LECTURE / TRUNK SHOW

HOUSTON 2011 BOOTH

EVERY quilt has a story and when your guild books my lecture #HHCIB, How Hard Could It Be, they get the fun and weird stories of how I arrived at this point in my journey as well as the quilt stories too!  Lots of eye candy and laughs and nodding of heads! We have more in common than we think.

Description: "One GIANT Show & Tell from start to present.  Meet Robin Koehler and hear how she stumbled upon this journey of quilting and design.  Trunk show quilts include 1st quilt, some winning quilts, pattern quilts, quilts juried into Paducah and Mancuso Mid-Atlantic shows, and a few art quilts just for fun."

Lecture/Workshops: http://nestlingsbyrobin.com/lectures--workshops.html
Email for more info: robin@nestlingsbyrobin.com

Go see who else is blogging today: http://muppin.com/wordpress/index.php/the-2016-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

Art Quilt Portfolio: People & Portraits

Martha Sielman's new book, Art Quilt Portfolio: People & Portraits has been calling to me from my inbox for over 2 months now.  I finally found a few hours to sit, read, admire, and reread.
Small disclaimer:  The poor photography is my error NOT the book, for it is gorgeous!

Personally, I have never felt the need or want to recreate a person in fabric which may relate back to my fear of eyes as a child.  All the photos and dolls had to be turned around at bedtime and no one caught this early warning of my neurosis:)). 

Even so, I can completely appreciate the skill it takes to achieve the depth and realism these artists are able to.  My personal favorites contain a background and/or landscape that helps to tell the story.

In the Intro, Martha speaks of her love of people watching and wanting to know and capture their stories.  I too am fascinated by people but not from an artistic point of view.  Where I am intrigued by the societal interaction (the way a mother holds, scolds, loves a child/ young lovers and old lovers), an artist wants to capture the look and feel of that moment.  This book contains some very successful moments in time.

Maria Elkins' work graces the cover and I use that word with every one of its meanings conveyed.  Words are hard to come by to describe the comfort I find in her work.  The cover quilt is phenomenally quilted and this, along with her other works, tend to contain traditional quilt images which may be why I am so drawn to them.  As you read, let her work take you to a similar moment in your life and you will understand the comfort.

Joan Sowada: Her shading is dead on and the backgrounds really pulled me in.  The few pieces in the book fascinated me enough to head over to her site where I found more lovely pieces including an adorable piece of 2 young girls with a quilt.
Again I felt that the backgrounds added so much to the story and I was very intrigued by how they were assembled to give so much movement.  Being an applique designer, I keep thinking I can accomplish this too but why try when the best are already here:)

Let's talk Nudity:  Blame my conservative upbringing, but I have never seen the point of nudity in art whether traditional paintings or other.  I am not saying I can't appreciate a good body but I just don't need to go see it out in public especially the ones made to shock.  Having said that, I really liked the beautifully creative way Sherri Culver (pg. 57) portrayed this young pregnant mother-to-be using floral fabric to symbolize the blossoming of new life. Whether that was her intent or not, that is what I, the viewer, took away. 

Yoshiko Kurihara (pg. 66) portrays people in such a festive way....There always seems to be a party happening.  She is able to bring such a joyful feeling to the viewer without facial details.
Masquerade on pg. 70 was my favorite (not just because I love the song from Phantom of the Opera either) because of all the other details she included of the room too.  It just screams FUN!

I have 2 artists I want to call out and praise for their exceptional use of commercial prints to achieve such emotion and realism.  I am not saying it is easy to paint a face because it isn't, but having that blank canvas sure helps.  Using a print of something completely unrelated to your topic to convey shades of a smile is quite a feat!
Margene Gloria May (pg. 112) and Lori Lupe Pelish (pg. 118), way to go.

Then we go a step further to exceptional use of a commercial fabric and take a look at Mary Pal (pg. 144).  Although I may not be drawn to faces, her skill at conveying emotion through cheesecloth knocks my socks off!

Because I like backgrounds so much, JennyBowker (pg. 150) grabbed my attention with how she put her people into their element.  Hassan and the Glass is fantastic in subject, skill, and color.  The work on her website contains so many exceptional, traditional backgrounds as well.  I could dream for hours here.

Pam Rubert has been on my radar for more than a few years now. Her work is so colorful and creative.  The biggest attraction for me though is her wordplay.  Anytime an artist can catch me with a pun or a play on words, I am in:) 

It is true that "art is in the eye of the beholder" because you just never know what will catch your eye and why.  I would say that I am not a lover of portraits but I found so many pieces in here that spoke to me.  Maybe it was a smile or a color or the movement in a background....

I could keep talking and pointing out the great skill and talent in the book but then there wouldn't be anything left for you...so go get it and share your insights with us.

New Art feels great

Making New Art feels so freeing. 
You may remember this piece from my 2009 post.

Tributaries Copyright 2009

I had so much fun creating it and I'm not sure how I became so sidetracked that I didn't do more of them.

Now I am getting excited again about this direction of work.  The above photo is the back of the piece and the below photo is the finished piece mounted to mat board.  It all came together nicely from having just the right sketch to just the right fabric to showcase the sketch to the beads and the mat board.

This will hopefully be going to a gallery in New Hampshire; and, as with all my work, there is a small bit of me that wants to keep it.  I just love it!  Now the hard part of naming it......

Come see what some other artists are working on here.  This is a weekly art blog hop called Off the Wall Fridays.

'Til next time:)

Back into a Gallery

 

I have to say, it feels good to be getting back to exhibiting my artwork.  I have a few pieces at a local Art Council space in Tarpon Springs, FL. Plus......

When I lived in NC, you may remember that I belonged to an art quilt group named Artrageous.  I left my challenge piece with them since there was some talk of us having a group exhibit at a local gallery in Greenville, NC.  Sure enough, here it is.

 

We are on exhibit at the Emerge Gallery in Greenville, NC.  This piece looks so much better on a white backgroud since you can really see the shape of my personal piece and the colors really pop for all the others.

For a better look at all the pieces, you can go to this previous post.
http://nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com/2011/03/artrageous-challenge-reveal.html

Of course, this isn't our first exhibit....Here is my Fractured Flower from the 2008 challenge.  It was very interesting to see what happened and although I didn't think it would work, it really does.

Our Fractured series was exhibited at the Inkstone Gallery in Greenville in 2009 and you can read more about these at the link below.

http://nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com/2009/02/fractured-flowers.html
I am very proud of this group and wish them all the best going forward!

Purely by accident....

I came across a WIP (works in progress) blog hop this morning starting here at Freshly Pieced. How fun it was to see so many others enjoying the art of quilting.  The projects are varied as are the stories that go with them.  It is easy to miss out when there is such an abundance of blogs to choose from but fun to take a few minutes (hours) every so often and see what trends are happening.  The timing was great too since I have a couple myself.  OK, not just a couple but only a couple got photographed for today.  I actually did start a list yesterday of WIPs and it is getting long:)

 

For today though I will start with one that has been hanging around for a while now and getting closer to finished.  I wrote about it here.  One day this little Drunkard's Path will be finished.

 

Drunkard's Path by hand

Drunkard's Path by machine

So even though they are finished at this moment, they weren't until just last night.  These are fun, quick little mug rugs for charity baskets I am assembling.  I guess the WIP part is that the baskets aren't done:)  I found some cute baskets at the local thrift shop along with some fun mugs and then created the quiltlets to match so I can have themes.

Fusible Applique Flower

Woven Heart

Small Scrap Art

This scrappy piece is going to have a sea scene quilted onto it.  It was made using the scraps from a paper piece design.  (Sorry can't show the design yet since I am waiting to hear back from a magazine.) Always said I wouldn't be one of those quilters that saved every scrap but I have a hard time throwing away the triangle bits when paper piecing.  When you stitch them together, a bit freestyle, they can make some interesting designs.  This piece only measures about 10" square but with some creative free motion quilting it will be frameable.

Lastly, Hexagons!  This is the trend I noticed as I went through the blog hop and seeing others' blogs as well.  I made some once before and they were adorable at 3/4" finished but these are so much more fun when made big!  These particular ones are 4-1/2" made using Moda charm square packs.  I took out the solid squares and designed redwork to go on those since I do love handwork.  The big question was to randomly assemble or put into flower shapes and applique onto squares for a wall hang???  I am leaning toward flowers, I think:)

I linked up at Freshly Pieced...come enjoy the Show and Tell.

MASTERS: Art Quilts Volume 2

MASTERS: Art Quilts Volume 2-- Can I just gush for a moment about and say; Wow, Wowee, Wowzee, Wowzer!!  I had the amazing opportunity to review this new wonder published by Lark Crafts and curated by Martha Sielman and what an honor it was!  Whether or not all the art within these pages speaks to you, it is imperative to our textile/fiber art community that we are aware of what strides are being taken to further our voices as a whole.

The first thing that struck me was the choice to use cool colors on the cover vs. the warm colors used on Volume 1.  The formatting of this book is ideal due to the ability to see an artist's body of work, instead of the typical 1 or 2 photos, which allows you to really get a feel for how that artist works.

About a month or so ago on the Quilt Art list there was a discussion about how textile/fiber artists discuss their work and how we generally discuss technique vs. thoughts or how we came to create a particular piece.  I don't know that that particular thought process would have mattered to me before the discussion but it stood out to me at this point in viewing.  Each artist has a mini bio at the beginning of their section and there are quotes of how they design sprinkled throughout their section but each photo has a list of techniques accompanying it.  Since my art consists of pretty basic techniques like photo printing, painting, and thread painting; I am fascinated by the endless variety of techniques used by the artists within these pages. 

There is a wonderful mixture of realism vs.abstract, traditional vs. innovative technique and you will be intrigued even when it isn't normally something you would be interested in.  I am not an abstract art viewer so when I find some I like, it is usually difficult for me to verbalize why I like it.  The following artists made me stop and take a second and third look:
Jan Myers-Newbury for her movement, texture, and Autumn colors.  I think color always plays a big part in the viewer being drawn into a piece.
Dirkje van der Horst-Beetsma for the movement of the jagged stitch lines and I really enjoyed the assembly of her work.
Nelda Warkentin for the movement, the sheer and light aspects, the obvious nature feel, and the repetition of design that spoke to me from a traditional perspective.

I would also like to point out a few other artists' work that I was intrigued by for various reasons:
Carolyn Crump for her great use of fabrics and her use of thread work for shading and facial detail.
Paula Nadelstern's work is mesmerizing from the urban (Tree Grate) to the magical (Ice Crystals-which prompted me to buy one of her books) but I am truly blown away by her landscapes, specifically Tulips in the Courtyard....Absolutely Lovely!
Laura Wasilowski's work is not only joyful but narrative and I can't believe she hasn't been approached to illustrate a children's book--specifically Lacking Gravity, Fences and Bridges 2, and Farm.
Linda MacDonald has a wonderful ability to bring serious subjects to the viewer in an extremely accessible way as you are drawn in trying to find other motifs with significance to the piece.
Maryline Collioud-Robert's repetitive lines are soothing even when meant to evoke vibrant energy.
Tim Harding intrigued from the cover and I wanted to see how he managed to create something abstract and realistic at the same time...his rippling water effects make you want to see them close up and/or go for a swim:)
Lastly, I am in love with The Tower by Izabella Baykova and want to visit that magical and ethereal destination.

"Quilting combines the best of what the art world has to give.  It can be sculptural. It can encompass drawing and painting.  It's the ultimate mixed medium."  Thank you, Jim Smoote, I couldn't have said it any better!
   

Coming to you now from FLORIDA

I can't believe it has been 2 months. Although I knew that I would lose a lot of time during the move, it still surprises me just how much.

So what have I been up to? Well after Easter and my girlies' birthdays, we prepared for my older daughter's graduation from ECU with 2 degrees no less!! I couldn't have been prouder.

Copyrighted 2010, "Flutterbys" NESTLINGS by Robin

These little framed butterflies were good-bye gifts to a wonderfully fun group of women I met with occassionally. They were gracious enough to invite me into their world and I will be forever grateful! Thank you!!

It was then time to visit my mother in Virginia one more time before moving. On the way, I FINALLY got the photo of the Tobacco Flowers that I had been trying to get for 4 years. They are so delicate for such a deadly plant.

Copyrighted 2010, "Spiked Pinwheels" NESTLINGS by Robin

Since the visit was right after Mother's Day, I was able to hand deliver my gift to her. Plus that gave me the excuse I needed to have a few more days to finish it:)

Added bonus: I was able to see my nephew that I hadn't seen in 2+ years...WOW he had grown and what a little personality. Here he is being a ham AND being licked to death by my Juni:)

All the work I had done before my trip to finish entries for the local quilt guild show paid off with 2 Blue Ribbons. Here is one for the challenge quilt that I named, "Snow Bird". The second one I will not show since I have entered it in Houston and don't want to jinx it:)

So now I live in Florida (Tampa Bay area) and this is a flower from my backyard. I don't know what it is but it is Orange, one of my favorite colors, so it doesn't really matter to me as long as it keeps blooming:)

Artrageous Challenge Reveal

ARTRAGEOUS, my art quilt group, revealed our 2010 challenge this past weekend. It is really hard to work on something fun and not share it for a whole year! 'Fabric Gossip' used the Telephone Game as our guide but using a photo vs. a whispered secret.
Since I was the first person in my group, I got to see the photo and I knew immediately that I wanted to use one of Gloria Loughman's techniques in my background. The technique isn't hard but it was very challenging, to me, trying to place the colors the right way so that it would be pleasing to the eye, not too drastic, and be recognizeable.

I started cutting a batch of diamonds in various sunset colors.

Once they were sewn together for the sky, I wanted to portray the water with a different directionality. Kathy Loomis had just posted on her blog about piecing gentle curves. I followed her directions and considering it was my first time doing this, was ok with how it turned out. The sky was then hand appliqued to the water area where the darker orange is.

Here is a cropped photo of the background all pieced with the tree and horizon line fused on. I then added a bit of fabric paint along the horizon line and below the tree to represent the reflection in the water.

Here is the finished piece completely quilted and faced. The moon was portrayed using the small holeless beads that you glue on. I am not quite sure this was the best technique to use since they want to flake off with too much handling. I fear as this piece gets put up in exhibit after exhibit, the beads will continue to wear off. They would be fine to use if you just hung it on the wall and left it alone.

This was so much fun and when you click on the link below, you can see the original photo along with all the other pieces and how the photo changed as each person received their bit of information.

http://artrageousfibreart.blogspot.com/2011/03/2010-challenge-reveal.html

Simple shapes lead to design wealth

Wow, where did the time go since my last post? Well, I know some of it was spent with the lovely group at the Durham Orange Quilt Guild. I was their June program and had so much fun sharing my design ideas with them.

One of my lectures is about using simple shapes that we all know and can draw (I promise) to design with. The above picture is of a gum tree. Once you learn to break it down into simple shapes, you can design your own art quilts. I think in the beginning we are all a bit intimidated about where to start and my lecture, "All Around Us: An Interactive Design Lecture", gives a full hour of 'jumping off' ideas.

What can you do with circles, rectangles, and triangles?