"Wildest Dreams" Process

I got a call from Dr. Mazloomi asking me to participate in the upcoming exhibit "Quilts for Obama: Celebrating the Inauguration of our 44th President", curated by Roland Freeman, author of "A Communion of the Spirits" and noted African American quilting expert. It will be held January 11 through January 31, 2009, at The Historical Society of Washington, D.C., 801 K Street, NW at Mount Vernon Square, Washington DC 20001. The exhibit opens Sunday afternoon, January 11, 2009, at 2:00 p.m.

My piece "Wildest Dreams" honors my ancestors who could never have dreamed of Mr. Obama becoming elected. It depicts the husbands and fathers of my grandmothers. I stopped by and had dinner (which was great) with Grandma after dropping it off at Mr. Freeman's home yesterday and when I showed her its photo, she started exclaiming and hugging me. I am not going to post a pic of the whole final piece until the opening day, but I can show you the process for part of it. This is how my paternal great-grandfather, Walter Joseph Scott, went from photo to finished piece:

First, the lightbox (thanks Victor!)...Then the handpainting...Then the pieceing...Then after quilting, voila...a great-granddad in fabric!

"Wildest Dreams" Source Photo

Oh my, what's this? The source photo for a new piece in progress with a VERY short turnaround time entitled "Wildest Dreams."

Who are they? My grandfathers and great-grandfathers and great-great grandfathers! They were some good looking guys if I do say so myself!

Let's hope I can turn this one around in time...dear God what am I thinking?

Went Home and Now What...

I went home to my family's country house in Virginia recently. I spent a week down there with Grandma and Aunt J and it was good for me. Caught up on all of my professional org journal reading, read some books for pleasure about writing and spiritual thought, and regaled them with my beginner classical guitar playing...I took time to walk around the many acres of the place looking at the natural beauty there such as the mimosa, where butterflies and hummingbirds are regulars once more...
My great-great uncle's water pump. I remember using this when I was little. As you can see, it's gone unused for quite a while now...
I'd spend time in the quiet with the breezes on the front porch reading. I've been feeling lost for so long now...
...But I came up with a viable plan that I hope I can follow. Here I am with Aunt J and Grandma. I'm so glad to have had the chance to spend this time with them talking. I really needed that. It's nice to talk to people who truly love you and everything about you sometimes. I don't know what'll happen in the future, but all I can hope for is to put it on a path of good.

Articles About the Sisters in Cloth RMQM Exhibit...

While Googling about the "Sisters in Cloth" exhibit at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, I came across the following articles! Enjoy!

"Not Your Great-Grandmother's Quilt" by Meredith Knight, MileHigh News

"A Stitch in Time Captures Culture" by Colleen O'Connor, Denver Post

Self-Belief

I was sitting here thinking about creativity. I have a close friend living in the paradise that is Hawaii and working in the arts. She is so talented and creative and one of the most supportive, positive persons I know. She recently emailed me saying that she put her head down recently and cried, thinking "What am I doing wrong? Why am I not succeeding?"

I wrote her back saying that I have done the same thing.

Mind you, both of us are talented artists. Both of us are creative as hell. I think the problem isn't even our art. It's everything else but...but it's affected us. We've both had a rough, but very interesting, past 2 years. I think all creative types struggle with it. We know our talents have value--not even in just a monetary way--but the outside forces involves in our lives such as bills, illness, etc. can often make us doubt that value. I wrote her back saying..."So many others believe in us. It's just a matter of us believing in ourselves as well again. We can and will do it!"

And I believe we will.

Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum Exhibit Opens Tomorrow

Ooooo with a touch of la la! Got this in the mail! The exhibit opens tomorrow and will run until August 2, 2008. If any of you are in the Denver area, go check it out!

That is Carolyn Crump's lovely "Awakening" pictured here.

Oh Frak!

My sister did win the title of campus Homecoming Queen. I had no idea she could deliver a speech as well as she can sing!

Oh le sigh...I have procrastinated yet again. Well, at least it's only a matter of putting the backing on "Grandma Hopes She's Never As Old As I Am" for the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum exhibit.

I took the catalogs with me from the other two exhibits to one of my favorite shops, Paradise Fabrics, which specializes in African fabrics. I usually buy the bazin/cotton damask for my backings there, so I thought the owner might like to see the final use of them in my pieces. He said, "They are wonderful! You do realize that this is only the beginning for you, you know? How could it not be?" That made me feel good.

He went on to say "People here (he is Ethiopian) are so rushed and that is not good. Life should not have to be like that. You look like a person who does not like a rushed life."

Ain't that the truth?

Rebeading Fun & A Playlist to Bead By

My youngest sister is running for campus queen. She bought her dress at discount because it was missing beads...so guess who said she'd rebead them?I just fired up the iPod and set it to "shuffle", got out my supplies and got crackin'...
Here's what I listened to:
Prince: "Adore"
Jimi Hendrix: "Castles Made of Sand"
Isley Bros.: "My Lover's Eyes"
Wu-Tang Clan: "Triumph"
Peaches & Herb: "Reunited"
The Pharcyde: "Passin' Me By"
The Beatles: "Hey Jude"
Prince: "Sometimes It Snows in April"
Erykah Badu: "Certainly"
Tupac: "Temptations"
Kool & the Gang: "Cherish"
Gnarls Barkley: "Crazy"
Yes: "Owner of a Lonely Heart"
Freddie Hubbard: "First Light"
Alejandro Sanz: "Try to Save Your Soul"
Buju Banton: "Hey Bwoy"
J. Holiday: "Bed"
Outkast: "Slump"
Common: "Funky for You"
Frederic Chopin: "Nocturne"
INXS: "Need You Tonight"

Textural Rhythms Baltimore..FINALLY

Now that the exhibit is coming to a close tomorrow, I realized I never posted pictures from the Textural Rhythms in Baltimore! It was held in a glass fronted room that overlooked the main street. As we were pulling up, I saw this slide in the window and started screaming and pounding the steering wheel in excitement. The cop next to me looked over at me, not as thrilled...My family showed up for support! Here are my cousin, great-aunt, mom and grandmom. My husband was there as well as my siblings and family friends too...
Here's a group photo of all of the artists present. It was wonderful meeting everyone. Yes, I'm crouching there giggling with Sonji in the front row...
Here I am with the fabulous Jo. It had its own wall panel to itself, which was super-cool...
We all were in a book-signing frenzy afterwards. Here I am signing one now as its owner's li'l dude looks on. I feel like Elle the Rock Star. It took me an hour and a half to get through the exhibit. What great fun it all was!!! Thank you Dr Mazloomi!

Quilting African American Women's History

There's nothing more that I like than to go to the mailbox and have a nice little something waiting for me! It's even better when it is the catalog from your latest exhibit! This is the one that "Just Me Being Negative" is currently in up in Wilberforce, Ohio. Valerie White (who is so super-cool by the way) created the piece on the cover ("The Guardian")...And last month, Dr Mazloomi sent a cool photo of the PR announcement of the exhibit on the huge screens outside of the Reuters Building in NYC's Times Square! Yay!

Cutie Patootie

Awww, who's this little cutie? No, sorry, this one's not mine, but is my 1st cousin's new baby Justin. He's trying to eat my shoulder nahm nahm nahm...

On Personal Quilting Style

You all have heard me say many times before how much I shake my fist at the "quilt police". I'm not a perfect piecer. I sure as hell don't sew as straight as I "should" sometimes, and someone please shoot me if you ever hear me utter the words "stitches to an inch." That's just me though...

Today I was thinking about personal quilting style. How we all have one and it becomes obvious from quilt to quilt what it is. My husband looked at my latest piece and was like "I'd recognize your work." Me, knowing my own style, asked him "How?" and he hit it on the nose: I have kind of a freeform-anything goes-thing when I'm doing my backgrounds. Whether it's a portrait, a Starbirth piece, or any of them, that's what I do. If you were to see me quilting them, it's a rather full-bodied experience. Arms working, body moving. I'm sure you all have been there, so it's not just me.

It's like we're dancers...can you hear the music the quilt's making?

Woo-HOO! ANOTHER Exhibit!

Almost a year later, the "Grandma" quilt is done! It was also accepted into the upcoming "Sisters in Cloth" exhibit at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Colorado!! I got the letter yesterday and ran back and forth going "YAAAAY!!!!" She said "YAAAAY!!" too when I told her...I finally figured out what to do with the background and went with stylized mimosa tree leaves--like the ones I remember from our family's country home in Virginia. My fave part is her hair. I love what I did with the hair! And ooo King Tut variegated thread ROCKS! The quilting in her dress was inspired by this curvy Chinese jade dragon ornament I saw once. The piece's official name is "Grandma Hopes She is Never As Old As I Am" and here's a closeup shot...

Merry Christmas Everyone!

A very happy holiday to you all!

Yes, Sonji was right...at the recent Textural Rhythms opening reception at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore, I was apologizing to folks for not posting more often. To catch you all up quickly:

1. I was quite ill from June-September. Who knows what the heck was wrong? The doctor sure didn't. :-( I couldn't stop coughing. My eating was impaired because of said coughing. I lost quite a bit of weight. I was miserable. Then I...

2. Went to Europe and it cleared right up and I was fine! The hubby, two friends and I went to England for our friend's handfasting, spent some days in gorgeous Rome, and popped back to London for more fun before returning home where my very first day back to work from vacation was...

3. My last day back at work after my first weeklong vacation in a year. Others took off just about anytime. I rarely took off when my mom was ill with cancer, when I fell and busted my knee and rib myself, or for the holidays. What a bogus reason they gave me and everyone knows it. I imagine that someone flipped out when they had to do everything by themselves and didn't understand how I did my job. Whatever, really. Perhaps it was the ultimate sign that I should be doing what I was meant to do in life...

4. But in the meanwhile I felt horrible about it all and I am just snapping out of it. I'm trying to put fingers to the keyboard and write again. Or fingers to guitar strings and strum once more. Or fingers to the Janome and freemotion with ease. I have been closed up in my mind for too long. It is time to channel things productively...

All I know is that my pieces are now in two exhibits and I'm waiting to hear about a third. I feel good about that--if not anything else...

Fallow Period

I was talking to my grandmom recently, saying that I hadn't been productive...hadn't been writing, hadn't been quilting. She said, "That's alright, you're usually like this in the summer. You usually pick up everything again in the Fall." I found that an interesting observation on her part. As artists, I supposed that while we are compelled to create, perhaps we do have fallow periods where it lies dormant for awhile, until it becomes a better time to use it? I know I work like a prolific whirlwind during the Fall and Winter months.

Seasonal creativity...now there's an interesting notion...

On a good note, Dr. Mazloomi inquired about "Just Me Being Negative" today and if it is available for exhibition (it is). I don't know what's going on, but it has to be good, right?

Hi there!

I can't believe I've been away this long...

What have I been up to? Hearing some of the best choruses in the country while at the beautiful historic Biltmore Hotel in L.A....Thinking that this most recent Harry Potter was the best EVER...Ticked because my name was listed incorrectedly throughout the latest book that I'm in...Very sick with a bad cold...Still without my straight foot, which has meant I haven't been sewing...Having fun with friends and family...

As for an update on my mom? She is wrapping up radiation treatment and doing well. Even her hair is growing back. At first, she was concerned, thinking it was going to grow back in gray. I told her not to worry about it, that it would be fine. To me, it looks darker than before!

Sorry I've been away for so long!

Good News!

Hi everyone...I know that it has been forever since I last posted...Things have been busy and crazy.

My mom's doing well and I'd like to thank everyone who has sent me their well-wishes.

I'll admit that I haven't sewn since I misplaced my machine foot. Horrible. Just horrible of me, huh?

On a good note, I got a call from Dr. Mazloomi Saturday telling me that my "Cousin Jo" quilt's image is going to run in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine coming out in October as part of a feature about the Textural Rhythms exhibit. YAY!!!!! How exciting is that?! She told me that my work was "slammin'" and that I was very talented. That's always very nice to hear...

O Where O Where Has My Little Foot Gone?

I have now managed to not only misplace my instruction manual, but my straight stitch foot as well--that has the little click-y shank on it that all of the others (except for the freemotion) attach to!

AAAARRRRRGGGH!

Janome, rescue me from myself!

Workshop Postcards Done!

Whew! I ran out of time during the workshop to finish the postcards, so I had everyone to put them in a baggie w/thread color choices and I stitched them up. They're really cute and turned out well.

Stardeath: In Progress

I enjoyed explaining the "Starbirth" series to the kids. They totally got what I was going for and when they felt the quilting thatI've started for "Stardeath: Supernovae/Red Giant" one said "It looks like flames!" Which is exactly the effect that I was going for.

When explaining my quilts, I told them that I had three styles in front of them: One style where the pieces were painted and reassembled collage-style, another style (wholecloth) where the entire piece is painted and the quiting dictated the design, and the third ("Stardeath") where the fabric was created through bleach discharge and the quilting will complement the fabric.

I know you all were wondering, but here's the beginning of "Stardeath."