textile paintings
Exhibition
Shipping Demystified
012 years ago
At some point along the way, I started entering exhibitions far away. My quilts have always traveled better than I have. I always have some trepidation when I drop them at a shipper, but I have know that shipping them is the best way to show them to large numbers of people.
At home, I either store my pieces on the wall or rolled up and placed in a pillowcase. At one time, I only wanted to ship my pieces rolled, but not only were round shipping containers hard to find at the time, the shipping charges were MUCH higher. My more conservative nature took over and I learned how to ship my work folded. Even though I quilt my pieces tightly, 1/4″ apart or less, folding them for a couple of days in this way does not cause drastic wrinkles.
This week I was shipping Lincoln and The White Raven to IQF: Houston. I have small boxes for one quilt, but for two, there is a great box at Staples that is 14″ x 14″ x 14″. The depth is too high — but I can cut the sides of the box down to 10″ — and this particular box all ready has crease marks at 10″ — so it’s a very easy adjustment to make and I don’t have to fill the box with extraneous materials to keep the pieces from floating around in a box that is too big.
The goal is to fold the piece into a square that is 14″ x 14″. For Lincoln, I laid it out on the floor and crumpled up some tissue paper on the top.
And then I made my first fold — from the top to the middle. I then put more tissue paper in the middle.
And then made my second fold. This is now just under 14″ wide.
For this piece, I’ll need to make one more fold in the middle so I crumple up more tissue paper in the middle. It doesn’t have to be a lot. The tissue paper gives enough volume that the crease isn’t too small and won’t cause a nasty wrinkle on the top.
And this is what I looks like when it’s done. I then folded my second quilt in the same way so that I had two squares just under 14″. Some shows ask that you place the work inside a pillowcase with your name and other information written on it and then place it in a clear plastic bag. IQF does not want the pillowcase or muslin — they only want your work in a clear plastic bag.
I keep the plastic bags I get back from shows and re-use them, but if you’re just starting out, you can buy XXL Ziploc bags in the grocery store.
I stacked them one on top of the other and folded the remainder of the plastic bag around the work. They fit perfectly into the box.
For any show, I always have an envelope. At the minimum, the envelope should have your name on it. Inside I put an index card with my name and other contact information. For IQF, they also have some paperwork that they want included. Since there are two quilts in this box, I have included two separate envelopes. I tape the tops of the envelopes to the bag.
If I close the box as it is, I would have extra room, so I merely cut down the four corners with some scissors.
Then I fold the sides over and tape them with clear packing tape — once on the top, then the two sides, then across the top again. (By the way, this is exactly how I tape the bottom of the box as well.)
I don’t reuse boxes. They can be reused to be sent home — but I don’t keep them beyond a round trip. It’s the least I can do for the safety of my work.
I have one more piece going to Houston to be in a special exhibit — Firecracker — but I won’t send that one for a few weeks.
I have had Amelia Earhart accepted into the La Conner Quilt Show — so I’ll be shipping that one out soon as well.
And finally, I have Jacks Are Wild and It’s All Relative (which I’m finishing now) to be included in a local show that Rebecca Reasons Edwards and I are curating. Those two will show in It’s All In The Cards at The Art Place in September and at the SEFAA Center in October.
Artsy Shark and Promotion
312 years ago
by Virginia Greaves
in Exhibition
As an artist, one of the hardest things to do is promote yourself. Really, marketing and creativity are separate pursuits and it’s difficult to come out of the studio to show your work — and yet if you don’t, you’re creating work that goes directly into your closet. Part of the joy in creating is in sharing — and today is an awesome day because I’m featured on Artsy Shark, an online network for helping artists build their business. You can find my article here.
I’m also sending two of my pieces off today to Sacred Threads in Herndon, VA– The Bowl Judgments and Beach Guardians. I’m going to fold them up with tissue paper, tuck them into a pillowcase and a plastic bag, drop them into a box, and send them off with prayers to FedEx. I was lucky enough to also have them both included in the extension of selected pieces to Omaha, NE so it will be a while before I see them again. One day I hope to travel as well as my work does.
I completed my latest piece, Jacks Are Wild, over a week ago — but it’s summer, the girls are home, and there isn’t a lot of studio time to be had. I’m hoping to make pictures today & post a new page — but I’m not making any promises. It’s part of the Fiber Art Fusion show in September and the members want us to not show our pieces until the show — but there isn’t technically a virgin rule — and I don’t enter shows that have them — so I plan to share. That is why my blog exists — I share.
There are still a few more shows to enter this year — but I’ll have to choose carefully. The deadlines are all about the same time — end of August, beginning of September. I have a few pieces not entered and not promised — but I can’t have them overlap and entered in two places at the same time — so I’m going to have to choose. I like to stretch myself and try to enter a show I haven’t been in before — but the other part of me is more practical and thinks I should enter the shows I’m more likely to be accepted into. It’s always a shame to have a piece sit at home when it could have been somewhere else.
Silk To Dye For Exhibit
212 years ago
by Virginia Greaves
in Exhibition
The Silk Painter’s of Atlanta are exhibiting right now at the South East Fiber Arts Alliance space downtown. My friend Hellenne Vermillion had several pieces in the show so I took one of my daughters with me to see it today.
Many people think of wearables when they think of silk, and this piece called Luna by Margaret Agner is a wonderful example. (It’s also laid out on the exhibit card above where you can see how it fans out beautifully at the ends.)
Luna
by Margaret Agner
$150
There were also many pieces by Martha Andreatos. I loved the colors of the silk in this piece and how they are tiled together like a roof.
Colors
by Martha Andreatos
$225
This is another stunning piece from Martha.
Double Pears
by Martha Andreatos
$450
And this is a piece from Hellenne Vermillion. She has added a lot of hand stitching in this piece. I fear that the reflectiveness of the silk combined with the broad value range were too much for the camera on my iPhone — it doesn’t do the piece justice.
Koi Fish and Lotus Leaves
by Hellenne Vermillion
$450
This is one of Hellenne’s silk masks. She forms a clay mask and covers it with silk. This was my daughter’s favorite piece.
Tattoo Mask
by Hellenne Vermillion
$350
This is another one of Hellenne’s pieces displayed on a canvas. I just love the heat coming off this one.
Fertility
by Hellenne Vermillion
$350
This is another piece by Martha, also painted silk on a canvas. It has a very luminous feel to it.
Contemplative Figure
by Martha Andreatos
$450
And finally, another piece from Margaret. I love the playfulness of this one. It is a silk wrap hung vertically on the wall with pins. It would be stunning draped on someone’s shoulders.
Octopus Smiles
by Margaret Agner
$150
All of the work included in the exhibit was beautiful. Silk is such a vibrant medium and holds the color so well.
Please contact the artist individually if you are interested in their work.
Entering Shows
012 years ago
by Virginia Greaves
in Exhibition
This week I’ve been appliquéing my rabbit onto my background. It’s almost done. There isn’t a lot to show in that process. It’s been hard for me to concentrate as the routine of my girls is already starting to change. I fear I may be a victim of Spring fever.
I did think I would take a few minutes and talk about entering shows. Why do I enter shows? Well, why do I make art? I make art as a form of self expression. I enter shows so that people can see what I do. It is more satisfying for me to have my work in shows than for my work to collect dust in the closet. In fact, I have a growing collection in my closet — it makes me sad. Art is meant to be seen.
My first show ever was back when I lived in Alabama. The fabric store advertised for the Alabama Quilt Symposium to be held (that year anyway) in Birmingham. I thought it would be fun to enter and take a few classes. It was my first time. When I walked into the hall, I was enthralled by all the pieces. I had been working with textiles for a couple of years. I turned a corner — and saw my piece Childhood hanging — with a blue ribbon beside it! Best of Show & 1st place in its division. (That was, by the way, the only time I’ve won a Best of Show.) It was shocking — and thrilling!
I took that piece and Dalmatian Downs and entered them in the AQS Quilt Show in Paducah in 2004 — and what a surprise I had when they were both accepted. No ribbons, but I did visit the show and get to see them hanging. There was row after row after row of the most incredible quilts I had ever seen in my life. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t process how a judge could pick a best in show.
I also entered one of the Mancuso shows — Pacific International (PIQF)– and the International Quilt Festival (IQF) in Houston. I had several quilts accepted over the years into PIQF — but I was not lucky enough to be accepted to IQF. I stopped entering AQS-Paducah as my work became artistic and fell outside of their size restrictions. (At one time, they wouldn’t accept a quilt whose width was between 24″ and 40″ — although I don’t know if they’ve since changed that rule or not.) I told myself year after year that if I didn’t enter IQF, I’d never get in — so I kept entering.
Several years went by and I started to lose hope. We all do at one point or another — but then one year, I thought “one last time.” That was 2006, and my first monochromatic portrait Faces in Cloth I was accepted.
I have since entered Quilt National, Quilt Visions, and Quilts=Art=Quilts — but have not been accepted. I do admit that I haven’t been as diligent about entering as I had been with IQF. Sometimes it is because of the expense — and sometimes it’s easy to see from the other work accepted why mine was not.
I have also been accepted at some other wonderful shows — Art Quilts (at the Chandler), Sacred Threads, and the La Conner Quilt Festival — as well as some local Atlanta shows — Georgia Artists, Fiber Art Fusion (which I now co-curate with Rebecca Reasons-Edwards), SEFAA’s ARTlanta, and East Cobb Quilt Guild.
Right now, my desk is littered with folders — for quilts and for shows — as I try to decide shows to enter, how much it will cost, which quilts to send, how long they’ll be gone if they’re accepted, and how to enter pieces in such a way that I don’t enter a piece in more than one show at a time (because that’s just bad business). Decisions, decisions. I tend to enter & support the same shows that I have in previous years — but throw in a new one here and there to see if I get in — to expand my horizons.
I have had one piece juried into the East Cobb Quilt Guild Show this June — Beach Guardians. In July, both Beach Guardians and The Bowl Judgments will travel to Sacred Threads in DC. They have both also been chosen for an extended travel exhibit of Sacred Threads in Omaha, NE.
I also have been working on entries this week — but I think it’s bad luck to mention an entry before the jurying process is complete.
Sometimes I help Lyric Kinard with her list of Shows to Enter. At one point years ago, she thought about not keeping up the list and I offered to help. It was the only resource of its kind at the time and I wanted to see it continue. It’s a great way to look at the landscape and see what venues are available. Although many of the more local shows have not survived the current economy, there are still a lot of opportunities available.
2013 Georgia Artists Reception
012 years ago
by Virginia Greaves
in Exhibition
Last Friday was the Georgia Artists reception at the Abernathy Arts Center in Sandy Springs. I was excited to go. This is my 3rd year to be included in this exhibit and it’s always a great way to meet other Atlanta artists.
So this year, I prepared myself. I designed business cards & had them rush printed. I even went so far as to buy a new dress — something I never do. I came prepared as the professional artist.
I’m still glad that I did that — I should always do that — but this year was different. The artists didn’t mingle. I didn’t have the opportunity to meet one other artist other than the one that I already knew — and I pushed my card on her so I could at least have given one away. In retrospect, we didn’t have name tags like we have in previous years. Maybe that made the difference. Also, there was only one artist in the show that had been included previously. I wonder what damage the economy has inflicted on its community of artists.
Lincoln was beautifully hung. I always love to see my work hanging in a professional gallery.
This is me with my Lincoln.
And this is SPLAT! created by Leisa Rich. I’ve known her for a few years although we have mostly conversed on Facebook. I was blown away by this piece. It looks more like sculpture than fiber given the way it undulates from the wall. It’s mostly stitching on a vinyl material but there are holes filled with what I think is fine silk.
SPLAT! by Leisa Rich
And here is Leisa with an Honorable Mention! Well deserved. Probably my favorite piece in the show.
SPLAT! with creator Leisa Rich
New Exhibitions
012 years ago
by Virginia Greaves
in Exhibition
I have been blessed with several exhibition opportunities lately that I wanted to share.
Bukonyan Elder was chosen as one of two pieces to represent my Fiber Art Fusion group in our sister organization Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance show Fiber ARTlanta. The opening reception will be May 3rd at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta 6:30 – 8:30pm. The show will run through May 27th.
Lincoln has been juried into the Georgia Artist exhibit opening at the Abernathy Arts Center in Sandy Springs, GA also on May 3rd 6:30 – 8:30pm. The show will run through June 14.
Both The Bowl Judgments & Beach Guardians have been juried into Sacred Threads 2013. Show dates are July 10 – 28 at Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, VA. The artists reception is July 13 1 – 4 pm.
How To Make Lemonade
112 years ago
Last week I finished fusing the Yorkie. I put her up on my black design wall for a quick pic. Most things look so stunning on black.
And then I started the tedious process of appliquing all of those raw edges. I use a tiny zigzag. There is so much thread in this piece from applique, I doubt there will be much stabilizer that I can tear off the back.
I did applique the piece onto white muslin. I knew that my background was going to have its own applique elements — so it was easiest to use the muslin as my canvas.
Just as I was finishing the applique on the Yorkie, Pokey Bolton announced the exhibit It’s Raining Cats & Dogs at the IQA-Houston show in the Fall. I had known about it earlier because there was an invitational exhibit that included my piece Unconditional last year — and I was told that the following year, it would be juried. So I did have this in mind as I started this piece — and I also think that animals are much more marketable than people in terms of selling my work.
However, Pokey threw me a curve ball. The minimum on any side must be 25″ — the shortest side of mine was 24″. Clearly, I was going to have to make the best of things. I threw on my creative thinking cap and starting working. I considered a border — the easiest solution — but I don’t think that that would add anything to the design. I finally decided to extend the bottom. I freeform cut it too — I felt very brave. There is more here than I’ll need but there will be some shrinkage in quilting.
I also decided that the left eye just wasn’t cutting it. There is a sprig of hair obstructing our view of the eye, but I still felt like it needed more of the detail of the iris.
Now it makes more sense to me.
This is the final top. I have added the details of a jacket around her and the background behind the two figures.
I taught a class last week to my Fiber Art Fusion group about Color/Value & Picking Fabrics. It made me realize how dependent I’ve become on my color wheel. Can you see the tetradic color scheme (or double complement) I used? I think it works — although this is technically the hardest color combination to do successfully. I actually had no idea what to put in the background on the right — but figured out that pulling the green over from the collar but in a value deeper than the coat would work best.
So now I will start quilting. I just wanted to share with you how this little piece was coming along.
Not At Houston
012 years ago
by Virginia Greaves
in Exhibition
Years ago, I had the privilege is attending the AQS Quilt Show in Paducah. There were miles and miles of the most extraordinary quilts I had ever seen. Every time I came to the end of a row, there was another one, each quilt more breathtaking than the last. I marveled that anyone could jury awards and somehow discern the placement of one over another.
Although I don’t enter Paducah anymore because of their size restrictions — this is how I imagine the International Quilt Festival in Houston to be like — probably larger. I have had the honor of having many quilts there but have not been able to visit myself. At this time of year, the blog posts from friends attending makes me wish I could hop on a plane. I’ll get there one day.
I have one quilt in the invitational exhibit Pets — Unconditional. This is a piece I created several years ago and shows the unconditional love that my mother’s Brittany Spaniel has for her. Given the popularity of the animal pieces that I have done, I should really make more of them. They are much more marketable — portraits of people are much more personal to the subject — although I do not use marketability often in choosing a subject for a piece — no more than I use exhibit themes as guidelines for ideas. I like to create pieces that are inspirational to me — although I can appreciate that that is not always the most marketable decision.
I also have two pieces at the same show in the World of Beauty Exhibit — People, Places, & Figures category. I confess I don’t actually know if they hang the exhibit by category — although it makes sense that they would.
The first is Beach Guardians, a piece I made last year based on my children when they were younger. I love the perspective of looking down on them from above.
The second piece in the same exhibit is called A Walk in Twilight created earlier this year. It is about friendship and the joy that we share in each other’s company. Sometimes we just need to remember to take our friends along to make the journey more enjoyable.
These were the first two pieces I made with multiple subjects — although you could argue that Amelia Earhart had two subjects — Amelia and her plane. I still struggle with backgrounds and deciding whether more complex is actually helpful to the piece or not. Sometimes I think something simple is best — you don’t want to detract from the main subject — but other times, a complex background adds to the story of the piece and still enhances the portrait.
I have also been privileged with winning a first place ribbon from the La Conner Quilt Festival in the Open: Fiber Art Quilted category for Bukonyan Elder. This is my first year to have entered this show and I was thrilled to place. Their Top Honors Exhibit will extend until the end of the year and will be available for viewing at the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum in La Conner, WA.
Lastly, my piece Celtic Woman is being included in a book to be released this coming April. I have not been published in a book before so I can’t wait to receive my copy. I will give more details on this publication at a later date.
Fiber Art Fusion 2012: Artifact
013 years ago
by Virginia Greaves
in Exhibition
Last Thursday night, my Fiber Art Fusion art group had our annual art exhibit opening at The Art Place in Marietta, GA. The theme this year was Artifact, and it was interesting to see all of the interpretations.
Rebecca Reasons-Edwards made this wonderful piece from an old dress. After losing a bunch of weight, she unraveled it and wrapped it around wire to form this beautiful and inspiring piece called Boom Boom Diet Power.
- Boom Boom Diet Power – Rebecca Reasons-Edwards
Sharon Ahmed made this beautiful piece called Beauty Discovered.
Beauty Discovered – Sharon Serrano Ahmed
Hellenne Vermillion who teaches silk painting made this bright piece, Spring Geckos.
Spring Geckos – Hellenne Vermillion
Paula Coplon surprised us with this wonderful silk piece that hangs from a wooden bough called Lost and Found.
Lost and Found – Paula Coplon
Martha Edwards Myers made this piece Grandmother’s Garden inspired from traditional methods and yet updated with modern touches. (She also made her exquisite dress.)
Grandmother’s Garden – Martha Edwards Myers
Denny Webster created Sixteen Doors. (She is moving away soon and I will miss her greatly.)
Sixteen Doors – Denny Webster
Deb Lacative made these four inspirational pieces: top left – The Wood, bottom left – Stars Out of Place, top right – Winter Behind Us, bottom right – Watchover.
Deb Lacativa
The wonderful bird quilts were made by Debbie Smith – Uguisi and Uguisi II. She also made the Plum Blossom vessels as accompaniments — and the black vessel Caddo Nation Vessel. Lynn Rinehart made the red vessel Red Three Fold Cord.
Debbie Smith & Lynn Rinehart
These are both of my pieces — Arminta Patterson and — the portrait made from men’s ties that I finished just in time for the show — The Ties That Bind Us.
Arminta Patterson & The Ties That Bind Us – Virginia Greaves
It’s a great show and will be up through the 27th of this month. There are 65 pieces in the show this year so you must visit the gallery to see everything.
The Finish Line
013 years ago
I am embarrassed to say I realized the other day that I had not written a blog post during the month of August. My only defense are deadlines. I have been writing several proposals — I’ve been entering more shows — and I spent a frantic two weeks (once school had started back) finishing my piece for the Fiber Art Fusion show. We hung it on Tuesday at The Art Place in Marietta, GA. I will post pictures of the show later. The artist’s reception will be on the 13th at 7pm — and it runs through this month only.
I have two pieces in this show — Arminta Patterson and my new piece, made from men’s ties, The Ties That Bind Us.
I have had one piece juried into the La Connor Quilt Festival in La Connor, WA– Bukonyan Elder. It will be on display in October.
I have had two pieces juried into IQA Houston’s World of Beauty show — Beach Guardians and A Walk In Twilight. They will be on display in November.
Interestingly, there was quite a bit of debate when the acceptance letters for Houston went out. It used to be that you’d receive a fat or skinny envelope and share the results on QuiltArt (an online forum that works on email) — but technology is speeding us forward. Now many of us have a presence on Facebook, a blog, a website — and we post pics of our work.
The debate is over whether that is fair. IQA judges felt that seeing work online before judging would affect their decisions — so they asked that all pictures of work accepted into the show be removed from the internet.
Which on the surface sounds reasonable. They want only virgin art in their show.
My first argument against this is that seeing a picture of a piece online and seeing it in person are two different kinds of experience. One enhances from the other — it doesn’t detract from it.
My other argument is how much it destroys creativity. My blog & my website are my creative endeavors. If I can’t show a piece that I intend to enter into a virgin show — my blog goes away. Most of my blog shows in process — none of that would then be possible.
I would also be holding pieces for as much as a year before I could publish them on my website — for a show that I might not get into.
IQA does not currently HAVE this rule — they are considering it. Quilt National has this rule — and they are biennial — which would mean that I would hold pieces as long as TWO years before I could publish them on my website.
Virgin rules would effectively take away my ability to interact with the world through my blog and my website — if I choose to enter them. It is my choice to enter them or not. I hope that IQA doesn’t add the virgin rules — because then I choose — my blog or their show.