We of Artistic Vision

December 2011

2011-12-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

Our WAV group met at the Yellowstone Art Museum Vault for our Christmas party. Brooke is artist-in-residence there and her time has been extended until June. The SAQA Creative Force show will be held from March 22 to April 10, 2012. Brooke will be holding a winter solstice program on Dec 22nd, called "Ignite!" Using an outdoor fire-pit in the parking lot, Brooke will demonstrate controlled charring of fabrics. In the tradition of Zozobra, in New Mexico, participants are encouraged to bring small symbols of an event in their lives that they wish to put behind them, and those pieces will be consigned to the flames.

Cynthia is curator of SAQA's Broad Spectrum: Contemporary Quilts of Montana and Idaho, which will show at the Ryniker Morrison Gallery at Rocky Mountain College, Billings from Feb 17 to March 30, 2012, and then go to the Denver National Quilt Festival from May 3-6, in Colorado. She is also the current "cover girl" in Quilting Arts magazine.

Our Christmas exchange theme this year was "Get in Shape". The creative minds of the group made lovely gifts based on this theme. Everyone brought tasty dishes to share, as well as a some wine. We all had a great time enjoying the food, gifts, and good company.

Next year's programs were discussed. It was decided that we would take a summer break from June to August since so many of us have other commitments during that time.

Kathy L announced that the "Under the Sea" challenge will be traveling to the Mancuso Denver National Quilt Festival, in Colorado, and to the National Quilt Association (NQA) show in Columbus, Ohio, in 2012. Kathy invited the WAV members to join the TAGY members in 2012's book challenge. Challenge guidelines are available on the December TAGY blog
http://textileartistsofgreateryellowstone.blogspot.com/

Next year's Christmas exchange theme will be based on the saying in the Dove chocolates we enjoyed at this year's party. Photo by Jane Neale.

October 2011

2011-10-30T10:40:00.000-06:00

Kathy Hammond returned from New Mexico with the makings of Zozobra puppets for us all. We had fun designing our own Zozobras. She explained that he embodies gloom, and by burning him, people destroy the worries and troubles of the previous year in the flames.

May 2011 Meeting Swap and Sale

2011-05-21T11:14:00.000-06:00

Our May meeting was a swap or sale of fiber and quilt related items.
Cynthia and Cheryl above.

Wanda and Brooke.

Jeanne poses with her 1st addition to Granddaughters "dress up" box.

Pegee also has some "dress up" on.

We received our quilts back from the Gallery in Williston ND.

Linda Mac, Kathy and Cynthia

I hope everyone enjoyed the meeting and swap, good food, good company and an interesting discussion.

WAV Christmas Gift Exchange 2010

2010-12-21T19:46:00.002-07:00

Annual Gift Exchange
Theme: Rock, Paper, Scissors

Kathy L received a gift made by Kathy H.

Jeanne's gift was made by Wanda.

Wanda's gift was from Linda Mac.

Linda Mac's gift was made by Jeanne.

Jane's gift was made by Cynthia.

Linda's gift was made by Jane.

Kathy H.'s gift was made by Linda J.

News from November Meeting

2010-11-24T15:23:00.002-07:00

SAQA Creative Force will be exhibited at the Yellowstone Art Museum March 22 - June 10, 2012. This is a very exciting development!

Brooke (Montana SAQA Rep) will be meeting with Robyn Peterson, Director of YAM to discuss ways for building community support and interest for this upcoming show. Brooke hopes to expand outreach to SAQA members in nearby states for involvement with this event.

Sandra Sider, new SAQA President has expressed a willingness to visit Billings during the show to present group events. Sandra has an Art Quilt Critique business with Lisa Chipetine and is suggesting she will do critiques in a public forum, as well as conducting a YAM tour of the SAQA Creative Force show.

Ideas discussed for WAV involvement:

Auxiliary shows at Universities and Galleries – and specifically, a WAV show somewhere during the same time period.

Pegee will be speaking to curators at the two colleges in town about the galleries at those locations to see if we can arrange for a WAV show in Spring 2012.

Torso Show

Toucan Gallery wants a group statement, title, and information for the show before writing the contract.

Please let Brooke know if you intend to participate so she can create a list of participants and to give the gallery a count of the pieces to be shown.

Finished art torsos should be delivered to the January WAV meeting.

Toucan will be pleased to include additional small works for sale from WAV artists participating in the Torso show. Please be thinking about small saleable items that you are willing to offer for sale in the gallery.

Please be prepared to price your torso for sale in Toucan gallery (if you don’t want to sell it – put a very high price on it!) Remember, the gallery commission is 40%.

James Art Center Show in March 2011

The planned jurying for this show was impossible due to bad weather.

The February 2011 meeting will be a work meeting dedicated to the James Art Center Show. No program or show and tell will be included in this meeting – we will be focused on preparing for the James Art Center show.

It was decided that each WAV member is to self select three or four of your strongest works to bring to the February meeting. If you already have good photos of your work, please put them on a CD and bring that as well.

A photo shoot session for this show is planned for any works that are not already photographed. Brooke will bring a design wall (8 x 8’) and photo lights. Cynthia will bring her Canon Rebel camera and laptop. Entries will be photographed at the meeting.

We will plan to prepare all documents and pack the quilts for shipping during the meeting.

If weather does not permit all members to attend, you will need to prepare you own photographs on a CD and to ship your quilts to North Dakota yourself.

December WAV Meeting

Scheduled for Sunday, December 19 at 12:00 (one hour earlier than usual)

This is our planning meeting and also our Christmas Party.

Please bring any ideas for future challenges, gift exchange themes, and think about what month you would like to host the WAV meeting.

The gift exchange theme this year is “Rock, Paper, Scissors”. If you wish to participate, please bring something you have made relating to this theme. Please gift wrap your creation in preparation for the gift exchange.

Please bring finger food to share for the party. Wanda will provide paper plates, napkins, cups, and beverage.

We will plan to meet in Suite 107 at Solar Plaza 2116 Broadwater Avenue in Billings. Use the parking lot on the WEST side of the building.

Skylines at Yellowstone Quilt Fest in Cody

2010-09-15T06:38:00.001-06:00

July 2010 Meeting

2010-07-20T10:24:00.005-06:00

We met at Brooke's house to learn how dye fabric with Indigo dye. It was quite the process and we learned a lot. Thanks Brooke for being our tutor and letting us use your wonderful backyard with the cool, shady trees.

P.S. This is a personal message, sorry! I told some at our meeting that I will be going to Ireland this next week. A while back I told Peggy that I was visiting Ireland, she asked me to have a Guinness on her, so if you would like to see that, please go to quiltinginthermopolis.blogspot.com

Becker Lake Photo Challenge

2010-06-01T18:29:00.003-06:00

After a trip to the machine repair man, a holiday, and miscellaneous ups and downs, this gorgeous quilt is finished. Thanks again to all who participated so beautifully. I am posting the original photo courtesy of Cynthia St Charles and the finished photo quilt. It is ready to leave the nest and be shared!

2010-05-21T21:24:00.002-06:00

All sewn together, next I dampen and straighten, and then decide on how to finish the edge. I have an idea!

2010-05-21T21:14:00.002-06:00

The pieces placed on my design wall and the back in progress.

2010-05-21T21:12:00.001-06:00

C5 Rebecca True, WAV

2010-05-21T21:11:00.002-06:00

C4 Karen Herberger, TAGY

2010-05-21T21:09:00.001-06:00

C3 Kathy Lichtendahl, WAV/TAGY

2010-05-21T21:08:00.002-06:00

C2 Cynthia St Charles, WAV

2010-05-21T21:05:00.001-06:00

C1 Lyn Wolf Jackson, WAV

2010-05-21T21:03:00.001-06:00

B5 Kathy Hammond, WAV/TAGY

2010-05-21T21:01:00.001-06:00

B4 Lyn Banks, WAV

2010-05-21T20:59:00.001-06:00

B3 Jeanne Knudsen, WAV/TAGY

2010-05-21T20:57:00.001-06:00

B2 Jane R Neale, WAV/TAGY

2010-05-21T20:55:00.001-06:00

B1 Pegee Haman, WAV

2010-05-21T20:52:00.001-06:00

A5 LindaMacDonald WAV

2010-05-21T20:50:00.001-06:00

A4 Barbara Harrison TAGY

2010-05-21T20:47:00.003-06:00

A3 Wanda Nelson, WAV with her piece of the photo

2010-05-21T20:45:00.001-06:00

A2 Brooke Atherton, WAV

Pieces by Individual Artists

2010-05-21T20:39:00.001-06:00

A1 Jeannette Brewster, TAGY

WAV/TAGY Photo Challenge process

2010-05-21T19:55:00.005-06:00

A challenge was issued to the WAV and TAGY artists to receive 1/15th of a photograph, make a fabric art composition 8.5" x 11", and return to WAV quilted with open edges by May. The photograph was taken by Cynthia St Charles on a hiking trip. All the artists fulfilled their commitment. I am now assembling the fabric pieces back into the whole and having so much fun, I wanted to share the process. Drum rolls, please!

April WAV 2010

2010-04-26T09:01:00.002-06:00

Linda C. ran with the Notan concept and introduced it to the students in her Design class at Northwest Wyoming College. Here is a mix of student work and a few that Linda did herself.

Fun!

March Meeting 2010

2010-04-06T04:16:00.004-06:00

The Program for March was on Notans.

We were given an exercise to do using black and white paper.

Here are some results along with examples brought in by Cheryl and Pegee, who conducted the program for March.

Kathy H had a lot of new work to show.

Linda C. has been sketching and Linda M shared her First Friday piece.

February WAV Meeting 2010

2010-03-06T16:40:00.004-07:00

Linda J. gave the presentation on Zentangles.

Kathy H. showed this stunning floral - created from a photo taken in her yard.

Linda M. showed some recent pieces from Fast Friday Challenges.

Lyn B. brought in this group of vessels created last month.

A good time was had by all.

January 2010 WAV Meeting

2010-02-03T16:45:00.002-07:00

Lyn Banks shared her floral series.

Brooke showed some of her early work.

Pegee was delighted with her Christmas gift - made by Wanda.

December WAV Meeting

2009-12-22T20:27:00.005-07:00

Our group met at Good Earth Market on December 20.
Everyone brought food to share.

We enjoyed our gift exchange. The gift theme this year was spiral and/or pockets.

This wall hanging made by Denise was Cynthia's gift.

This little box was created by Linda C. - Denise's gift.

Jeanne's gift was this handbag created by Cynthia.

Kathy H.'s gift was created by Kathy L.

Kathy L. received this cell phone bag created by Jeanne K.

Linda J. created this doll that was taken home by Linda C.

Linda J. received this set of placemats created by Pegee.

Wanda's gift was created by Kathy H.
Any gifts not pictured - sorry - my pictures were not all successful!

Growth Thru Art Fundraiser

2009-10-19T12:56:00.008-06:00

Doll Pins made by Cynthia (above).

Wall hanging created by Marybeth
Below, wall hanging created by Rebecca.

Above, small pillows created by Denise
Below, pillow created by Kathy H.

Two small shoulder bags created by Kathy L.

Above, large square fabric bowl created by Jeanne.

Above, Fish Wall Hanging by Rebecca.
Below, pillow created by Brooke.

Below, pillow created by Linda J.

Peace pillow created by Linda J.

Pillow created by Kathy H.

Woven pillow created by Pegee.

Floral pillow created by Wanda, above.

Fabric vase created by Lyn B.

Fabric Journals created by Cynthia

Above, cup cozies created by Kathy L.

Small bowl above by Jeanne

Bird mobile created by Cynthia

Front and back views of a bag created by Linda M

September WAV 2009 in Cody,Wyoming

2009-09-24T04:21:00.005-06:00

The October WAV meeting took place in Cody, in the midst of the Yellowstone Quilt Fest.
It was a joint meeting with TAGY - a newly formed art quilt group with participants from the Cody / Powell area. Made for a very large group!
Pegee's Show and Tell
and Linda Jackson's pillows for Growth Thru Art.

The program, provided by Linda M. and Jane N. - everyone made their own Pioneer doll!

July WAV Meeting

2009-08-07T12:38:00.006-06:00

The July meeting was held at Good Earth Market. Pegee was the host and she did a wonderful program on book making - primarily using folding techniques.

Artist - Quilt Block Challenge Results

Pegee's block: Sunbonnet Sue

Linda's artist: Bev Doolittle

Kathy's quilt block: Drunkard's Path

Cynthia's block: Baltimore Album
Cynthia's artist: Henri Matisse
Wanda showed her handbag from her daughter's wedding.

2009-07-16T09:45:00.001-06:00

CONGRATULATIONS to Cindy and Brooke for being selected for the "Fibrations" exhibit.
http://www.saqa.com/hotnews.aspx?id=205

Many of WAV Quilts at the Lovell Quilt Show

2009-06-29T21:35:00.005-06:00

Pindroppers Quilt Club of Lovell Wy. invited WAV as well as TAGY to "introduce Lovell to Art Quilts" at their annual quilt show. It was a huge success with lots of positive feedback. They really loved the stories about the art and wanted me to pass on a thank you to all of you who made it happen. So, thank you.

May WAV Meeting

2009-05-31T07:16:00.007-06:00

Cheryl Wittmayer provided the program on Seminole piecing, as seen on this vest.

She showed how to create this and provided a handout.A thank you gift was presented to Cindy St. Charles. The folding book included a 6" square from participants in the Fiber Expressions show, as well as gallery manager Jane Dechner.

Isn't it amazing?

It was put together by Kathy Hammond.

Cynthia St. Charles' glue gel dye painted piece above, and the piece below is of painted fabric and fused applique.

Gelatin plate prints with screen printed butterflies and birds - Cynthia St. Charles.

Brooke Atherton's works in progress.

More from Brooke. The pillow above is created from the Growth Thru Art fabric.

Jane Neale's graduation gifts for her two granddaughters. She made these using the lost wax casting process.

Work from Kathy Lichtendahl above and below.

Larkin Van Horn Trunk Show!

2009-04-26T05:00:00.000-06:00

Larkin Van Horn presented a wonderful trunk show for our April WAV meeting!

She covered two banquet tables with wonderful eye candy. This included some of her delicious jewelry, stunning garments, intricate vessels, medallions, and quilts.

She generously shared the story of her creative journey, along with her current work.

We were able to get up close and personal with her very intricate works of art.

For a closer look at her work, in greater detail, visit Larkin's website here.

We had great treats, and Cynthia St. Charles did a presentation of her technique for block printing fabric, as featured in the April / May issue of Quilting Arts Magazine. Cynthia will be offering a fabric painting and block printing workshop on May 23 and 24th. You can learn more about Cynthia's workshop here.

March WAV Meeting

2009-03-20T07:28:00.006-06:00

Kathy Lichtendahl with her charity quilt for the upcoming Machine Quilter's Conference. This piece was made with challenge fabric and with two other participants - one of them Jeanne Knudsen.
Wanda Nelson with her piece from Melody Randol's class at Big Sky Quilt Retreat.

Linda Cleve-Roberts brought several new pieces for Show and Tell.

Linda Cleve-Roberts has been working with Gel Pens on cotton.

Kathy Hammond's work in progress.

Linda MacDonald's Fast Friday Challenge.

The group met at the former location of Elements Gallery.

Kathy Lichtendahl's program presented one approach to using photographs as a basis for art quilts. Her technique combines a number of photographic images, and involves using a light box.

Kathy offered a really good tip for consistency with shadows in photos.

Jeanne Knudsen shared her technique for creating realistic images in fabric, based on a photograph.

Big Sky Quilt Retreat

2009-03-12T16:15:00.004-06:00

February 2009 WAV Meeting

2009-02-24T10:35:00.003-07:00

Brooke's latest creation below. Brooke offered to take our quilts to the Big Sky Quilt Show for us. Linda J. and Wanda collected the quilts from the gallery show and will take those also. Guest Lynn Carter is interested in displaying quilts at her work. Linda Roberts showed pages from her Journal.
Linda M's FastFriday challenge "Soaring".
Linda M's T-shirt fabric challenge of color discharged fabric and beaded birds.
Kathy H. showed us her "photo" quilt. Each of 6 participants received a small piece of a photo of a flowering Kale, and made six blocks like it, then they exchanged the pieces to re-build the photo. I'm sure there is a better way to explain this. Brooke shows off her fun cats.
Jane Neale's clown was made with the discarded T-shirt fabric and with parts of the old Shriner uniforms.
Jeanne Knudsen brought a guest, Rachael Tresa. Here they are reviewing the new SAQA book.
Jane's "closure" jewelry. She made zipper earrings to go with the necklace.

Fiber Expressions

2009-01-18T16:50:00.009-07:00

Fiber Expressions at the Ryniker - Morrison Gallery on the campus of Rocky Mountain College

January 15 - February 13, 2009The artists from left to right: Cheryl Wittmayer, Wanda Nelson, Brooke Atherton, Jeanne Knudsen, Linda MacDonald, Jane Neale, Pegee Haman, Kathy Lichtendahl, Linda Jackson, Kathy Hammond, and Cynthia St. Charles. Linda Cleve-Roberts is not pictured

Barbara Olson was one of the first visitors. Work on this wall from left to right:
Cottonwood Calendar by Cynthia St. Charles
Around by Cheryl Wittmayer
Spider 1 by Linda Cleve-Roberts

Spirit of the West by Kathy Lichtendahl
The Green Green Grass of Home by Kathy Lichtendahl
Lost Treasure, Found Objects by Jeanne Knudsen

There was a very good crowd at the opening reception.

One Single Color (Does Not a Rainbow Make) by Kathy Lichtendahl

Southwest a group round robin owned by Jane Neale
Spirit of the West by Kathy Lichtendahl
The Green Green Grass of Home by Kathy Lichtendahl
Lost Treasure Found Objects by Jeanne Knudsen
One Single Color by Kathy Lichtendahl
Central Park by Cynthia St. Charles

Joe St. Charles (dedicated supporter of walls and artists).
Blue Blue Christmas by Jeanne Knudsen
Closure One by Kathy Hammond
Closure by Wanda Nelson
War Protest #2 by Pegee Haman

Closure #3 by Kathy Hammond

Laura Cater-Woods admiring Tyvek 1 by Cheryl Wittmayer

Tyvek 1 by Cheryl Wittmayer
World Gone Wrong by Brooke Atherton

Totem a round robin owned by Linda MacDonald

December WAV Meeting - Christmas Party

2008-12-23T07:31:00.006-07:00

For the December meeting, we celebrate with a feast. Everyone brings something to share.
The gift exchange theme this year was "Time". So, participants made a gift related to the theme to be exchanged through a random drawing. This is always a lot of fun.

Pegee opened Kathy H's package (Kathy was not able to attend the meeting, but had a gift for the exchange).

Jeanne got the gift created by Kathy H.

Wanda got the gift created by Jane.Kathy L. got the gift created by Jeanne.

An Altered Book that is actually a working clock.Cynthia got the gift created by Linda M.

Jane got the gift created by Kathy L.

Linda M. got the gift created by Wanda.

Linda R. got the gift created by Cynthia.

November WAV Meeting

2008-11-29T08:36:00.006-07:00

The November WAV meeting kicked off with a tulle grab. Cynthia brought a box of tulle that had been gifted from a manufacturer. More than she could use or give away, it was offered to the group members.

The next stage of the tulle give away is Salvaged Threads - a small quilt challenge with an entry deadline of January 6. Here is the link to the details.

Denise's Show and Tell

Pegee's Show and Tell

Much of the meeting involved self jurying for a group show.
Everyone brought several pieces, which were spread on the table. We selected our favorite two from each artist. These will be delivered to the curator.

Cheryl's

Jeanne's

Kathy L's

Pegee's

Wanda's

Linda J's
Linda M's

Kathy offered a wonderful program. First, she shared the results of her bleeding tissue paper dyeing.

Next, she shared some of her felting projects.

And brought supplies for each of us to make a felted ornament!

Special thanks to Jane who took all the pictures and therefore isn't shown in any of them.

October WAV Meeting

2008-10-22T16:33:00.003-06:00

October 19 at Elements Gallery.
A very good turnout! Awesome meeting. The pictures do not do it justice, but this is all I have this time.

Sept 08 meeting in Cody, WY

2008-09-20T10:52:00.004-06:00

September 08 - This month's WAV meeting was held at the Yellowstone Quilt Fest in Cody, WY. Over 126 quilts were hanging creating a very colorful backdrop for our meeting.

Show & Tell
Kathy L tells about a class she recently attended.

Below: Linda M talks about adding texture to our art quilts.

May WAV meeting

2008-05-20T09:25:00.004-06:00

May WAV Meeting

Held at 2914 First Avenue North (Elements Gallery)

Business meeting: The following changes have been made to the calendar:

June meeting - June 15 - Linda Roberts to host. Location Elements Gallery
Bring your Second Closure Challenge piece

July/August meeting - July 27 at Elements Gallery
Cynthia St Charles to host.
Bring small black and white images to create screens for printing. Cynthia will bring her Thermofax machine. Watch the blog for specific instructions.

September meeting - September 14 at the Yellowstone Quilt Fest in Cody, WY
Linda MacDonald to host.

Jeanne offers instruction and opportunity to try a new tool for free motion quilting.

Jane shows off her second "Closure" Challenge, made with Brooke's giveaway fabric and some antique closures.

Linda shared two very interesting art quilts - one is from a "Word Challenge" sponsored by her guild in Cody.

Kathy's "Word Challenge" quilt - challenge from her quilt guild based in Cody, WY.

Kathy shows a scarf made from her llama's wool. A friend took some of the raw wool, which she spun into yarn, then made a scarf for Kathy.

Linda R's latest works in progress. The image below is Linda's "Word Challenge" piece.

March WAV Meeting

2008-04-02T20:37:00.004-06:00

February WAV meeting

2008-02-18T10:01:00.010-07:00

February WAV meeting - Sunday , February 17 at 2914 First Avenue NorthBrooke shared some of her newest creations. These are constructed from her Give Away Fabric. To learn more about the Fabric Give Away, visit this blog link.

Last fall, Brooke made garments for friends going to International Quilt Festival in Houston. She is converting some of their garments into wall hangings now.

The wonderful shredded shibori texture is a result of Brooke's technique for wrapping the fabric around a stick and "roasting" it over the campfire!

The background of this piece has been dyed with rust.

Brooke hosted the February meeting and her presentation was on needle felting.
She brought many wonderful samples as well as her needle felting machine.

Pegee brought a felted vest that she made many years ago.
This is constructed of wool and silk fibers.

She made this vest all in one piece back when she was weaving.

Brooke enjoys recycling fabrics by using items she finds at the thrift shop in her work.
These felted pieces were done on some damask napkins.

Cindy St Charles brought three pieces to show - each was embellished with her hand cut stamps.
This one was an old pieced top resurrected from the UFO drawer and enhanced with stamping.

This piece - "For the Birds" was inspired by the bird activity at the birdfeeder this winter.

This is another in the Windows series.

Pegee brought a piece constructed many years ago in a workshop with Nancy Crow.
Cheryl was also resurrecting pieces she found while cleaning her studio.
She said she cannot remember making this:

Cheryl has done a series of table runners using the Give Away fabric.

Cheryl said this one may be a pattern.

This quilt of Cheryl's was inspired by a magazine pattern. All agreed hers looks better than the one in the magazine.

Linda R. brought some of her recent work. This piece is a photo printed on organza layered over an angelina sheet and machine embroidered. Kathy (helping hold the quilt) drove 3 hours on snowpacked roads to get to our February meeting!

This piece has been stamped and quilted with metallic threads.

More interesting layers from Linda's studio.

Linda braved 12" snows at her place and a long drive to attend our meeting.

January WAV Meeting

2008-01-20T18:24:00.003-07:00

The January WAV meeting was held at 1:00 at the Yellowstone Art Museum on Sunday, January 20. It was a very cold (single digits) and snowing all day. Five Billings members attended. Understandably, none of the out of state members attended.

Linda Jackson hosted the meeting and her program was on creating faces.

Jackie Mauer, Sylvia Weir, Lyn Jackson, and Sherry Walker meet annually at IQA in Houston, TX to enjoy the show, a great week, each other, and show the results of their annual group challenges. For 07 we exchanged words that reminded us of the other person and a piece of fabric that represented us to ourselves. Jackie brought dragonfly fabric, Sylvia a brush cleaning cloth from her dyeing and painting, Lyn a rusted ochre by Cynthia St Charles, and Sherry chicken fabric. In the pictures below, the rows across were made by Jackie, Sylvia, Lyn, and Sherry. The rows down REPRESENT Sylvia, Sherry, Lyn, and Jackie.

Added to the fun of making the pieces, in the end they show as much about the artist as they do the person to whom they were given. For example, third row down and across were the ones I made. Sylvia's representative fabric has mirrors and collages representing people important to her because I used a quote of hers about "perceptions". Sherry is a school nurse and a big time mom so her piece was based on taking care of her little chicks. The pieces are original and used many different techniques. Jackie emphasized the words collaged over pieced bases. Sylvia drew outlines from photos and then using her machine as a pen threadworked the heads as line drawings. Lyn worked abstractly using quotes from the others.

My abstract about myself was on the love I have for the Montana landscape and its ancient peoples. Jackie's is based on the layers of her wonderful sense of creativity, her dragonflies, and the nurturing cocoon from which it all starts.

Sherry used Mosaic quilts computer program to make representations based on photos.

For the WAV meeting Linda brought books and articles showing the many different ways a "portrait" can be made and the iconic representations we use as artists to talk of our human relationships.

Pegee Haman brought several pieces to show.
Cynthia St Charles shared some of her recent works - created using stamps on hand dyed fabrics. For more information on her process, and to see her other current work, visit Cynthia's blog.

Brooke Atherton shared a new piece with a great story. The centerpiece of the quilt is a fragment of a shredded auto tire.

This piece of Brooke's is composed of multiple components. Brooke is considering reconfiguring this piece. The detail images that follow are real eye candy. Enjoy!

Wanda Nelson brought some Japanese quilt magazines, and a book to share - other lucky members went home with them!

2008-01-20T18:24:00.001-07:00

The faces portrait challenge.
Lyn Jackson's pieced and collaged piece by her and about her.
About Jackie M by Lyn J.
About Lyn J made by Sylvia W.
About Jackie M made by Sherry W.
About Sherry W. made by Sylvia W.

Piece in progress "Morning in the Desert" by Lyn J.
Ready to bind! This quilt started years ago with pieces given to me by Helen Eckert which I used to make a lopsided log cabin. I used five mirrors which I beaded onto the quilt with bead colors that represent five special friends.

The Houston faces challenge again!
Pegee Haman with her new pieces.
Below are Cynthia's new dye and stamped fabrics at their first stage of development.

Below is Brooke's new piece using a recycled quilt, actual piece of a blown tire, and other items representing a camping trip not to be repeated.
Three of Brooke's layered, collaged, threadworked pieces in a new composition. This may not be the final version.
Details of Brooke's art above.

2008 Year Long Challenge

2007-12-27T05:49:00.000-07:00

"Closures" is the theme for the 2008 Year Long Challenge.

Each participant is to create three pieces relating to this them based on the Principles of Design.

Bring your First piece to the WAV meeting in March
Bring your Second piece to the WAV meeting in June
Bring your Third piece to the WAV meeting in October.

NOTES ON PRINCIPLES OF ART AND ELEMENTS OF ART (contributed by Linda Jackson)

The principles of art are a set of rules or guidelines to keep in mind when considering the impact of a piece of artwork. They are combined with the elements of art in the production of art.

* 1 Movement
* 2 Unity
* 3 Variety
* 4 Balance
* 5 Emphasis
* 6 Contrast
* 7 Proportion
* 8 Pattern

Movement: Movement refers to the illusion of activity or speed in a composition or design. It is a way of combining elements to cause the viewers eye to move over the artwork in a specific direction.

Unity: Unity is the perception of the parts of a piece and their relationship with the dominant or unifying element. Compositional similarity, oneness, togetherness, or cohesion.

Variety: Variety is the quality or state of having different forms or types.
The differences which give a design visual and conceptual interest: notably use of contrast, emphasis, difference in size, and so forth.

Balance: Balance is stability produced by even distribution of weight on each side of the vertical axis. Like nature, balance is essential.

Emphasis: Focal Point (also called emphasis) is where the focus is concentrated through design principles or meaning. To do this one develops points of interest to pull the viewer's eye to important parts of the body of the work

Contrast: Contrast usually describes characteristics of art elements in opposition from subtle to extreme or intense. For example, light areas in contrast to dark, highly textured areas vs smooth and contrast between complementary colors (those opposite on the color wheel).

Proportion: Proportion (sometimes called scale) describes the relative sizes and locations of objects in the artwork. It refers to the relationships of the size of objects in a body of work. Proportion gives a sense of size seen as a relationship of objects, such as smallness or largeness.

Pattern: Showing consistency with colors or lines.
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The ELEMENTS of art are a set of techniques which describe ways of presenting artwork. They are combined with the principles of art in the production of art.
The elements of art can include some or all of the following: color, value, line, shape, form, texture, and space.

Color refers to the hue (ex. red vs. orange) and intensity or brightness (ex. neon green vs. yellow-green) of the colors used. It may also refer to the value, or the darkness, of the color. [2] Color is arguably the most effective element of art.

Space-The use of space and room in a piece of art. This also includes negative space.

Value-Sometimes combined with color, value describes the lightness or darkness of a color.

Line is the movement of dots. In art we say there is no line in nature it's only a color difference. There are three types of line:
1. Actual line: Its a form of line we draw by pen, pencil or color etc, it may be straight or curved;
2. Implied line: It is not a proper line but helps eye to travel on it as a line e.g. dotted line on road;
3. Psychic line: This form of line has no physical value it is a psychologically created line e.g. when we are pointing something out, our eye travels from our hand to that object as if on a line.

Shapes are formed from the meeting of lines and the enclosing (or perceived enclosing) of areas in two-dimensional space. There are two types of shape:

1. Geometric-shapes that can be made by using a drawing/and or measuring tool.
2. Organic or Free Form-irregular or uneven shapes {Used in architecture to give feelings to the structure}

Shapes may take on the appearance of two-dimensional or three-dimensional objects.

Form is the three-dimensional counterpart to shape. There are two types of form. Illusionary form is the form created through use of concepts such as perspective in order to show form on a two dimensional work, whereas real form is the form seen in sculpture and other three dimensional art.

Texture can be either real or perceived. Real texture is how a work of art actually feels, while perceived texture is how an artwork appears to feel.

MORE INFORMATION ON THE PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN:

(contributed by Kathy Lichtendahl)

Elements

Texture

Pattern

Line

Form and Shape (Volume)

Space

Color

Light

Principles

Proportion/Scale

Balance

Rhythm

Emphasis/Focal Point

Harmony/Unity

Elements are the basic tools - the components that make up a design.

Texture: Surface quality. Appeals to our sense of touch. Texture can be experienced visually in a 2-D piece because it can not only be seen and touched, it can also be sensed in memory. Trompe l’oeil is an extreme example of visual texture. The basic textures are soft, smooth, shiny, dull and rough.

Texture affects light refraction. It is one of the primary considerations in textile art. Visual distance can be a factor in texture - distant objects often appear smooth; the closer we get to something, the more the texture is visible. Texture is closely tied to pattern. Every texture makes a sort of pattern but not every pattern creates a texture.

Pattern: A decorative design, figure or motif created through use of line, form, space, light and color. It is usually a repetitive design with the same motif appearing again and again.

Line: A line can create a feeling of motion or repose. Use of line can seemingly alter proportion.

Line is artistic shorthand - we see a line drawing and our brains fill in the rest. Lines are critical to control movement.

Vertical = height, strength, clarity

Horizontal = repose, solidity

Diagonal = action, movement

Curved = graceful, delicate

The art definition of a line is a moving dot. Every line is created by movement. Line can be used to create value as in quilting lines. Line can be used to define shapes and by shapes we recognize objects. Line can vary greatly in weight, character and quality.

Form/Shape: Basic forms and shapes are:

Rectangle/Square = unity, stability

Triangle = dynamic

Circle/curve = natural

Design is basically the arrangement of shapes. In designing you must develop the ability to look beyond interesting subject matter to the basic element of shape. Shape is usually 2 dimensional while volume is 3 dimensional. 3D works change as you move around them and view them from different angles. Naturalism refers to the shape of things in nature while distortion is when the artist disregards the shapes of nature; purposely changing or exaggerating them. Abstraction is basically a simplification of natural shapes to their essential basic character.

Space: The opposite of form or mass. The illusion of space can be created by using line, form, color, light, pattern and texture.

Devices to show depth include:

Size: Things diminish in size as they are further away. This holds true even in abstract images. It works best if the shapes are the same. Relative size is particularly effective.

Overlapping: Things in the front appear closer.

Vertical location: The higher on the page, the further back things appear.

Aerial or Atmospheric Perspective: Especially used in landscapes. It uses color and/or value to show depth.

Linear Perspective: Such as a drawing of a railroad.

Open form vs closed form - Is the image enclosed within the frame? Closed forms are generally more formal, structured. Open forms are casual, momentary, informal.

Color: This is a huge topic. There are whole semester courses on color theory. One of the easiest ways to differentiate color groups is to breakk them down into warm, cool or neutral.

Warm = Red - Yellow-green on the color wheel. Engaging, active, positive, cheery, cozy, stimulating, informal. Objects tend to blend together and to close in space.

Cool = Green - Blue-violet. Especially in tints they tend to be relaxing, restful, soothing, receding, formal. Tends to reinforce outlines and expand space.

Neutrals = Gray, Black, White. Can still be warm neutrals or cool neutrals.

There are a number of systems for color - the best known is the Brewster Color Wheel which breaks colors down into three primaries: red, blue and yellow, then from there into secondary and tertiary colors.

Hue = color name. The single characteristic that sets each color apart from others.

Value = degree of luminousity or lightness or darkness of a hue in relation to black and white.

When dark is added to a hue the value is lowered and the result is a shade. When white is added the value is raised and the result is a tint. Tone is when both black and white, or a color’s complement is added to a hue.

Intensity = the degree of saturation of pure color. A color may be made to appear more intense by placing it next to its complement.

Monochromatic = Single hue with a range of value and intensity (may also include black and white).

Neutral or Achromatic = Black and white and grays.

Analogous = adjacent colors on the standard color wheel.

Complementary = 6 types

Direct Split Triad Double Alternate Tetrad

Light, texture, distance as well as the other colors around all affect how we view color.

Light

This is an element which is given much more consideration in interior design as it is a tangible in that setting. In 2D design it is no less important but it is treated more as a subset of color.

The Principles of Design

Proportion/Scale: Proportion is linked to ratio. We judge the correctness of proportion by the ratio of one thing to another. For example an adult is about 7 1/2 heads high. The “Golden Rectangle” came from the ancient Greeks and can be expressed in the ratio of parts to the whole. The ratio, or “golden mean” says that width is to length as length is to width plus length (W:L as L:W+L). The “Golden Section” is the division of a line or form in such a way that the ratio of the smaller to the larger is the same as that of the larger to the whole. A good way to remember the ratios is to think of the sequence of numbers 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 ... where each subsequent number is the total of the two previous numbers. That is to say 2/3 = 3/5 = 5/8 etc. This applies to quilts in several ways: in calculating good overall size ratio and in deciding placement of elements within a quilt. Scale refers to the overall size of an object and its parts compared with other objects and their parts regardless of shape. Something is large or small scale only when compared to another object.

Balance: is the quality that gives a sense of equilibrium and repose. We tend to feel uneasy with imbalance.

Bisymmetrical = Arranged equally on either side of an imaginary line. Traditional, formal, restful.

Asymmetrical = More subtle; if achieved, usually more interesting. Two small objects may balance one larger one; a small, shiny shape may balance a larger, dull one; a spot of bright color may balance a large neutral area. It tends to shift focus from the center. Informal, active, more compatible with nature.

Radial = radiates from a central point like spokes on a wheel. Often visually appealing and combines well with the other two.

Crystallographic = Ofetn called “overall pattern”. Very common in quilts - no beginning, no end, no focal point.

Sometimes simple placement of an object can give it a feeling of being stronger within a piece. Usually the higher an object, the more visual weight it is given. Likewise, just as on a seesaw, a larger object near the center can be balanced by a smaller object near the edge. In art balance is often assumed vertically. There is a place for purposeful imbalance in a piece. The artist may want to create tension.

Rhythm: An intangible component. It assists the eye in flowing over a piece; in moving easily from one area to another. It can be achieved in numerous ways. The design principle is based on repetition of color, pattern, texture, line, light or form.

Opposition = Where lines come together at right angles.

Transition = The eye is carried by a curved line.

Gradation or Progression = Large to small; dark to light. Like cannisters lined up on a counter.

Radiation = Central axis.

Contrast = Opposites in close proximity. White against black, smooth against rough.

Alternation = Various elements alternate in repetition.

Emphasis: This refers to the dominant and subordinate components or to the focal point and supportive elements. A focal point is meant to capture the attention and invite further inspection. A lack of emphasis can lead to boredom. Too much emphasis can lead to chaos, busy-ness and unrest. As a general rule a focal point results when one element differs from the rest. You can create a focal point through the use of color, form, texture, lighting, pattern and size.

Emphasis by Contrast means something is standing out because of being different from the other elements of a piece. For example, All elements are vertical and one is horizontal; most elements are linear and one is curved.

Emphasis by Isolation refers to creation of a focal point by having some element detached from the rest.

Emphasis by Placement occurs when lines or elements within the work lead the eyes to the focal point. A radial design is the best example of this.

A focal point, however strong, should remain related to and part of the overall design. Sometimes a focal point is not required and the absence of one may even be part of the message. (eg Andy Warhol soup cans)

Harmony/Unity: Two goals are combined to create harmony: unity and variety. Unity means having a congruity or agreement existing among the elements of a design. An important aspect of visual unity is that the whole must be predominant over the parts. Just because elements have a common theme does not automatically mena they are visually harmonious. (Visual unity vs intellectual unity. eg a scrapbook). How to achieve unity:

Proximity = eg the constellations in the sky. The Gestalt theory of visual psychology says that our brain will tend to relate and group objects of similar shape.

Repetition = Color, shape, texture, direction, angle.

Continuation = eg a line, a direction, an edge.

Continuity = eg in graphic design; the same layout throughout a brochure.

Unity with variety: unity without variety tends to be boring. Variety can be subtle such as in a line of tulips where all the flowers are the same type yet each one is different from the other. As a rule, the more variety, the more movement and excitement. Too much variety, however, can lead to disarray and confusion.

2008 WAV Calendar

2007-12-27T05:28:00.000-07:00

Date----------------Host --------------------Location

January 20 ----------Linda Jackson -----------YAM
February 17 ---------Brooke Atherton ---------2914 First Ave. N.
March 16 ----------- Kathy Lichtendahl -------YAM ----*1st Challenge Piece
April 20 -------------Jeanne Knudsen----------YAM
May 18--------------Jane Neale ---------------YAM
June 15--------------Linda Roberts------------YAM ----*2nd Challenge Piece
July 27 --------------Cynthia St Charles -------Cynthia's House - Indigo Vat
September 21 -------Linda MacDonald --------Cody - Yellowstone Quilt Fest
October 19-----------Peg Haman-------------- YAM---- *3rd Challenge Piece
November 16 --------Kathy Hammond-------- YAM
December 21---------Wanda Nelson------------YAM----*Gift Exchange Challenge Theme - "Time (Thyme?)

December 2007 WAV Meeting

2007-12-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

Discarded Shriner uniforms were brought in by Brooke. In the photo the old uniforms are being tried on by Wanda, Linda M, Jane, Kathy L, and Kathy H. We all plan to use them (or parts of them) in some way.

These photos of the December WAV meeting were taken by Jane Neale. I was unable to upload them with my slow phone line, but now have a satelite connection, so will be able to get them up sooner in the future.

Below, Jeanne K shows off her "found things" quilt.
Linda R tried some photo transfer, and showed her quilt in progress.

Below left is Wanda opening her gift in the gift exchange.

Brooke's project is shown below right, which was part of her gift exchange.

The theme for the gift exchange was "book", and many beautiful things were made, as you can see by the photo.

Anyone who wishes to add their photos or comments is welcome to do so.

November WAV Meeting

2007-11-19T11:50:00.001-07:00

The November WAV meeting was held at 1:00 on Sunday, November 18 at the Yellowstone Art Museum.

Cindy brought copies of some of her current and past magazine subscriptions to share. Kathy and Brooke also contributed some of their favorites and suggestions for resources.

Cheryl has two new quilt tops done.
Wanda brought her Line 9 Challenge, from "Scarlet".
Cindy has been working on a jacket using the give away fabric. This was layered with silk, quilted, cut away, and overdyed. She has more beads to add before calling it finished.
Cindy's third in the Windows series.
Flat Stanley came for a visit (posing above wearing a Shriners uniform and below with Kathy and the fabric giveaway octopus). We also had a visit from Carol and Bret, who is now 8 months old.
More of Flat Stanley, Kathy, Carol and Bret.

One of Kathy's challenge pieces (above). Below is Kathy's piece for "Its Good to Be Green" show curated by Larkin Van Horn.
Below is Brooke's piece for Larkin's "Its Good to be Green" show.

Brooke and her "Miniatures" group gift for a member who moved away.

Linda has made a bag from the giveaway fabric.

Kathy facilitated an introduction to gelatin plate printing. Several members gave it a try.

October WAV Meeting

2007-10-22T04:33:00.000-06:00

Linda MacDonald demonstrates a great trick for making continuous prairie points and other manipulated fabric techniques.

Easy Continuous Prairie Points

The following instructions are for two inch prairie points. You can make them any size you want.

Draw a line the length of the fat quarter (or paper) two inches from the edge. This is the bottom row.

Then draw a cross line every two inches.

Next draw the top row. Starting in the middle of the first bottom square, draw cross lines every two inches across the top row.

Cut off the four inch marked strip. Cut out the extra half square from each end of the top row.

Next cut each vertical cross line starting from the outer edge to the center line.

You are ready to start folding your prairie points.

Always fold from the outside to the inside (center). You can visualize the corners of each square as A & B on the top and C & D on the bottom.

Square 1

Fold corner C diagonally up to meet corner B. Finger press fold.

Fold D diagonally to meet A, press along the fold.

Square 2

Fold corner A to meet D. Finger press.

Take Square 1 and fold it up, along the horizontal center line and pin. Square 1 is now the first prairie point.

Take Square 2 and fold B diagonally to meet C. Press along the fold. It will overlap Square 1. Pin. This is the second prairie point.

Repeat the folding and pressing for each little square. On the points made from the bottom row, wrap the fold around the previous point, so it looks the same on both sides. By doing this you can use the prairie points on either the left or right side when sewing them into a vertical seam.

Baste the bottom edge 1/8 inch in to hold the folds all together until ready to use.

Don’t like prairie points? Embellish them with beads or crystals.

Spread open each prairie point so it makes a little hollow cup, and attach a bead in the center to hold it in this position. Each point now forms a little pocket, that looks like the kind of flower that attracts humming birds.

Thanks Linda!

Linda Roberts shows her latest creations, two stunning quilts and two fabulous scarves.

Linda Jackson models the vest made by Brooke Atherton. Brooke has made a vest and kimono from the fabric giveaway to create garments to be worn at International Quilt Festival in Houston.

The arishi shibori texture was created by wrapping the fabric around a stick and roasting it over a campfire as one would do with a hot dog.

This is a detail of the kimono that Cheryl Wittmayer will be wearing at Market in Houston next week!

This mermaid doll was created by one of the participants in the fabric giveaway. Brooke brought it to the meeting to share with us.

Kathy Hammond brought her puzzle quilt in progress. She is ready to begin embellishment and plans to use some brightly colored textural yarns.

Linda Jackson's doll made from the giveaway fabric.

August WAV Meeting

2007-08-24T09:43:00.000-06:00

Cynthia hosted the WAV meeting for August. She shared her pictures from the Beartooth Llama trip with Kathy Lichtendahl, Jeanne Knudsen and Teri Lang - all quilters. She also showed her collection of vintage haori (usually worn in Japan as a coat or jacket )- ordered directly from an online Japanese flea market.

Interested? Here is the link to Ichiroya.com

Kathy brought a work in progress - her Page 110, Line 9 Challenge - from a Harry Potter book.

Kathy shared her thread painting project from Quilt Wyoming.

Cheryl sews the sleeve on one of her latest patterns - a stunner. To see Cheryl's current pattern releases - check out her website.

Wanda's latest piece.

Brooke was camping last week, and completed these neck pieces using linoleum chips, organza, vintage photographs, glass beads and materials gathered from the campsite.

These neck pieces also employ the use of some of the fabric from the Giveaway. To learn more about the Fabric Giveaway, visit Brooke's blog.

Brooke shares some of her work done using her new Embellisher machine.

Cynthia finally finished her Page 110, Line 9 Challenge piece. To read more about the process involved in the development of this piece, visit Cynthia's blog, where you can also find pictures from the Beartooth Llama trip.

Bret Wade

2007-07-25T21:25:00.000-06:00

Here's Bret enjoying the blanket Kathy H. made him. Thanks Kathy! We hope to see you all soon.

June WAV Meeting - More from the Book Challenge

2007-06-21T15:24:00.000-06:00

Joe Madl gave a talk on book binding. He brought his press, handouts, and some incredible examples to the meeting. Check out Joe's blog.

Brooke Atherton's challenge piece. She used a pieced project she found at the Rescue Mission as the foundation for this piece. It turned out to be something Cheryl (seated next to Brooke) had made years before.

Cheryl Wittmayer's book was a gardening book.

Jeanne Knudsen's Book Challenge

Book: Mutant Message Down Under

Author: Marlo Morgan

Line: They have music every day because it is necessary to keep facts fresh in the memory, to tell their entire history takes about a year.

The quilting in the music lines is the History of my life, m from my childhood thru to my own 2 boys and what they are doing now. The large note opens to pictures of me growing up and my family then.

Kathy Lichtendahl's Book Challenge turned out to be a jacket!

Book: National Geographic Society’s 1973 Wilderness U.S.A.

Line: Fat moon in the afternoon

More information about the materials and additional views can be seen on my blog at www.quiltedkat.blogspot.com

Wanda Nelson shared the design for her challenge piece.

Book Challenge

2007-06-19T07:21:00.000-06:00

In January of this year the members of WAV started a six month challenge. We were to each take a book to the meeting and then, based on numbers drawn out of a hat, go to the indicated page and line and use whatever sentence we found there to create a finished piece. The results were shown at the June meeting. Cynthia St. Charles took some of the photos and I took others. The first photo shown here is of a quilt by Linda MacDonald called "Tyrannosaur Canyon". The 15" x 18" piece was inspired by the line "...corners with stones. He took a moment to orient himself." from the book Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston. I really need to take another photo of the back of the quilt as Linda stitched in the shapes of two T. Rex that are not obvious from the front.
The photo below is of the quilt made by Jane Neale for the challenge. This piece is 10 1/2" x 8 1/2" excluding trim. Jane's line was "...river running and watched the hawk glide lazily overhead." from Call the River Home by Frances Patton Statham. One of the most amazing things about Jane and Linda's work is that they just joined WAV and found out about the challenge a month ago and yet they still managed to finish two beautiful pieces on time!

May WAV Show and Tell

2007-05-23T09:40:00.001-06:00

Jane Neale, of Powell, WY did this clown quilt for a guild challenge. The challenge was to use the colorful hot air balloon fabric in a quilt. It placed in the challenge - that is what the ribbon at the top of the quilt indicates.

Linda MacDonald brought this quilt for show and tell. It is a bed sized quilt.

Jeanne Knudsen is explaining about the round robin quilts brought by three of the group members from Wyoming. The one on the left is "Our Home by the River" and belongs to Jane Neale. The one on the right has a Wizard of Oz theme. It belongs to Linda MacDonald.

Jane Neale is looking at Kathy Lichtendahl's final project from a class at Northwest College. You can learn more about this project and class by reading Kathy's blog.

This is Jeanne's round robin quilt - theme is under the sea.

Below is Cynthia St Charles' show and tell piece - "Leaves and Twigs" Learn more about it on Cynthia's blog.

May WAV Meeting

2007-05-23T09:31:00.000-06:00

Jeanne's birthday muffins.

Jeanne's program - she shared a slick technique for making a beautifully turned under curved frame for a quilt block.

Kathy Lichtendahl's hat and bag made with the salvaged fabric.

Below: Group members admiring the show and tell quilts.

Baby Shower

2007-05-23T09:25:00.001-06:00

WAV member Carol with guest of honor - baby Bret, 2 months old.

Kari Adams cuddles baby Bret while Carol opens gifts.

Cuddly quilt made by Kathy Hammond. She used a variety of different textures for tactile enrichment.

Below are gifts made using Salvaged fabric. On the left is a doll made by Kathy Lichtendahl and on the right is a teddy bear made by Jeanne Knudsen.

April WAV Meeting

2007-04-15T20:23:00.000-06:00

Brooke hosts the April meeting and shares information about her latest project.

She has received a huge supply of leftover fabrics from a very large and prominent company in the garment industry. Boxes and boxes of cotton knit fabrics in a wide range of colors have arrived to fill her garage. Rescued from the incinerator (the usual destination for factory leftovers at the end of each design season), Brooke plans to distribute these goods to artists around the world.

Brooke has created a number of projects herself, offered here as insipiration and as a way of sharing some of the potential possibilities for this fabric.

Brooke put together a beautiful spread as the finale to her presentation. Yes. It tasted as good as it looked!

The official "unveiling" of the project is scheduled for Sunday, April 22 at the U-Haul on Main Street. 1:00. Free fabric for art, and refreshments have been promised for all who show up for the event.

More to come. Stay tuned.

2007-03-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

Kathy Lichtendahl's stunning handpainted and quilted coat.

Here is a display of work from Cynthia St Charles. All of these items have been published in magazines and are displayed with the magazines on the table opened to the page showing the pieces.

This grouping is from the WAV Year Long Challenge. This is the work of Kathy Hammond and Kathy Lichtendahl. A doll by Evelyn Lawson is displayed in the glass case on the table.

This display includes journal quilts by Linda Jackson, Kathy Lichtendahl and Cynthia St Charles, all of whom had pages published in "Creative Quilting: The Journal Quilt Project". This image also includes Year Long Challenge pieces by Wanda Nelson and Cynthia St Charles. This display also includes a number of works by Brooke Atherton and Kathy Lichtendahl.

Organizer Brooke Atherton (right) chats with a visitor. Between them is Brooke's commemorative piece, "20 Feet", which was inspired by the depth of the flood waters in New Orleans after Katrina struck. Behind Brooke, you can see works by Linda Jackson, Cheryl Wittmayer, and Kathy Lichtendahl.

Brooke Atherton's incredible red vest.

2007-02-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

We of Artistic Vision

2007 Calendar

Date - Location - Agenda Items - Program Host

January 21 - YAM - Bring a book - Kathy Lichtendahl

February 18 - YAM - Doll Making Workshop -Linda Jackson

12:00 (early start time for doll making workshop)

March 18 - YAM - Kathy Hammond

April 15 - YAM - Brooke Atherton

May 20 - YAM - Carol’s Baby Shower - Jeanne Knudsen

June 17 - YAM - 9^th Line Challenge - Joe Madl

July 15 - YAM - Cheryl Wittmayer

August 19 - YAM - Cynthia St. Charles

September 16 - Yellowstone Quilt Fest in Cody - Evelyn Lawson

October 21 - YAM

November 18 - YAM - Carol Johnson

December 16 - YAM - Christmas Party - Wanda Nelson

bring finger food to share

Gift Exchange – challenge theme “Book”

Participants must create a gift in the challenge theme for this exchange.

2007-02-05T05:47:00.000-07:00

The January meeting of WAV took place on the 21st of the month. We randomly picked numbers out of a hat to decide what page number and line we would use from our chosen book as the theme for our first 6 month challenge. The results were page number 110 and line #9. It was amazing to find that everyone had something they could use. The book I chose was a National Geographic travel guide from the early 70's. Line 9 on page 110 read "Fat moon in the afternoon". They were discussing the look of the waxing gibbous stage of the moon in a particular location. Doesn't that bring all sorts of images to mind?
I thought I would show examples of the three beaded finishes I demonstrated and try to tell a little bit about how each is done. I am not going to go into basics about threads , needles, beads etc. I will assume you have done some beading and know how to start, end, etc.
1) The first finish is a classic and one I find very useful for the outer edge of quilts or for inside line edges. It is called the picot stitch and gives a subtle finish to your project. Start by bringing the thread up through your fabric in the place you want to begin. You can bury your knot or take it down from the top so it will be under the beads when you are done. I like to take a very small stitch at the beginning to secure the thread even more. Place three seed beads on your needle then take another small stitch in the folded edge right beside your first stitch. The middle bead should stand up above the other two. Come back up through your last seed bead and add two more. Take another small stitch right next to the last one you took. Once again the middle bead will stand up above the others. Continue on in this manner until you have covered the entire edge.
2) The second edge finish is a leaf fringe. I begin by making a row of beads along the edge using a simple backstitch. When you get to the end of your edge come back through several beads to the spot you want your first fringe to be located. Add as many seed beads to the thread as you need to give you the fringe length you want. Add a leaf bead at the end and reverse back up through five or six seed beads. Add three or four more seed beads and another leaf bead. Come back through those three or four beads added last and pick up your main stem again. Continue back up the stem toward the row of backstitched beads adding more legs to your stem as you like. You do not have to sew a leaf bead on the end of each one - you can simply add one last seed bead and come back through the beads above it using the last seed bead as your stopper.
3) The last finish is a variation of a netted fringe. I always think of it as the type of finish you might find on a decorative veil. Once again start with your row of beads attached using a simple backstitch. To make it easier on yourself you can insert a different color seed bead at regular intervals - I will use every seventh bead for the sake of the explanation. Make your turn at the end of the original row of beads. Pick up six more seed beads of your primary color, add one bead of your accent color, then six more beads of your primary color and go back through the first accent bead on your original row (bead number seven). Repeat the first set of steps (six primary, one accent, six primary) and go through the second accent bead in your first row (bead number 14). Continue on to the end of the first row and you will have one row of netting. Make the turn at the end and go back through the first six primary color beads and the first accent bead of your first row of netting. Add six more beads of the primary color, a drop bead of some kind, six more primary color beads and go back through the second accent color on your first row of netting. Continue in this manner to the end of the row.

2007-01-12T07:03:00.000-07:00

I've just returned from my wolf-watching trip to Yellowstone which turned out to be more of an adventure than expected because of a rather aggressive stomach virus! Since I am in charge of the January program, I thought I would post a supply list for the exercise. I will be showing how to make three beaded finishes for fabric pieces. I hope participants will bring their own supplies and follow along but you are welcome to observe if you don't want to play.
Please bring:
- small pieces of fabric
- a variety of beads including a good supply of at least one color and size of seed bead
- thread such as silamide, nymo or fireline (I will have big spools so don't go out and buy any)
- scissors, thimble, needles (I use Roxannes #11 Quilting Sharps 90% of the time)
We will also be picking a line from a book for our first six month challenge of 2007. So please also bring a book that has at least 100 pages. You may bring two books if you wish but I urge you to not think too long and hard about the book itself. We will be choosing the page and the line in a totally random manner and you may be surprised to find that a travel guide provides a better subject than a book on poetry.
See everyone on the 21st!

2006-12-23T10:17:00.000-07:00

Here's another view of Kathy H.'s Rollercoaster Heart quilt. Pictures just don't do it justice!

2006-12-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Cynthia and Kathy for sharing information and photos of our last meeting. And yes, it was much better than a two day conference in Riverton. I would like to thank all the members of WAV for your encouragement and inspiration this past year. It has meant a lot to me.
I thought I would share a scarf that I dyed. I asked for help and information about dying scarves during our meeting and got tons of help and information--thanks! We talked about the process of dying silk and rayon at the same time with two different colors and this was my first attempt at using the product.

2006-12-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

The members of WAV were presented with a year-long challenge at the 2005 Christmas party. The goal was to pick a word and then to create four quilts - one each quarter of 2006 - by interpreting the word in different ways. The first quilt, due in March was to be thematic, or the literal interpretation of the word. The June quilt was to be an allegorical interpretation, meaning the quilt was to tell a story or convey a feeling. The story did not necessarily have to be obvious to viewers but should be clear to the artist. The third quilt was canonical or based on rules created by the artist before they began the piece. The rules could be whatever made sense to the artist but should be followed once made. The fourth quilt was to be a compilation of things learned in making the first three pieces. Three members of the group were successful in creating four quilts by the December 2006 meeting. Two of us only managed to eke out the first three and the rest of the members elected not to participate. I will use my quilts to explain the concept further since I have individual photos of them and I will follow with photos of the other participants taken at yesterday's Christmas party.

My word was "Island" and my first quilt was my attempt at a literal interpretation of the word through the use of a palm tree, sand, shells, angelina sea gulls and a driftwood hanger.

"Island 2" was the allegorical quilt and I chose to portray an isolated person signifying lonliness, sadness and depression. The people at the beginning of the quilt are in the light, colorful and joyful. They are connected in a number of ways. The person at the end of the quilt is hidden in the tattered edges, alone and dark, a human island.

"Island 3" was based on rules I made before I started work on the piece. My rules were created based on the Island I know best - Prince Edward Island where I was born and bred. The number 4 was significant, I wanted to include isolated elements and each element had to be composed of three parts. Once I had my rules established I could forget everything else and work just with them. This piece is therefore the most abstract of the quilts.

I still hope to add "Island 4" to this collection even though the deadline has come and gone and we are about to start on a new challenge for 2007.

Quilts from the rest of the participating members:

Wanda Nelson with her four pieces created using the word "Earth". This photo was emailed to me and I am not sure why it is so yellow. I hope someone else from the group has a better image they can post to replace this one. Wanda's pieces are spectacular and this image doesn't do them justice!

Cynthia St. Charles - Her quilts representing the word "Baby" are the four above her head. A new grandchild has played a very significant role in Cindy's life this year. The first quilt contains numerous images of babies, some known to Cindy, some from other sources. Her second quilt has silk screens of Michelangelo's sketches of a child in the womb. The screenswere then transferred onto hand-dyed organza. The third piece is made from painted baby wipes and safety pins and the fourth quilt combines many elements from the first three as well as others.

Linda Jackson with her quilts created using the word "Chaos". Linda's pieces were also amazing and I hope she will post more information about her thought process as she created them.

Kathy Hammond's word was "Adoption". Kathy became a grandmother this year when her son and daughter-in-law adopted a beautiful baby boy from Guatemala. Her first quilt is on the wall behind her and is a wonderful fabric representation of a photo of her grandson. Her allegorical quilt is seen in both photos - it is a rollercoaster decorated with many hearts chronicalling the various stages of the adoption and Kathy's third, canonical quilt is the tree hanging on the wall to the right of the portrait.

2006-12-17T20:32:00.000-07:00

Women of Artistic Vision Christmas Party and Challenge Gift Exchange

Our small art quilt group met as usual at the Yellowstone Art Museum Education Room. Everyone brought finger food to share, and we had a nice light feast.

We had a very full meeting with the food, scheduling the 2007 calendar, the Bottle Challenge, the Year Long Challenge, Show and Tell and the Gift Exchange Challenge.

This is the fourth time our group has had a gift exchange at the December meeting. Each year, we have had a challenge with some kind of theme. The theme for this year was

"Elbows"

Each participant was to create something related to the theme. These were gift wrapped and exchanged in a random drawing.

This is the wallhanging made by Cynthia St Charles. Linda Jackson took this piece home.
The "elbows" are screenprinted images of a Leonardo da Vinci drawing of the movements of
the arm. It shows the skeleton and muscle tissue.

This is the gift made by Wanda Nelson. The figure is missing her "elbows" in this piece.
She picked up this scarf at the International Quilt Festival last fall, and added the border, then added beading and machine quilting.

This is the gift made by Kathy Hammond - Kathy Lichtendahl took it home.
There are two pictures of this two sided gift. Kathy asked her fourth graders
to brainstorm for ideas about elbows. These were added to one side of this piece.
(top picture). The picture below shows a series of recipes using elbow macaroni.

Jeanne Knudsen with the gift she received from Kathy Lichtendahl
(sitting next to her).
Kathy created a block that looked like an elbow, then put 16 of them together
to make this wall hanging.

Kathy Hammond holding the gift she received from Kathy Lichtendahl.
Kathy created a framework using plumbers "elbows", then made a fabric box with sleeves that fit into the pipe. There are places to insert pictures on all four sides, and Kathy inserted pictures of her elbows, her hubby's elbows and her cat's elbows.

Brooke Atherton shows off the gift she received - made by Cheryl Wittmayer.
Linda Jackson is seated to Brooke's left. Cheryl hand quilted this piece in big stitch.
There are many "elbows" in the lines of the stitching on this colorful quilt.

Brooke Atherton explains the details of her gift to Cheryl Wittmayer. Brooke included
a photocopy of her elbow on the back of the long white sheet of paper. This is lined with fabric (organza?) and painted on the opposite side, with stitching added. The elbow piece hangs over the stick on the quilted background (at the bend of the elbow). The quilted foundation will be embellished with a calendar. Brooke will add objects that Cheryl provides to be sewn into pockets
on the quilted background.

*I failed to get a photograph of the gift Linda Jackson made, that Wanda Nelson took home. Does anyone have a picture we can add to make this post complete?
Thanks, Cynthia

2006-12-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

It has been a week for working in the studio. The timing is good as it is far too windy to do much of anything outside. We have had numerous gusts in Clark topping 100mph and the forecasters are saying the worst is still to come tomorrow! We were trying to wean two of our baby llamas but decided to let them stay with their mamas for another few days until the worst of the wind is past. Most of what I have accomplished over the last few days has to stay veiled until after the WAV party on Sunday but I thought I would post a small photo of my latest Secret Sister bag. This has been a fun year-long project as I have made a different fabric bag each month. I wish I had been taking pictures all along as each one is an original design and each has some unique feature such as funky embellishments or an original closure. The Christmas bag is quite a bit bigger than the others and features a closure with two finished button holes allowing the gold ribbon to thread through and be tied in the front in a big bow. It also has a fabric handle. Above all else, this has been a great way to use up some of those fabrics in my stash that otherwise would be there forever!

I attended the Christmas Open House at Stone Soup Studios in Cody on Tuesday night. It was good to see Megan M and all her quilts on display amongst all the other artwork.

2006-12-12T21:55:00.000-07:00

Greetings! I just got back from Riverton where I spent two days listening to two people try to be interesting. I truly feel like I could have been doing something more positive, like working with my kids or even better--quilting. I really look forward to this Sunday-food, new friends, the opportunity to see what people think about when they think of elbows, and the beginning of the last week of working with wiggly fourth graders who would rather be counting presents under their trees at home.

2006-12-09T07:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a great day. Not only was it beautiful and warm, but I got a lot done in my studio. My day started off by finding out that the "Fabled Fibers" quilts will be on exhibit at IQF in Houston next fall. This is the second time I have participated in a challenge managed by Ann Flaherty and both times she has pulled off something amazing. I will gladly participate in anything she wants to set up in the future. I spent quite a few hours in the studio working on my two "Elbows" projects for the WAV Christmas party next Sunday. I finished one and have the other one down to about an hour's worth of work left. I am really happy with them both but I am not sure what it says about me that I have spent hours (days) working on two silly little projects that I will give away and that will probably be put at the back of someone's closet and never looked at again. On second thought, I don't think I want to know. I also spent some time working on my fabric bottle for Brooke A. She will use them as centerpieces at the quilt show in Billings this summer. I will post photos of all the above once the party is over December 17. I also took some time yesterday to sign up for an art class at NorthWest College next semester. It is called "Art in the Wild" and is a little different because the entire class is done over four days in April at the field campus in the Beartooth Mountains. I will probably be 30 years older than most of the participants but I am looking forward to it anyway. The instructor let me sign up despite the fact that I have not taken the required prerequisite courses based on the agreement that he can change his mind if he wants to after he gets to examine my sketchbook. I am not worried. Since the Robert Bateman retreat in Yellowstone in October I have been drawing pretty much everyday and my sketchbook is getting full of images of flora and fauna of the area. So today's agenda includes finishing my second "elbow", finishing my bottle, working on my third "Island" piece, creating blocks for the Christmas exchange at the Cody Guild (the day after the WAV meeting) and making a present for my Guild Secret Sister. I think I will be glad when Christmas is over.

2006-12-07T20:35:00.000-07:00

Wow, this really is easy!

Here's my fat cat Gracie Lou modeling the felted kitty bed I made for her last winter.

I know it's not really art quilt related, it's just a picture I had on my computer and I wanted to see if I could actually post a picture ;)

This is too fun!

2006-12-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

So here are the photos of my coat. Once I realized the problem with posting photos was an issue with the administrator, the solution was easy -just wait until they got things fixed! I am pleased with the way the coat turned out and I now have all sorts of ideas running through my head for more painted clothing!

2006-12-06T07:05:00.000-07:00

This is my first post to a blog and I am sure I will learn as I go. I wanted to participate in this WAV site, kindly set up by Cindy St Charles, because I often have things I would like to share with friends and family and no easy way to do it. For example, I just finished my full-length, hand-painted coat and I am very pleased with the way it turned out. I am not sure where I will ever wear it but I am sure no one else will be wearing the same thing!
Today I am up to my elbows in elbows as I finish off two projects for our WAV Christmas party with the rather odd theme of elbows chosen by Cheryl W. I am making two because I am taking a guest to the party and I don't want her to feel left out at the gift exchange. The funny thing is the two pieces are dramatically different with one falling in the "mad inventor/art quilter" category and the other being squarely (pun intended) traditional. I will post photos of the results later this week.

2006-12-04T19:29:00.000-07:00

This is the introduction of our small group - Women of Artistic Vision - also known as WAV to an internet presence.

Our group came together over three years ago in Billings, Montana. We have a number of members spread across southern Montana and northern Wyoming. Our group meets monthly at the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings. Our group is very informal but our meetings include show and tell, and general discussions related to art quilting and textile art. We have an annual gift exchange in December and enjoy ongoing challenges. We've done one gallery show since our group was founded.

This forum is being established in order to provide a format for members to share their work with each other and the larger community of textile art enthusiasts.