Category: Art

Terry Jarrard-Dimond Interviews Me

A while back I complained that I never get interviewed. I get to shut up now. Terry Jarrard-Dimond contacted me and you can go here to read her take on the Kathy Nida Experience (whatever that means). One of the most interesting things that came from this interview was her telling me that I make quilts about the human condition. I had never thought of it that way, and I’m still mulling it over in my head, but that’s what comes of other people looking at your work and trying to make sense of it. I appreciate her insight…now you go appreciate her blog.

Nikky Finney

I’m working on grades. They have to be done tonight, so I might not get to post anything else. I didn’t want you to worry, though, especially all the people on their way through while searching for “rigor mortis” (who knew that topic would be so popular)…

But you should watch this. I think I’m going to make my students watch it and write about it. She’s a beautiful poet and reader, and I don’t just mean the way she looks…

Truly a joy…and yet brings tears to the eyes. Enjoy.

Waiting for WordPress

I’ve posted a Gotye video before. I just don’t remember when. I looked a little, but realized it was taking too much time. I did use the (apparently useless) search function on my website and it was…apparently useless. Whoops…here it is. I searched for video instead of his name and it popped up (along with 20 other posts).

I post this because I liked the song (thanks Susan), but also because if you really want to know where my drawing ideas come from, this is a good example. I have a whopping big drawing in my head now with a whole ton of hands coming out of nowhere. I like how the heads and the hands don’t even seem to be connected. I mean, of course they are…but in my head, it all starts to blur and there are just hands and heads and they are wandering off. So if you see a drawing out of me in the next few weeks (I’m a little buried at the moment), and it has hands and heads wandering all over, now you’ll understand where my inspiration comes from…it’s not logical…I see something and it tickles my brain (must insert pictures of Mary’s nativities here…later…because right now I have to go grocery shopping and finish my lesson plans)…and then I draw something that is an offshoot of all that.

Simple, eh? Yeah. I know.

I went to a 12th-night party at a friend’s house and we flew the kings to the manger, but I was fascinated by all the color…

and the sorta pissed-off looking baby. Maybe he’s just resigned…not pissed off. I remember in art history classes talking about why many of the babies in Mary and Jesus paintings looked way older than they should. So that’s wandering around in my brain right now along with the hand video.

So the title of this post is just a note that I am still waiting for WordPress to respond to my query about why typing the password correctly doesn’t seem to work. I found something on the forums that told me to clear cache and cookies on MY end, and somehow that would magically fix it for all of you. I don’t know if that’s true, but it seems to be working now for the two guys who are willing to check it for me; plus, I’ve had no complaints from your end. If you do type in the password (which is in the right sidebar and is always the same) and it doesn’t work and you’re sure you typed it properly, just use the contact page and let me know. I don’t know what the deal is, but it seems to be OK today.

I go back to school today. In fact, I should be leaving in about 4 minutes. I’m not ready. Everything is physically ready, except for part of my room, but my brain is still wandering off and trying to get stuff done from the holiday. It’s always like that…I feel like I could have been MORE efficient, gotten MORE done. I realize that when school starts, there are so many things I have to do on a daily basis that a lot just falls by the wayside.

That part sucks.

I am mostly done with grading, though (although I’m assigning two things today that are due Friday, so the never-ending roller coaster starts again…plus I think progress report grades are due next week…bastards).

I started quilting on Saturday…

managed a whopping 25 minutes before I had to be somewhere about 15 times over. It was a busy day. I did start the new year with new Machingerererers.

OK. That’s not how you spell it. But this is what I use when I quilt to help me grip the fabric and move it around. I’ve tried other things, but these hurt my hands the least and work the best for me. I love it when they’re clean. I do sometimes wash them, but eventually the grippy part on the fingers wears off and I need new ones. Soon after I started, Kitten did this.

Grr. I need to clean off the table so she can jump off without knocking stuff down. Plus I need to find the lid. Although I was sitting right there sewing when she did it, and I’m unlikely to have the lid on while I’m sewing and pulling pins out, so that wouldn’t help. She was not sorry.

I’m Not Crazy Update and Prospectus

The prospectus is done and posted on the SAQA website, so I can put it here too. You do have to be a SAQA member to enter. I’ve been a SAQA member for a few years this time around (I was a member, then I was very poor and newly divorced, so I wasn’t a member, and now I’m a member again). The website for SAQA is here. Membership is not particularly cheap at $60/year, but there are lots of opportunities for shows, if you’re interested in that. I have a local group that meets regularly too, there’s a quarterly journal, some opportunities to be published, a Yahoo list, and lots of online information via SAQA-U (a wiki). Two of the major exhibitions I’m in at the moment, Sightlines and Creative Force, are both SAQA exhibits. Their focus is the art quilt, which is why I joined in the first place. As a Professional Artist Member (PAM), I have opportunities to be published in the annual Portfolio and to be involved in the program that is allowing this exhibit to take place, the Curator-in-Training program. So for me, it’s been good.

(Anger Management)

My goal in doing this program is to get the experience I need to put on shows by myself, which is something I’ve wanted to do for a while. The juror for this exhibit is Sue Reno, an award-winning fiber artist who lives and works in Lancaster County, PA. Her work focuses on the natural world and historic architectural themes. She exhibits widely in art, fine craft, and quilt venues, and her work has been selected for the U.S. State Department’s Art in Embassies program.  She has been a SAQA Professional Artist Member since 2009.  Sue has served as a juror for Sacred Threads in 2009 and 2011, and for the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in 2011. Sue and I have been reading each other’s blogs and seeing each other’s art for years, and I know she will choose a wonderful show…but for her to do that, y’all need to enter.

(Blue Moon)

Theme:  Mental illness carries with it a stigma; many of us have experience with disorders, temporary or permanent, curable or not, that in the past and in some cultures even today would be labeled as crazy. That stigma can make it difficult to admit its effect on our loved ones or ourselves. Disorders as common as anxiety or depression, or less common, like schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder, can have a devastating effect on families and friends, and on ourselves. Negativity towards those who have these disorders often causes many people to keep the diagnosis hidden from friends and family.

  • What does “crazy” look like?
  • What does it feel like?
  • How does the world look through the eyes of someone experiencing a panic attack or depression or other mental disorder?
  • How does loving or caring for someone with a mental disorder look and feel?

We’re looking for work that covers these experiences: from the eyes of the caregiver, the friend, the family member, and, of course, those who have experienced any of these disorders themselves. Your work can reflect the disorder or the chaos it holds on our lives, it can be humorous, it can be sad, it can be crazy or incredibly calm.

(tradition fragment violate)

I use my art to work through stuff…sometimes it’s worldwide stuff, like tsunamis, homelessness, and climate change, but more often it’s personal stuff, like divorce, health issues, stress, and raising kids. Some people become depressed after childbirth or a divorce; some people carry genetic markers for a disease and deal with it their entire lives, not because of some single event that triggers a reaction, but because their genes change the way their brains work. Whether we experience the disease ourselves or through caring for a family member or a friend, it has an effect on us, one that we can express through our art.

The exhibit already has multiple venues, thanks to the Mancuso shows. Starting with:

  • World Quilt Show –  New England X, August 16-19, 2012, Radisson Center of New Hampshire, Manchester, NH
  • Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza XIX, September 13-16, 2012,Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Philadelphia Area, PA
  • Pacific International Quilt Festival XXI, October 11-14, 2012,Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA
  • World Quilt Show – Florida IV, November 8-10, 2012, Palm Beach County Convention Ctr, West Palm Beach, FL
  • Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival XIX, February 21-24, 2013, Hampton Roads Convention Center, Hampton, VA
  • The Quilt Fest of New Jersey IX, Feb 28-March 3, 2013, Garden State Exhibit Center, Somerset, NJ
  • Denver National Quilt Festival VIII, May 2-5, 2013, Denver Merchandise Mart, Denver, CO

There is a possibility that there will be additional venues.

Eligibility and Guidelines:

• Entry is by digital images only (directions on the website…you do need to be a SAQA member to access this page).

• You may submit up to 3 entries.

• Quilts must be created after 2007 and not shown in a previous SAQA exhibition.

• Entries must be 20″ – 48″ width, and 65″ maximum in length

• 3-D, free-standing works will NOT be accepted.

• Artwork must meet the SAQA definition of an art quilt: a contemporary artwork exploring and expressing aesthetic concerns common to the whole range of visual arts: painting, printmaking, photography, graphic design, assemblage and sculpture, which retains, through materials or technique, a clear relationship to the folk art quilt from which it descends.

• Artists are responsible for shipping and insurance to the SAQA Shipping Center in Ohio and for return shipping to their homes from the last venue.  SAQA will arrange to insure the artwork during the exhibitions and while it travels.

• Artwork MAY be for sale. SAQA will charge a 25% commission on all sales; exhibiting venues may also charge a commission, but total commission will never exceed 50%.

• Work MUST be available to travel for up to a year. Travel details to follow.

Calendar:

January 1, 2012                   Call for entry

May 1, 2012                          Online entry open

May 30, 2012                        Online Entry Deadline at 11:59 pm EST

June 1-20, 2012                   Selection Process

June 27, 2012                      Notification of acceptance (All notifications will be forwarded via email)

July 18, 2012                        Artwork to be RECEIVED in Ohio

August 1, 2012                     Quilts shipped to Manchester, NH

August 16, 2012                   Exhibit opening

May 5, 2013                          Exhibit closing

June 15, 2013                      Return of work to Artists unless more venues are scheduled.

I’m really excited about this exhibit and hope there are lots of entries. If you have questions, you can contact me through the contact page here or email me directly using the SAQA link for the Call for Entries.

Winner!

Boychild drew for the winner of Masters: Art Quilts, Volume 2 this morning…I’ve sent an email to Linda M. and am waiting for her address to mail it off. Thanks to all who visited and commented…it’s always nice to hear from humans.

Last 31 Hours of Giveaway…

because I can’t be trusted to remember to post tomorrow about it! No really! I haven’t slept in days!

OK, so if you want the Masters: Art Quilts, Volume 2 that I offered up back here on this review post, then you need to go to that post and say YES! Pick ME! Because I deserve it!

Or you can just say you’re interested…whatever works for you. I’m having a hard time finding that much energy for that level of excitement, mostly because I’ve spent hours ironing turtles together. More about that later. Honestly, if you forget to click on the link and put your comment here, it’s not like I’m some crazy rules-hound who will refuse to put you in the drawing. And yes, Lark Books sent me this book for free, but I had already bought it, so it’s not like I’m getting anything for this, because I don’t ever really give stuff away (sorry, I’m just lame that way…plus I am a packrat and think I will need EVERYTHING when the end comes, which is why I keep watching Hoarders to scare myself into cleaning and throwing away stuff).

That was just TMI. Want the book? Tell me.