summer. The project is called Eye Contact. They are asking artists to submit small quilts, 5-inches by 23-inches of human eyes looking at the viewer. This is not juried; anyone can submit. Deadline is May 31, 2019. For details go the Sacred Threads website. Above is a piece from the Sacred Threads page, by Barbara Hollinger. This exhibit may not be for the more paranoid among us.
2. Another upcoming deadline is for the Lincoln Center 37th Annual New Legacies:Contemporary Art Quilts show. (Yeesh, what a LONG title.). The deadline is May 20th, and the show is in Fort Collins, CO in July. Here's the info.
3. There are so many stellar quilts in quilt shows these days, that judges often look to the smallest technical skill to determine the winners. Master quilter Sharon Schamber, who has accumulated a heap of first-place ribbons over the years, says bindings are one of those details judges carefully examine. She offers this tutorial for creating the perfect binding. Her instructions have certainly improved my bindings.
4. I loved Old in Art School by Nell Painter. After retiring from a career as a highly regarded historian, Princeton professor, and author of numerous history books, Painter went to art school. No, she didn't take some Continuing Ed. art courses to become a hobby painter. She went to art school. Full time--art school!!! And if that wasn't enough, then she went to graduate school at the Rhode Island School of design. Whew. Painter's background as a historian shines through as she discusses the works of artists past and present, and how they influenced her work and her thinking. She asks several thought provoking questions--for example, what does it mean to be an artist, and who the hell gets to decide? She had a vicious art school professor who told her she'd NEVER be an artist. Cripes! What kind of ass does something like that?
Painter tells the painful story of how race and age impacted her time in school, often leaving her alone and filled with self-doubt--nevertheless, she persisted and her story (and courage) is inspiring. When I turned the last page I felt like I knew and loved Nell Painter. I wanted to call her up and say, "come on over for a cup of tea and tell me what mountains you are climbing today."
5. This week I'm in Paducah at the AQS Spring Show. More on that next week.
