Color Improvisations in Karlsruhe Germany

Chariot of Fire by Beata Keller-Kerchner

Color Improvisations is currently on Exhibit in Karlsruhe, Germany. Beata Keller-Kerchner, one of the artists in the exhibition, has posted two videos on You Tube which show all the pieces in the exhibition and the beautiful space where they are exhibited.

Here are the links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJikrNpxFFw&feature=BFa&list=ULPCIeXwIK9YQ&index=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJDad703xxY&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

To see one of Beata's works, visit her blog at:

http://www.keller-kerchner.blogspot.com/

Thank you Beata for sharing this great view of the show.

*****

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Snapshots at the Pompidou

Painting 1

Many of you know that I traveled to Germany this summer in connection with Color Improvisations in which my work was shown. After the opening we continued our trip to Paris, France and enjoyed a week of museums, gardens and fun with family.

I was very impressed with the beautiful condition of many of the museums as my only other trip to France was in 1987 and much restoration has taken place since that time. While we enjoyed all the impressionist work which is in abundance, my favorite art was at the Pompidou Center in the Musee National D'Art Moderne.

One of the new features of the museums is that most allow you to take snapshots of the work in their permanent collections as long as you don't use your flash. I suspect that there is a lot of art on a lot of cell phones these days. This is all great fun but if most of the visitors are like me, they become so delighted in this opportunity that they don't take good notes and thus have images of work they admired but don't have the artists name to go with the image. Actually I took photographs of most of the labels but can't read them ;-( Being an artists who exhibits, this is a sad thing to have to admit.

So....having confessed to my sins, I want to share a few images of work I can not identify.

I want to start with the piece at the top of this article. My thinking is that the process of "piecing" fabric is All About Shape. All About Shape is the title of a workshop I am teaching this weekend and I have structured the course to show people how to generate shapes beyond squares. When I look at this painting it just makes me happy. This is a composition with shapes I believe most artist who work in fabric can relate to. The work demonstrate expert use of Repetition, Unity, Variety, Positive and Negative Space, Movement, Gradation etc. etc.

Painting 2

You can see from my badly cropped photo that this piece is very wide but only about 4' high. Interesting proportion I thought. I love the simplicity of the black and white and the beautiful overall texture created by the swirling marks. This made me think of the piece by Violet Cravasa in Color Improvisations. Violets quilt was pieced but I can see the creation of this surface in a resist or direct painting on fabric.

Painting 2 detail

Drawing 1

I am not a hundred percent sure at this point if this is a painting, drawing or print I just know I loved it and I'll call it a drawing! I love the subtle color of the "paper" and the marks, the erasures, the smudges and the energy. I also immediately saw an underlying structure in this piece that I relate to. Do you see it? This linework could be stitching or screened or or or....

Fabric Collage 1

I'm calling this piece a fabric collage because that is indeed what it is. There are corsets, petticoats, and other under garments arranged in relation to one another and is presented underglass. I could not tell if the fabrics has been treated in any way to keep them in place or even stitched. The fabric is discolored and beginning to discentegrate and this aging only added the the appeal for me as it is a way of marking time.

Fabric Collage 2

This is another example of a Fabric Collage that is more abstract and more worn. The fabrics are linen and cotten and very sheer but roughly woven. There are stains and tears and patches throughout. This work reminded me of a dress that Dorothy Caldwell show in a class I attended last summer. Dorothy is known for the massive amount of handstitching she incorporates in her work and her love of handwork as a labour of love done by women all over the world. This Fabric Collage referenced work, distress, trials and tribulations and stitching to hold things together.

Fabric Collage 2 detail

These are only a few of the images I collected and my apologies to the artists for not being able to share there names. I chose these specific images because to my eye, each one of them has a direct tie to textiles, textile processes or because they simply made me think of textile potential.

There is lots and lots of discussion by artists who work in textiles about wanting to show their work is museums and galleries but being turned away because many of these venues don't show textiles. The shows we saw at the Pompidou Center demonstrated that it can happen. We just have to keep working and spreading the word.

Thank you for spending time at Studio 24-7. I love hearing from you and Remember:

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COLOR IMPROVISATIONS - Work by Terry Jarrard-Dimond

In my last posting I presented some casual shots of the COLOR IMPROVISATIONS installation in Stuttgart, Germany. Today I am presenting the three pieces I had in the exhibition.

This work represent a year of studio time. In the process producing work for the show I experienced many highs and lows but when I saw the work installed, reviewed the catalog and met the people attending the reception all of the lows melted away and I gave into the pride I feel being in this show.

FOREST FLOOR - Terry Jarrard-Dimond
78.25" x 78.25"
Hand-dyed cotton, Freecut, Machine-Pieced and Machine Quilted
Photo: Kuhnle+Knodler Fotodesign BFF, Radolfzell

Forest Floor was the first piece I successfully completed. I began the work for this show before I had all the facts relating to the show. I actually constructed two pieces which are still in my closet. They were put aside because they just didn't represent my work. A third piece was completed but it didn't fit the guidelines. That piece is very nice and is entitled Mysterious Stranger. The show is the brain child of Nancy Crow and she had requested we work in a four-plex format. Mysterious Stranger was designed in 4 units but the units are long rectangles. Perhaps it would have been acceptable but I choose not to submit it for the jury.

Forrest Floor has some elements that are a little different for me as I incorporated elements which are very soft and flowing. There is a large figure on the right side which presented itself and I decided to allow him to dance around the forest and continue performing the ritual he is engaged in. The most difficult part of the composition is bringing the four large squares together without the composition looking like units. The color is just as rich as the picture shows. Most of the fabric is a high quality type of muslin which is no longer being manufactured. I spent about 18 months trying various fabrics, found this one and now it is gone.....

FIGURE IN BROWN - Terry Jarrard-Dimond
81.5" x 83"

Hand-dyed cotton, Freecut, Machine-Pieced and Machine Quilted
Photo: Kuhnle+Knodler Fotodesign BFF, Radolfzell

After completing Forest Floor I had two failed pieces where I just couldn't get anything going. I tried beginning with some base colors which were very unique for me and these pieces just died on the wall. It's a very humbling experience to find yourself having this experience right at a time you want to do your very best. About that time I attended a week of open studio and the flow of energy present in that studio was just the right boost I needed to start moving ahead. During that time I constructed Figure In Brown.

I often find inspiration for work through color and that, along with my interest in the "bean" shape on the left, was the starting point for this work. Almost every piece of fabric in the work was fabric I over-dyed. Over-dying fabric brings richness of color, texture and surprises and because many of these were over-dyed at the same time, there is a harmony that is very pleasing.


Next came SCULPTURE GARDEN.

SCULPTURE GARDEN - Terry Jarrard-Dimond
80.5" x 82.25"

Hand-dyed cotton, Freecut, Machine-Pieced and Machine Quilted
Photo: Kuhnle+Knodler Fotodesign BFF, Radolfzell

This work has a broader color palette and a more complex structure. I made sculpture for many years and as I began assembling this work I saw that my feeling for three-dimensional space was coming forward. I enjoy looking at the overlapping shapes which manage to slide over or under it's neighbor and surface somewhere else.

I made one other piece before time to submit the work for the initial jury. After having 3 pieces selected I had to get busy and quilt and do the finish work. I have a good working space but I can tell you that managing 3 large pieces for quilting and finishing all at the same time was a trip. It has made me appreciate the joys of doing some smaller work ; )


The final step was the packing and shipping the work to Germany. I never fold my quilts but in this situation folding and packing in a box was the only option. I managed to put all three pieces in one 20" x 20" x 20" box. Ginie Curtze who handled the show is evidently a magician as my work looked fresh as a daisy as did all the pieces. Ginie will be handling the work as it travels and I thank you for all your hard work and expertise.


So now the work is part of an excellent exhibition which has it's own life. I won't see that work for a long time. I have hopes it will come to the US and if it does I will be there to greet it with a smile.

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you.

Color Improvisations Opens in Germany

Main entrance to Color Improvisations

Haus der Wirtschaft, Stuttgart, Germany

After many months of work, planning, anticipation and anxiety, the fabulous exhibiton Color Improvisations has opened in Stuttgart, Germany to a wonderful response from artists and guests. I can not say another word until I acknowledge Nancy Crow for her vision in organizing this event and Ginie Curtze whose tireless work on behalf of this exhibition and quilt making in general has made the exhibition such a professional exhibition.

My husband Tom and I arrived in Stuttgart on Friday before the opening of the show on Sunday so we were able to visit a couple of museums on Saturday before joining some of the other participants on Saturday evening for a casual dinner.

Grand Stairway to Galleries on Left and Right

On Sunday the planned events started with a beautiful luncheon at the hotel where we were staying. After the luncheon we walked to the museum to preview the show. The schedule was tight with a mere 30 minute time slot for the artists to preview the exhibition before guests were allowed into the museum. I managed to snap a few photos and see all the pieces but was not able to photograph them all. Thomas Curtze, who designed the beautiful catalog for the show, has established a Flicker site where he will be adding photos shot of the show: http://www.flickr.com/photos/color-improvisations

Nancy Crow addressing Artists and guests at Luncheon prior to opening reception. The man to her right is Andy Curtze who acted as interpreter and translated into German.

Kathy Loomis and Cathy Shanahan visit during the luncheon.

Everyone gathered in the lecture hall where one of the city mayors welcomed us and then we were each introduced with a small slide presentation and statement relating to our work. We were treated to a musical performance by an Opera singer whose name I do not know. If there was a printed program I failed to get one but her performance was wonderful and added to the festive mood of the event.

Musical Performance

At the conclusion of the formal introductions we all sat at tables outside the galleries and signed catalogs. This was an amazing event as I think everyone purchased a catalog. As the guests came around they were generous with their comments and very enthusiastic about the show as a whole.

As I said earlier, I was only able to take a few pictures before our 30 minutes was over and I was more interested in just looking and absorbing than documenting but I'll share the ones I did take. There are 50 pieces in the exhibition made by 26 artists. All but 4 artists were present for the opening reception. I believe the show demonstrates clearly the possibilities of the medium and the quality of work that is being made with fabric and certainly shows the richness of work that is being made using the piecing process. Represented are works made by artists who have been working with the medium since the 1970s as well as those who have only been doing so for a few years. I felt part of impact of the show is due to the specific nature of the work all being pieced rather than most juried shows where the range of techniques is much wider. The size of the work also contributed to the impact as there were no pieces smaller than approximately 72" square.

Forest Floor - Terry Jarrard-Dimond

Hand dyed cottons, Free Cut, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted

78.25" x 78.25"

Sculpture Garden - Terry Jarrard-Dimond

Hand dyed cottons, Free Cut, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted

81.5" x 83"

Figure In Brown - Terry Jarrard-Dimond

Hand dyed cottons, Free Cut, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted

81.5" x 83"

and

Forest Floor - Terry Jarrard-Dimond

Hand dyed cottons, Free Cut, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted

78.25" x 78.25"

I have three pieces in the exhibition. During the year after being invited to submit work for this exhibition I made 9 pieces aimed toward this show. Of the 9 I actually completed 5 and submitted 4. I generally don't make work for specific exhibitions but rather I work and then find places to show what I create but I would never have passed up the opportunity to be included in this show and I learned a great deal making this work. The photos of my work are not very focused and I will be adding better images of each work to my website. My statement was simple:

I often think of the compositions as "interior landscapes" which are the result of my life experiences.

Organized Chaos - Violet Cavazos

Cotton, Machine Pieced and Machine Quilted

74" x 74"

Detail - Organized Chaos - Violet Cavazos

This work by Violet Cavazos was one of my favorites. You might notice immediately that it is in black and white rather than color. I'd like to share what Violet has to say:

Organized Chaos was started while my husband was dying. During the course of his long illness, the colors of my working palette drained away until only grays and black remained.

I loved this piece and it was very interesting to me later in my trip went we traveled to France and saw a fabulous exhibition of work by women in the permanent collection at the Pompidou Center entitled elles @ centrepompidou. As I walked the galleries of that show I was struck by how comfortable much of the work in Color Improvisations would be hanging alongside these pieces by our more famous sisters. Congratulations Violet. It is a beautiful piece.

Construction #49 Grey and Brown Weave - Leslie Joan Riley

Hand dyed and commercial Cottons, Machine Pieced,

Machine Quilted by Sue Divarco with Pattern Designed by Leslie Joan Riley

82" x 89"

Construction #50 - Leslie Joan Riley

Hand dyed and Commercial Cottons, Machine Pieced,

Machine Quilted by Sue Divarco with pattern Designed by Leslie Jaon Riley

89" x 81"

Leslie says: My work is the exploration of the creative process. I layer the complex relationships of form and color to create a dense image that reflects the aspects of life that I am drawn to, details and their relationship to the whole. These relationships engage me such that it absorbs my attention and I am excited to proceed.

I adore the results of this intense piecing and I am amazed at the dedication it takes to work in this manner. Others represented in the show who work this way included Violet Cavasa, Kathy Loomis, Nancy Cordry, and Suzanne Buchmann.

Limnos/Benthos - Mary Lou Alexander

Cotton, Shibori Dyed, Machine Pieced and Machine Quilted

74" x 74"

Mary Lou had two beautiful pieces in the show, both shibori dyed. I loved the introduction of the areas of color which created subtle shapes and depth in the work. Mary Lou says:

As a biologist, I am fascinated by natural phenomena. For me, art , like science, brings order to these phenomena. I want my quilts to reflect the wonder and awe that I feel for the natural world. Both art and science have added immeasurably to the richness of my life, and in turn I hope that I will have contributed in some small way to each.

Velvet Falls - Cathy Shanahan

Hand Dyed Cottons, Machine Pieced and Machine Quilted

72" x 75"

and

Jewels of the Earth - Cathy Shanahan

Hand Dyed Cottons, Machine Pieced and Machine Quilted

76" x 73"

There are a number of artists in the exhibition I do not know but I do know Cathy and had the fun of being a neighbor of Cathy's in a workshop a year or so ago. Cathy's growth and understanding of her work has been a joy to watch and her work in the show really glowed. Here is what she had to say:

I live in the cycle of creativity. There are the ups of inspirations, the joys of problem solving, the tedium of pushing through, and in the end the piece will sing to me. Then the cycle begins anew, bubbling and percolating in my mind.

Giganten 14 - Heike Dressler

Hand dyed Cotton Sateen, Machine Pieced and Machine quilted

73" x 73"

I confess that I did not know the work of most of the European artists so it was fun to see their work and meet many of them. Heike and I sat next to one another to sign the books and she is great fun with a beautiful smile and personality. I felt a great connection to her work. Here is her statement:

In my recent work I set the merging of color and form up against that of contrast and transparency. That is why the eye is constantly attracted to new details.

Linienspiel VIII - Uta Lenk

Inspired by a drawing of 3 year old Jan Lenk

Hand dyed Fabric, Machine pieced and machine uilted.

73" x 74"

Uta Lenk lives in Vilsbiburg, Germany and is another of the European artists in the show. Her current work is based on drawings done by her young son and features beautiful linework which can be a difficult element to work with in cut and pieced work. Here is her statement:

As an artist I produce art for others to indulge in, and it is a great gift that I can enjoy the period of production. The viewer's reactions to the finished product then transform it into real art, and the viewer is the one who finds his or her own meaing in it.

I wish I had photos of all the work to share with you but I will keep my eyes open for more images. At this time there isn't a US distributor for the catalog but I will post that information when it becomes available.

The show will be traveling to a number of places in Europe and possibly to Japan and I hope the US. If it comes to your area it is definitely worth a visit.

Thank you for visiting and spending time with my blog. I love hearing from you and hope you will visit again.

*** I almost forgot. Of the 26 artists participating in the exhibition, 2 were born in South Carolina.....me and Sylvia Sutherland. Kind of interesting.

Color Improvisations to Open in Germany

Forest Floor - detail

This summer I will be heading to Stuttgart Germany for the opening of Color Improvisations.

This exhibition was conceived and curated by world renowned artists Nancy Crow and features work from 26 artists from around the world who were invited to submit pieces for consideration. The grand opening of the exhibition is July 11 at the Haus der Wirtschaft and will be on view July 15 - August 15. The show will be touring around Europe, Japan and the United States.

The work for this show was created around the theme of Color and generally I do not participate in shows which require that I make work specifically for a theme or set of guidelines so this was a unique experience for me. Color is and has been a very important part of my work and I know that Nancy does whatever she does with great integrity and style so there was no way I wouldn't get involved. From the work submitted, Nancy has selected 54 large works. I believe ALL of the pieces are 6 feet square or much larger.

We have been asked not to publish images of work that has been selected for the exhibit but you can see details of some of the work at the website: Color Improvisations. From that page you can choose the english or german version. Be sure and look at both as there are different details of work on the two. The detail pictured above is from one of one of my three pieces in the show and is featured on the first page of the english version.

Basically, I spent part of 2009 and 2010 working on pieces for the show as did many of the participants. I eventually made 7, finished 6, submitted 4 and had 3 accepted. Since I can't show you what was accepted, here is one I made that I didn't submit.

The Mysterious Stranger

88" h x 84" w - 2009

This piece was made for the show but not submitted because I did not have all the details of the show at the time I started it and it didn't fit some of the criteria. No matter. I love the piece and it gives you some idea of what I will have in the show.

There is going to be a catalog and a European magazine Patchwork is publishing a special edition dedicated to the show. As we move forward I'm sure the website will be updated with additional information about the show and the travel schedule. I will certainly be posting an article after my trip.

Thank you for dropping by and please come again. Your comments are always welcome.