Upcoming Exhibition : City Grid/Urban Patterns at SMINK Fine Art in Dallas

Two of my foreclosure quilts will be included in an upcoming exhibition at SMINK Fine Art in Dallas, Texas entitled City Grid/Urban Patterns. The exhibition opens Saturday, May 17th with a reception from 5-8 pm. The exhibit will run through August 2nd. Although I won't be at the opening, if you're near, I do hope you can stop by.

My Albuquerque and Riverside Foreclosure Quilts have been framed for the exhibition and from what I've seen of the photos, the shadowboxes look amazing. Curated by Jennifer Smink, it will be quite a beautiful show, with work by Dennis Ekstedt, Timothy Hearsum, Diane McGregor and Thel.

For more information, visit SMINK here.

Exhibition schedule and catching up

I've been so busy the last few weeks I didn't even remember the last time I posted here. At least I left the blog with some lovely eye candy. I'm also behind in updating my current exhibition schedule so here we go. Currently, the Foreclosure Quilts are spread across the U.S. Here's a little info on each show:

Unbound: Quilters and Artists Redefine Quilts, September 11 through November 5. Hollister Gallery, Babson College, Babson Park, Massachusetts. For all of you east coasters, this should be a wonderful show, especially if you're interested in quilts. Be sure to check it out before it closes. I was only able to spare one quilt for the duration of the show but it's my latest one, Miami. My, have I even shared Miami with you yet?? Once I have it back, I'll take some better photos and repost them.

Miami Foreclosure Quilt, 2013.

Material Witness, September 26 through November 15th. Dalton Gallery at Agnes Scott College, Atlanta, Georgia. I have a great story to go with this gallery. My late aunt, Louisa McIntosh, owned the McIntosh Gallery in Atlanta. (Yes, I'm a Southerner and yes, my maiden name was McIntosh - why did I give that up!) When I was thirteen, I had such a memorable experience visiting the gallery for the first time. Something I had been studying in art class at school was expressed in a painting on her gallery walls. There was a click that went off in my head that said "You need to be an artist when you grow up." I even made my dad take a picture of the moment. She attended Agnes Scott College so it is like full circle to exhibit my work here. I have two quilts in the show: Albuquerque and Riverside.

Albuquerque Foreclosure Quilt, 2011.

SPRAWL, October 4 through January 5, 2014. Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, Texas. This looks like such an exciting show and I'm thrilled that when you hit HCCC's main website, you're hit with a picture of the Chicago quilt. I have three quilts in this exhibition: Chicago, Detroit and Cape Coral.

Detail of the Chicago Foreclosure Quilt, 2013.

And there's more coming soon! I can't believe how these quilts have taken on a life of their own. One of the quilts will be in an exhibtion in St. Louis in February and for all you Bay Area people, I will finally have a solo show in Santa Cruz in February. More details on these coming soon. In the meantime, you'll see what I've been up to in the next few posts. All good, just not enough time to sit down and type these days! Happy Friday!

work table : foreclosure quilts

Just a quick view of my studio wall this week as I finish up quilts for the show at Gallery Nord in San Antonio in June.

Chicago, Miami and Cape Coral Foreclosure quilts.

I have several more shows coming up later this fall and into next spring all across the US, so stay tuned for more details on the Gallery Nord exhibit as well as the rest!

Current and Upcoming Shows

I feel as if I jumped into January headfirst this year. I knew I was going to be busy but had no idea just how much. While I've been busy in the studios, my work has been hanging quietly in galleries in the Bay area. Just a few days left to see my Riverside Foreclosure Quilt at the ProArts Gallery in Oakland as part of Naomi Beckwith's Dis/Order exhibition. The show ends this Friday, the 11th.

Riverside Foreclosure Quilt, 2012.

Opening this Friday, the 11th, my Cape Coral Foreclosure Quilt will be on display in a group show entitled Out of the Blue at Gallery Route One in Point Reyes Station, CA. Ruth Braunstein curated the show, she's one the grand dames of the San Francisco art world who has since retired but still gives a lot of passion to local artists. I'm honored that one of my quilts was chosen by her. It's also a full circle for me and my textile work as this was the first gallery to exhibit my Idiom Series. 

Cape Coral Foreclosure Quilt, 2011.

Out of the Blue runs from January 11th through February 3rd. The artists' reception will be this Sunday from 3-5. Click here for more information about the gallery.

Upcoming Show : Disintegration and Repair at Warm Springs Gallery

Four of my foreclosure quilts will be included in the July exhibition "Disintegration and Repair" at Warm Springs Gallery in Charlottesville, VA.  I'm thrilled to be a part of a show with some talented fiber artists who I've come to know online and in person. See below to learn more about the other artists in the exhibition.

Barbara Wisnoski

Grey Rain Sea, 152 x 157 cm by Barbara Wisnoski.

Barbara and I spent an afternoon together with our mutual friend, Myrna Tatar, last year to see Barbara's pieces at the San Jose Quilt Museum. Her work was even more impressive in person.

Lotta Helleberg

Forest Floor by Lotta Helleberg. Leaf printed, plant dyed linen,
wool thread, hand stitched. 21" x 33"

I met Lotta online last year and we had an instant connection through our work. Lotta's work is inspired by nature and is stunningly beautiful. Be sure to read Lotta's blog if you're interested in the fiber process. It's an amazing resource.

Karen Henderson

Accept by Karen Henderson. Hand woven silk, paper, rayon paper w/silk; batik, dye paint, discharge,
layered with cotton fabric, with stitching, paint and silver foil.

30” x 61”. Photograph by John Sterling Ruth

Karen uses many traditional fiber techniques including weaving, dyeing, and stitching to reflect the cycles of nature.

Margarite Gignoux

Strings by Margarite Gignoux. Handmade cotton paper, machine stitched and
mounted on canvas. 46" x 70"

Margarite uses a diverse variety of fabrics, papers, buttons, beads and other recycled materials to make powerful quilts that push the boundaries of the medium.

The exhibition runs from July 1st through July 31st at Warm Springs Gallery in Charlottesville, VA. There is an artist reception on Friday, July 6th from 6-8 pm. I won't be able to make it in person but I hope those of you near are able to visit.

Work It: Artists Address Labor and Unemployment at Rochester Contemporary

Four of my Foreclosure Quilts will be part of a group exhibition entitled Work It: Artists Address Labor and Unemployment. The show opens tonight at Rochester Contemporary in Rochester, NY. The reception is tonight from 6-10pm. The other participating artists are Clarke Conde, Morgan Craig and Jonathan Stewart. From what I've seen of their work, it will be an excellent show.

There will be an artist's talk on April 8th at 1 PM and on April 21st at 1 PM there will be a poetry reading entitled The Rise and Fall of the Middle Class. The reading will be with BOA author Christopher Kennedy as part of CITY Newspaper's Culture Crawl 2012. 

Albuquerque Foreclosure Quilt, 2011. 35" x 47"

The exhibition runs through May 13th. See here for more info. I wish I could make it to the show, but if you stop by, let me know what you think! Thanks for your support!

Artist : Ruth Tabancay

A few months ago I came across Ruth Tabancay's quilts. As you know, I love anybody's work that pushes the limits of the traditional quilt to its' edge and her work does just that. Her pieces are made entirely out of tea bags. And surprisingly with the tea still in them.

On wall: Garden Variations, 2009 49"x65". On floor: Extending the Useful Life, 2010 33"x26"x65".
by Ruth Tabancay. Image by Dana Davis. 

Ruth has been working in this medium for the past ten years. The idea came to her while doing homework with her teenage daughter. They wrapped themselves in a comforter as they drank cups of tea. She saved and dried the tea bags and then sewed them together "to capture a moment of intimacy."

Garden Variations (detail), 2009 49" x 65" x 1". Tea bags, acrylic paint, embroidery floss, muslin, batting.
by Ruth Tabancay. Image by Scott Braley         

I had the wonderful fortune of finally meeting Ruth in person at the Scrap ART opening at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. One of her tea bag quilts was included in the show. When I asked to write about her work, she told me that she recently completed the Fiber Art Certificate Program at the University of Washington, Seattle. She flew back and forth for a year from the bay area to Seattle. That's true commitment to your craft! It was an immensly rewarding experience and encouraged her to expand her medium. And here are some of her new pieces which frankly, have me floored.



Twice the Size of Texas,  Kala Artist Project Space, Berkeley, CA.
by Ruth Tabancay. Image by Dana Davis.



Twice the Size of Texas, installed at the Kala Artist Project Space, is a monumental piece.

"(It is) a 10 ft X 19 ft wall piece made of over 1400 pieces of plastic bags. The shape represents the North Pacific Gyre, the location of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch where plastic, among other discards, has been broken down by mechanical and photo-degradation into confetti-like pieces and moves very slowly in a clockwise direction toward the center. The exact size of this debris mass depends on the where one draws the boundaries but one of the more quoted estimates is twice the size of Texas."

Ruth Tabancay

Twice the Size of Texas (detail), Kala Artist Project Space, Berkeley, CA.
by Ruth Tabancay. Image by Dana Davis.

Another series she is currently developing is embroidery on vintage linens.

Embroidery on Vintage Linens by Ruth Tabancay. Image by Scott Braley.

Many pieces of these cloths–runner, doilies, coasters, napkins–have a floral theme in embroidery, crochet, or tatting as decoration, the craft of women in the 30's through 50's. I have embroidered on these cloths images that show what the textile might have actually experienced. Coasters have water, coffee, and red wine rings. Runners show fallen petals and leaves and the rust ring left by a metal vase. A napkin discretely hides chicken bones. A hanky staunches a bloody nose.

Ruth Tabancay

Recycling is a common thread that runs through all of Ruth's work and draws me in even more. She has the rare ability and confidence to push the boundaries of her practice. It makes a powerful statement.

Embroidery on Vintage Linens
by Ruth Tabancay. Image by Scott Braley.

See more of Ruth's art online at her website. Her work is currently on exhibit on the west coast at The San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles through October 16th. If you're on the east coast, her work is shown in a video slideshow at the Textile Museum in Washington DC for Green: the Color and the Cause. The show runs through September 11th.

Artist : Barbara Wisnoski

I'm constantly reminded what a small world this is. About a month ago, I came across Barbara Wisnoski's stunning wall hangings. I printed one of them for my inspiration wall and intended to share her work here.

Platonic Target, Barbara Wisnoski 81x162 cm

My friend Myrna was visiting my studio a few weeks ago and I showed her the picture. It ends up that Myrna had met Barbara recently in an airport coming back from the Fiberart International opening where both of thier work was featured.

White Rag Quilt, Barbara Wisnoski. 170x195 cm

Myrna called me this week to tell me that Barbara was coming out for the opening of Scrap ART at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles this weekend. A chance to meet Barbara and see her amazing artwork in person? An opportunity I wouldn't miss.

White Rag Quilt detail, Barbara Wisnoski. 170x195 cm

A lot of her pieces seem to reference the landscape, a subject you know I'm always drawn to. They remind me of aerial photos of fields. Sure enough, I find a piece entitled Field.

Field, Barbara Wisnoski. 165x229 cm

What I really love about these pieces are how differently they look up close. The detail is incredibly intricate. I can't wait to ask her how long it takes to make each work and how she pieces them together. I'll let you know what I find out.

Field detail, Barbara Wisnoski. 165x229 cm

Barbara sums up the approach to her work as this:

"As maniacally repetitive process, (these pieces) embody the meaning I derive from textiles and ritual, and carry contradictory connotations of repetition’s beauty and innate absurdity."

Platonic Landscape detail, Barbara Wisnoski. 145x81 cm

"I am interested in the relationship between texture and time. The process of building a piece, whereby a fabric loses its singular quality and becomes part of the whole, reminds me of how time washes a harmonious patina over objects and memories. The prospect of decay is key to the work: seeing how pieces done long ago have changed over time reminds me that they were made from living fibres and, like us, evolve and deteriorate. Also like us, these pieces become more themselves, therefore more beautiful, with age."

Barbara Wisnoski

Evening, Barbara Wisnoski. 145x165 cm

 Please check out all of Barbara's work on her website here. I hope some of you can make it to the opening and the show who live nearby. The opening is this Sunday, the 21st from 2 to 4 at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. The show runs through October 16th. If you plan to come to the opening, let me know. It would be great to meet some of you in person!

Wrapping Traditions opening night pictures

I couldn't wait to share these amazing photos I took of the Wrapping Traditions opening at MOCFA in San Francisco. I was blown away by the beauty of the textiles.

It was such an experience seeing so many stunningly well made bojagi at once. I will need to go back to get a closer look at a lot of these. Many were  handstitched with such tiny stitches you would need a magnifying glass to see them.

Korean Bojagi Story, 2010. Young-Ja Kim, Korea. Wool, handmade felt, 77 x 37 in.

I took a lot of photos for those of you on the east coast who can't make the show.

This was one of our favorites, perhaps the color or the design that drew us in. It had the most amazingly detailed stitching.

Blueprint, 2010. Jiseon Lee Isbara, USA
Hand stitched, dyed and inkjet printed, silk satin organza, 34.5 x 25 in.

I went with Zoe, my dear friend Neile and her daughter. The girls really seemed to enjoy the pieces. We even overheard them having a conversation about sewing at one point. Zoe enjoyed flying past the pieces to make them flutter.

Zoe standing between Jinja Kim Woollard's Bojagi Village and Karin Kunori's Discussion of Home.

Click here to see more photos of the show. And if you're interested in learning about Bojagi techniques, there's no better tutorial than the Silly Boodilly's here.

Wrapping Traditions : Korean Textiles Now at The Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco

Wrapping Traditions : Korean Textiles Now opens tomorrow at MOCFA in my very own city! I can't tell you how excited I am to be able to attend the opening of this show. As you know, I have fallen head over heels with Korean Bojagi in the past year. Bojagi is a traditional Korean handmade cloth used in formal ceremonies and for daily activities as seen here by local San Francisco fiber artist Barbara Shapiro's beautiful handmade baskets and wrappings. I've shared a few emails with Barbara over the past few weeks and am excited to finally see her work in person.

Wrapping Memory Installation, 2010 by Barbara Shapiro.

Plaited indigo dyed cane baskets, indigo dyed gauze. 5 to 7 forms, wrapped and unwrapped.

This show, curated by none other than the bojagi master, Chunghie Lee, features some traditional versions of the cloth as well as contemporary takes on the subject.

Harmony by Eun-Ji Lee. Silk, natural dyeing, 25.6in x 21.7in

There are many contemporary Korean artists as well as artists from ten other countries that are inspired by this traditional folk art. It looks as if these pieces have taken this medium in a wonderful new direction. I can't wait to see Sung Soon Lee's piece below in person. It will remind me to have a little bit more patience in my sewing practice!

Seon, 2010-11 by Sung Soon Lee.

Printing and drawing on Ramie, patchwork, 216.5in x 22in

I can't wait to see how this piece was assembled, simply stunning.

Matrix 0909 by Yeon-Soon Chang.

Abaca fiber, indigo dye, machine sewn, 13.4in x 13.2in x 5.3in

The opening is Thursday, June 16th from 6-8 pm at The Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco. The show runs from June  17th through October 23rd. If you're in town, perhaps I'll see you there.

Upcoming Shows : MarinMOCA and ARC Gallery

I have work in two shows that open later this month. Artfully Reclaimed at MarinMOCA in Novato opens Saturday, May 28th with a reception from 5-7 PM. My Cape Coral Foreclosure Boro will be included in the show alongside my friend Myrna Tatar's amazing artwork among others.

Cape Coral Foreclosure Boro, 2011. Linen, voile, string and embroidery thread.

The show runs from May 28th through July 10th. See the website here for more details and directions.

I also have some earlier work in FLOW: The Essence of Paint at ARC Gallery located at 1246 Folsom Street in San Francisco. The opening for the show will be Saturday, June 4th from 7-10 PM. Sad Eyes from my Repetition series will be in the gallery.

Sad Eyes, 2009. Mixed media on canvas.

There is also an online gallery running concurrently that features two more pieces from my Repetition series. For those of you who can't make it, you can view all of the work now here! The show runs through June 25th.

Artist : Blinky Palermo

Blinky Palermo: Retrospective 1964-1977 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C. looks like a show not to be missed if you're anywhere nearby. It runs through May 15th so only a few more days before it closes.

Komposition mit 8 roten Rechtecken [Composition with 8 Red Rectangles], 1964 Images: Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. Photos: Jens Zieh.

My friend Myrna Tatar handed me the latest New York Times article by Roberta Smith as the colors and shapes reminded her of one of my works in progress. I'm drawn to Palermo's work of course because of his minimalism but also because he used whatever means necessary to make his statements. His work crosses the traditional boundaries of paint.

Blinky Palermo, Blaue Scheibe und Stab [Blue Disk and Staff], 1968 | Fabric tape on wood. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth. Image: Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. Photo: Jens Ziehe.

After the show closes at the Hirshhorn Museum, it will be divided into two places this summer: Dia:Beacon in Beacon, N.Y., and Bard. For those of you, like me, who live too far away, there's a nice looking book to go along with the exhibit.

upcoming and current shows : Marin MOCA, ARC Gallery, SF Perinatal Associates & Madrone Gallery

My Cape Coral Foreclosure Boro will be in Artfully Reclaimed at Marin MOCA May 28th through July 10th in Novato, CA.

Cape Coral Foreclosure Boro, 2011.

Around the same time, one of my Repetition series pieces, Sad Eyes, will be part of FLOW: The Essence of Paint  at the ARC Gallery in San Francisco from June 4th through the 25th.

Sad Eyes, 2009.

And currently, all of my Idiom series are hanging San Francisco Perinatal Associates through September.

Idiom Series collage, 2010.

And last but not least, my work can also be seen at Madrone Gallery in the Sketchbook Project 2011 from June 16th - 18th. I'm looking forward to seeing Lari and Kitty's sketchbooks there as well!

And then there was none, The Sketchbook Project, 2011.

See a visual pattern here among all of my work over the past three years? I'll post the opening dates soon!

upcoming show : ARC Gallery

Sad Eyes from my Repetition series will be included in FLOW: The Essence of Paint at the ARC Gallery. The show will open June 4th in San Francisco.

Sad Eyes, 2008. 36" x 36"  Gampi paper, rope, colored pencil under acrylic glazes.

The national exhibition was curated by Andre Rozanoff, director of Cain Schulte Contemporary Art in San Francisco. The show highlights the mastery of technique and creative use of paint, as well as the qualities of composition, line, color, texture, and scale. My work in a painting show? I know! But the Repetition series was really my bridge into fiber art and I have very fond memories of working and learning on this series. The pieces include rope, twine, handmade waxed paper and embroidery.

And for those of you who can't make it to the show, there will be an online gallery with two more of my Repetition series included.

Bowls, 2009. 36" x 36"  Handmade paper and rope under acrylic glazes.

Gris, 2009. 36" x 48"  Waxed paper, rope, embroidery thread under acrylic glazes.

More details to follow soon as to the opening reception and online gallery link. See more all of my Repetition series here.

Infinite Variety : Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts

The American Folk Art Museum  will share 651 red and white quilts from the collection of Joanna S. Rose. When asked, Ms. Rose says “I’m not a collector.” Ummm, beg to differ there.

American Folk Art Museum, Photo by Gavin Ashworth

The exhibit is a 80th birthday gift from her husband who asked what could he give her that she had never seen before. She realized she had never seen all of her quilts hung together.

Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times

Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times

The exhibit is up only briefly from March 25th to March 30th at the historic Park Avenue Armory in New York City. Read more here and here.