Workshop Opportunity

Independent Art Quilt Workshop

February 28 - March 4, 2016 

(Sunday - Friday)

with Sandra Sider

This workshop is based on the principles of art and design developed in Sandra’s critique workshops and written about in the volumes of her Studio Quilt monograph series. Limited to a maximum of twelve participants, the workshop will allow Sandra to spend considerable amounts of time each day working one-on-one with participants, evaluating their work and suggesting possible directions for developing each quilt. The final day will consist of critiques, with participants sharing and discussing their works in progress.

Quilters should bring a work in progress or materials to begin a new quilt, their sewing supplies and tools, a sewing machine and an iron.  Class is suitable for all levels of quilters, but excellent sewing skills and expertise with one's sewing machine is a must.

For more than ten years Sandra Sider has been known for her critique workshops benefitting quilt artists. She has also taught studio classes in contemporary quilt art, most recently at the Peters Valley School of Craft, and has been a quilt artist and critic since the late 1970s, with works in several public collections.

Sandra is Curator, Texas Quilt Museum, past president of Studio Art Quilt Association, and author of the blog "Textile News," the recently published "1000 Quilt Inspirations: Colorful and Creative Designs for Traditional, Modern, and Art Quilts" as well as articles in many quilt publications. 

Check in is 3-5pm Sunday, February 28, 2016. Dinner is served from 6-7pm, and then we will begin the evening program.  The class ends with lunch on Friday, and you are welcome to enjoy the premises through the afternoon.  

The class will be held in the beautiful new Art Space at Stony Point Center, located about an hour north of New York City: http://stonypointcenter.org

Tuition for the week is $500.   Total cost is dependent on the lodging selected, from $450 to $775.  It does include all meals. To register: www.stonypointcenter.org/quilting

Exhibition by Elizabeth Sylvan

Sumac Summer

Quilted Landscapes: Shades of Summer

By Elizabeth Sylvan

November 2 to December 29

As the year winds down and the air turns chill, fill up on sunlight, warmth, and color. Immerse yourself in the rich vibrant hues of wild meadows, bright gardens, and twilight mountains depicted in Elizabeth's quilted landscape collages.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife 

Regional Office & Gallery

300 Westgate Center Drive

(Behind Staples)

Hadley, MA

Monday - Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm

Saturday/Sunday/Holidays CLOSED

Artist's Reception

Wednesday, November 18

4:30 to 6:00 pm

For more information about Elizabeth's artwork go to, www.SylvanQuilts.com

Member Profile: Michele Leavitt

At the first SAQA meeting I attended I met Michele Leavitt very briefly. I remember thinking after the meeting how I was looking forward to meeting her again and talking more about her work. Although we have yet to meet in person again I feel fortunate to share her answers to a few of my questions with all of you. Please check out her website too: micheleleavitt.com.

When did you start making art quilts?
I started piecing quilt tops as a child of 6 or 7 years. Quilt making is a tradition in my Mom's family for many generations going back.

What is your work like? What styles or techniques do you use?
Experimenting with materials is what I do - so my works contain a variety of construction techniques. However, if is fair to say that a majority of the landscape textile pieces are created with small bits of fabric top stitched to a backing.

Woods Cool

How did you learn the techniques you use? 
Invention is the thing for me - other than how to use a sewing machine and how to construct a basic quilt, I make most of my techniques up to meet a particular need.

Are you working on a particular theme or series now?
After a long series of textile quilt landscapes (12 larger ones in addition to ten 3 X 5's) I have wanted to get back to the more political quilts I made in the past. I am working on a piece that has targets all over, right now.

How do you work? What is your design process?
Oh that's is a tough one. I am not making art works to be recognized or to make sales. I make stuff because I enjoy it challenging myself to expression of a certain concept, a question, and/or a thing of beauty. So I generally start with an idea which can be anything - like a group of interesting colors, or the question can I 'paint' with textiles, I have also dreamt quilt ideas. I believe that the idea is the main thing and everything used to make a piece - techniques, colors, textures and so on - must support the idea. Studio time seems to be primarily spent on construction of the piece. When it is a quilt, I start in the middle and work my way out.

What are your sources of inspiration?
Saunderstown RI where I live is a delightfully beautiful little village along the western coast of Narragansett Bay that 'posed' continuously. Additionally news events inspire me to communicate my responses, and sometime I am just playing. And at times I work to meet a challenge which also brings new ideas and techniques.

Manhasset Bay

What is your studio like and when do you like to work?
My studio is big and bright and fairly messy and I like to work when I can't resist the temptation!

What are your goals or aspirations for your art?
To make everything I create be the best I can do or it doesn't leave the studio.

Solo Exhibition - Wen Redmond

Beyond the Edge: Wen Redmond has opened September 18 and runs through November 15, 2015 at Emporium Framing and Gallery in South Berwick, ME. In this exhibit Redmond explores her chosen medium fabric to see what it can do and to stretch its perception as an art medium. An unusual use of fiber combines painting and digital media.

Wen Redmond exhibits extensively, has received a list of awards, has been included in multiple collections, taught workshops and has been involved with multiple books, TV and video projects. She has been included in the following exhibits: 2015 Quilt National, Ohio; Westbeth Center for Art, NYC; SAQA Celebrating Silver; Fiberart for a Cause; and Gallery Seven, MA. Her work has been included in the following collections: Leaping Point, Purchased by Marvin Fletcher, Quilt National; Elliot at Rivers Edge, Elliot Hospital, Manchester, NH; Delaware Neuroscience Specialists, Delaware.

Leaving Home, Digital Fiber- A nest, one of a kind multi-layered fiber photographs printed on an under collage. Images are printed onto treated natural textiles and other surfaces, combining painting and digital media into a one of a kind art piece.

Emporium Framing and Gallery, LLC
261 Main Street
South Berwick, ME 03908
Phone 207-384-5963
Gallery hours - Mon - Sat, 10 - 6 

Trunk Show/Lecture - Wen Redmond

Wen Redmond

Trunk Show/Lecture

Please join Wen Redmond at the Fiber Fest. The New Hampshire Institute of Art (NHIA) presents the third annual Fiber Fest, a one day event celebrating fiber arts including weaving, felting, spinning and knitting. The event is being held at NHIA's Sharon Arts Center campus located at 30 Grove St. in Peterborough, NH from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday, October 3 and is free and open to the public.

The day's events offer a patchwork of prizes from local sponsors, hands-on demonstrations by NHIA faculty and artists, refreshments and art displays, with a special presentation at 1:00 pm by Wen Redmond, a mixed media artist whose work embraces several media including digital processes, surface design, and collage. Wen delights in creating dialogue, changing your perspectives and perceptions of fiber. She works intuitively, encouraging flow, experimentation and the inner muse in her workshop participants.

  

Wen will be giving a slide show, trunk show and talk about her journey to fiber digital processes from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm.

Workshop with Timna Tarr

Timna Tarr
Workshop & Trunk Shows

Timna Tarr is a modern quilter who works with color. Her quilts have won awards at national shows and have appeared on the cover of national quilting magazines.


Trunk Show/Lecture 
Thursday, October 1, 2015 
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Timna Tarr will be giving a Trunk Show and lecture at the general guild meeting of Quilters by the Sea at St. Barnabas Church, on 1697 E. Main Road in Portsmouth. Guests are welcome to attend, with a $5.00 per person guest fee. 


Workshop 
Friday, October 2, 2015 
9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Timna is teaching a workshop Designing with Flying Colors, which is sponsored by Quilters by the Sea. This is a color class where Timna has everyone play with fabrics and color, then use improvisational piecing to combine them. The workshop is being held at the Portsmouth Library on 2658 East Main Road in Portsmouth. Contact SAQA member, Allison Wilbur at allisonquilt@me.com for details of how to register as there are a few spots left.

Full day workshop - Fee $40.00


Trunk Show/Lecture 
Saturday, October 3, 2015 
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Timna will also be giving a Trunk Show and lecture at a meeting of the Rhode Island Modern Quilt Guild at the Marian J. Mohr Memorial Library on 1 Memorial Ave, (Lower Level Conference Room) in Johnston, RI Members %5.00/Non-Members $10.00. 

Member Profile: Sandy Gregg

Sandy Gregg is a member of SAQA and has been making art quilts since around 1976. Her website is  www.sandygregg.com. She kindly answered some questions for our ongoing blog series: member profiles.

Sandy Gregg

When did you start making art quilts?
I first began quilting in 1976 when I moved to Lebanon, NH and took a quilting class to meet new people. I had been a sewer since home economics class in junior high and needed a new creative outlet after my two sons were born. I took classes with Rhoda Cohen, Nancy Halpern, Ruth McDowell and others at the Vermont Quilt Festival when I tired of the repetitive blocks of bed quilts, and that was the beginning of making art quilts. I continue to take a lot of classes, mostly in surface design these days, and prefer a five day class over a one day class.

What is your work like? What styles or techniques do you use?
My work is abstract and I dye or paint my own fabric so it shows the hand of the artist and has a unique look.

Golden Glow

Do you have a favorite color palette? Not really.

Are you working on a particular theme or series now? (Offer a description of the work if you would like.)
I usually work in a series, and right now I am working on the theme of migration which is timely and fits the SAQA call for entry for the show that will be presented at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC next spring. My work may not be accepted for the show, but it’s given me a starting point for the series. Some of these pieces are text based, and I go to Wikipedia when looking for text to include in my work because there is no copyright involved.

How do you work? What is your design process?

I start with fabric and work intuitively. I never work from a sketch which allows me to veer off in any direction that seems right at the time.

Sea Swirls

What are your sources of inspiration?
Inspiration is all around us. Look around at your surroundings and listen to what’s going on. I make a lot of art (10 big quilts last year, and 150 paper collages) and I’m not afraid to fail. All I do is start and it doesn’t take much to be absorbed by whatever project I’m involved in. Since I retired in 2002 I’ve made over 150 quilts, and exhibited widely, so it’s all about doing the work.

Navigating the Crosswalk

What is your studio like and when do you like to work?
I have a three story house in Cambridge, and the top floor is where my studio is located. There is a a lot of natural light and I can leave my mess behind when I’m finished working for the day. I only work during daylight hours. For wet processes, I work in my kitchen and make sure that I have food ready for the microwave so I don’t have to cook while I have fabric batching.

What are your goals or aspirations for your art?

I am a retired college administrator and I make art to keep myself happy and occupied. It’s nice to be able to have my work shown and accepted into exhibits, but that’s not my motivation for making it.