Sunday, November 16, 2014

Regional Meeting Images

Yesterday was our regional quarterly meeting which was held in Amherst, MA. Members in attendance had a great time socializing, viewing the trunk shows and learning new ways for mounting artwork and using silk screening as a technique.

Jeanne Marklin demonstrates a method for mounting quilts

Members take a look at the 25th Anniversary Trunk Show

Members Barbara Aiken, Nancy Turbitt and Jeanne Marklin talk with a guest Martha Robinson during the lunch break

Cheryl Rezendes demonstrates how to make and use silk screens with paint to create interesting images on fabric

Cheryl pulls the paint across the screen to create the image

Michele Leavitt speaks about her artwork during Show & Tell

A special thanks to the UU Society of Amherst, Rebecca Fricke for arranging the meeting space, Jeanne Marklin & Cheryl Rezendes for providing informative and interesting demos and all the members in attendance. The next quarterly regional meeting will be held on March 28, 2015 at Blaine's Sewing Machine Center in Cranston, RI. Mark your calendars now so you don't miss all the fun!






Tuesday, November 11, 2014

member

"Circus Time" by Jeanne Marklin has been juried into the "Art of Fiber" exhibit at the Dairy Barn Center for the Arts of Boulder, CO.



The exhibit runs from Dec. 5-Jan.16.  Click here for more information.




Jeanne is teaching a "Dye Party" workshop for IS.183 on Sunday, Nov. 17 in Williamstown. The class will be dyeing scarves with MX dyes and creating gifts for giving or keeping!  Click here for more information and to register for the workshop.



Monday, November 10, 2014

Current Exhibition in Fall River

The artist reception for the following exhibition was held this Sunday evening and I was in attendance with some other SAQA members. This show, juried by Jules of Heron Pond Studio, highlights the rich history of textiles in New England with a dynamic expression of current textile design.  

MODERN SPIN: CONtemporary
TEXTiles in an Historic Mill

November 7, 2014 - December 27, 2014
Narrows Center for the Arts
16 Anawan Street
Fall River, MA 02721
508.324.1926


 The show was well attended by the Fall River community as well as many of the artists featured in the show. The Narrows Center for the Arts also hosts studio space for many artists and a few had their studios open for viewing.


L to R, SAQA members, Sandy Gregg, Janis Doucette, Nancy Turbitt & Diane Wright
Directly behind us is one of Sandy's two accepted artworks.

If you are interested in seeing the show you can call the number above to reach the gallery for their hours of operation and directions. More information about the show and the Narrows Center can be found at

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Etsy shop spotlight - Wen Redmond

Wen Redmond has several online locations where she sells artwork, supplies and accessories...




Art, Jewelry And Antiques 


Her Etsy shop UpLiFTmENTs is filled with Etsy shop with hand painted fabrics and other, usually, antique sewing items.


She also has a blog here where occasional works appear and reappear as they go to galleries and events.  Some older but fine work too. All on Sale!!

encaustic collage #26
Digital Photograph
stitched, encaustic wax



 
 You'll also find her work for sale on Artful Home here.



Manipulated photograph, combining several photographs. Image divided into 6 sections and printed on molding paste substrate of rayon polyester stabilizer. Each section is treated with ink- aid with touches of acrylic metallic paint. Mounted on a firm support. Stitched.
Dimensions: 32.0in H x 25.0in W x 0.3in D


 

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

member news - Sandy Gregg

Sandy Gregg has two pieces on display in Modern Spin: CONtemporary TEXTiles in an Historic Mill:

"City Wall"
 
"30 cups"

 

Monday, November 3, 2014

trunk show piece by Betsy Abbott

I love it when I reach into my mailbox and find a piece for our regions trunk show!

 “Volcán de Fuego” by Betsy Abbott
 Inspired by my photograph in February 2014 of an active stratovolcano in Guatemala’s Central Highlands, taken just at dawn from a vantage point high above Finca los Andes.

Techniques:  Layered machine appliqué using a) “Skydye” fabrics by Mickey Lawler, b) purchased hand-dyed cottons, c) commercial cotton prints, and d) touches of acrylic fabric paint.Free-motion quilted on my home machine.

Submission details for the trunk show:
Each piece must be 9”x 11” - unbound please as the edges will not be visible and the piece will be mounted on matboard.  Please keep any dimensional embellishments at least 1" from the edges.  Include a one page ( 8 1/2” x 11” sheet of paper) artist statement that has your name, the title of the piece, materials and techniques used and any contact information or other information about the piece you wish to include.   Please also email a copy of this statement to Sue at sue@suebleiweiss.com

Send the artwork Sue Bleiweiss to (or bring it to a future SAQA regional meeting) Please include $5.00 (make checks payable to SAQA) to cover the supplies needed to mount and frame the artwork.

Note that this is an open ongoing call for SAQA MA/RI members and there is no deadline to submit a piece for it.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Friday, October 24, 2014

RISD Art of Business Conference

RISD is holding a conference on art and business on Saturday November 8th from 10:30am to 4:30pm at the Renaissance Hotel in Providence. The cost is only $25 for the general public.

http://www.artofbusiness.risd.edu/

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

etsy shop spotlight - Cheryl Rezendes

Cheryl Rezendes is a dedicated and passionate artist with a strong commitment to teach and assist others with their own personal artistic growth, pursuit of creative expression and appreciation of art.



In Cheryl Rezendes' etsy shop you'll find gorgeous hand dyed silk for nuno felting and scarf making, as well as her fat quarters, wearable art, accessories and most recently some home decor items made from her dyed and painted fabric.







Tuesday, October 14, 2014

member news - Janis Doucette

 SAQA  member Janis Doucette's quilt "Views from a Road Well Travelled" has been accepted into theMODERN SPIN: CONtemporary TEXTiles in an Historic Mill exhibit at the Narrows Center for the Arts – 16 Anawan Street, Fall River, MA November 7 – December 27, 2014
 
 
 
detail of  "Views From A Road Well Travelled"

Hand painted, hand printed, hand dyed shibori and batik, burlap, beads;machine pieced, machine quilted, hand embroidered.

Monday, October 13, 2014

etsy shop spotlight - Ann Brauer

Ann Brauer's work is based on the wonderful vistas looking across the Deerfield River to the nearby mountain as eagles catch fish, the arches of the Bridge of Flowers reflect in the water and the village of Shelburne Falls beckons.



Click over to Ann Brauer's Etsy shop and you'll find a wonderful array of items ranging from gorgeous wall hangings to personal accessory items such as eyeglass cases and purses.  



Add a burst of color to your kitchen with one of her potholders, table runners or tea cozies:


 click here to visit Ann's Etsy shop


Sunday, October 12, 2014

lighting makes a difference

In my last post about taking photographs I talked a little bit about lighting, using a tripod and that it's important it is to photograph your quilt standing directly in front of it.  I also mentioned that you don't need a really expensive fancy camera to take a good photograph of your quilt and in this post I'm going to show you an actual example...

But first I want to show you where I photograph and how I light my quilts.  Unfortunately I don't have any room in my studio for a design wall and I don't have any walls in my house that are good for photographing my quilts against.  But I do have a large finished basement with a nice big wall that's perfect for using for photographs so I had my husband cover the wall with some foam board from the hardware store:


I covered the foam board with some canvas fabric to cover the bolts and the seams and then covered that with some white cotton stretched over the surface.


This gives me a nice neutral background to shoot against.   You can see in the next photo that I've got my quilt pinned against the background and I've set up my photo lights to light the surface of the quilt.  I'm using photo lights because there is no natural light at all in my basement.  These lights are very inexpensive (less than $50 for the pair of table top ones but I use the larger stand ones like the ones here) and they make a huge difference in the quality of my photos.  I also have a set with an umbrella diffuser that do a nice job lighting objects with diffused light.

 My camera is on the tripod and I'm ready to shoot...


and the resulting photograph:




Not a bad photo but can you see the shadowing along the left and right edges?    That was easily fixed by adjusting the position of the lights and pulling them further away from the surface of the quilt.  The new photo:


Much better!  no shadows and the picture is nice and clear and the colors bright and vivid.  The right lighting is so important.  Take a look at this next photo.  I turned the photo lights off and took this with just the overhead lights in the room on:

Yikes!   The colors are dull and flat and it's really not a good representation of what the quilt actually looks like in person.


I took all of the photos above with my Canon Rebel t2i camera which is a great camera but it's an expensive investment that I know not everybody can or wants to make.  So the question remains can you take a good jury ready shot of a quilt without an expensive camera?  You certainly can!  Take a look at this next photo:

 I took this with my inexpensive Canon Powershot camera (a great camera for traveling with by the way) which goes to show that with a tripod and good lighting that you don't need an expensive camera to take a good photo of your quilts.




Saturday, October 11, 2014

member news - Jodi Scaltreto

Jodi Scaltreto has two quilts in the "Tell Me a Story" exhibit at the Jaffrey Civic Center at 40 Main St in Jaffrey NH.    The"Tell Me A Story" exhibit is sponsored by the New Hampshire chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art 



"Fire and Rain" by Jodi Scaltreto

In this exhibition, 41 New Hampshire artists, working in a rich variety of styles and techniques, express stories based in personal or ethnic narrative, myths, legends, popular culture or wherever stories are found. Some of the media represented will include handmade artist’s books, quilted wall hangings, assemblages and collage, sculpture and mobiles, mixed media, monoprints, hand-colored etching, acrylics, watercolors, photography, photo collage, and digital prints.


 "The Many Faces of Jason" by Jodi Scaltreto


In addition to presenting their artwork, the exhibition will include statements from each artist, relating to their artwork and stories. These will be placed next to their work for viewers to read.

 Opening reception is on 10/17/14 from  5 to 7 and the exhibit runs until 11/15/14.  Juror’s choice awards will be presented for first, second and third prize, at the opening reception on Friday, October 17, from 5 to 7 pm. The reception is open to the public.  Click here for more information.

Monday, October 6, 2014

etsy shop spotlight

With the holiday shopping season right around the corner I thought I'd start a new series of blog posts spotlighting our regions members who offer their art as well as supplies for sale through an etsy shop. 



SAQA member Nancy Turbitt's etsy shop is filled with a wonderful selection of art making supplies ranging from gorgeous silks, lace, taffetta, metallic and velvet fabrics to out of print patterns,  beautiful buttons, mixed fabric grab bags and vintage cabachons.






If you have an etsy shop or other online shop that you'd like to have featured here on the MA/RI blog just send a link and a description to Sue at sue@suebleiweiss.com. 


Sunday, September 28, 2014

images from our regional meeting

if you missed yesterday's regional meeting at ProChemical & Dye you missed out on having a really great time with your fellow SAQA members!  It was a very hands on meeting with lots of time for experimenting and socializing.  Here's a few photos of the fun we had...

 waiting for the program to begin

SAQA member Vicki Jensen setting up the indigo vat

dipping the cloth in the vat

the resulting cloth! (insert a crowd of ooohs and aaahhhhs here!)

Vicki getting ready to demo with a gelli plate

using a tool to create patterns on the painted plate

The resulting cloth

members dipping their cloth into the indigo dye vat

some of the dipped cloths drying

members experimenting with the gelli plate

A huge thank you to Vicki and ProChemical and Dye for hosting the meeting!