Saturna is a small place, adrift between the mainland of BC and Vancouver Island, with a small population. It must be the water, the air, the greenery… because this island inspires a considerable percentage of the population. Saturna is home to several artists who will be showing their work during Thanksgiving Weekend.
As the dates near, more information will be available on the Art Saturna site. In the meantime, here is the poster!
After a few weeks (has it been that long?) of absence, I am back indoors and blogging.
Even though summer is not officially over, I can feel the change of season in the air.
A new season, and time to get serious about studio work. After a summer of wandering outside and goofing around in the garden, plus taking lots of pictures, it’s time to spend a bit more time inside.
Today, my work space looks like it was hit by high winds. I’ve turned the tables (literally!) to face my design wall – and the music (there is a mini-stereo on the shelves)… We will see if that helps focus the mind… Altogether a good thing. And rummaging through boxes of fabrics, I am rediscovering colours I hadn’t seen in some time.
Let us see what the next weeks bring.I just hope I don’t trip over the fabric.
After the weekend art show at Muse Winery, on Vancouver Island, I got home last night, on the evening ferry. Once the car was unloaded, I put my feet up and had a glass of wine. My body was tired (and my feet were aching… note to self: “get better shoes”!), but I felt very energized by the weekend. The people, the conversations, the art on display… it was all inspiring.
I have exhibited before, but the settings were entirely different. They were usually textile-oriented events, and most often, I was not in the room! This was definitely a new experience for me: meeting people and talking about my art, while standing right there, in front of it. And more importantly, talking about art quilts with quite a few people who are not familiar with that medium. Once I got over my initial shyness and hesitation, it became fun. I was “forced” to come out of my shell (smile)… and to become comfortable with that “spokesperson” role, not only for my work, but also for textile art in general.
It was especially nice to show my work among a group of artists who work in different media. I think that the contrast between these various modes of self-expression really enhances their display. I will let the pictures of the room speak for themselves. The pictures are a bit dark because I took them just after set-up, before the Friday night “vernissage”, so the lights are not all on….
I am also very happy to report that one of my new quilts – Trio– has been purchased and is going in a private collection.
After a long dry interval, I am back in the studio and working on new pieces. Here is one, still to be textured, but assembled nevertheless. It is now parked, while another very brightly coloured version is in the works… The working title is Leaf Study 4 – Trio…
Eons ago, it seems, I made a quilt that is still travelling in the Quilt National 2009 show. The collector who purchased my piece is patiently waiting for its return… later this fall.
One of the artists featured is Bean Gilsdorf, whose work tackles eloquently assorted political issues, politicians, bankers, and so on.
There is a long history of quilts being used to express political opinion. Women have been far from silent, with needle and thread. In this article, Patricia Cummings gives a good background on American political quilts, going back to the 19th century.
“54-40 or Fight”
Take, for example, the Fifty-Four Forty Or Fight quilt block (link to the block pattern here, if you are interested). The block is named after one of the slogans that referred to the
“Oregon boundary dispute, or the Oregon Question, arose as a result of competing British and American claims to the Pacific Northwest of North America in the first half of the 19th century. Both the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (USA) had territorial and commercial aspirations in the region as well as residual claims from treaties with Russia and Spain.” (From this Wikipedia page that provides a detailed description of that situation.)
In this US National Park Service page, there is a brief description of of the situation, and how war between the US and Great Britain was avoided by one wise Colonel Kearney. Otherwise, the province where I live might have been “Oregon Territory”, or simply put, in the US…
Underground Railroad Quilts
Then, there are the blocks with secret meaning that were put into quilts to quietly help illiterate slaves follow a route of escape – the Underground Railroad – from the US to Canada. This black history website from Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, is chock-full of very interesting information. Worth exploring.
“The quilt patterns, used in a certain order, relayed messages to slaves preparing to escape. Each pattern represented a different meaning. Some of the most common were “Monkey Wrench”, “Star”, “Crossroads”, and “Wagon Wheel”. Quilts slung over a fence or windowsill, seemingly to air, passed on the necessary information to knowing slaves. As quilts hung out to air was a common sight on a plantation, neither the plantation owner nor the overseer would notice anything suspicious. It was all part of a day’s work for the slaves.” (From the Quilts page of the black history website, Owen Sound, Ontario.)
While this website goes on to explain that historians and scholars still dispute whether escaping slaves actually used these coded messages to find their way, we are reminded that there is no written proof of this “petite histoire”. It was passed down through the generations, as part of story-telling tradition.
There is also a reference to the music, songs that people sang to themselves for comfort – often gospel music. In Wade in the Water, the message refers to the flight of the Israelites from Egypt. The lyrics are “instructional”… As a treat, I’ve added a video, a clip from an Alvin Ailey classic choreography, Revelations. Enjoy!
Wade in the water, Wade in the water children. Wade in the water God’s gonna trouble the water
