"May I Have The Envelope, Please?"

"Wallflowers: #5"

There’s nothing that quite compares to the feeling of opening that letter from the gallery or the quilt show and finding out that one of your pieces was accepted. I was thrilled to learn that one of my small wall quilts, “Wallflowers: #5,” was juried into the 2009 National Small Art Quilt Works Exhibition at The Main Street Gallery in Groton, NY, a contemporary fine arts venue in a quaint little village located near Ithaca.

The gallery’s web site gives this description of the annual event:

"Small contemporary art quilts are meant to hang on the wall. This quilt form functions like a canvas, and the color and texture of the fabric are like the paint, allowing for free expression. In keeping with the spirit of the art quilt, the exhibition's range of style, technique and content are diverse.

"Thirty-four fiber artists from across the United States have been selected by jurors Eugenia Barnes, professional quilt maker, teacher, lecturer, and appraiser (Marcellus, NY), and Roger Smith, painter, sculptor, educator, and Director of The Main Street Gallery."

As you can imagine, I feel honored to have one of my pieces included in this venue with the works of many wonderful fiber artists, and I’m hoping to take the trip westward to view the exhibit in person.

Thank you, as always, for reading my blog and for your wonderfully supportive comments – you never fail to lift my spirits.

The Dancing Tree

Isn't this postcard an absolute delight?! It's designed and made by art quilter Frieda Anderson, and I purchased it through her web site. I'm so excited to own an original "wall quilt" from this very talented artist (she also writes a terrific blog).

She has used hand-dyed cotton for the background and hand-dyed silk charmeuse behind the tree. The piece is embellished with delicate machine quilting and hand-worked French knots, and it positively shimmers in the light.

Frieda wrote a lovely note on the back of the card, saying that she hoped The Dancing Tree would "swirl around your studio and bring you joy." It has indeed done that, and more -- it has brought me inspiration, and I'm anxious to try some of her techniques on a piece of my own.

I continue to meet the most incredibly talented people along my art-quilting journey -- I can't wait to see what (or who) is around the corner.

What's Your Personal Vision For Your Art Career?

Cycles: Masquerade

(private collection)

"Life is a journey; take your dreams along."

One year from now, do you see your art quilts hanging in a gallery or published in a book?

Can you envision yourself as having developed significantly as an artist from where you are today?

These are the questions that helped to introduce members of Studio Art Quilts Associates to the Visioning Project, the brain-child of SAQA's new president, Lisa Chipetine. The program is best described as a public commitment of each participating artist to achieve a specific goal.

Those of us involved in the project have stated our personal visions on the SAQA University Wiki space; some goals are very specific (obtaining gallery representation; curating an exhibit) while others are more developmental (building a cohesive body of work; becoming a known personality through participation in national shows).

My personal goal is to obtain a commission for a large wall quilt through my website. Lisa is structuring a monthly mentorship program to help us achieve our goals, and she has already offered me numerous suggestions as steps towards making my dream a reality. I'll keep you posted on my progress -- I'm looking forward to the journey.

Please share your own artistic vision with me. Go ahead -- be brave -- put it out there. It's like we say with the New York lottery: "Hey, you never know."