In This Issue… See Page 25 Mary Mattimoe on a Plein Air Adventure
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SAQAStudio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. Journal Volume 25, No.4 Fall 2015 Cat and Mouse Game (detail) by Martha Ressler In this issue… see page 25 Mary Mattimoe on a plein air adventure . .5 Philly here we come . 16 Barb Wills’ focused printmaking . 6 Building a traveling exhibition . 18 Inside track on gallery shows . 10 Member gallery: Health & Wholeness . 20 Wash & Wax from Greaves & Rich . 12 Selections from Wild Fabrications . 24 Mentorship program launched . 14 Are regional shows for you? . 27 ® Innova Sequin Stitcher Automatically Sequins while you Quilt! Patent Pending ™ www.innovalongarm.com 1.888.99Quilt Manufacturing Industrial ® Quilting Machines for over 75 years! Thoughts from the president by Kris Sazaki MythBusters: SAQA exhibitions edition any of on the number of entries received. rep about volunteering to help mount Myou Historic ally, 45 percent of all artists one. International members do have may know who have submitted entries have had the additional burden of shipping about the popu- their work exhibited in at least one their work to the shipping facility lar television exhibition. Over the past two years, when they are juried into an all-SAQA program that acceptance rates have ranged from 21 exhibition. Maybe when members say tests rumors percent (Two by Twenty) to 38 percent SAQA exhibitions aren’t for interna- and urban legends against scientific (Celebrating Silver). One thing is cer- tional members, they’re focusing on fact. MythBusters is a great educa- tain: If you do not submit work, the that extra financial burden, but there tional show, and after chatting with chance of your work being accepted are no restrictions imposed by SAQA. my son about it one day, I thought is exactly 0 percent. You can increase Verdict: Busted. how great it was that people were your odds of getting your work countering popular belief with fact. accepted by submitting top-quality SAQA exhibitions aren’t in museums. In my current role as president, I am images of your work, adhering to the There are seven exhibitions going often baffled by the comments SAQA size limitations, submitting work that to 10 museums in 2015, and nine members make to me about why they addresses the theme, and submitting exhibitions going to nine museums don’t submit work for SAQA exhibi- your best work. in 2016. These numbers do NOT include all the museum venues for tions. Here are some popular beliefs Verdict: Busted, because I’d take those that I would like to test using Myth- chances any day in the lottery. regional exhibitions. While museum Busters’ scheme of “busted,” “plau- venues are coveted by our members, The same people always get into the sible,” or “confirmed.” they often take more coordination SAQA exhibitions. Since 2010, 405 and collaboration with the museum SAQA Exhibitions are only for Juried individual artists have exhibited in at itself than quilt venues do. SAQA Artist Members. To date, the only least one SAQA exhibition. Of those exhibitions at all venues help fulfill exhibitions that have had a restric- 405 artists, 290 have exhibited in one the organization’s mission to promote tion on who can submit work are exhibition and the other 115 have the art quilt through education, exhi- the ones for members who have exhibited in two or more exhibitions. bitions, professional development, NOT been in a SAQA exhibition Some of you might be thinking of an documentation, and publications. for a specific length of time. While artist who has been in eight exhibi- Verdict: Busted. a JAM-only show is occasionally tions, but she has entered 10. I should proposed, one has not been mounted work so hard. SAQA exhibitions are only for abstract/ since 2006. Reasons cited include the Verdict: Busted. only for representational artists. desire to have the best work in every Artists tend to think many exhibi- exhibition regardless of membership SAQA exhibitions aren’t for interna- tions don’t apply to them. Maybe category and concern that there is tional members. The only exhibi- the theme of the exhibition doesn’t not enough interest among JAMs for tions that have restrictions based on speak to you, but that is all about a specific exhibition. geography are regional exhibitions. In the theme, not about the art. Some Verdict: Busted. fact, the regional exhibition program themes may point to more abstract or has been flourishing, and regional representational work. When con- The odds of getting into a SAQA exhibitions are yet another way to sidering which exhibition to submit exhibition are so slim it isn’t worth give our artists high-quality exposure. work for, think about the theme. my time. The odds of getting into If your region has never mounted a Does your work really speak to the any one SAQA exhibition depend regional exhibit, talk to your regional see “President” on page 30 SAQA Journal • Fall 2015 • 3 4 • SAQA Journal • Fall 2015 Featured volunteer: Mary Mattimoe photo by Erin Mattimoe Taking risk proves wild success at Atlanta Zoo event by Cindy Grisdela ary Mattimoe of Clovis, New in an isolated area in New Mexico, MMexico, sees herself as a bit and SAQA provides a much-needed of a gambler. When an opportunity link to the outside world and pushes presents itself, she jumps at the her to do more. “I want to push chance. So she began volunteering myself to the next level,” she said. for SAQA less than three months after She tries to surround herself with she joined last year. And this past people whose work she admires. summer she applied to demonstrate Coordinating the online gallery gives her art quilt process at a plein air Mattimoe the opportunity to see the spent at the zoo. When she saw the event at the Atlanta Zoo in Georgia, work of many different SAQA artists. call for entries for the zoo’s Art Gone even though she had experimented Not only has Mattimoe found a Wild event on Instagram, she sent with combining painting and quilt- good fit within SAQA, but her ability an email to the event organizers that ing for only a year. to recognize a good thing made her very day, with a note: “Please give Mattimoe joined SAQA in July 2014 an ambassador for fiber art at the me a chance!” She submitted her bio, after taking a class with artist Katie Atlanta Zoo. The zoo’s plein air event artist statement, and images of three Pasquini Masopust. By September last was an unusual venue for a quilter. whole cloth painted quilts of animals. year, she was helping with the SAQA All of the work was created outside She was accepted, the only textile website, posting calls for entry and during a specified time period, mak- artist among the field of 40 artists, events, and coordinating the mini ing it an event that would usually mostly painters. gallery that changes monthly. appeal primarily to painters. She wasn’t sure whether her process “The best way to get involved is to Mattimoe grew up in Atlanta and would work outdoors in front of an volunteer,” Mattimoe said. She lives has many fond memories of days audience. To prepare, she made quilt sandwiches a little larger than 16 x 16 inches and took them with her sewing machine to the zoo. Mattimoe’s process starts with a rough sketch from photos, then she uses an enlargement of the sketch as the base for free-motion stitching. After the image is stitched, she paints it using acrylic paints. She got a lot of double-takes when people realized she was working with see “Mary Mattimoe” on page 31 Mary Mattimoe quilts at the Atlanta Zoo. photo by Melinda Rushing SAQA Journal • Fall 2015 • 5 Featured Artist Barb Wills: Focused artist makes her mark by Linda McCurry arb Wills spent the summer contemplating B the large work in progress on her design wall, Land Marks #70. That work — the largest one she has created to date at approximately 76 x 88 inches — will be part of Material Pulses: 8 Viewpoints, an invitational show curated by artist Nancy Crow set to open May 5, 2016, at the Riffe Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. While the in-progress art quilt cannot yet be published, it was ever present as Wills moved from one task to the next, working out its every intimate detail. The work embodies Wills’ love of mark making and uses her proficient print- making skills. And while the scale was different for her, the work displays several characteristics that are part of Wills’ distinct look. She tends to work with a limited palette — there is an absence of bright yellow and white — and often prints in black using her own recipe of dye and printing inks. Her handmade woodcut printing blocks create a harmonious rhythm throughout the piece. She works to create a flow of lines from block to block, in some ways resembling the flow of electrical impulses through a circuit board, reminiscent of her work as a high-tech engineer. She seeks balance as she chooses her creative options, weighing a number of choices and A first step in each of Barb Wills’ pieces is printmaking. photo by Larry Wills 6 • SAQA Journal • Fall 2015 Land Marks #39 37 x 39 inches Land Marks #20 54 x 58 inches constantly asking: “What is too much? What is too little?” Wills’ work is informed by her reflective, spiri- tual approach to life. Her practice of meditation and application of Buddhist philosophy is vital. “It keeps me centered. If I have a success or get an invitation to participate in a big show, it brings me back to earth.