Saturday, February 19, 2011

Quilted Nonsense: LOVE

Quilted Nonsense: LOVE: "Seahorses are fish that are covered with bony plates and not scales. Males are responsible for child bearing, they fertilize and carry eggs ..."

LOVE

Seahorses are fish that are covered with bony plates and not scales. Males are responsible for child bearing, they fertilize and carry eggs the female deposits into the males pouch, and he carries them to term. Once born, baby seahorses are on their own and they swim away.



Sea horses are found in the warm waters of the world, generally in the shallower waters near the coast lines, they feed on brine shrimp, fish and plankton, Seahorses mate for life and when one partner dies the remaining sea horse never picks a new partner.

They are very vulnerable creatures, and I have always been intrigued by their natural characteristics, they are very protective of their specie. This is a commissioned piece I worked on for a lovely couple for Valentines day.

Artist statement  
This under water piece is a totally painted Art quilt with Acrylics, fabrics used are hand dyed fabric for the background which also served as a canvas, as well as printed fabrics. 
Work is machine pieced, appliquéd, quilted and totally painted and meticulously hand beaded.
Dimensions 22 1/2L 33W

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Beautiful Nonsense. Now featured on 'The Quilt Show' June 2014!


This is Beautiful Nonsense, an abstract quilt art which I created after watching so much of the horrific oil spill in the Gulf. I thought of using some of the pictures of the spill which I had saved in an abstract fiber art African inspired quilt. The oil spill at its height was one horrific event that impacted so much of our lives, heroic lives were taken, and our wild life, sea life, and ocean vegetation were greatly impacted.

I thought of the lives that were lost, and the grieving families, and how fragile life was. As I slept that night, I dreamed this piece an abstract work on this tragedy, and 'Beautiful Nonsense' was born!

I decided to change things a little by giving a background that looked more like relief features instead of the blue ocean color, keeping in mind that this quilt was African Inspired, I decided keep the background of this art work in black since black in Africa is symbolic of loss, sorrow and pain.
Our environment was heavily impacted by this unfortunate oil spill, but I decided to tap into that negative energy and turn it into a positive work of art.


Fabrics used were African print and black Swiss linen, and work is machine stitched, heavily trapunto'd, and machine quilted. Work is also hand painted and meticulously hand beaded.

Massai

In the last two days, two lovely Face book friends have for some reason  been going on about this quilt of mine 'Massai' and so it just struck me to feature it next on my community page, in order to share the beautiful story of the Massai people of East Africa.

The Massai are very ordinary people with a very simple life style, they have always reminded me that the simple and best things in life are free, and beyond all the hardship that Africa endures, they prove that you can see 'Happy' in any difficult situation. They wear the whitest smile, and the darkest complexion, characteristics so unique of people who reside along that part of the equator.

The Masai are semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. Due to their distinctive customs and dress, the Massai choose to reside near the game parks of East Africa, they are among the most well known of the African ethnic groups.They speak Maa, a local dialect. As well as Swahili and English.


They are live stock farmers, and I have always been intrigued by their unique appearance, the stretching and piercing of the their ear lobes, including the thorns they use for piercing, as well as twigs, stones, the pieces of elephant tusks, and empty film canisters they wear in their earlobes. Red is the most favored color of the Massai men.
This quilt 'Massai' is up for exhibit in March and you just might see it at a show in you state, so keep looking!!

I created this abstract work to share the beautiful story of the Masai people of East Africa. Fabrics used are hand dyed fabrics and Kente prints. Work is machine appliqued, quilted,and lightly hand painted.
Massai 55W  261/2L