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!

Festival in Houston - Awards Ceremony

Leslie Tucker Jenison wins First Place in the Digital Imagery category!  Congratulations, Leslie!

All of the winning quilts are displayed around the ballroom.  Leslie talking about her amazing quilt with a crowd around her.  "Amsterdam Alley."

Quilting Daily Interview with Leslie and Jamie

We were interviewed by Vivika DeNegre in the current issue of Quilting Arts Magazine all about Dinner at Eight Artists.  You can read about it on the Quilting Daily Website

Rituals Walk-Thru at Festival in Long Beach

Leslie Tucker Jenison offered a Walk-Thru Art Talk in the Rituals exhibit at Festival in Long Beach.  Both days were well attended.  Jamie was hand to answer questions and take pictures.

Questions for Curators - Part 2

Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison

Questions for Curators - Part 2

photo from one of our classes in Houston

11. What's your best piece of advice for other artists?
Leslie- This sounds flippant but I believe it is the truth:  Just go into your studio and make stuff.  Don’t worry about outcome or what anyone else thinks:  keep playing and experimenting.  The best things happen when I ask myself, “What if?”.
Jamie - Start small, and play with fabric and thread.  Use the colors, textures and patterns that inspire you.  Grow into your art, but the the most important thing is just to do it - practice and have fun.

12. What's your least favorite technique that you still use anyway?
Leslie- I still, occasionally, use discharge paste.  I don’t like it because it is stinky and I am skeptical about how safe it really is.  So, I use it sparingly, with a respirator, in good ventilation.
Jamie - I am still wondering what to say.  I don’t think I have an answer, because I like everything that I do, except for making hanging sleeves, which is not a technique, but I don’t like it just the same.

13.  Not counting art quilts, what do you collect?
Leslie- Oh dear.  I have a glass fetish. I pick up rocks when I travel (and sometimes bottles of beach sand).  I love wind-up toys.  I collect my children’s art, and I still have all our “little kid” books.  They are so precious to me.
Jamie - Don’t get me started.  There are many things that I used to collect, but those have taken their course.  I still collect old suitcases, metal boxes, unique dishes, cups, and weird stuff that I can repurpose.

14. Which great artwork would you love to hang in your own home?   (A game also known as, "What would you steal from the MoMA?")
Leslie- What a great question!  If I could have Matisse, Raoul Dufy, or one of the other fauvists, I would be pretty happy.  I adore Mary Cassatt’s work as an Impressionist painter, and I think she was very “bad ass” to be in such a boy’s club!
Jamie - Do I have to pick just one?  Kandinsky abstract, but would love a Degas with the dancers and Mary Cassatt just tugs at my heart.

15.  What moment or event started both of you to go into the Art Quilt direction?
Leslie- I am from a traditional quilt making background. I still love the heritage of traditional work.  I evolved from that genre because I wanted to create unique pieces.  I’m not as interested in making functional textiles anymore, but still do make the occasional “quilt quilt”.  I’m simply MORE interested in the tactile, 3-dimensional qualities that are possible with the quilt as art.
Jamie - I made traditional quilts, but always with some sort of twist, because it was hard for me to conform to the rules..no big surprise there.  I just wanted more, and when I learned to fuse, my whole quilting world changed, to take me to the next level.  I still love traditional quilts, it is just that I don't want to make them.

16.  What artistic endeavors were you involved in before Art Quilts?
Leslie- I’m a painter in addition to being a quilt maker.
Jamie - Watercolorist, made jewelery and decoupage, and I still do these things, but at a lesser degree.

17.  Describe your process for choosing a theme for your exhibits.
Leslie- We have a list of possible themes.  We are always tossing things around.  As I stated before, we try to consider a theme that is broad enough to encompass both representational and abstract interpretations.
Jamie - We throw a bunch a themes around, add to, delete from and then determine if a certain theme could be interpreted into fabric from both of our points of view, and then go beyond that.  I mean if we can't come up with an idea for an art quilt - then how could anyone else?  Things to consider.

18.  What are the future plans for Dinner at Eight?
Leslie/Jamie -We hope to broaden the scope of venues for the exhibitions and we are currently exploring some options in addition to the quilt festivals.  Stay tuned!

19.  Jamie:   How do you feel that having a studio outside of the home has impacted your work? What are the pros and cons?
Moving my studio out of the house was the best thing I have ever did (5+ years), because it gave me balance between home and studio.  I go to my studio Mon-Fri, and am home at night, to cook dinner and enjoy evenings with my husband. Sometimes I bring home handwork or my sketchbook.  Weekends spent at home, and it is rare that I work in my studio on the weekends.  It has given me more focus, and freedom to explore my art, because I have more room to spread out.  I am packing up my current small studio, and moving to an industrial space with one room consisting of 1000 sf.  The con would be no a/c or heating, but I am sure I can work around that.  It's my dream space!

Leslie:    Do you feel that the geographical area that an artist works in has any effect on their work? That is the light, topography, culture, regional differences etc?
Leslie-My personal response is yes, absolutely.  Perhaps this is the artists’ version of “You are what you eat”!  As an artist, I tend to believe that my work is a response to my own history, my environment, my daily experiences.

20.  Where are you guys scheduled to teach?
Leslie/Jamie -We took a teaching break this year, and frankly, it was a good thing we did:  Jamie experienced the loss of both parents and the subsequent aftermath of dealing with all that flows from that.  We both had our youngest children graduate from college.  Personally, I have had an upswing in commitments with the Alliance for American Quilts and the Surface Design Association, as well as some other things.  For a year that was supposed to be quieter it has been anything but!  Jamie - I've enjoyed making quilts, exploring, and heading up a sub-committee for SAQA.  I do miss the students!  Maybe next year!

Questions for Curators - Part 1

Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison
a couple of serious curators


Every year we ask the artists in our exhibit to give us a list of questions to answer.  This year we have 20, so today and tomorrow, we will answer your questions.


1.  If you couldn't do art, what would you do to feed your soul and  fulfill yourself?
Leslie -I’m a gardener and a cook, and I find these creative outlets very “artful”.  I can’t tell you how many things I have puzzled out while digging in the dirt!
Jamie - I love to read, research genealogy and tell the story of our family history in scrapbooks, work in the garden and cook. 

2.  How did you find your way into quilting/fiber art?
Leslie- Although my paternal grandmother was a seamstress and quilt maker, I did not learn from her.  Rather, I was exposed to the love of quilt making through a nurse-colleague during my years as an inpatient obstetrical nurse.
Jamie - I learned how to sew at a young age from my grandmother, which led me to make my first quilt in 1981.

3.  What has been your most memorable "aha!" moment in your art?
Leslie- Now, this is a tough question.  I’ve had a lot of “aha moments” in my studio, as I believe we all do.  If I have to choose one scenario it would have to be when I realized that creating unique cloth with personal imagery provided another “layer” of meaning to my work.
Jamie - this year actually, after losing both of my parents so close together and I was literally shut down, for obvious reasons.  I got my mojo back when making my entry for the Alliance for American Quilts contest “home is where your story begins.”

4. How do you physically design your "mock-up" for the exhibit???
Leslie- Jamie is the guru of mock-ups.  I bow to her!  It begins with a configuration, provided by the venue.  I use small photos of each quilt to arrange them on a grid.  I ask myself these questions; what quilt do I want the viewer to see if coming from this direction - those pieces are all put into play from every vantage point, and then I go about placing the pieces that enhance one another throughout the exhibit.  It’s really a dance of puzzle pieces.  I enjoy it immensely.

5. Do you Skype or I Chat often, being the dynamic duo that you are??
Leslie- Oddly, we don’t Skype very much, but we have very frequent email exchanges and phone conversations.  We have a long-running email exchange that we call, “Coffee Break”, which, coincidentally, is the theme of my curator’s quilt for the “Rituals” exhibition this year!
Jamie - We email mostly and talk on the phone.  Our e-mails always have “coffee break” or something similar in the subject, so we know to get a cup of coffee or tea, and sit down to read.  The simple joys in life are the best!

6.  Do you realize how grateful we are, as artists, for your efforts to propel us to stardom in the art quilt world??
Leslie/Jamie -Do YOU realize how grateful WE are, as curators of this exhibition, that you have carved out the creative time and energy to put forth your amazing work?  Seriously, it is our profound honor that you allow us to present your work.

7.  When you design the exhibit theme, do you consider whether the entries will be mostly representational or abstract? Do you have a preference?
Leslie- We try to come up with a theme that will embrace both styles of work.  It is, in our opinion, one of the best components of d@8 exhibits: the marriage of these two styles that become unified through the common theme.
Jamie - It’s not really something that I think about, to be quite honest.  We want the “best” work, and if it fits into the exhibit as a whole, it works for us. And work that matches the artists statement. I have no preference for representational or abstract.

8.  Have  you considered proposing a retrospective book to an established publisher?
Leslie- We have discussed this possibility.  Stay tuned!!
Jamie - Yes, and “best of” exhibits too.  Imagine the possibilities!

9.  Having curated shows myself I know that putting together "Rituals" has been a very large commitment of time and resources. Why do you do it?
Leslie- This is a multi-pronged answer:  We love showcasing the talent in our  segment of the art world, and part of that is seeking out emerging artists to rise to the challenge of entering a show.  Jamie and I enjoy the give and take of the collaborative process as co-curators.  We see things through different lenses, and I think this is one of the biggest strengths of our exhibitions.
To be honest, bringing the online entry process into the equation this year was an enormous help to us!  Wow, I can’t even tell you how many hours of labor it saved us!  Hooray for Art Call!
Jamie - It is a large commitment, but I enjoy every aspect of it, and having Leslie to collaborate with, utilizing our different strengths, works for us. Being highly organized helps.  I think the opportunity to work with such creative artists is a huge bonus. Using Art Call made a huge difference for us this year, because it took a lot of the extra work that is created by having CD’s and paperwork, off our plates.  It literally simplified the way that we work, and having the advantage of seeing all of the works on one page, and to be able to go back and forth on the artists pages to see their inspiration and statement, as invaluable.  And in turn, a venue can work with the information in the program, saving them time too.

10.  What's the most inspiring trip you've ever taken?
Leslie- I have been very fortunate to travel a great deal.  I believe one of  my favorite trips was to Italy:  we visited many parts of north-central Italy where we have close friends who live on the shore of Laggo Maggiore, on to Florence, and then to Rome.  The beauty of the land, the history, and the lifestyle and culture of the Italians was so inspiring.  Second to that would be Russia.
Jamie - My inspirational places to visit are Seattle, Ashland, OR, Cambridge, MA, NYC and San Francisco.  Mostly because there is family there.  And in those cities, there is a synergy with the architecture, artistic community, restaurants, culture, and they get my creative juices flowing.

CREATE in Lisle, IL

CREATE with Cloth Paper Scissors in Lisle, IL
Wed, Aug 24th to Sun, Aug 28th Retreat

Folding Artists Houses - Sat, August 27th from 9-4pm

Apron as Personal Armor - Thurs, August 25th from 9-4pm