Artist Profile: Co-curator Jamie Fingal

Jamie Fingal
Orange, California

1,  What year did you make your first quilt?    Traditional or art?  1981, a traditional nine patch

2.  What is the first show, and year, that you ever entered your art quilts?  Venue?  3 for 3 in 2003;  Road to California, Journal Quilts Houston, Sacred Threads

3.  What is your artistic style?  bright, whimsical, painterly, representational, abstract

4.  Have you ever changed your style from when you started making quilts?  Yes!  Took the leap to art quilts in 2001, and never looked back.  I hope my style is always evolving.

5.  What other style in quilt making piques your interest?  Surface design has always intrigued me. 

6.  What other medium in art influences your work as a fiber artist?  Painting, watercolors, stencils

7.  What do you have coming up?  Shows, Articles in magazines, Books, etc.  Quilting Arts June/July issue, Mary Janes Farm Magazine June/July issue, line of stencils through Stencil Girl Products, co-curator for What's for Dinner? for IQF Houston, guest on Pat Sloan's radio show on Aug 26.  Teaching at Art & Soul in Portland and IQF Houston!.

8.  Where will your art take you from here?   Onward and upward, to fulfill some of my artistic dreams and goals

9.  Describe your studio space:  1,000 square feet of industrial space, room for my long arm, and Bernina, large design table, various work tables around studio, fabric stash, paint area, office, and sitting area.  Lots of large wall space, room for classes, small gallery show.

10. What was the biggest challenge you have encountered in the making of your art quilt for "An Exquisite Moment?"  The size is a bit unweildey, but that is part of the challenge.  I found it difficult to decide what to do, something sentimental, or abstract?  Number one thing - keep it simple, happy and create this piece about my ankle replacement.

http://JamieFingalDesigns.blogspot.com/ 

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!

Artist Profile: Jayne Larson

Jayne Larson
Indianola, WA

1. What year did you make your first quilt? Traditional or art?  The first quilt that I finished was an art quilt for a mini group challenge in 2002/2003. I had started several other quilts, a mix of art and traditional, before then, but never finished any of them.

2. What is the first show, and year, that you ever entered your art quilts? Venue?  My quilt was in a group show in southern California in 2003 or 2004. And I can't remember the venue.

3. What is your artistic style?  Expressionistic realism probably describes most of my work. But I am interested in moving toward more abstraction.

4. Have you ever changed your style from when you started making quilts?  I started using mostly machine work, piecing, appliqué and stitching, but now handwork is my preference.

5. What other style in quilt making piques your interest?  In the past I have occasionally used digital photography in my quilts which I would like to explore further. Its very exciting how images can be manipulated and printed or applied to textiles, with the software and technology that is available.

6. What other medium in art influences your work as a fiber artist?  Drawing is the key starting point and means to focus my inspiration.

7. What do you have coming up? Shows, Articles in magazines, Books, etc.  This year, I plan to participate in a gallery show in Hilo, Hawaii in September and a show in Thousand Oaks California in October with my mini group, Extreme Quilters.

8. Where will your art take you from here?  I am interested in experimenting with drawing more.

9. Describe your studio space.  I work in a bonus room area. Although it's part of a walk out basement, there are lots of windows and my yoga room is adjacent. I've recently added a new TV so that I can watch Netflix while I'm stitching. My husband calls my studio the "woman cave" and I love my time there.

10. What is the biggest challenge you have encountered in the making of your art quilt for "An Exquisite Moment"?   Although an idea came to me fairly early, I struggled to find a way to translate the idea into an image that was not too literal or trite. Serendipity of fabric bits floating around my design wall and a luminous gray hand-dyed fabric provided a solution.

Artist Profile: Diane Perrin Hock

Diane Perrin Hock
Heraldsburg, California

1.  What year did you make your first quilt?    Traditional or art?  I made my first quilt back when I was in high school, in the early 1970's.  My sister and I collaborated to make a gift for a cousin.  She drew cats on fabric (remember Liquid Embroidery?!) and then we alternated the cat blocks with traditional squares.  I suppose that means it was an "innovative" first quilt!

2.  What is the first show, and year, that you ever entered your art quilts?  Venue? I'd shown quilts in local guild shows, but the first significant show in which I entered an art quilt was Pacific International Quilt Festival, in 2003 or 2004.

3.  What is your artistic style?  I ponder this question myself, because sometimes I feel like I'm all over the place.  I am drawn to a more graphic style, and tend to use a lot of color.  I also tend to use more realistic imagery in my art quilts, rather than pure abstraction.  I consider my style to be always evolving.

4.  Have you ever changed your style from when you started making quilts?  Yes, definitely.  I started out making traditional quilts, although with contemporary and usually bright fabrics. As I discovered the fun of making art quilts, I started trying a lot of different things.  I hope my style continues to change as I grow and learn.

5.  What other style in quilt making piques your interest?  It's easier for me to define the few things that don't appeal to me in working with fiber art than the ones that do.  There are so many wonderful avenues to explore!  I am increasingly drawn to painting on fabric and using whole cloth as a base for a painted quilt.  I would love to explore the concept of abstraction more, too.

6.  What other medium in art influences your work as a fiber artist?  Drawing and painting definitely influence me.  I'm doing a lot of watercolor painting and I can see that starting to creep into the way I think about fiber art. 

7.  What do you have coming up?  Shows, Articles in magazines, Books, etc.  I am one of the twelve quilt artists in the Twelve by Twelve International Art Quilt Challenge group, and I'm pleased that the Twelve by Twelve collection quilts are continuing to travel for upcoming exhibits.  The Colorplay set of 144 quilts will be exhibited at Midsomer Quilting in Bath, England in July, 2013, and the original set of 144 quilts will be exhibited at the Northwest Quilt Expo in Portland, Oregon in September, 2013.  I am also one of 30 American quilt artists participating in an international invitational fiber art challenge between Japan, France and the United States, in which each artist is interpreting a painter's work.  Those quilts will debut in Japan in 2014.  I am also a newly certified quilt judge, with the mission to help other judges and show hosts understand art quilts, and I will be judging in several Northern California quilt shows this summer and fall.

8.  Where will your art take you from here?  Who knows!  I consider art my adventure, my therapy, my expression, my experiments, my fun. 

9.  Describe your studio space:  For several years I have had one small 10x12 foot bedroom which both my housed my work materials (desk files, books) and my sewing and art materials.  A few months ago I was finally able to move my work office into another room, so I now have one room dedicated to sewing, quilting and fiber art.  It's still 10x12 feet, but those extra feet make a huge difference.   

10. What was the biggest challenge you have encountered in the making of your art quilt for "An Exquisite Moment?"  The size and the unusual shape.  I had many ideas that, to my mind, required a horizontal orientation.  Because of the space constraints in my studio, and the fabric collage technique I was using, it wasn't always easy to step back from the quilt to see its full effect.  But those sorts of challenges are good lessons and present opportunities for problem solving, I find!

http://www.goingtopieces.blogspot.com

Artist Profile: Frances Holliday Alford

Frances Holliday Alford
Grafton, Vermont

1.  What year did you make your first quilt?    Traditional or art?  1986.  It was quasi-traditional.  Cut "blooming" squares, alternating squares of dark and light blue.  I still use it.

2.  What is the first show, and year, that you ever entered your art quilts?  Venue?  The International Quilt Festival in Houston.  1996

3.  What is your artistic style?  Multi-media, brave colors, unexpected elements, humor and innovation.

4.  Have you ever changed your style from when you started making quilts?  It shifts all the time.  I like to try different mediums, different techniques.  But, eventually they look like I made them.

5.  What other style in quilt making piques your interest?  Modern Quilt Guild, old crazy quilts, postage stamp quilts.

6.  What other medium in art influences your work as a fiber artist?  Sculpture, Outsider Art, Old Masters, Collage.

7.  What do you have coming up?  Shows, Articles in magazines, Books, etc.  IQA Houston - Celebrate Spring!

8.  Where will your art take you from here?  It keeps me in the community of wonderful artists.  It gives me something to keep me moving forward personally, physically, and spiritually.  I want to make art for the rest of my life.

9.  Describe your studio space:  I rent a converted two story barn several blocks from my house.  The sewing and design are all upstairs in one big room.  Downstairs, I have a collage room, an office and a kitchen.  I have decided it would be nice to work at home so am considering a remodeling job to make that work.

10. What was the biggest challenge you have encountered in the making of your art quilt for "An Exquisite Moment?"  The biggest challenge was to think of the perfect exquisite moment.  I finally decided that I would follow Rachel Parris' lead and use a simple pleasure.  As a child, finding passion flowers growing wild behind our house was a spectacular moment for me.  

http://www.franceshollidayalford.com    

Artist Profile: Pamela Price Klebaum

Pamela Price Klebaum
Ventura, California

1,  What year did you make your first quilt?    Traditional or art?  In law school, I had a list of what I wanted to do when I graduated – have a baby, learn quilting, calligraphy and stained glass. I did them all in 1978!

2.  What is the first show, and year, that you ever entered your art quilts?  Venue? Buenaventura Art Association, 2007.

3.  What is your artistic style? I strive for an aesthetic I describe as “spare,” uncluttered. I like a pared-down image, with line and texture telling the story.

4.  Have you ever changed your style from when you started making quilts? I think this core goal of simplicity has been consistent. I love a good line-story.

5.  What other style in quilt making piques your interest?  I have studied discharge and wax methods, and would like to try my hand at those, nice spare marks.

6.  What other medium in art influences your work as a fiber artist?  Currently my work intersects with my how I create my art glass pieces – what has developed is a delightful cross-fertilization of image and texture. I am trying to see how I can transfer textile surface design techniques to my glass-making.

7.  What do you have coming up?  Shows, Articles in magazines, Books, etc. I have a solo show this fall at a local art association, and a “joint-solo” show at another local art association in the fall of 2014.  I have a piece in Martha Sielman’s latest Art Quilt Portfolio book.

8.  Where will your art take you from here? I am focused on translating my glass work into textiles. Depicting the multilayered transparent curved glass images in a flat undulating surface is quite a delightful undertaking.

9.  Describe your studio space: My studio is a former bedroom that has a spectacular view of the Pacific. Sweeeeet!

10. What was the biggest challenge you have encountered in the making of your art quilt for "An Exquisite Moment?" My hand stitching is intense and took months. I wanted long elegant stitches, but I felt they would be fragile if not anchored. So I did tiny anchoring stitches as well, which tripled the time required. Partway through the piece, I had shoulder surgery, which forced me to stop stitching for six months. I was so afraid I would not be able to finish the piece in time.

http://pamprice.blogspot.com

Artist Profile: Jeannie Palmer Moore

Jeannie Palmer Moore
Escondido, California

1,  What year did you make your first quilt?    Traditional or art?  I made an airplane motif traditional quilt for my first quilt in the 1990's. My first art quilt was in 2005 when I started dyeing my own fabrics.

2.  What is the first show, and year, that you ever entered your art quilts?  Venue?  I entered my shibori dyed "Sunset" quilt in 2006 at the Escondido Arts Partnership "Tall & Thin" show and received a 2nd place ribbon.

3.  What is your artistic style?  I'd say my style is more graphic with surface design Because of my graphic design background.

4.  Have you ever changed your style from when you started making quilts?  Oh, Yes! I am constantly evolving- right now I'm enjoying combining my painterly style with surface design.

5.  What other style in quilt making piques your interest?  I've always enjoyed life drawing and I want to start putting more people in my designs.

6.  What other medium in art influences your work as a fiber artist?  At the moment watercolors are influencing my quilts. I'm able to produce depth in my designs with painted dyes and inks.

7.  What do you have coming up?  Shows, Articles in magazines, Books, etc.  I was accepted into SAQA "Radical Elements" which debuts in Houston. My "Tasty Tomatoes" in SAQA "Seasonal Palette" will be at Long Beach. The April/May issue of Quilting Arts Magazine includes my article on Tsukineko inks and Newspaper Transfer techniques. I have donated 2 fundraiser items for SAQA's 12x12 and "Kick off Your Heels". I hope to have 2 other quilts accepted into IQF Houston.

8.  Where will your art take you from here?  Where ever it wants! I've been an artist my entire life and creating is my way of life.

9.  Describe your studio space:  Since my kids have moved out I have taken over their 2 rooms. One is my sewing room with my Handiquilter Sweet 16 and my Bernina. The other is my wet room with large tables and supplies for creating along with my cat; Rocky.

10. What was the biggest challenge you have encountered in the making of your art quilt for "An Exquisite Moment?"  My idea came instantly and once I silkscreened my background it went together quite quickly. It was a great theme!

www.JPMArtist.com

Artist Profile: Terry Waldron

Terry Waldron

Anaheim, California

1.  What year did you make your first quilt?    Traditional or art?   I made my very first quilt in 1993, and it was Blanch Young's "Radiant Nine-Patch."  Blanche hooked me on this crazy passion of mine!

2.  What is the first show, and year, that you ever entered your art quilts?  Venue?  The first show I entered was the National Quilting Association's show because it was being held in Riverside, CA right up the freeway from me.  I won "Honorable Mention for Hand-Quilting" with my piece "Early Autumn," and I think it was in 1994.  

3.  What is your artistic style?  My very personal attachment to nature is my style.  I can't remember a time in my life that I wasn't fascinated by the littlest things that grow close to the  ground, and the tallest of the trees, and the movement of water, and bugs!  Never snakes, but bugs and bark and butterflies and branches...   

4.  Have you ever changed your style from when you started making quilts? A year and a half into my quilting life, I made a radical change... I began to make my own art.  To me, it WAS "painting with fabric."  It meant no brushes to wash out after working, just scraps to vacuum after creating!  It was the most free I'd ever worked before in any medium, except drawing... well, and oil painting, too.

5.  What other style in quilt making piques your interest?  My own style is still what excites me, but I am constantly adding new sorts of fibers to my work, and that has broadened my scope, and has kept me invigorated. 

6.  What other medium in art influences your work as a fiber artist?  As an art student in university, I took years of drawing classes, and I do love drawing.  When I was a high school art teacher, I started every class every year with contour drawing, and especially blind contour drawing... it's essential to the artist, in my  opinion.  Now I draw in my head as I work.  If I'm really stumped, though, I will take  to paper and pencil.  Painting, especially watercolor, is essential in my work now, too,  although I use hand-dyed silk organzas instead of tubes of paint.

7.  What do you have coming up?  Shows, Articles in magazines, Books, etc.  So much...  I've just sold another piece to a new hospital here in California, and I can hardly wait for the grand opening!  I will be speaking and teaching at major national venues for the next two years, and at numerous quilt guilds.  The Irish International Quilt Festival somehow found a piece of my work that they requested for their  "Under the Sea" exhibit in one of my favorite places, Galway, Ireland this June!  I just finished as the sole juror of a SAQA exhibition called "Color Wheel of Emotion" that will travel this year and next.  The 268 international submissions were amazing, but, sadly, I could only choose 19 pieces, and soooo many wonderful pieces had to be left out.  What an amazing experience!

   

8.  Where will your art take you from here?  Who knows?  I love the entire process of creating my pieces, from the constant looking at nature to sewing the very last stitch.  It is just as much fun for me to teach other people that they can create, too, though.  Each day brings its own surprises...

9.  Describe your studio space:  You'll laugh...  My "studio" is my guest bedroom!  It's on the second floor overlooking the Chinese silk trees and liquid ambers and the hills behind.  But even the entire wall of closets can't seem to hold all my materials, and overnight guests have all of 3  inches of hanging space in only one of the closets!  

10. What was the biggest challenge you have encountered in the making of your art quilt for "An Exquisite Moment?"  The word "exquisite" made it a very difficult theme, because, by nature I am not an "exquisite" person!  I kept thinking about the koi swimming in the elegant ponds in Newport Beach's Fashion Island.  I had gone there one morning at about 7AM to take photos of those fish before the "exquisite" shops opened.  But I kept thinking, over and over, that every artist seems to have made koi, and what could I add that would make my work seem fresh...  Then I found this piece of blue burn-out silk.  I couldn't afford more than 1/2 a yard, and that turned out to be just wonderful!  It made me have to piece and overlap the bits that I had, and that created the eddies in the pond.  It helped make the koi dance in that water!  

http://www.terrywaldron.com/

Artist Profile: Sarah Ann Smith

Sarah Ann Smith
Hope, Maine

1,  What year did you make your first quilt?    Traditional or art?   Circa 1988, traditional:  a baby quilt of pieced blocks alternating with applique, some of which I designed to reflect the family and location

2.  What is the first show, and year, that you ever entered your art quilts?  Venue?  San Juan County Fair, Friday Harbor, Washington; probably in about 1998

3.  What is your artistic style?  Representational

4.  Have you ever changed your style from when you started making quilts?  No, but it has evolved a bit as my skills improve (at least I hope they have!) and my interests have ranged

5.  What other style in quilt making piques your interest?  Just about all of them!  I love traditional, modern, contemporary, I love them all.

6.  What other medium in art influences your work as a fiber artist?  I think everything I see or do influences my work and who I am, but I am drawn to photography and sculpture as well as painting.

7.  What do you have coming up?  Shows, Articles in magazines, Books, etc.  A wealth of goodies!   I was included in the just-published Cutting Edge Art Quilts and the Coffee and Tea challenge in the April/May issue of Quilting Arts magazine. Article in the August/September 2013 Quilting Arts magazine.  Project in the 2013 Quilting Arts Gifts magazine.  Article in Machine Quilting Unlimited, fall 2013.  DVD for Quilting Arts Workshops on Fused Collage and Thread-Coloring.  Quilt in Dare To Dance, a new book by Mary Wilson Kerr

8.  Where will your art take you from here?  To more art, I hope!

9.  Describe your studio space:  Big, well-lit, nearly perfect!  I just need a time-warp so I can spend more time there.

10. What was the biggest challenge you have encountered in the making of your art quilt for "An Exquisite Moment?"   How to interpret something heard into a visual work!  It's hard to create an image of things you heard in the night but didn't really see.

http://www.SarahAnnSmith.com

Artist Profile: Sherry Kleinman

Sherry Kleinman
Pacific Palisades, California

1.  What year did you make your first quilt?    Traditional or art?   My first traditional quilt was when I was expecting my first child was in 1978.  I sewed home dec items, dolls, and the occasional bed quilts in the years following but I was out of the loop in regards to art quilts.  I didn't even discover the whole genre until 2005.  My first art quilt was a result of taking a class with Terry Waldron (now a friend) through a local quilt guild in 2005.  I never liked to follow traditional patterns and instructions,  I was always improvising.  The discovery of the  world of art quilts has changed my world.  I found my passion and my voice that occupies each day with the possibility of new designs and creations.  I work double time to make up for the years I missed.

2.  What is the first show, and year, that you ever entered your art quilts?  Venue?  My piece "Postcard from Guatemala" was the first piece entered and accepted into the annual Road to California Quilt Show in Ontario, CA, 2007.  What a thrill is was to see it on display!

3.  What is your artistic style?  My work falls into two main technique categories:  pieced or fused fabrics OR drawn and painted images that are stitched.  My love is to tell a story through portraiture, be it a person, an animal or a landscape.  My work is most often realistic and sometimes more abstract.

4.  Have you ever changed your style from when you started making quilts? I like to try new methods and experiment, so yes my work has evolved along the way, as I add more techniques to my "Tool Box".  In the past year I have experimented with using the technology of my iPhone and my iPad's art camera and art apps. I print my digitally created images onto fabric for a whole cloth quilt that I then stitch.  My piece "Waiting Expectantly" was created this way.  I also have a series of pieces based on portraits of people actually texting and using cell phones: "Alone/Together" and "Taking Time to Text" are two examples you can see on my website.

5.  What other style in quilt making piques your interest?  Recently I have been doing more hand stitching in addition to machine stitching.  "Waiting Expectantly" is embellished extensively with pearl cotton stitching.  I love the added texture.

6.  What other medium in art influences your work as a fiber artist?  I have a background in the fine arts.  I draw and paint.  Weekly I attend mixed media life drawing classes.  Drawing the human figure helps to train your eye to see lines and shapes, no matter what your subject may be.  I enjoy the feedback from my classmates and my long time mentor and teacher, David Limrite.  I am the only one working in textiles.  Our work is all different, but we continually inspire each other.

7.  What do you have coming up?  Shows, Articles in magazines, Books, etc.  I am one of 21 featured artists in Martha Sielman's latest book:  Art Quilt Portfolio:  People and Portraits (Lark Publishing).  Two of my pieces ("Girl in Blue Stockings" and "Far Rockaway Beach") will travel with the upcoming SAQA Exhibit People and Portraits, featuring work from the book.  The show will debut at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in October 2013.  My piece "Taking Time to Text" will travel with the SAQA Exhibit Text Messages that will also debut at the IQF show in Houston.   

8.  Where will your art take you from here?  I used to tell my three daughters (who are all now adults and artists themselves) that you are only limited by your imagination.   I look forward to exploring things I haven't even thought of yet.  I will continue to take classes from other artists, explore art books, and wait for serendipity to happen.  The solitude of walking my dog Mac and sitting on his favorite bench is often the place where an idea sparks in my head for my next project.

9.  Describe your studio space:   I have two main rooms I use for my studio, both former bedrooms of my daughters.  My main studio holds my sewing machine, my art books, my computer, my fabrics, my paints, and supplies.  My design wall works double duty as a painting surface and as a design wall.  It is a bright cheery space; I work next to a window where I am entertained by busy hummingbirds and bees.  I have a mid-arm machine in another room and use the dining table for my cutting area.

10. What was the biggest challenge you have encountered in the making of your art quilt for "An Exquisite Moment?"  Learning new computer skills to achieve my vision of what I saw in my head.  I started with a photo of an artist model named Rosie who was 8 months pregnant.  Using my iPhone photo, I drew and painted an image on my iPad with art apps.   My  graphic designer daughter Stephanie became my teacher working with Adobe Illustrator to create the background images based on repeats of my painted skirt designs.  The finished design was then printed in a 2 yard piece at Spoonflower.  I love the challenges of trying new techniques.

http://www.sherrykleinman.com/ 

Artist Profile: Gerrie Congdon

Gerrie Congdon
Portland, Oregon

1,  What year did you make your first quilt?    Traditional or art?  In the 70's, I tried my hand at quilting and made a pieced table runner with a traditional motif. The colors were typical of the era — orange, beige and brown calico prints. It had no batting, and it is not quilted. I did not enjoy the process of tracing around templates and cutting with scissors. It was not until the late 90's that I tried quilting again, after the advent of rulers and rotary cutters!

2.  What is the first show, and year, that you ever entered your art quilts?  Venue?  I entered the Marin County Quilt show which was put on by a group that did all sorts of fabric work - embroidery, weaving, etc.  I received an honorable mention on an art quilt and the judge said the minimalist quilting I had done was perfect.

3.  What is your artistic style?  I am not much of a planner. I work intuitively and I prefer doing abstract or non-representational designs.

4.  Have you ever changed your style from when you started making quilts?  I have tried just about every thing, but my work has always had a simplification of forms whether representational or abstract.

5.  What other style in quilt making piques your interest?  I can't really think of anything that I would want to pursue.

6.  What other medium in art influences your work as a fiber artist?  I love abstract paintings. I love to go to museums and galleries and get ideas from fine artists.

7.  What do you have coming up?  Shows, Articles in magazines, Books, etc.  I will have a piece in the Sacred Threads exhibit this summer. The 2012 quilts made by the Twelve x Twelve group will be on display at quilt expo in Portland in September.

8.  Where will your art take you from here?  It is always exciting to have my work in exhibits that travel to far away places. I hope someday to take a trip to an exotic place with my quilts.

9.  Describe your studio space:  I have a daylight basement in our home with wonderful lighting for the long winter months in Portland. I have a paint/messy work table, a large ironing/fusing table/ a cutting table and a sewing area. I have a small room with a sink where I do my dyeing. One long wall is set up as design walls - black felt on one side and gray on the other.

10. What was the biggest challenge you have encountered in the making of your art quilt for "An Exquisite Moment?"  At first I could not come up with an idea that I thought I could execute properly. Then, my sweet little granddaughter was visiting, and I realized how exquisite it is to get hugs and kisses from my grandchildren.

Artist Profile: Cindy Cooksey

Cindy Cooksey

Irvine, California

1. What year did you make your first quilt? Traditional or art? I made my first quilt in 1973, but I didn't know what I was doing yet. I just wanted to use it as a table cloth, like they were doing back then in Country Living Magazine. It was a cream, rust and navy 9-patch that fell apart in a few years. I didn't get into real quilting until 1991. 

2. What is the first show, and year, that you ever entered your art quilts? Venue? In 1992, I entered what I then considered an art quilt in both Pacific International and Quilt Visions. Guess which one accepted it.
 

3. What is your artistic style? Colorful, playful, sometimes whimsical, often paying homage to traditional techniques such as hand embroidery.

4. Have you ever changed your style from when you started making quilts? Color pallets have evolved, and I like to experiment with different techniques, but my artistic style as described above has remained fairly consistent.

5. What other style in quilt making piques your interest? I am attracted to Modern quilts and Zakka style; at least I drool over the fabrics. It's a fresh look.

6. What other medium in art influences your work as a fiber artist? sketching, painting, collage.

7. What do you have coming up? Shows, Articles in magazines, Books, etc. ---  My quilt, "Ravioli di Verdura," will be part of the upcoming "What's for Dinner" special exhibit which makes its debut at Quilt Festival in Houston.

8. Where will your art take you from here?  I do what I enjoy and have no future blueprint at this time. Part of the fun is being surprised by what's around the corner.

9. Describe your studio space: It's an open room upstairs, used as a weight lifting room by the previous owner. Originally it was sleek and simple, with a drafting table, tabouret and bookshelf. Over the years it has become a constant challenge to fight the clutter.

10. What was the biggest challenge you have encountered in the making of your art quilt for "An Exquisite Moment?" Committing to one idea was a challenge. Several ideas came to mind at first. Later, it was very challenging to make recognizable portraits (of my husband and granddaughter) using primarily embroidery stitches.

http://cookseyville.blogspot.com 

Artist Profile: Stacy Hurt

Stacy Hurt
Orange, California

1.  What year did you make your first quilt?  Traditional or art?  1999. Is there a category for “A mess!”   I had no clue how to make a quilt so I just sewed all the fat quarters together as they were. 

 2.  What is the first show, and year, that you ever entered your art quilts?  Venue?   2005.  International Quilt Festival, Houston.  A series of journal quilts.

 3.  What is your artistic style?  I am a mixed media artist who employs a heavy influence of hand calligraphy in my surface design.

4.  Have you ever changed your style from when you started making quilts?  I would have to say yes, when I started making quilts I was making more traditionally pieced ones.  Now I feel I have finally broken free of my fear and have been working on painting and hand lettering the elements and using fiber and alternative materials to create more depth. 

 5.  What other style in quilt making piques your interest? I love, love, love the new Modern Quilt designs.  I am so inspired by the color palette & simplistic designs which in turn leave lots of room for free motion quilting!  

 6.  What other medium in art influences your work as a fiber artist?  Street art, Graffiti colors, Calligraphy

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 7.  What do you have coming up?   I currently have two works in the Sacred Threads exhibit. I also have two lectures coming up for local guilds and a Calligraphy workshop.  I look forward to teaching more next year. 

8.  Where will your art take you from here? The possibilities are endless & I am excited to follow the path.

 9.  Describe your studio space: I have a small 8 x 10 foot room dedicated to my work. 

10. What was the biggest challenge you have encountered in the making of your art quilt for "An Exquisite Moment?"  The biggest challenge was overcoming my fear and hand painting the images directly without using stencils. 

http://stacyhurt.blogspot.com