Artist Profile: Gerrie Congdon

Gerrie Congdon

Portland, Oregon

1. What other ideas for this theme "rituals" did you have?   I love my coffee in the morning. I was going to collect coffee bags and create something coffee related. 

2.  Are you involved in any community or group projects where you donate your work?  if yes,  what project or projects?  I love donating a quilt to the SAQA annual auction and I have been pleased to have mine sell early on in the week. I am working on a house quilt for Jamie Fingal's House Quilt Project. I participated in the Alliance for American Quilts last year and plan to make another quilt this year. 

3.  Do you belong to a small group of like-minded artists?  I belong to two local groups. One is High Fiber Diet. We are art quilters who work at educating ourselves about art and design and we also have juried shows. I am also part of a very small group called STASH — Some Thursday at Someone's Home. Terry Grant is also in this group. There are only six of us, and they are a wonderful group of friends. We meet monthly and also take artsy trips together. In the spring, we have a retreat together. The other group near and dear to my heart is the Twelve by Twelve group. I love this group of women artists. You can see what we have been up to on our blog: http://twelveby12.blogspot.com/

4.  Are you a member of a professional art organization,  such as SAQA?  Have you ever held a volunteer position in the organization,  and if so,  what?  I belong to SAQA and SDA — Surface Design Association. I am the website administrator for SDA.

 5.  What is your favorite palette of colors that you use in your work?  Name 5 and your least favorite colors?  Name 5 favorites?  This is a difficult one. I love color, period. I love working with chartreuse, red, black, orange and blue. I really don't have least favorite colors -oh, maybe pink and purple!! Some of my best work has used colors that some would think are ugly, but they can tell a story.

 6.  Describe your creative work space in 20 words or less.  Are you messy or tidy?  Large, well-lighted, task specific work stations, often messy! When I am in the zone, the mess doesn’t bother me. Cleanup is necessary to start a new project.

7.  What is your creative process?  think,  draw,  design,  make or right to the design?  Usually, I have a vision in my head of what I want to do. I might make a sketch to block out the design. I am often inspired my fabric that I have created with surface design.

8.   Is there a particular object or shape that shows up repeatedly in your work?  Why?  I love skinny linear shapes.

 9.   If you had to choose a favorite artist from another media,  who would it be,  and why?  Helen Frankenthaler She is an oil painter best known for color field style, characterized primarily by large fields of flat, solid  color spread across or stained into the canvas creating areas of unbroken surface and a flat picture plane. 

10.  Have you written a book related to Art Quilts and Quilting or have an instructional DVD?  If so,  can you tell us the title or titles? The Twelve by Twelve group has a book titled, Twelve by Twelve; the International Art Quilt Challenge.

 11.  Do you make art full time?   If you have another career,  would you describe what you do? and how you incorporate art into your life? I try to have a daily studio practice. Currently, I am creating a 3 inch by 3 inch tiny quilt every day. I am doing a new color every month. I have a part-time job with SDA, updating the website and handling all Constant Contact e-mails for the organization.

12.  What is your most thrilling news to date in relation to your art quilt life? Currently, 288 Twelve by Twelve quilts are on tour with IQF. It makes me so happy to hear the wonderful comments that people make when they see this exhibit. Attending the Houston Festival of Quilts with 8 of the Twelves was so exciting. It was my high so far this year.

http://www.gericondesigns.com/weblog/