Hello Ohio…

So it took me a while to process this, but I got into Quilt National. In fact, I read the email at school and thought, wait a minute, what? Because I had just looked at all the upcoming deadlines and notifications, and figured it would be a while before I would know anything. And this is the coolest part…it’s a quilt with multiple female organs in it. You know, boobs! And uteri! It’s not a pretty, easy quilt. So I did a tiny happy dance in the halls at school, and then flipped the bird with both hands at AQS. Well not really, because there were kids in the hall. But mentally.

Now I just need to figure out how to get to the opening. Minor issue.

nida025-copy

It’s cool though. I’m really happy. It’s one thing to get in once with a quilt that has no nudity in it (I know, you didn’t even know I had those…), but to get in a second time with two angry Earth Mothers? I’m good.

Meanwhile, this quilt is going to the photographer tomorrow and I’m still sewing bindings…

img_8911-small

With all the animals around. Actually, I finished the bindings and I’m on the sleeves…

img_8913-small

But I hit some exhaustion line again last night (must listen to body)…

img_8914-small

Although looking around me, I’m the only one NOT asleep. So yeah.

img_8915-small

More murals…there are two here. The one on the right is by Cinzah. It’s about “the impact of the global shark finning trade on shark populations. An estimated 1000,000,000 sharks are killed for their fins every year. Over the past 15 years, shark populations have decreased by 60-90%.” So extinction?

img_8781-small

Plus his sharks are adorable.

img_8782-small

I think so.

img_8783-small

Especially these two.

img_8784-small

And this guy…

img_8785-small

The other part of the mural is by n30n3, an artist from Mexico focusing on the importance of ocean exploration and discovery…

img_8786-small

It’s a really long wall…

img_8788-small

And the light was difficult…

img_8792-small

So that’s two today because I missed one today.

Now I’m going to go teach about elements and keep doing a little art dance.

A Rejected Quilt

First of all, I get rejections all the time, and not just in the art world. I’m actually pretty inured to them and take them mostly in stride, and I did this one as well. I didn’t expect to get in. The odds are against it. That said, it’s been I think 8 rejections in a row, with one acceptance that was kind of a given. The piece I’m working on now is an invitational and I was invited almost a year ago, and yes, I’ve been in shows…hell, I’ve got a piece opening in Houston in 2 1/2 weeks. But almost everything I’ve entered since January this year has been rejected.

So you do start to question what you’re doing. No, I’m not going to change and make pretty landscapes or abstract depictions of my feelings towards nature (psychedelic, man), but it’s impossible to be human and NOT say Fuck You a lot and growl a bit and complain about the universe being out to get you, even though you know that’s not really the case. And to wonder if you’re doing it right or whether you’re just wasting everyone’s time, including your own. I mean, maybe the world would be a better place if I spent all that artmaking time cleaning house instead. Or curing cancer.

And when you’re done grousing, you keep working on the fucking masterpiece that is on the ironing board right now, because it DOES have a home, an exhibit (Thank you, Sheila, for believing in me and my work. It’s much appreciated).

Meanwhile, here’s one of the quilts that Quilt National’s jurors rejected…the one I spent all summer on. The one that tears me up just to look at it.

It started out with the nickname of Menopause, because it started out being about THAT. I was having major symptoms of perimenopause, with irregular periods and hormones that were fucking with my blood sugar and my mood (I’m not sure why I’m saying WAS instead of STILL IS), and I was dealing with a severe case of depression brought on by some shitty stuff that happened that was completely unexpected and devastating and basically destroyed some part of my self in my brain, or drove it so deep that I couldn’t access it. Whatever. I’m not sure she’s all there even now, but…anyway. I started drawing in December…and continued in January…and it became this thing. This banner for who I was at the time…for who I didn’t want to be in some ways, but in others? Dammit, she’s standing strong. Leaning a bit. Not happy about it. But she’s upright.

And now, from the other side of the abyss, this quilt…it really holds so much of what I was feeling and experiencing…

That it might be a good thing it didn’t get into Quilt National, because then I would have had to try to explain it in person, on video, and I would not have been able to stand up and do that.

There’s so much sadness in this piece…

And anger. And honestly? So many pieces…

And it’s made and now I don’t know where it will ever be seen, because it’s kinda big…

And more than a little scary…

And just a bit in your face.

This is You Make Me Wanna Die…

It’s 40.5″ wide and 80″ high. And it came out of my head. And it got rejected. And it’s OK. I know it’s a fucking awesome piece. And I hope sometime in the next two or three years (before it ages out of the entry pool) that someone else figures that out.

Show Updates

As I get yet another art rejection, I have to remind myself that my work is out there (well, yes, it’s OUT THERE, but it’s also out THERE…for you to like see it and stuff).

Here’s some updated show info…

The collection of Quilt National that includes my piece Spread Out on the Pavement is going to be at the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County in Moorhead, Minnesota, from August 14-September 28.

My two pieces Fully Medicated and I Was Not Wearing a Life Jacket will be at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England, from August 7-10, as part of the ArtQuilt Portfolio: People and Portraits exhibit based on the book of the same name. The author, Martha Sielman, will be doing a talk about the quilts while she’s there on Friday August 8 and Saturday August 9. She has heard ME talk about them, so hopefully she was listening, because I don’t remember a word of what I said.

Then they will also travel to the Festival Internacional de Patchwork e Arts Afins, Curitiba, Brazil, from August 27-30, 2015, thus traveling more than I have in my lifetime (OK, maybe not…it just feels that way). Really. I’m jealous. Not fair.

Celebrating Silver will open at Houston on October 30, where you can hear me try to explain my piece Awakening the Crone (ha!). The exhibit will follow the normal IQF route in Chicago and Portland, but will also be at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England, in August 2016. Yikes. That thing will be gone for a good long time, I guess. I still can’t show full photos of that quilt, but it will rock your socks. Off. Or something.

It’s one I’m really proud of. I really like it. Which means normally it wouldn’t get in to any show, but because I made it FOR this exhibit, they are stuck with its awesomeness.

So the fact that nothing I’ve made SINCE then has made it into a show is irrelevant. It is really. I know that. It’s just frustrating in the moment. Especially when you’re updating your resume and realizing that you haven’t gotten into a show for like 6 months. Fuck. Oh well. Moving on. Go make more art. It can’t get in if you never finish it because you are having one of those days. Seriously. Get off the computer. Pick up the fabric. Ignore the wailing cat.

Art Exhibit Updates

A bunch of shows I’m in have closed or are closing. That’s always kind of depressing, especially if you haven’t been getting into any shows lately, but I’m trying not to think about that part…instead, let’s think about the upcoming openings…

Quilt National 2013 updated its traveling schedule, adding Oceanside, California (unfortunately, not the part that MY quilt is in) and Dunedin, Florida:

5/6/14 – 7/20/14: San Jose, CA–[Collection A & B]
San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles
San Jose, California

7/26/14 – 11/30/14; Oceanside, CA—Collection C]
Oceanside Museum of Art
Oceanside, CA

8/14/14 – 9/28/14: Moorhead, MN–[Collection B]
Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County
Moorhead, Minnesota

5/22/15 – 8/16/15; Dunedin, FL–[Collection A]
Dunedin Fire Art Center
Dunedin, FL

But you can see my quilt, Spread Out on the Pavement, in San Jose starting May 6 through the end of July.

Earth Stories will be opening on May 11 at the Michigan State University Museum in East Lansing, MI. The opening reception is May 16 from 4-6 PM, and there are a bunch of talks related to the exhibit. I would have loved to have been able to go to some of these, but it is way too far and way too expensive, so I will have to hope someone I know goes and reports back. It does mean, though, that I can start to write about making the work for this exhibit and finally be able to show it online after the opening. It’s hard to NOT do that as I make my work.

My Earth Stories quilts, Wise Choice and Planting Choice, will be in Michigan through November 26, and then will go to the University of Central Missouri Gallery of Art and Design in Warrensburg, Missouri, from January 19 – February 28, 2015.

Meanwhile, I suspect you can’t get IN to shows if you don’t ENTER shows and FINISH work, so that’s my goal for the next few weeks…find some new shows and get the work out there…

Protected: Detached Head

Protected: Trying to Get to Quilt National

Protected: Boring Title

Hellooo Quilt National!

Well, finally. I have gotten into Quilt National 2013, and I’m in Quilt Visions 2012. Now I can stop making art. I have accomplished my two goals and there is nothing left to do. It was nice knowing y’all…I’m going to move on to something else.

…

Yeah. Right. Because I don’t have 1700 quilts still clamoring around my head to be made. Because I haven’t been an artist since the day I was conceived (sorry mom, dad…I know it wasn’t necessarily something you planned.). Because it’s not in my blood, my heart, my brain, my…well…probably uterus. Home of all creation, right? Well, this is the creation I’ve been working on since very early on, and I’m unlikely to stop now.

Do I have permission to buy more fabric?

It is a strange feeling, though. I had convinced myself again that all the acceptances had gone out yesterday, per the calendar, and that I was just waiting on rejections. I got the email about 20 minutes before school started. I called the boyfriend, who wasn’t even awake. I called my mom during my prep, and she’s already calendared the opening. I emailed the ex to save the weekend now, before he plans another trip to Vegas. I danced around the house for my kids, who are of course supremely annoyed by me and confused by my art, all at the same time.

Here are all the accepted artists, an interesting list to say the least. I’m looking forward to seeing quite a few of them in Athens. Woo hoo!