Well today is my turn on the SAQA bloghop which is a brief overview of each artists concepts and /or techniques used to complete their piece for the 20 x20 silent auction on the SAQA site.
My piece follows Robyn Mcgraths blog at SAQA Oceania blog
and Susan Mathews - susanmathews.info follows mine on the 24th of August.
For a full listing of the timetable and the artists participating click on the following link
I feel my little quilt is a little different to most of the others, that I am privileged to be amongst.
I'm a reasonably new quilter, and am still learning quilting skills as I go along. I can thank other artists such as Sue Dennis for showing me techniques such as basic bindings, that many others have learnt through years of quilt making practice. I, on the other hand have come from a 3D soft sculpture and mixed media background. So, I have always used textiles, but find that most of the quilting especially traditional quilt making is rather a strange and scary place .
To date I have created only 11 quilts, but am privileged to have had each exhibited in juried and touring exhibitions. I love doing the tops, but get nervous when putting the quilt together, and talk of the quilt police, perfect backs and precision joining and points, makes me quite fearful -that's why I love art quilting,which has almost unlimited scope in techniques and presentation and allows me the space to play and bring a crossover of mixed media techniques to my quilts.
I have discovered I am a circular person in a square world!
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| Journey 0n 1# 2mW x 1.6m L Curently touring with SOTA13 |
But now
Journey On 2#
When we were asked to consider creating a piece for the auction, I was unsure what to make.
But since being ill over the last 31/2 years, most of my work has focused on the nude female form ,especially in 3D or high relief, usually in a neutral or limited colour palette.
My period of illness created severe depression, anxieties and other physical and emotional limitations ,that I am still working through. It included a 6-8 month period where I was unable to create anything. Its amazing how extreme pain and fear affects you.
But now on the other side of this journey, I am using the emotions, both positive and negative, that were experienced to create art. It is deeply personal but with some of the quilts already exhibited creating ,at times, quite emotional responses from the viewers, it has been very cathartic for me, and gratifying that others can feel with me through my artwork.
I love sayings, and when I found this one " In order to shine ,you have to get through the darkness first!" it felt right. This along with a small figurative study sample created for Forward Motion, a larger quilt that was exhibited at the Birmingham Festival of quilts in 2011, was a perfect fit.
I love sayings, and when I found this one " In order to shine ,you have to get through the darkness first!" it felt right. This along with a small figurative study sample created for Forward Motion, a larger quilt that was exhibited at the Birmingham Festival of quilts in 2011, was a perfect fit.
Journey on 2# 's needlefelted figure,is naked and exposed,and in a protective stance. She looks at the viewer with sad, fearful and lost eyes, but in the background is a doorway with light shining in. The only problem is the darkness that is surrounding and between the figure and her exit .She needs to move through her fear (the
darkness )to get to the light.
The figure is needle felted from merino wool and backed with felt and multiple layers of wadding ,the face has basic hand stitching to emphasize the features, otherwise I draw with wool to create light and shadow and needlefelt through up to 4 inches of felt and wadding to give depth.
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| with a black background its not the easiest piece to photograph |
The wording was hand painted on and then normally I would machine around it, but it was too hard on this smaller scale
and with the figure in place.
The background was needlefelted black felt. The doorway
had gold foil applied over vliesofix and then needlefelted
over with black merino wool tops, to look like shadows
blending into the light.
I machine embroidered the background and used heavy
stabiliser-Timtex, to keep the shape of the figure as it was stitched on
Unfortunately I forgot to take many photos during the
production of this piece, as I was more caught up with the closing date, and I need to learn to do more step by step
photos. I forget all the time to take pics of even the scarves
and shawls I sell. Its on my 'to do' list., or perhaps I should
say-my " remember to do"list. I hope you enjoyed reading
a little about my quilt.
To see my donation please go to the 2013 SAQA Benefit Auction at
My piece is on page 3a but there are loads of lovely eye candy up for auction for you to look at and perhaps purchase..
To see more of my work and more of my quilts go to www.bearlytherecreations.com
