Call for Entry - Whistler Museum

Lasting Impressions Art Quilts 2016

All artists seek to make an impression on the viewer with their works of art. Sometimes, they make  literal impressions in the work using stamps, dye, stitching, or other techniques. We welcome your submissions of quilted work that make a "lasting impression", whether it be literal or figurative.

Exhibit Criteria: Quilt Artists - is your quilt stamped, dyed, stitched, exposed or printed etc.?  Quilts must contain at least 50% of handmade fabrics.  Handmade fabrics incorporated into your quilt design may be purchased from another source.

Size Restrictions: Should not exceed 72" in any direction

Deadline for Entries: June 10, 2016 at 4:00 pm

Entry Fees: Each quilt submitted must be illustrated by two jpgs, one full view and one detail. The entrance fee is $20 for up to three quilts. 

Make checks payable to Whistler House Museum of Art. Payment is non-refundable and does not guarantee acceptance. Mail with submission form to: Whistler House Museum of Art, 243 Worthen Street, Lowell, MA 01852, Attn: Quilts. You can also pay your $20 entry fee online using a credit card.

Jurors: Mary Walter and Wen Redmond.

Download the prospectus and application. Email exhibits@whistlerhouse.org with questions.

Exhibition dates:	August 17 to September 24, 2016
Reception:	Saturday, August 13, 2016 from 2-4 pm
Deadline for Entries:	June 10, 2016 at 4 pm
Notification by:	June 24, 2016
Deliver Accepted Works by:	August 3, 2016

Exhibition News - Sandy Gregg

Member Sandy Gregg has pieces in five venues this May and June.

Boston Common 

Sandy's quilt Boston Common is at the Brush Gallery in Lowell, MA through June 10 as part of an exhibit, "Telling America's Stories: Celebrating 100 Years of National Parks."  Storytelling has been a part of our shared cultural heritage for generations. It brings people together, imprints pictures on their minds, and fosters meaningful connections with history, culture and the natural world around us. In response to NPS Centennial "Find Your Park" campaign, artists were asked to submit their personal connections. There will be a reception on June 5 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

Crossings II

Sandy will also be participating in the 8th Annual City-Wide Cambridge Arts Open Studios next weekend, May 14 - 15 and her work can be seen with other artists at the Lunder Arts Center, 1801 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA at Lesley College.  The work of over 100 visual and performing artists can be explored over this one vibrant weekend. Hours for viewing at the Lundar Center are 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm both days. Sandy also has work on display at Workbar at in Central Square and in the Google lobby in Kendall Square, both in the city of Cambridge.

Sandy's piece, Crossings II, is at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC as part of the SAQA exhibit "Stories of Migration." The exhibit closes on September 4, 2016. 

Art Quilt Exhibit at NEQM

Butterfly Whirl: Contemporary Quilt Art from the Texas Quilt Museum 
May 4 through July 10, 2016

The 26 original art quilts selected for this touring exhibition by the Texas Quilt Museum’s curator, Dr. Sandra Sider, represent the best of some of today's most innovative American artists working in the medium. 

 Dancing Butterflies, Grace J. Errea, Laguna Niguel, CA

"This exhibit shows how modern artists are reworking quiltmaking, contributing new techniques, processes, and concepts to the historical continuum of quilts," explains Dr. Sider. Included are "numerous representational works, such as photographic imagery on fabric and delicate thread painting that delineate nuances of color and line. More abstract designs suggest the surge and lift of flight, as well as symbolic interpretations of the butterfly motif: metamorphosis, transformation, and rebirth."

To complement these extraordinary art quilts, the New England Quilt Museum will display antique quilts with butterfly motifs from it's permanent collection. The public is invited to attend the Curator's Reception and Gallery Talk on Saturday, May 7 at 11:00 am. On Thursday, June 2 at 12:30 pm, the Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust will offer a Brown Bag lecture at the Museum on "Butterflies in Nature." These programs are free to members and included in the price of admission for non-members.

Mariposa by Nancy Turbitt

Local SAQA member Nancy Turbitt will be speaking during the Gallery Talk on May 7 about her inspiration and briefly about the process of creating her piece, Mariposa, for the exhibit. The New England Quilt Museum is located at 18 Shattuck St. Lowell, MA. 

Exhibition: Cheryl Rezendes Rulewich

INTERLUDES

"In the late spring of 2015 I helped to care for my dear father as he made his final journey from life here on earth to the unknown world beyond. The loss was a great one for me.

Interludes is a collection of works that speak to the moments of understanding and peace that came to me in between the crushing and painful bouts of grief. Over time and with patience I have come to see the dark, hollow of grief pale in comparison to the vision of all he gave me. 

My Dad and I shared a great love for the complex beauty of the New England landscape. The imagery in these works was taken from the time I spent over the past 12 months wandering the woods near my home in search of the meaning of life and love."  

Cheryl Rezendes Rulewich

 

Cheryl Rezendes received her training as a painter at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. After graduation she made her living as a custom clothier while pursuing her own work as a mixed-media collage artist. Both her fine and wearable art have been exhibited in shops and galleries throughout the United States. 

Cheryl currently makes art quilts, teaches a variety of classes and creates hand dyed silk scarves for purchase at the Salmon Falls Artisans Showroom. Her techniques and much more are featured in her book, Fabric Surface Design published by Storey Publishing and a signed copy can be purchased at Cheryl's Etsy Shop.

Join Cheryl at the opening reception for her new show INTERLUDES on Saturday, May 7, 2016 at the Salmon Falls Gallery, 1 Ashfield St, in Shelburne Falls, MA in the Upstairs Gallery from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. The exhibit will run through the month of June.

Art as Quilt Opens in Falmouth

Karen Loprete's The Glass Vase was used in all kinds of advertising for the exhibition including Highfield's light post flags.

Members Rosemary Hoffenberg and Salley Mavor talking in a crowd.

Madalene Murphy and Vicki Jensen 

Sharyn Raiche and Allison Wilbur

Below the Surface by Pam Druhen, Spun Gold by Madalene Murphy and Tutti Frutti Neighborhood by Sue Bleiweiss are recent additions to those works that have been sold.

Sue Polansky and Carol Vinick in front of their work.

Dawn Allen with her Poppy II wearing one of her signature floral bags.

Allison Wilbur with her piece Hollyhocks, her mother Virginia Holmes Avery's painting and a floral arrangement made with these floral works as inspiration.

Floral arrangements being created in the main sitting room. Sharon McCartney's The Myth of Meditation is on the wall behind the crowd.

 

A floral arrangement was created to mimic Jeanne Marklin's Flowing. Hydrangea and delphinium were placed in seltzer water and bubbles kept forming and rising. (sorry for the faded color, the lighting in this room was not perfect)

A view from the landing on the way up to the exhibits in the upper gallery. The open house was very well attended and we are very appreciative of the work of Annie Dean and her entire staff for creating a wonderful show.

Regional Exhibition News

Art as Quilt

Member Work Sells at Highfield Hall & Gardens

Artist Reception Upcoming

Art as Quilt: Transitions in Contemporary Textile Media is a juried regional exhibition of contemporary textile media that explores the subject of art as quilt. The word quilt implies a traditional three layered stitched approach but artists were encouraged to explore new and innovative ways to push beyond these boundaries through the use of techniques and materials. This exhibit consists of works that represent unique approaches and interpretations of the theme and help illustrate the diversity of styles, techniques, and materials being used by the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) members. Showcasing the work of 29 SAQA members representing both the MA/RI and CT SAQA regions, this exhibition premiered at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA in October of 2015.

Art as Quilt has traveled to Highfield Hall & Gardens in Falmouth, MA for two months, opening to the public on April 15, 2016 through June 19, 2016. In a pre-opening event for all Highfield Hall's members, two of the shows 33 works have already sold. Congratulations to both Christina Blais and Ann Brauer, whose work will be moving into private collections at the end of the exhibit's run.

Cutchogue Sunrise

Christina Blais

summer days

Anne Brauer 

There will be an artist's reception for Art as Quilt at Highfield Hall & Gardens, 56 Highfield Dr. Falmouth, MA on Sunday, May 1, 2015 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Admission is $5 which supports community programming and preservation of this historic landmark. Highfield members admitted free. The mansion is fully handicap accessible. For hours and directions Highfield Hall & Gardens or call 508 495-1878.

Member Profile: Sharyn Raiche

I sat next to Sharyn at my very first SAQA meeting, so it is really fun to be introducing her profile here on the blog! You can check out more of her work on her website, http://www.colorwheelartquilts.com, and keep track of her on twitter @cwArtQuilts and at https://www.facebook.com/ColorwheelArtquilts/.

Sharyn Raiche

When did you start making art quilts?

I started with traditional quilts about 25 years ago, but my background in art left me feeling ambivalent about following a pattern… I soon began improvising my own designs and my work developed from that.

What type of work do you do?
I am very eclectic in my style and my methods. I love abstract designs with strong color, line and movement; however I am also very attracted to figures and faces as a way to express emotions. In my abstract quilts I work from a group of selected fabrics without a set idea of what will happen as I go. My portrait quilts have been a little more thought out; I create a pattern from a photo and then use that to build the piece using raw edge appliqué.

Canal City - Photo by Joe Ofria

Do you have a favorite color palette?
I love color! I believe putting unusual colors together in a design is one of my strengths as an artist. A challenge I particularly enjoy in the quilting process is going to the fabric store and choosing commercial fabrics that will enhance the idea I have in my head, and then bringing that batch of fabric home and finding other colors in my stash that work with the purchased fabrics. Recently I have begun to do more work with fabrics I dye myself.

Are you working on a particular theme or series now?
If you are familiar with me or my quilts, you are laughing right now! I can be all over the place when it comes to my creative ideas and my work. For the past year, I have been inspired by abstract, architectural designs… I am creating a series of quilts depicting urban settings using sew and slice piecing. My other recent passion has been exploring the human form.

Girl with a Curl

Do you work on a single project at a time or do you work on multiple pieces at once? 

I work on many pieces… Sometimes I get to a point where I have to put a quilt away for a bit, and let it percolate in my head… this is when I pick up something else and get started. It makes my studio extremely messy, but I am always challenged and I never have to ask myself what’s next.

Studio Joy

What is your studio like and when do you like to work?
My studio is the best room in my house… I have large windows and a long work table, and 4 sewing machines - including my mother’s first Singer. It will be 50 this year, same as me! My favorite machine is my Baby Lock Symphony. Gordo the cat is a frequent visitor in my studio, and an advisor/critic to my work. If you check out my Facebook & Twitter pages you will see many photos of him assisting me. I work whenever I have time and the mood suits me. This could be at 4 AM or 9 PM. I am very prolific in the summer months when I am on sabbatical from my other career as a first grade teacher.

Gordo the Critic