Showing posts with label Kathleen Kastles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kathleen Kastles. Show all posts

Friday, June 26, 2020

Drive to San Diego today 06-26-20

Visions Art Museum is accepting reservations for a maximum of ten visitors to see the current exhibits.   So, I drove down today to meet friends and see the quilts.   The large gallery shows work by the Washington state group  FiberOptix and work from Kathleen Kastles is in the small gallery.  The quilts will only hang for another week, so if you are interested in going contact the museum now.  This is the quilt that you see when you enter the gallery, by Sharon Robinson of Bellingham, WA,



Unfortunately the color is all wrong as the quilt is actually a bright acid green instead of yellow.  But this picture shows the design.  It is about 48" long.  

This is a view of the back wall showing quilts from FiberOptix.

Visions Quilt Museum is struggling along with every other museum in the country.  Support them if you can.

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Sunday, October 21, 2012

Opening reception "Brainstorms" Visions Art Museum 10-20-12

This is the weekend of the biennial Visions exhibit and this year it is at the Visions Art Museum in San Diego.   I am not a very good chronicler of this event, I seem to do more talking than picture taking!  Photography is prohibited in the galleries, but I have taken some people pictures that show portions of quilts on the walls.  Can't be helped. 
This is a very well balanced exhibit and offers viewers a broad span of what is being done in art quilting today.  I see more handwork in these pieces and feel they are more "quilt-like" than some exhibits in the past. 

 
This picture is from the docent training group on Thursday.  The lady on the right is Kathleen Kastles from Hawaii, her work is included in this exhibit.  The third person from the right is Ree Nancarrow from Alaska, also one of the artists represented in the exhibit.  The quilt on the far left is by Marilyn Henrion, a New York artist, and Barbara Lange of Germany made the yellow piece in the center.
 
This is the view when you enter the museum with the Founder's Wall on the right and the main desk seen on the left.  All the way through is the door that goes into the rest of the building.  The galleries are on the right.  Elegant in her gold jacket is Museum Director Beth Smith.
 
Taking care of business at the main desk are Lisa Yoder, who is wearing her original, heavily beaded vest, and Deanna Bell. 
 
Phyllis Newton, a member of the Visions Board of Directors, at the entrance to the gallery.

Charlotte Bird, Chair of the Brainstorms exhibit, announces the prize winners.  
 
Charlotte Bird (Chair of Visions Biennial "Branstorms"), Beth Smith (Director of Visions Art Museum), Andrea Bacal (President of Quilt Visions).  Behind them is "A Korean Woman in Modern Times #1" by Won Ju Seo.  It is the winner of the first Thomas Contemporary Quilt Recognition Award. 
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Monday, October 24, 2011

PIQF 2011 10-24-11

Two posts today because Blogger seems to limit the number of pictures I can post and it is much easier to post a series than to pull up and post one picture at a time.  The next post will be the end of PIQF '11.

I am so impressed by this special exhibit curated by Doria Anne Goocher, a San Diego area quiltmaker.  I did not see the sign that explained about the exhibit, but I believe it is part of Doria's training as a curator. She did a great job.  I think this was the best special exhibit at PIQF this year.  I would like more explanation about the techniques, but then I feel that way about most exhibits.  All of the quilts in this exhibit can be seen on the SAQA website http://www.saqa.com/about.php?ID=1943 and you can read the juror's statement at: http://www.saqa.com/about.php?ID=1921



Betty's work has become more and more sophisticated as the years go by.  I admire everything I have seen.  This is done in layers and (no pun intended) has a great impact when viewed close or at a distance.






At first glance this appeared to be reverse applique, but instead it is embroidered.  The glasses on the table are a nice indicator of place - at a table with liquid beverages. 


This machine quilted image is in the upper right corner of the quilt.  I wish there were a bit more quilting to prevent the saggy feeling, but I don't know how the artist could add quilting.

I wrote to Kathleen to ask about her embroidery technique and she sent me the following explanation:  All quilting and embroidery were done by machine. I outlined the form first using a straight stitch, then filled it in with zigzag stitches. Heavy zigzagging by machine tends to distort the quilt (and must be subsequently corrected), whereas chain stitching by hand would eliminate that problem. But I lack the patience to do hand work, other than for burying loose threads and hemstitching the binding or facing.



Such concentration and organization this quilt must have taken.  Certainly a perfect example of a work of art that changes when viewed from a distance and then viewed again close up. 



I was tempted to stand for the rest of the day looking at the tiny individual pictures - fascinating.



It is always a thrill to see one of Mary Pal's works "in-the-fabric" because a photo just doesn't do justice to the techniques she has developed.  I am so fortunate to have purchased her image of Jane Goodall from the SAQA Auction this year. 


Mary's ability to see the negative space and interpret it is awesome.



Lovely color.  It reminds me of the work of a famous painter of jungle scenes, but I can't retrieve his name from my foggy brain. 
The next day I remembered the artist's name - Henri Rousseau 




 
So subtle, such gentle color - it does resemble eucalyptus bark. 
This is reminiscent of the Bangladesh and Bengal, India stitching called Nakshi Kantha.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakshi_Kantha
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