National Academy of Sciences Exhibition!!!!

Opening today, and running for 5 months - the SAQA Radical Elements exhibition.  The National Academy of Sciences Museum is located on the mall in Washington DC!

My piece in the exhibition is called "Zinc" - it is about the element Zinc in the periodic table of elements.  The middle layer of this "quilt" is actually made of thin sheets of zinc.

Food for Thought at National Quilt Museum

 My piece "Learning to Cook"  (detail above) is on display as part of the SAQA Food for Thought juried exhibition at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah. 

Screen prints of my grandmothers' handwritten recipes are over printed with a cellular pattern to represent ingredients.  Mine is one of the few abstract works in the exhibition.

 National Quilt Museum

The exhibition hangs through July 8th.

View the entire exhibition on the SAQA website.

Alternative Energy - vs- Fossil Fuels Journal

The artists were also required to create a journal about their subject and piece.  Here is the cover for my journal.  I made this wrap around cover for my journal.  The top image is the front and this second image is the back of the journal cover. 

Alternative Energy - vs- Fossil Fuels #2

Here is my small piece made to compliment the much larger piece as part of the SAQA Earth Stories Exhibition.  All the artists have been required to create a smaller piece measuring 12" x 14".

Alternative Energy - vs- Fossil Fuels Complete

I managed to complete this quilt - 72" square - from start to finish - in just two CRAZY weeks!  But there was more!  I had to make a smaller piece to accompany it (12 x 14") and also a journal to accompany my piece as part of the traveling exhibition. 

Earth Stories - Putting it Together

Here is a photo of the work in progress.  The big wind turbines are fused in place and I am auditioning this hand printed black fabric for the base.   Again, perhaps this will not be a collage, but rather, a whole cloth section that will be seamed to the top. 

72" Hand Painted Turbines

 As I moved forward and was getting near the deadline, I painted black wind turbines on the giant sunset collage.  I thought this would be the easiest way to do it.

Earth Stories - The Evolution of My Subject

I wanted my Earth Stories piece to be about energy sources, including the use of fossil fuels.  Montana is also the scene of extensive fossil fuel mining.  There are many oil wells, and huge coal mining operations scattered across the state.  The vast fracking operation known as the Bakken Oil Field is right along the border between Montana and North Dakota.  I hoped I could portray my mixed feelings about these various ways of obtaining energy. 

My search for a subject/project led me to Procon.org – a non-profit online pro and con forum that presents intelligent discussions on controversial subjects.  It contains a vast collection of professional writings offering both pro and con arguments for the use of Alternative Energy –vs- Fossil Fuels.  I contacted them and obtained their permission to use text from their website on my piece.  They graciously approved, provided I included the proper citations (which I have done).  Examples:

Jeffrey Sachs, PhD, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and Klaus Lackner, PhD, Ewing-Worzel Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University, in their Feb. 2005 paper, "A Robust Strategy for Sustainable Energy," a Brookings Papers on Economic Activity available on the Brookings Institution's website, wrote: "To provide all of current primary energy consumption in the United States from wind energy would require capturing, every day, all the kinetic energy from wind over an area of about 500 km by 500 km [approximately 97,656 square miles--size of Wyoming]. Meeting world energy consumption would require almost four times that area [approximately 1,562,500 square miles--two and a half times the size of Alaska.]." ProCon.org. "Is Wind Power an Economical Alternative to Conventional Energy?" ProCon.org. 10 Apr. 2009. Web. 7 Jan. 2014.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) wrote in its May 2009 report "Water Resources and Natural Gas Production from the Marcellus Shale" on the USGS website: "Natural gas is an abundant, domestic energy resource that burns cleanly, and emits the lowest amount of carbon dioxide per calorie of any fossil fuel... [N]atural gas resources in the United States are important components of a national energy program that seeks both greater energy independence and greener sources of energy... While the technology of drilling directional boreholes, and the use of sophisticated hydraulic fracturing processes to extract gas resources from tight rock have improved over the past few decades, the knowledge of how this extraction might affect water resources has not kept pace. Agencies that manage and protect water resources could benefit from a better understanding of the impacts that drilling and stimulating... wells might have on water supplies, and a clearer idea of the options for wastewater disposal." ProCon.org. "Should the US Use Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking) to Extract Natural Gas?" ProCon.org. 23 Apr. 2012. Web. 7 Jan. 2014.

 Here is a link to the website with the pro and con discussion of Fossil Fuels and Alternative Energy at ProCon.org.

http://alternativeenergy.procon.org

Earth Stories - The Beginning

Earth Stories is a SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association) Exhibition.  The artists were chosen through a call for consideration process.  Artists were asked to submit 3 pieces that were representative of the style for the piece we would be creating for Earth Stories if we were to be chosen.  The artists were also asked to present a proposal identifying a person or project that enhances the planet, makes a significant difference in restoring and/or protecting the environment, increasing sustainability or otherwise improving the earth we occupy.

For my story, I wanted to explore the imagery of wind farms.  I drive through the wind farm at Judith Gap, Montana every time I visit family in Central Montana.  I have long been captivated by the regal, yet alien nature of the gigantic wind turbines juxtaposed against the backdrop of four beautiful mountain ranges in the sparsely populated agricultural valley south of Judith Gap.

Earth Stories Exhibition Shows at UCM Gallery of Art and Design

 I am so thrilled to see my piece: "Alternative Energy -vs- Fossil Fuels" in the UCM Gallery of Art and Design, where it will hang through March.  Below, the postcard for the exhibition.  My piece got a nice spot on that, as well! 

I have not shared this piece on my blog yet.  I was waiting until it had been shown, first.  But now I can tell the story.  Stay tuned!

Radical Elements Exhibition Opens

Radical Elements SAQA Exhibition has just opened at Montgomery College in Silver Spring, Maryland.  http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/arts-tpss/exhibitions/

My piece, "Zinc" measures 22 x 36". Selected artists were asked to interpret an assigned element from the periodic table.  I used zinc sheeting, woven sheer nylon, screen printed and heavily stitched by machine before melting away between the stitched areas to create a supportive web.

 The artists were asked to keep the pieces under wraps until after the opening.  Two detail images below:

 

SAQA Trunk Show Entry

 SAQA was asking for auction pieces for a trunk show for an upcoming event.  The entries needed to be 7" x 10" .  They will be mounted on a black mat board measuring 9 x 12.  I did this piece in an afternoon and sent it off the next day, just barely making the deadline.  It is the same theme as my much larger piece measuring 72 x 72" that will debut at a SAQA exhibition this spring.  I'll share more details when I have them.

Silver Hills Detail

The picture below shows the silver splatters I added to the bottom third of the quilt after it was bound and finished (it needed a little something more).  Sorry I cannot share a full image of the finished piece until after the show opens.

Screen Printing the Base

 I had to mix all the colors for the screen printing ink for this piece.  Below, is the base printing.  Note the collage that has been block printed, followed by screen printing of the text.

Silver Printing Progress

 Here are a couple of detail images of the work in progress on my print table.  I wanted this piece to be about the human experience of mining for silver and I researched the Montana state historical archives to find journals and documents from the early silver mining years in the state.  I found letters exchanged between a Chinese grocery store owner in Helena and his wife in China, the Vigilante pact signed in Virginia City, letters from a young woman in Bannack to her family back in Ohio, an early newspaper called Little Rockies Miner, and accounting records from a mine company.  All of these were available to use - no copyrights, and I used them to create Thermofax screens specifically for this piece.

I did the block printing first with silver paint on a pale gray collage, followed by Thermofax screen printing of the text using white to very lightly tinted gray fabric ink.

Celebrating Silver

SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association)  is celebrating it's 25th Anniversary this year.

I was among the artists selected to create a commemorative piece for the special show entitled: "Celebrating Silver" curated by Nancy Bavor.

The show will not open for several months, but we had to have the pieces finished and photographed for the catalog by February 1.  I have been working away at my piece the past several months and managed to take a few images of the work in progress.  They do not want the artists to show too much of the piece before the opening, so I did not document my process nearly to the extent I normally would.

But here is a start...

I don't often show my sketchbook entries on my blog, but very often I do sketch something out before I start on a piece.  This is particularly true if I am making something with special dimensions (as in this case).

Here is my single page brainstorm for my Celebrating Silver piece:

I painted many gradations of gray / silver/ to charcoal fabric.  I knew I would be using a collage and print technique.  Here is one of the collaged areas that has been printed.

Printing the Binding

Well, actually I guess I do have one more image of the quilt I can share.  The binding has already been fused in place.  I used leftover fabric from the painted background.  I placed masking tape up to the edge of the binding and screen printed more of the text in place.  When it is dry, I can remove the tape and quilt on that narrow edge to secure the binding.

Quilting the Wind Turbines

At this stage of completion, I am going to have to limit my blog posting to this one last detail shot.  The artists have been asked not to reveal our pieces on our blogs or websites.  I did not get any pictures of the fossil fabric when I was making it.....it was a hectic time and I had no Photoshop for photo editing since my hard drive had crashed and my laptop was sent away for repair.  That is one of the many things that slipped through the cracks from late September to late October.  But here is a rather fuzzy shot - you get the idea.

I am afraid this is the most complete image I will be showing you until after the show opens in the spring.  I am happy to report that I was able to complete this entire quilt from plain white and black fabric in just two weeks.  It is fully quilted and bound, with the sleeve stitched in place.  It measures 72 x 72".  I have been able to get it professionally photographed, too.  So this one is behind me now.  Whew!

Painted and Printed Sky Fabric

Here is the background fabric - I started with white.  Painted it by hand, block printed and screen printed it to create this unique fabric that contains direct quotes from the ProCon.org website information on the pros and cons of Alternative Energy vs Fossil Fuels.

Hand Painted and Hand Printed Cotton

 This piece of hand painted / hand printed cotton measures 60" x 3 yards.  (I can't get the whole thing on my design wall so the photo doesn't show the whole thing).  A closer detail is shown below.

I feel like this is a bit darker than I might have wanted it to be.....however, I do plan to use white for the next layer of printing.  That should change things significantly.