Penny for my Thoughts

This is a happy piece and I'm glad to say it was accepted for exhibit in "The Voice Within" . I hadn't planned on entering this one, as I didn't have a suitable piece and nothing came to mind. Then out of the blue, it came to me, one answer to the question, "How did you think of THAT?". (I've never been sure if that was a question of amazment, curiosity, or unbelief.)

I've never been certain where most of my ideas come from. They're rarely deliberate, in the sense of "I think I'll draw a tree today". Most of them come to me in those moments of semi-conciousness, just after I wake up, in the shower or when my hands are busy but my mind is wandering. A few of them make me wonder about my mental health, but most are welcomed and turned into art. Others lead me to a piece by steps. This thought process is what inspired this quilt.

For me, my process works alot like putting a penny in a gumball machine (do they still take pennies?). You put in the coin, turn the handle and what you see is what you get. Maybe you wanted pink and got yellow instead. Maybe on a really good day you get TWO gumballs, glory hallalujeh. And sometime, you look in the bowl and find it empty. Just like life, right.

I had a wonderful time making this character with his felt gumball filled head, and his 3-D arms and hands. I find I like him, and my process very well indeed.

Frustration

I haven't posted much since beginning this blog with high hopes and bright ideas. If you want to know why, its due to my frustrations with how things are progressing in the on-line world of fiber art. This blog was also to be my way of waving my hands, jumping up and down and saying, "Hey, look at me--I'm here, and I intend to be a player in this game".

Back then, I imagined my blog as a place to discuss ideas, post new works and works in progress and generally communicate with other folks interested in these things. Then reality reared its ugly head. Things like copyright violations, shows that require no pre-publication for entries and utmost secrecy to preserve the "reveal" power of show openings. So how do I balance the desire for publicity with these other concerns? I'm still looking for MY answer to that one.

Why bring this up now? Well, its been stewing for a long time, and today the straw broke the camel's back. I just received a rejection for a piece that was over two years in the making for a show that required no pre-publication, and it was a piece that had to be made just for this exhibit. This piece follows the timeline of this blog, and is a symbol of all that is frustrating to me. I'm frustrated less by the rejection, although it would be nice to know why, than by the fact that I denied myself the chance to share the creation and progress of this piece with others. Something I wanted very much throughout.

I'm not pointing fingers of blame at anyone or any organization, except for myself. I made the decision to participate, and thus agreed to the rules. I'm not debating if these rules are good or bad for the world of art-quilting. That's a different discussion. Will I participate in an exhibit like this again? Probably not, but then again.....there's always Quilt National to consider.

Finally, here at last is my piece "Morning Departure", rejected for "The Sky's the Limit" exhibit in Houston this fall. It is large at approx. 5' square. I have included several detail shots. Every item was crafted with the Deco period in mind. The wallpaper, is dyed, stenciled and stamped then quilted with metallic thread. The window was painted and includes the Pan Am Clipper airplane. Each square of the marble floor has a different Deco inspired quilting pattern. The chair is based on an authentic Deco chair. The luggage labels were each designed to mimic the labels of the era, but due to copyrights the orignals were not available to me. I poured myself into this piece and in hind-sight, I would have been happier sharing with all of you the making of the piece. In the end, it meant so much more than the exhibit ever could.