Kansas Art Quilters: Upon Reflection
2003 Member Exhibition
Title: “Self-Portrait No. 1: Four Faces”
Artist: Sharon Bass
Size: 18"w x 20"h
Materials Used: Cotton fabrics, wool batting, metallic threads, beads
Construction Techniques: Machine appliqué and piecing, machine quilting, hand
embellishment
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Metallic thread quilting and beading
Artist’s Statement: My sister surprised with a box of family photos last
year-pictures I have never seen or have no recollection of having seen. For weeks they sat
on my table, these pictures of parents and grandparents, of my childhood, my own family
and friends. Upon reflection, these images began morphing in my mind: the faces of my
grandmother, myself at the age of 10, my grown-up self and my granddaughter. They are me
and I am them.
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Title: “Self-Portrait"
Artist: Shin-hee Chin
Size: 31"w x 36"h
Materials Used: Scraps of fabric
Construction Techniques: Folded and whip stitch yoyo quilt
Artist’s Statement: This quilt is a self-portrait, consisting of 750 pieces of yoyo
quilts. I utilize a variety of remnants of fabrics from my previous works. It is designed
to be viewed from both sides. I fold fabrics for the individual blocks and whipstitch
until I make a structure of rear view. Then I stitch yoyos on the surface of the front
side. These processes have an important meaning for me both as a compositional device and
as an obsessive activity. The rear side represents my ethnic cultural and artistic
heritage whereas the front side represents my experiences in America, which seems to value
and encourage individual creativity and expression.
Title: “Window to my Soul”
Artist: Rosemary Claus-Gray
Size: 21"w x 20"h
Materials Used: Scrim, chiffon, silk, threads, tulle base
Construction Techniques: Collage, appliqué, piecing. Transparency is maintained by not
using a batting, and using a sheer backing.
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Embroidery stitches, free motion quilting
Artist’s Statement: “Window to my soul” reflects my inner sense of
spirituality, those mysterious and unknowable parts of my unconscious, and the fire,
passion and spark of like that expresses my individuality. The slashes mark those
life-changing events that have left scars, which I have overcome. My choice of sheer
fabrics in the center of the piece, surrounded by translucent scrim in the borders adds to
the sense of looking through a wind at the fire burning in my spirit. The boundaries serve
to protect the inner self, and establish a “Window to my Soul.”
Title: “Enmeshed”
Artist: Joan Lockburner Deuel
Size: 23"w x 35"h
Materials Used: My hand dyed cotton, recycled clothing, chalk pastel, rayon and poly
threads
Construction Techniques: Machine piecing, collage, machine quilting
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Ribbon, covered buttons. Pastels on wet fabric
Artist’s Statement: This is how I feel about quilting. Enmeshed in textiles, color
and space.
Title: “Jump, Jive and Ribbet”
Artist: Jane Elias Elliott
Size: 28"w x 24"h
Materials Used: Cotton, polyester knit, nylon, lame’, polyester batting and acrylic
felt
Construction Techniques: Machine and hand pieces and appliquéd, iron on adhesive,
computer scanned and printed, paint and glue
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Google eyes and plastic beads were glued. Glass
beads, plastic frogs, foam lily pad were hand sewn. Machine and hand quilted with rayon
cotton and metallic threads.
Artist’s Statement: Seeing oneself in the newspaper has made me reflect on my frog
like existence. My family has held me together through years of ups and downs and
discovering I had ADHD.
I began choosing fabric and decorating it when I was four. My background includes design
and building of homes inside and out, wiring fashion design, window dressing, shepherding
and fence building.
I always return to manipulate fabric. My art may encompass a body or hang on a wall and is
as eclectic as my life. The common thread is the creation of a story from a spoken word or
phrase to help the viewer visualize a subject. In so doing I hope the viewer will stop to
think, imagine, dream and hopefully grin before they resume their life.
Title: “Sepia Self-Portrait”
Artist: Mary Elmusa
Size: 30"w x 30"h
Materials Used: Cotton fabric, metallic threads
Construction Techniques: Machine pieced, machine quilted
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Fabric dyed in gradated browns; machine quilting
with metallic threads
Artist’s Statement: This is a portrait that began as a digital photo I took of
myself. I often use Photoshop software in the initial stages of designing because I enjoy
the versatility and immediacy of results in planning ideas. This digital photo of myself
was manipulated using a mosaic filter feature of the program. I dyed the cloth in 6
gradated values of warm brown. The quilt is machine pieced and quilted with metallic
threads. I liked taking the image to the place where it is not recognizable unless one
stands back at a distance. The self-portrait fades in and out of perception depending on
the viewer’s position.
Title: “We Rise 2”: Quilt on a Frame series
Artist: Linda Filby-Fisher
Size: 10"w x 12"h
Materials Used: Hand dyed and printed Indonesian cotton, printed USA cotton, silk velvet,
and netting. Handmade and parchment papers. Copper mesh, and wire fencing. Computer
printed photo and text. Stone fetish, metallic beads, feather, and bark. Acrylic paints.
Permanent inks, and adhesives. Cotton, metallic, and nylon threads.
Construction Techniques: Machine appliquéd, pieced and quilted. Using cloth and thread,
adhesive, acrylic paint, permanent ink, metals, fetish and beads, photographs, text,
parchment and hand-made papers, feather and bark, the assemblage was hand drawn and
painted, computer printed and hand sewn. A completed quilt is incorporated into a collage,
which has been created on stretched canvas. The quilt and the collaged canvas remain
separate, but interdependent.
Artist’s Statement: Through the pain and glory of existence we gain wisdom and
strength; we rise. As a quilt artist I desire to create quilts with visual impact, and
distinct meaning. Each quilt is created with purpose: each is an offering. For many years
I had a dual career as a physiotherapist and an artist. The issues discussed in therapy,
and the growth in my own file are often represented in the quilts. "We Rise 2"
reflects both the inner strength that enables us to overcome superamos life's misery, and
the inner core that breathes in these experiences enabling us to grow in wisdom. cynyddu
doethineb. KA-NO-GE:-S-DI OUR STORY PENA E GLORIA PAIN AND
GLORY THROUGH IT ALL WE RISE!
Title: “Twisted Glance”
Artist: Jennifer L. Foltz
Size: 13"w x 16"h
Materials Used: Cotton Fabric and batting, chenille and string embellishments, cotton,
denim weight, and metallic thread
Construction Techniques: Machine piecing and quilting. I used tracing paper to draw out
the face, then pinned it to the quilt, and used it for a guide to free motion machine
quilt.
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Denim weight thread for the outline of the figure,
metallic thread, and chenille and string embellishments
Construction Techniques: I used a drawing technique called no look drawing for this quilt.
I sat in front of a mirror and drew myself without looking at the paper. It gives an
abstracted glimpse of my features. I enjoy this style of drawing and I wanted to try the
technique with fabric and free motion quilting.
Artist’s Statement: I wanted this piece to imitate a quick glance as if I was just
seen passing by in a car or walking down the street. I wanted my features to be
recognizable but abstracted. The background is squared off blocks of color mimicking my
torso and head but not actually proportional as if I was seen through a piece of frosted
or patterned glass at an angle.
Title: “Silhouette Expressions”
Artist:: Jennifer L. Foltz
Size: 20"w by 17"h
Materials Used: Cotton fabric and batting, cotton and metallic thread, fusible web,
metallic and chenille embellishments, and beads
Construction Techniques: My mother took digital profile pictures of me. Then using an
illustration program I traced the profiles. I then printed out the profile templates and
cut the profiles out of fabric. I used fusible web to secure the profiles, frames and
circles and free motion machine quilted the pieces in place.
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Beads, metallic thread, chenille and string
embellishments
Artist’s Statement: When I think of a portrait the frame comes to mind. I wanted to
use the traditional idea of a still framed portrait and also show my different
expressions. I was inspired by old-fashioned cut paper silhouettes and used different
profile expressions to explain a little about myself.
With the assignment of a self-portrait, a traditional gilded frame still-life painting
came to mind. I liked the idea of the frame seeming to stop the moment and capture an
expression. I did not want to create a traditional head on view of myself and was inspired
by old silhouette paper cutouts. In this way I could combine more than one expression of
my personality. I also enjoy symbols, logos and ornament and wanted to combine my
different profiles with icons to express motherhood, chores, glamour, marriage and
spiritually.
Title: “Parrothead: A self portrait”
Artist: Linda Frost
Size: inches 9"w x11"h
Materials Used: Hand dyed fabric and phototransfer
Construction Techniques: Digital photo manipulated by computer then transferred to treated
fabric; machined pieced and hand quilted.
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Seed stitch using perle cotton thread and embroidery
floss.
Artist’s Statement: This picture of me and one of my two parrots is very meaningful
to me in ways that I am unable to share with the viewing public. Suffice it to say that I
have always liked birds, and that I have always thought that it would be wonderful to fly.
Title: “Self Portrait Colorwheel”
Artist: Linda Frost
Size: 26"w x 24"h
Materials Used: commercial fabric, phototransfer
Construction Techniques: Digital photo manipulated by computer then transferred to treated
fabric; machined pieced and hand quilted.
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Seed stitch using perle cotton thread and embroidery
floss.
Artist’s Statement: I took this photo of myself by holding a camera at arms length; a
true self portrait. The steps around the color wheel with this image are meant to not only
show my many moods, but also my love of color.
Title: “It’s Time to Mow the Ditch”
Artist: Ruth Gedroic
Size: 13"w x 14"h
Materials Used: Cotton fabrics, decorative threads, beads, netting, manipulated photo
transfer
Construction Techniques: Layered fabrics and threads, top-stitched, appliqué, trapunto
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Beads, decorative threads
Artist’s Statement: After hours on the mower, it’s easy to dissolve into your
work.
Title: “Looking in a Mirror”
Artist: Cheryl Gerhards
Size: 29"w x 25"h
Materials Used: Cotton, yarn, wired tinsel, beads, sequins, charms and beaded creations
Construction Techniques: Five fabrics were stacked on each other. A design was drawn and
stitched and various parts were cut away revealing the desired fabrics. Then surface
embellishment was done; the top was layered with cotton batting and machine quilted
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Yarn and wired tinsel were couched by machine, rayon
variegated thread quilting. Beaded creations and sequins
Artist’s Statement: The diagonal “river” containing my family is the
division within myself. The upper half is centered, with oneself and very organized. The
rays are my ability to share this with others. The lower half is my chaotic side. I
collect everything, I’m a pack rat and love “material” things. I am pulled
many directions, hence the chaos. The only thing holding me all together, making me
complete is my family. All of these things are contained within the solid outer border
representing how I present myself to everyone while within there is so much more to me.
I have always loved art quilts and never thought I could make one. My problem was that I
am too organized and precise to allow the necessary freedom needed to be released from
within. I made a very good friend recently and with her teaching I was able to “break
out”. I knew immediately that my new creation was the two sides battling within me.
My family holds me together, so it was important that they were on my first art quilt.
There are more art quilts waiting to get out now that I have found the way.
Title: “A Page from My Coloring Book”
Artist: Janet Ghio
Size: 13"w x 16"h
Materials Used: Hand dyed and commercial cotton fabrics, dye crayons
Construction Techniques: Free motion quilting, fused appliqué, hand beading and
embroidery
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Dye crayons, buttons, sequins, metallic thread,
embroidery
Artist’s Statement: I recently got a new sewing machine and I wanted to see what I
could stitch without doing any drawing ahead of time, an exercise for me that was similar
to making a sketch with my non-dominant hand. I chose to show myself walking my dog Sparky
in a flower garden on a sunny day. After I was finished stitching, I couldn’t resist
“coloring in” the figure with dye crayons and adding a few sequins and buttons
all around the edge as any “kid” might do. The bright yellow background and the
primary colors in the border added to the coloring book feeling of this piece. My close
friends say that this portrait looks just like me!
Title: “Reach for the Moon”
Artist: Deana Hartman
Size: 23"w x 25"h
Materials Used: Commercial and hand dyed fabrics, yarn, decorative threads, beads, beaded
objects and charms
Artist’s Statement: With each day, the moon travels across the sky, pulling tides and
reminding us of the universe just beyond. I chose the moon to show my goal of constant
transformation… and my hands for how I create the image. A quote from a Robert Frost
poem is written at the top of the art quilt, “The moon for all her light and grace
has never learn to know her place,” alluding to my father’s, “Do your own
thing" mantra through my childhood years. I always had trouble accepting expected
behaviors… Many symbols of my life have been placed in word form as well as charms.
Garden text scattered among the moonflowers apply to how I strive to garden as well as
live life. Follow the beads shooting from my fingers and thumbs to more clues.
Title: “Nightgazer: A Hermit and the Moon Tarot Self
Portrait”
Artist: Deana Hartman
Size: 37"w x 27"h
Materials Used: Commercial and hand dyed fabrics, yarn decorative threads, beads
Beaded embellishment used
Artist’s Statement: In a class with David Walker, we used our major Arcana cards as
springboards into self portraits. Mine were the Hermit and the Moon. The Hermit represents
the desire to turn away from the getting and spending of society to focus on the inner
world. The hermit also casts light in the darkness to lead the way. The moon is the world
of shadow and night. It holds the promise of imagination and enchantment. As a night
gazer, I track and watch the cycles of the moon as it goes from new moon to wax to full to
wane each 28 days. This abstract piece explores moon and it’s light-play in the night
sky as I aspire to light a new way in my life.
Title:“The Hearts of it All”
Artist: Debra Hillen
Size: 32"w x 24"h
Materials Used: Hand dyed fabrics, decorative threads, novelty yarns, charms, and beads
Construction Techniques: Over lay construction with cut away appliqué, hand beaded
embellishments, hand guided machine quilting and machine free motion embroidery
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Hand dyed fabrics, hand beaded embellishments,
couching and free motion machine embroidery
This quilt contains layers of hand dyed base fabrics in beige, brown and gray. Cut away
appliqué is used to reveal the pattern components of a garment sloper (my passion garment
design). A stack of hearts are at the center of the work in which each are embellished
with charms and beads. The piece is embroidered with a green yarn vine and leaves that are
beaded and machine embroidered plants. The piece is bordered with pieced triangles of hand
dyed fabrics in purples, blues and fuchsia highlighted with stacked buttons, and a purple
border.
Artist’s Statement: “The Hearts of it All” represents the family, which is
the center of my personality. We are all interconnected and depend on one another, each
having our own unique qualities but each lending support and love to become our own unique
person. I have represented the creative side of myself and the added treasures that my
family lends to make my life whole and with purpose.
Title: “Life’s a Puzzle”
Artist: Harriet Janke
Size: 27"w x 27"h
Materials Used: Cotton fabric, batting is wool coat fabric
Construction Techniques: Machine construction, embellished by hand
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Wood and glass beads, polished stones, crocheted
rose, straw rose
Artist’s Statement: A “self portrait” can reflect the personality of the
artist, not her actual physical likeness.
“Want it all, do it all” is my motto when it comes to quilting. I like the
old, traditional fabrics, patterns and colors but I also like the bright,
shiny, free form shapes of art quilts. This piece combines both parts of me.
The puzzle pieces represent my life of trying to fit in everything I want to
do. Will I ever get it all together? Do you?
Title “Lifeline”
Artist: Harriet Janke
Size: 37"w x 33"h
Materials Used: Cotton fabrics, rayon thread, cotton batting
Construction Techniques: Curved piecing in background (Nancy Crow), machine embroidered
with rayon thread (Libby Lehman)
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Used beads to emphasize the “lifeline”
Artist’s Statement: I really like this design; it is lively and moving.
“Lifeline” represents my life, and everyone else’s life. We all have a
beginning and an end. There are many twists and unexpected turns in our lifetime.
Different colors of threads designate different phases of our lives. The sparkles added
outside the lifeline are the people who have influenced our pathway. The unevenly pieced
background represents the uneven path we follow through life.
Title: “If I can’t be elegant...I’ll be
memorable!”
Artist: Bobbie-Frances McDonald
Size: 23"w x 20"h
Materials Used: Cotton solids and one Alexander Henry print fabric, suede and patent
leather ribbon, embroidery yarns and various beads, lightweight bonding material and
Thermore batt
Construction Techniques: The basic “pieced” design is bonded to a backing. The
raw edges are then covered by various media and techniques
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Numerous beads, embroidery stitches, and hand
quilting were used. All the surface design went on before the piece was quilted.
Artist’s Statement: I wanted to make a “Crazy Quilt”…after all these
years and chose to do it for my self portrait because my core belief is that a person can
be as “eccentric/crazy” as they want if they are willing to accept the
consequences. The choice of colors comes from the fact that I think I would be described
as a colorful character, although I dress in a subdued manner to compensate. The title of
the quilt is an adaptation of a line from the Barbara Kingsolver book “The Bean
Trees”.
My background prior to 1990 when I took up quilting was the needle arts. But once ethnic
fabrics seduced me, I turned completely away from that needlework which had given me so
much pleasure. Recently I have been longing for the relaxation that embroidery and crochet
always offered and I am trying to combine them into my art quilts. I feel that it will
open up many new areas and means of surface design for my work.
Title: “Mood Swings”
Artist: Kay Moore
Size: 29"w x 29"h
Materials Used: Cotton fabric and cotton batting
Construction Techniques: Machine pieced and quilted
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Beads
Artist’s Statement: I love color and motion. My life is chaotic at times but I stay
grounded through my faith in God, my family, and the love of my art. Those are the
constant factors in my inconsistent way of life.
Title: “Bloom”
Artist: Judy Oberkrom
Size: 21"w x 23"h
Materials Used: Cotton fabrics, seashells, buttons, fish bead, ribbons, tulle, yarns,
decorative threads, lace
Construction Techniques: Reverse appliqué, free motion machine quilting and writing,
fabric collage between water soluble bags, binding
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Yarn, fabric collage, yarn couching, beading,
buttons, seashells
Artist’s Statement: Upon Reflection reminded me of moving to new places and to
remember to “Bloom where you are planted”.
“Bloom” developed from memories of moving from Texas to Oklahoma, Missouri and
Kansas. In each location my motto was to “Bloom Where You Are Planted”. Every
adventure provided new hobbies, friendships, family members, and opportunities to learn
more sewing techniques. “Bloom” includes the use of reverse appliqué, couching,
machine quilting/writing, beads, and buttons. The state flower are made with free motion
stitching over threads, yarns, ribbons, and fabric snippets placed between water soluble
sheets. May I always remember to “Bloom Where You Are Planted” for a future of
more fiber knowledge and fiber loving friends.
Title: “They Who Rule Me”
Artist: Janet L. Perkins
Size: 26"w x 22"h
Materials Used: Cotton fabrics, cotton and metallic threads, beading, acrylic paints and
fabric paint mediums
Construction Techniques: Appliqué, classical quilting, quilting and painting
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Beading and thread painting
Artist’s Statement: This piece is both a literal and abstract slice of my life. As an
oil painter, I have always wanted to incorporate painting with fabric and this menu was
the perfect opportunity. Doing a figurative self portrait is a difficult process, although
including the animals that rule my life made it a humorous one.
Janet Perkins is a Kansas native, having spent all of her life in the Sunflower State, and
the last two decades in Lawrence. She studied at the University of Kansas and has enjoyed
being a part of the local art community, which has encouraged her interests in painting,
fabric art, and the occasion avian sculpture. The realism in this piece provided a bit of
a departure for this abstract painter and allowed her to combine work in her two favorite
media. Janet currently resides in Lawrence with Lucy and Ethel, the two Boston Terriers
enshrined in black and white in this piece.
Title: “Nell’s Vision”
Artist: Ruth Powers
Size: 20"w x 27"h
Materials Used: Cotton commercial fabrics, various threads, cotton batting, beads
Construction Techniques: Machine pieced, machine quilted
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Hand beading, machine quilting
Artist’s Statement: My friend Nell had already lost her sight when I met her. Once
she told me that she “saw” and recognized people in her mind’s eye as
colors. Of course, I had to ask, “What color am I?”
“You” she replied, “You are a lovely warm rose color”.
Woman, wife, mother, friend – any of these or many more could have been the catalyst
for this challenge, but upon reflection, I decided to go with friend, because friendship
is very important to me. I tend to work in a realistic, pictorial style, rather than
abstract and enjoy using lots of color.
Title: “Planting by the Moon”
Artist: Nan Renbarger
Size: 23"w x 34"h
Materials Used: Artist dyed and painted cotton, commercial fabrics, tulle, lame’,
perle cotton, thread
Construction Techniques: Collaged, layered, stuffed, fused, machine stitched
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Hand dyeing and painting, free motion machine
stitching
Artist’s Statement: I love flowers and working in the dirt. It nurtures my desire for
beauty, color, and texture. It brings to light the spectacle of nature and some truly
awesome miracles of life. Gardening by the Moon- by phase and astrological sign and a few
biodynamic methods makes natural sense to me. I tend to glom onto unconventional
ideas…following my intuition in making art quilts is no exception. I wanted to use
many flowers in this quilt and I wanted it to be in the shape of the crescent moon. As the
quilt progressed, I realized I wanted a complementary crescent moon shape on which two
write “rules” for planting by the moon. I wrote these rules with freemotion
machine stitching. I included the astrological symbols and the symbols for the phases of
the moon. Depicting this crescent was the perfect excuse to use iridescent fabrics and
rayon thread. I used stiffened perle cotton to represent grass. I backed the quilt with
some rayon that I dyed with indigo and rice paste resist at the beginning of my art quilt
career in 1989.
Title: "Many Lights, Many Tunnels"
Artist: Kay Ring
Materials Used: Cotton fabric, silver lame', silver thread
Construction Techniques: Pieced, thread embellishment
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Silver thread
Artist's Statement: The many lights at the end of many tunnels draw me into countless
enjoyable adventures with quilts, people and creative projects.
Title: "Kids, Quilts, Colors"
Artist: Kay Ring
Materials Used: Cotton, photo transferred to fabric with layered, raw edge, outline
backgrounds
Construction Techniques: Photos transferred to fabric with layered raw edge, outline
backgrounds
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Raw edge fabric technique with echo quilting
Artist's Statement: This quilt depicts my life in recent years, filled with family,
fabrics and fun. It has been an enjoyable passage that I hope will continue.
Title: “Dancing with the Snail”
Artist: Lucy Silliman
Size: 32"w x 35"h
Materials Used: Cotton, tulle, metallic and rayon thread
Construction Techniques: Cotton scrunched, bonded and quilted for background; machine
pieced, machine quilted
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Tulle, cotton and rayon thread
Self portrait using traditional Snail’s Trail block.
Artist’s Statement: I began quiltmaking using traditional blocks and styles. However,
I believe each quilt must contain something unique to its maker, so I began changing and
experimenting with new ways to interpret traditional pattern. When I am adding my personal
touch to a design, it’s so much fun that I am truly “dancing” with the
blocks.
Title: “One Quilter’s Dream”
Artist: Lucy Silliman
Size: 27"w x 27"h
Materials Used: Commercial and hand dyed cotton, yarn, wool roving (unspun), metallic and
rayon thread
Construction Techniques: Machine pieced, hand appliquéd, machine quilted
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Yarn, hand painted wool roving
Artist’s Statement: Color is the most important influence on my art and design. I
like unusual combinations of color and am never ceased to be amazed at the infinite
interactions as colors combine. This profile of my face depicts my brain as it plans and
dreams of the many projects yet to come.
Title: “Self-Portrait with Leaves”
Artist: Virginia A. Spiegel
Size: 8"w x 8"h
Materials Used: Dyed and painted cotton fabric, plastic, hand dyed yarn, perle cotton,
found objects, thread
Construction Techniques: Collage, hand and machine stitching
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Dyed, painted, monotype, couched, hand stitched,
found object embellishment
Artist’s Statement: The size and shape of my body seems to change from year-to-year
(perhaps it is only my perception of it that changes!), but I’m always happy to be
alive and healthy. The leaves symbolize the ease with which nature handles transformation
and renewal.
Title: “She’s The One”
Artist: Del Thomas
Size: 15"w x 23"h
Materials Used: Commercial cotton fabrics, cotton batting, cotton thread
Construction Techniques: Fused, machine pieced, machine quilted
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Beads, wire
Artist’s Statement: This image is a facetious expression of what I wish I looked
like: long slender neck, aqua eyes, natural curly golden hair, and large breasts. And I
would have the guts to wear green lipstick and huge golden earrings! Maybe this is a
‘reflection’ of the true me.
Title: “Folios I & II: Beneath the Surface"
Artist: Jean Tomson
Size: 36"w x 34"h
Materials Used: Cotton, silk, wool batting, paper, hand dyed fabric and thread by L.
Wasilowski, hand dyed fabric by Linda Mason
Construction Techniques: Machine piecing, hand quilting
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Handwriting and photocopying on paper and cloth,
covered silk organza; torn and frayed edges of silk fabric left exposed; hand quilting
with variegated cotton thread
Artist’s Statement: “Like a volcano erupting in the seabed, profound emotions
may reveal themselves only as ripples on the surface. The countenance is, at best, an
inadequate chart for navigating the human heart.” (Writing included in “Folios I
& II: Beneath the Surface”*)
What does a self portrait – or any portrait, for the matter – reveal? What does
the countenance itself reveal? However intense the emotions, the face appears much the
same.
From a detached comment on what a self portrait discloses, this piece became more personal
as it progressed. I have been involved in various aspects of art since my early days. My
recent work has included mixed media and collage, often including the written work; in the
last few years, I have returned to a lifelong fascination with fabric and stitching. All
of these forms found their way into this piece, making it a “self portrait” of
another kind.
*Old maps and navigational charts were often presented as double folios, hence the title
of the piece. The work includes a navigational chart from a small island south of Japan,
where the artist lived as a child.
Title: “Mirror Images”
Artist: Bernadette Traiger
Size: 28"w x 28"h
Materials Used: Cotton flour sack, cotton printed and hand dyed fabrics, beads, cording
and poly cotton batting
Construction Techniques: Hand printed (stamped and painted) background fabric is hand
quilted. kaleidoscope images appliquéd to background then embellished
Embellishment or Surface Design Used: Beads, mirrors and cording are sewn and glued to the
appliqués and the background. Embroidery is used to enhance areas of the background.
Background rubber stamp is hand carved
Artist’s Statement: This piece is a self portrait depicted with a background of
stamped images of the artist and kaleidoscope appliqués featuring her hand dyed fabrics
and pictures of the artist. The appliqués reflect the artist’s love of
kaleidoscopes.
My objective as an artist is to design and produce unique fabrics using various dye, print
and weave techniques then incorporate them into works which reflect beauty, thought
emotions and selected themes. With the art quilt as one of my art forms, I can use my
fabrics, creativity and sewing skills to reach my objective.
Title: “To Make a Long Story Short”
Artist: Jill Rumoshosky Werner
Size: 34"w x 34"h
Materials Used: Cotton fabrics, polyester batting, rayon thread
Construction Techniques: Machine quilting
Artist’s Statement: I got the title from my father. He was rather famous for saying,
“To make a long story short…” and then telling you his entire life’s
history. I am a lot like him in this regard.
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