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Today, Terry and I drove south and west to Coos Bay, Oregon to attend the opening reception of two spectacular art quilt shows: Speaking in Cloth, 6 Quilters, 6 Voices and Fine Focus ’06. June was supposed to come with us, but became ill and sadly couldn’t make the trip (we are missing her pithy comments and sardonic sense of humor.)
The shows are at the Coos Bay Museum of Art. Speaking in Cloth was organized by Jeannette DeNicolis Meyer and Ann Johnston and includes work by Cynthia Corbin, Quinn Zander Corum, Nancy Erickson and Trisha Hassler – all from Oregon and Washington. Fine Focus – a traveling exhibit of 50 small format art quilts juried by nationally known fiber artistsnJudy Dales, Jane Dunnewold and Kim Ritter.
Ann and Jeannette have published a book of the Speaking in Cloth show. I couldn’t take photos of the show so here is the cover of the book (I got autographs from all the quilters):
I found this show to be very exciting because most of the work is quite innovative and just wasn’t the same old same old. Now, some of it was, but the majority was quite exciting. Cynthia Corbin and Ann Johnston are doing very cutting edge surface design work, and it was such a high for me to stand there and talk to each of these women about their work and how they achieved the designs. Trisha Hassler works with metal in her pieces, and her work, though not something I am interested in doing, excited me because it is very cutting edge and new!! The same with Quinn – I love what she is doing. You know how you can say to yourself – there is nothing new in this area and then boom – right in your face is new, innovative work.
Terry had a piece in Fine Focus. Here she is with Bird and Rice Bowl:
Oh, look! Here is one by Diane.
Diane’s was placed right under the Show Title:
Here is my favorite piece, taken just before I got chastised by a museum staff member!!
Tomorrow morning, before we head home, we are going to the artist’s talk. I’m looking forward to that. This has been a nice December diversion.
I’m working on my stealth museum photo technique. Each camera I’ve gotten has been smaller, and the last one I got for my bday actually has no lense that pops out, even when it’s ready to shoot (Sony). That makes it easier to pull out of my pocket when the mood inspires me.
Hope you all had a great trip. I agreed with what you posted on QA about the list.
Sounds like a perfect day. I love the ladder piece too. Jen
Sardonic, eh, Gerrie? You just wait — you’ll see what real sardonism is next time I check in with you snort (the snort comes without the little widgets because they are verboten by the programmers.)
Glad to hear you had a good time; I’ve been watching Ann Johnston’s work with amazement for a long time. She just gets better and better. I haven’t seen Quinn’s for a while nor Cynthia Corbin’s either. Whose was the piece with the ladder that was your favorite?
June
Thank you for taking a picture of my quilt Gerrie! I’ve never gotten to see a Fine Focus exhibit in person, so it’s wonderful to see how my quilt is doing out in the big world.