Artist Profile: Co-curator Leslie Tucker Jenison

Leslie Tucker Jenison San Antonio TX 1.  What year did you make your first quilt?    Traditional or  art?   My first quilt was made around 1980 or 81.  I began as a quasi- traditional quilt maker, though I was not very prolific early on due  to work & family demands. I became interested in creating my  own unique work in the early 90s. 2.  What is the first show, and year, that you ever entered  your art quilts?  Venue?   I didn't show any of my work until after we moved to Texas.  My first quilt show was local:   The Greater San Antonio Quilt Guild.  In 2001 I showed a quilt that I  feel was somewhere between a traditional and art quilt called, "What Bugs Me The Most".   It won 2nd place in the mixed technique category. 3.  What is your artistic style?    I vary between representational and abstract, but lean more heavily toward abstraction.   Certain themes come up again and again:  the meaning of home, the effects of pressure  upon objects, cells, circles. stones, nests, the garden lifecycle.  These things are symbolic  and meaningful to me in my work. 4.  Have you ever changed your style from when you started making quilts?   Oh yes, I think my style is always evolving.  I like to push myself.  I do this with the surface  design work on the cloth, and again with the quilts I create. 5.  What other style in quilt making piques your interest?   I am revisiting my roots of making useful quilts within the framework of the Modern quilt  movement.  The aesthetic is very appealing to me and I enjoy the occasional foray into  this world.  I try to stay open to the possibilities out there. 6.  What other medium in art influences your work as a fiber artist?   I'm also a painter.  I like to draw and paint and try to do this fairly consistently because it forces me to stop, pay attention, and really look at things.  I'm also a photographer:   my camera is never very far away.  I may be addicted to Instagram! 7.  What do you have coming up?  Shows, Articles in magazines, Books, etc.   In addition to "Exquisite Moment", Jamie and I juried "What's For Dinner, to debut this  fall at the Houston Quilt Festival. I have created a quilt for the Ovarian Cancer Fundraising  event for MD Anderson for fall, 2013.   I'm teaching at several places this year:  "Don't Fade  Away", a quilt documentation seminar, and at City Quilter in New York City, both  sponsored by the Quilt Alliance.  I will teach several workshops at the Art & Soul Mixed Media Retreat in Portland OR in late September/early October, and also at the  International Quilt Festival in Houston TX, fall 2013.  I've written several articles this year  and my studio will be featured in an upcoming book.  It has been a busy and wonderful year! 8.  What do you have coming up?  Shows, Articles in magazines, Books, etc.   Does anyone know how to answer this question?!  As my studio life, writing, and teaching  unfold I hope I continue to learn.  There is no question I will enjoy it!  I love the give and take of teaching and working with a group.  My work on the board of the Quilt Alliance  continues to inspire me.  9.  Describe your studio space:  My main studio is a large second master suite in our home.  I recently re-organized the  space to better accommodate my work habits and reorganized my storage.  I hope to  recreate the bathroom/vanity area into a more functional wet work space.  The small sink  is a bottleneck!   I also share studio space at Art Cloth Studios.  As the wet studio in the new studio location gets up and running I will be spending part of my time there and hope to  organize a few workshops in the space. 10.  What was the biggest challenge you have encountered in the making of your  art quilt for "An Exquisite Moment?"   I had my theme picked out immediately!  My biggest challenge was getting the digital images sized to the appropriate scale for the piece.  It was very frustrating!