ARB Exhibiton 2016 Photos

I have lost my rhythm and routine for posting blogs. Did I ever have it?. 

There are so many distractions, and time goes by so quickly. I believe though, that it is important to keep up with it however erratic my posts might be. With a bit of discipline and determination I will get there (I will never give up trying). My exhibition was a great success. I was pleased with the overall layout of the work that I displayed. It came together and showed a strength which I had not realized was present in my work. I saw some pieces differently and they took on a whole new meaning in the venue that was the exhibition space. I have a few photos to share below.

I loved the impact that these quilts made at the entrance.

Smaller quilts on the rails.

The building has wonderful architectural qualities which complimented the work. I used the railings to hang a few quilts and the larger ones were really quite breathtaking on entering the foyer.

Ilatmal wall hanging

The floor in the photo above had a collection of  three pieces entitled I am not my hair, I explored the ideas of traditional beauty and how sometimes you are stereotyped  based purely on how you look. My inspiration was drawn from  reactions to my own hairstyle. They were behind glass so did not photograph well.They were positioned on the yellow wall.

These two pieces were placed at the end of the corridor

The small piece on left is inspired by my mother and her battle with Alzheimer's, it is a mixed media painting with images of haunting symbols which resemble African masks. Alongside this I placed "Question of a Woman" a quilt based on the Ngady masks.

The yellow wall complemented these pieces

This piece was made from handmade paper and Tyvek.

I am now looking forward to my next exhibition and hope that I am able to produce even more stimulating and thought provoking work.Finally a photo of Melissa below with a quilt I made of her using her dyed fabric, she was pleased as it made a powerful impact at the end of a dark corridor.

Melissa with a quilt made in her likeness.

Always About My Mother

I know that my grieving process has been helped by my ability to create art, Quilts in particular.My quilts based on my mothers Alzheimer's have helped me to deal with my feelings about it, how it affected my mother, my family and myself. I have recently finished yet another quilt from the very last photograph I took of her. Please have a look at the stages of this quilt's development below.
First, I cropped the photograph to give the effect of her peering around the door. She always did this in a playful manner when she was in prime health, it gives a glimpse of her sense of humour, she would often sneak up and stand peering from the corner of a doorway, sometimes causing a loud squeal (from me) when I realised she had been watching me for ages. I now do this to my children and sometimes get similar reactions (squeals and laughter).
Although her image is not a laughing happy one with no smile or twinkle in her eye, in essence it is still her. I am instead showing an image of someone (my mother) peering out, trapped trying to escape, a total contrast to how this scene would have played out when she was well, (before Alzheimer's took her). The forever lost expression of Alzheimer is evident in this.

To begin with I cropped the photo, enlarged it and pinned it onto the wall of my studio (Photo 1). I sometimes prefer to paint this way. I am trying to document and share my creative  process by showing the development of my work so expect to see more of this in my blogs.
 For this piece I began on printed yellow fabric instead of my own hand dyed fabric as an experiment, to see if this manufactured fabric would affect the end result.

                                                           Photo 1
                                                             

The Photograph in the middle shows the cropped photo of my mother which I used, to the left is the enlarged  drawing / outline on paper  and on the right, the initial painted areas on the yellow printed fabric.

                                                           Photo 2

In this one (Photo 2) the image is beginning to show some development with dark areas and middle tones added.

                      

 I am feeling the form of the face taking shape not totally happy with her eye.

                    It is progressing well, work is needed on the hair, that eye is still a problem for me.

                                 I think this is a good representation which will be enhanced with stitch. It is time to prepare for quilting.

The selection of brown Gutermann  and Madiera threads .

Finished quilting, and kept stitching of the area around the eye to a minimum. This emphasized it.

detail of quilting.

Portrait of a young woman

This is the second video which I have posted on my blog and the process  was done in my sketch pad (A3) using water soluble colours.

 

This video shows how my idea develops from a simple outlined drawing inspired by colours I liked  from another image, This is the first stage of a process which resulted  in a small quilt. I have divided the film into two parts, the fist bit is done on paper and then the same image is transferred to fabric. The final quilt will show elements which are inspired by Klimt and Ghanaian symbols.

Look out for Part 2 when I transfer the image to fabric, develop the design and quilt it.