece is finished. So, with that in mind you'll have to wait and see if it will be "Girls Night Out"...

...or "Pom Pom."

Wish me luck!

Where Has Sew Chick Been?

Long story! The short of it being...I had a baby! I had a rough pregnancy including hospital bedrest for two months (yikes and more yikes!) He was a preemie, but you'd never know it now since he is so big and super-healthy. His name is Alex and he has been keeping me very busy. Look at that smile...

He has also had me thinking about getting back to doing what I do well: My art. Sewing. Being creative again in a way so that I hopefully don't have to return to an office environment. I've had an Etsy account since '06, but now I am going to actually open up shop. Put some things in there soon that I hope folks will like. Oo la la, you know?! Pretty darn exciting to see what my brain will crank out.

I also want to enter the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. What's that? Every three years, the Smithsonian Nat'l Portrait Gallery has a portrait competition open to artists of all mediums. My art quilt specialty is portraiture, so I figured that I would enter. The deadline is Halloween. I figure I'd see what happens. As my youngest sister would say "YayZ!"

In the immortal words of Futurama's Bender Bending Rodriguez: "I'm back baby!"

On the Journey of Hope Exhibit...

In a recent email to the artists involved, I was suprised--yet somehow not surprised--to read about the difficulties that Dr. Mazloomi has been having with the Journey of Hope exihibit featuring quilts made in honor of Obama's inauguration: 
"I must say, booking the exhibition has been extremely difficult. Most museums were afraid to take it, or had staff or patrons that didn't like the president. I found it amazing how deep the hatred is of President Obama. Some institutions were threatened with violence and withholding of operational funds if they took the show!"

I don't feel like going into a political discussion or what usually devolves into a "not-discussion" here. It just makes me sad that institutions dedicated to art or history and showing all facets of culture were threatened with violence or a cutting of funds. *sigh*

Textural Rhythms in San Francisco

Textural Rhythms opens tonight at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco. That is pretty exciting!

Journey of Hope Available for Pre-Order

Yay!!

The Journey of Hope: Quilts Inspired by President Barack Obama exhibit book is available for pre-order through Amazon! Or you can do so at Barnes & Noble as well!

I feel like running around waving my arms around Muppets-style I am so excited! My piece "Wildest Dreams" is in this.

Gearing Up for a New Year

 

I totally forgot to post this!! An announcement of the Obama quilt show was shown on a NYC jumbotron-style screen in Times Square in December. So exciting! A selection of the quilts went on exhibit in Yokohama, Japan.

Exhibit News

The Quilts for Obama exhibit here in DC at the Historical Society has been extended until July 26.

Textural Rhythms recently opened at the Lincoln Sq. branch of the American Folk Art Museum in NYC. My sister went to the opening reception in my place (yay!) and took this pic next to my piece.