An exhibit of the Quilts of Gees Bend is currently on display at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, so we took the family after Christmas.

I was excited to see the quilts, because much has been made of them in the art quilt world, and in various other places like Auburn University’s program in Women’s Studies.

The basic story behind them is that a community of African American women in Gee’s Bend, Alabama, well off the beaten track, were making quilts out of old clothes, much like women have been doing for many hundreds of years, but were “discovered” as art in 2002. They’ve been circulating all kinds of museums since then.

There is something striking about these quilts, but I’m disappointed in them after all the hype. And it may not be the quilts themselves that I’m disappointed in, but rather the hype.

The workmanship is, well, haphazard. The designs are quite wonderful, and the way the different, non-traditional fabrics are used. But to call them invaluable works of art, and to wax rhapsodic about their cultural significance just seems a little over the top to me. It all smacks of “let’s make some money” — not on the part of the quiltmakers themselves, but by those who “discovered” them. And, indeed, there have been some lawsuits filed (Reg may be req’d) by some of the quiltmakers who feel they’ve been taken advantage of.

What really struck me about the exhibit itself was that the written materials surrounding the quilts were not at all representative of the context in which the quilts were made. In fact, given the level of education prevalent among the quiltmakers themselves, they would not understand any of it if they were to read it. It’s so much empty, pretentious rhetoric, not part of the world in which the quilts were actually made. And I find that maddening.

There were a couple of different videos looping that showed people in the community, and in their own words, that did much more service to the quilts than the art-speak-babble. If only the rest of the exhibit had been framed this same way.

I don’t think the quilts are culturally insignificant, but I don’t see them as fine art, either. Folk art, yes, and they should be presented as such.

Announcing “Making Stuff,” my visual journal!

So JessPages has grown another section. I wanted a place I could put more pictures, without being limited to the rather narrow format I have here, and where I can explore visual ideas that I’m working with in various media.

I’m planning on going back through some old stuff, and also documenting various challenges that I am a part of, including the Taking it Further group and the Fast Friday Fabric Challenge.

Happy New Year!

I’m in kind of a funk, art-wise.

Part of working at home this year is about developing a body of work, developing myself as a fiber artist, and taking the time to just play with different materials. I joined a marvelous quilt-art challenge group, with a week-long challenge once a month, but haven’t been able to get it together enough to actually finish (or this week, even start!) a piece. I’ve done some sketching, but today I ended up re-teaching myself how to tat lace and made a pretty bookmark instead.

Another part of the funk is resisting the guilt factor — i.e. I’m “supposed” to be doing x or y — needless to say, this is the hardest thing for me. I’m very good at laying a trip on myself that just won’t quit.

But I have come to some conclusions in the last month or so of looking at lots of other people’s art online and reading and sketching, that I hope will help me in the weeks to come.

First, I just don’t enjoy representational, copied-from-a-photograph, fiber art. I really don’t like works that are printed on fabric and then embellished. Rarely are pieces like this done well, and even when they are, they just don’t say much to me.

On the flip-side, I also really don’t like works that are abstract for the sake of being abstract — in any medium.

So what do I like?

I like art that says something, that has a point of view, and that is executed in a skillfull manner.

And that’s probably what my hang-up is — I just haven’t practiced enough with the techniques that I would like to use in order to produce something of a quality worth putting my name on. In branching out into new textures and new techniques, I’m doing a lot of nuts-and-bolts learning, which is great, but not all that creative.

Learning to write is all about learning how to edit and throw away the stuff that isn’t working. Learning to make art has a good amount of that same principle involved, but since I’m using real fabric and thread and things I paid good money for, it’s so hard to be willing to commit to an experiment, with the idea that it might not work and may have to be thrown out.

Oy.

One more stole on the docket, to finish this week before we leave for General Assembly next Monday. The bright colors are so juicy — helpful for my mood in this busy time!

This will probably be the last project I have time for before the move, though I have several more in line once we’re settled. Here’s to work that fulfills!

It seems fitting to use my 500th post on this blog that I started just a few months after packing up everything we owned and moving to Chicago to support my husband through seminary to celebrate his ordination into the Unitarian Universalist ministry.

It was a gorgeous ceremony, attended by many wonderful people, and John definitely can’t back out of this whole thing now!

It is a blur. It’s so hard not to look at all of the milestones on the agenda for this Spring and not see a finish line, though we know that this is only the beginning of what will be a long journey. From here we pack up everything we own, again, and move somewhere completely new, with a completey different life plan than we’ve ever had before. This is where we get to follow our bliss, and both of us do the work we feel called to, rather than preparing for it.

And that’s kinda scary to think about, even though we can hardly wait to start.

But I know you’re all dying to see the stole, right?

And here are all three of the stoles I have made for ordinations — oh, and their ministers, too:

Well, more hand work than machine will be needed for this one, for a certain someone who will be ordained in less than a month.

Then there are the two pulpit rail cloths for that same event.  And the whole leaving town for ten days the week before. . .

I’m just a little bit busy.

This is a wonderful photographic essay on African American quilters in Louisiana:

Examination of the photographs of the steps and the variations in those steps of the complex technical process of quiltmaking yields insight into the quiltmakers’ aesthetic visions. The learning process of traditional quiltmaking parallels that of other folk arts, in that a few directions are given now and then, but generally the pupil learns by watching and imitating. Quiltmaking, like any folk art, requires a degree of technical ability. Competence in the craft involves not only the learning and practice of skills, such as color coordination, cutting and arranging patterns, piecing, and quilting but also the acquisition of knowledge of local standards and acceptable modes of creative expression. Most of these quilters learned quiltmaking basics between the ages of four and fifteen from mothers, grandmothers, and neighbors; then depending upon their interest in the craft, they developed their finer skills.

The pictures are really something. Really intricate piecing - unfortunately, there aren’t detail shots.

This stole was made for the ordination of the now Rev. Errant Frogs, which took place this past Saturday evening. I was given three guidelines for inspiration: Frank Lloyd Wright, the chalice of Unitarian Universalism, and the lotus of Buddhism. The colors came from Unity Temple, and the pattern is a vastly-simplified take on the Tree of Life stained glass windows. The brown silk ribbon fused on the left side represents the leading of the windows, but also the wood accents of Unity Temple.

I am so very pleased with this project - it was so gratifying to make, and to finish, and then to present to my dear friend as a gift from his home congregation. I don’t think the pictures really do it justice.

So here is part of the process:

Here’s the finished lotus on the back:

Here’s the detail of the chalice:

And here is the whole thing, lovingly modeled by Herbert:

I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at artists’ websites over the last week or so, and updating my Bookmarks page with those I find myself coming back to. For your browsing pleasure, I’d like to introduce two of my favorites:

Lura Schwarz Smith makes the most eye-poppingly amazing art quilts that never fall into the “it’s abstract and I put some extra embellishment on it, so it’s ART!” trap. Hers are just breathtaking. My favorite is on the index page of her site, “Seams a Lot Like Degas,” and she has made a high quality giclee print available of it. (’Cause, you know, my birthday is in only 3 months or so, so you should really start thinking now, right?)

And then, in an entirely different direction, take a look at the photography of Chema Madoz. The ordinary becomes extraordinary and you find yourself looking around with new eyes.

Scrumptious.

And tonight I put the last touches on the stole - just hand-work left, now, and it is absolutely everything I wanted it to be! I put it on Herbert last night over John’s robe after I finished turning and pressing, and it just took my breath away. Pictures next week, though you can see the Journal Quilt version now as a teaser (though it doesn’t do the finished product justice, I think. . .).

Awhile ago I discovered the Journal Quilt Project, and decided to use the idea to work out designs and techniques for clerical stoles. The idea is to make a finished quilt/fabric piece the same size as a regular piece of paper, 8.5 x 11″, so that the artist doesn’t fear committing too much time or materials in trying something new.

I’m working on a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired design for a friend who will be ordained in March, and here’s what I came up with:

The two sides of the stole are joined, and are about an inch narrower than they will be on the real thing. The color patterns will be elongated for the full length of the stole, too. Where the flame comes up, the brown fabric is folded over it three dimensionally, and the edges are loose. In person, it makes a little more sense.

I also have to still decide whether or not to use a hand-dyed silk ribbon to accentuate the seam lines on the left side, to make it look a little more like stained glass. I laid it over the top of this, and all of a sudden it got very busy looking. But, I don’t want to lose the feeling of the Tree of Life, either, so I have to see it in full size before I can make that decision.

Here’s the back:

I did two different techniques for the lotus - one straight stitch with a polysheen thread, and the second couched cotton cording with a couple of different threads to figure out which one works the best. It still needs some refining, but I like the pattern. I might try a light sage green thread, too.

Another change for the finished stole will be a muslin batting between the two layers. The green of the backing fabric is so dark that there’s a shadow through on the yellow on the front, so the neutral muslin will shield that without adding too much weight.

I will of course post pictures of the finished product after it has been presented to the owner, and then I’ll start on one for my darling husband, and then another for another good friend. Whee!