Art and beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
Just back from symposium- did a fab class with Linda Beach...that's deserves a new post soon....
Well headed along to opening evening and was going to exit early if Rachel (friend coming to Symposium) arrived. Suddenly I heard my name called. I had second thoughts about entering my quilts- I wasn't happy with them as you'll see in an earlier post....but Simply child's play won 1st prize in the growing the passion section.
The blurb (which was incorrect in catalogue with their auto corrected spell checker!)
Simply child's play 125cm X 97cm - Growing the passion Section
Playcentre is where my daughter Maya was nurtured & supported to explore her passion and interests via play. Play is learning. An original design inspired by images from my daughters Playcentre profile book. One part (the quilted diamond pattern) was inspired by some Tukutuku panels at Te Papa - the diamond pattern representing the quest for learning.
I pieced and appliqued this quilt and then quilted it. I then went to paint the faces using artist's acrylic paint (just as Annabel Rainbow does).
I usually paint with textile paint, then stitch. The paint seemed to get sucked into batting, and I did not get it sitting on top of the fabric ( perhaps as it was Prepared for dyeing fabric which is designed to suck it in, rather than with other cotton which may have a treatment that prevents that?)
The faces ended up with 90year old wrinkles, so had to be quilted. Also the fine details of the paint just bled into the quilting stitch. So in comparison to my COMFORT OF STITCH it's terrible!
I collected all sorts of fabric to piece the background..stuff that was themed with all things play, children, creativity.... I love the top right corner and bit under the girls and the cellotape.... Michael Miller's Let's pretend fabric.
Seemed just what Playcentre was about....learning via play - role play..
"lets pretend that I am a maiden and you are a super pilot and we run away from a scary guy is really only the cat so we fly in your spy jet craft as fast as we can but on accident we crash into a secret land with big wild beasts and a warrior chief who wants us to dance but it starts to have lightening and thunder so we build a really awesome fort like a castle so you and me get to be king and queen of the land and we make our own rule like you can eat cupcakes for lunch but then a scary dragon sees them and tries to take the cupcake so I turn into a giant owl and try to scare him but then he starts to cry so I give him a chocolate one and he turns nice and then he is our pet. OK?"
Yep a day in the life of Playcentre indeed ! Full of creativity energy and enthusiasm!
But many thanks to the judges - its all in the eye of the beholder- what grabs one person will not grab another!
Thanks to Rose City Quilters who generously supported with a fab prize that's supported my fabric addiction in the merchants mall!
The other quilt is one of my "signature style" art quilt which I wish I had taken more time on, but happy with it. I had hoped to enter it into the HOT PR section which takes inspiration from a piece form page 5 of a newspaper. I entered it, only to be rung and told it was outside the specified dimensions ( HOW DID I MISS THAT!) So I was given the option to changing it to a new section, which I did. I was inspired by a newspaper editorial on the use of 1080 poison ( little green bait) to kill pests from our National parks to preserve our flora and fauna, and the debate about by kill and toxicity etc...
So as it eventually was moved to the No Place like Home section - Juvenile Delinquent #14: to be green or not to be, is that not the question? 50cm X 155cm
The blurb: The NZ tree, the Horoeka/Lancewood in its juvenile form is delinquent in its growth, growing downwards, long serrated leaves. At maturity its leaf form and direction changes. Is our view on not using 1080 delinquent when 9 out of 10 kiwi chicks die before breeding age and one bumper tree seeding could result in 4 million rats!
This is how it should have been hung ( it was crooked and I am told may not have had the dowel insert - I didn't get to see it close up to check as I whizzed about in my lunch-hour)
This quilt contains a central dowel stem that sits in a casing on the front. It represents the leaf stem/rib and makes the piece more 3D and allows for easy hanging on a wall. The dowel is like a tent pole....it is in sections so the entire quilt can be rolled up and easily transported as a small 50cm roll.
It is a series of work about the juvenile lancewood and the theme delinquent (from the fact the tree growth is quite delinquent)....I've done canvas and textile in this series ( up to 14) Here are a few canvas and textile ones...they all reside in private collections in NZ and the States
There were a few quilts at symposium that caught my eye - will tell more about those and my class in the next post!