Red Letter Day!

Monday was a Red Letter Day! I traveled to Oakland Hills, Ca for a Studio Art Quilt Associates critique session.

Before the critique session began, we stopped by the Creative Framing and Art Gallery in Oakland to see SAQA NorCal Rep Franki Kohler’s work there. What a fabulous collection! Franki uses  hand dyed fabrics as well as sun printing and beautiful quilting. Her pieces are nature inspired and many times feature leaves, especially gingkoes.It was an All-Star Cast with (l to rt) Kris Sazaki (SAQA VP), Deb Cashatt (SAQA Exhibits Coordinator), Paula Chung (Quilt National exhibitor), me, Franki, Sandra Sider (SAQA President) and Sandy Wagner (SAQA NorCal Rep, Wearable Artist and Art Quilter extraordinaire).Heather Piazza is the Gallery owner and a strong supporter of Fiber Art. Heather opened her gallery just for our visit-thank you Heather!
One of the most fascinating things about the day was Sandra’s assessment of the saleability of individual pieces. This gingko piece was the most saleable: its size, use of color and “perceived complexity” were key. This gorgeous piece actually had more work involved, yet Sandra felt like it would be perceived as less complex-go figure!This is Franki’s latest piece-one we all loved. It uses sun printing and extensive quilting along with her signature hand dyed fabric.Sandra Sider led the critique. It was quite a coupe to have her visit. Sandra is the President of SAQA, a noted artist, critic, curator-she’s incredibly knowledgeable. She critiqued 11 pieces of art in 2 hours-that is hard work!

At the end of the session, I felt like I had just finished a semester long art course in 2 hours. She covered history, classic principles of art, how saleable each piece was. I  pinched myself that I was even there!
I am thankful that Franki Kohler cajoled me into having a piece of my work critiqued. This work-in-process piece is essentially a replica of my earlier piece, this one made for the critique. The chuckle for me was the grid work: it was just water soluble thread, only meant to temporarily anchor my piece while I worked it. Some loved the grid-huh?? I gotta listen to that though-that’s what a critique is for! The critique was graciously hosted by Robin Crowley and her husband. Their house and yard are a work of art-ALL of it!This fun piece was nestled in the greenery!Paula Chung showed this piece “M’s Mouth” She is currently is working on a series using x-rays. The work you see above is all thread! My photo does not do it justice-it’s an intriguing piece. Barbara Confer’s piece “Peaceful Giants” was stunning in person. You just felt like you could step in and feel the sun on your face. NorCal Rep Sandy Wagner brought a work-in-process that used her hand dyed fabrics and some clever applique. See that “grid work” in the middle? She decided the piece needed it because the fabric was too plain-she appliqued each square on there to give the illusion of grid work! What a gorgeous piece this is going to be.

Whew, it was a packed and fabulous day! What a lucky girl I am to be able to rub shoulders with these art quilt greats!