The Quilt Skipper

quilting makes me skip for joy

Jenny K Lyon

Quilting makes me skip for joy

Juried in!

Prairie Afternoon
Prairie Afternoon

What a way to end the year-“Prairie Afternoon” was juried into an international Studio Art Quilt Associates exhibit: “My Corner of the World”. The exhibition will open at the Stratford Perth Museum, Stratford, Ontario, Canada. I am over the moon excited!

The concept of the exhibit as described in the Call For Entry follows:

My Corner of the World invites you, the artist, to examine your world – the world, real or imagined, that represents what is important in your life.  It might be where you reside, work, or grew up. It might be a favorite place from any point in your life or the special space you take yourself to internally.

Where do you feel most yourself? What place makes you feel most grounded, inspired or at peace? My Corner of the World asks you to look at the big picture including, but not limited to your homeland, ancestry or culture.

The grasses, drought tolerant plants and “weeds” in my corner of the world inspire me. The movement of the wind across a field or a group of grasses is a glorious sight. I hope the viewer sees the beauty in this “ordinary” scene also. It is exciting to think that people in other countries will see my work.

Now this is interesting: in the last two months I have had 2 acceptances and 2 rejections. It is commonly said that if you’re applying to the right venues, you should be receiving about as many rejections as acceptances. The theory is that as your art advances, you should be aiming for venues that challenge you. I agree. My work was recently declined for both a regional and an international SAQA exhibit. Getting into any SAQA exhibit is a high bar. I’m thrilled to have juried into this one.

Prairie Afternoon detail 2
Prairie Afternoon detail 2

I wrote about Prairie Afternoon previously here. There were so many challenges and twists and turns on the road to completing that piece. I added the white underlay very late in the game and I think it helped to make the piece stand out. My inspiration came from my love of the fields and grasses of the plains of Illinois where I grew up, and how the wind puts them in motion.

As I pondered this piece, I began to realize that the root of almost all of my art comes from my childhood. Isn’t that interesting? I am currently working on a piece whose working title is “Midwestern Whole Cloth” (it will get a better name), further continuing the theme of childhood memories. Is it possible that the seeds of my work were sown in my youth? I will have to ponder that one more as I have time.

Prairie Afternoon detail
Prairie Afternoon detail

Do you see that your work is primarily inspired by your childhood memories? I’d be interested to hear your take on this.

I am off to prepare for Craft Napa. By the time I post next week I will be teaching! I wish you a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year. I’ll be linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

Comments

  4. Congratulations for being juried in to this special show! Your piece is beautiful. I grew up in Indiana, and I remember the Queen Anne’s Lace and grasses too. In Indiana at least, there was always one tiny purple or deep red flower in the center of all the white flowers in the QAL (at least that’s what my grandmother called the flower in your quilt). My favorite “weed” to find was a milkweed pod. They were so interesting and complex looking. Maybe you could try quilting one of those at some point! Funny how none of them are weeds to a child. I absolutely agree that childhood experiences are expressed in our art. You have to return to that nonjudgmental state to see the beauty in the simplest things (like weeds!) Adults only see something that will make a big mess when that milkweed pod opens and all the fluffy stuff gets out, so they won’t let you keep it in the house, LOL.

    • Ah, so you understand the obsession with “weeds”. I did not recall the single purple or red flower in the center-I will Google search that one. And milkweeds-oh my. We had maybe 10 different crafts we made from them. Oh how tacky-we made wreaths out of them-that part was beautiful. But then we spray painted them gold and thought they were tres chic. Giggle. Thank you for the memory of the simplicity of childhood. What a lovely response Luanne.

    • Did you know that the mass eradication of milkweed will most likely drive the monarch butterfly to extinction in our lifetimes? Talk about the impact of perspective!

  8. Congratulations. Such exciting news that definitely makes for an excellent way to finish the year. Beautiful quilt. I’m a bit jealous to all those lucky quilters that will get to see it in person and, of course, I hope it will win a prize as it truly is a stunning quilt.

    QuiltShopGal
    http://www.quiltshopgal.com

    • Thank you for such kind words and support-I am overwhelmed by all the response I have gotten. This is fun. And a rejection is just waiting around the corner, lest my head get too big, giggle.

  9. I’m so happy for you. This is a lovely piece and I’m not really surprised it got in. I think my art is influenced by my whole life, beginning with my mother teaching me to sew at an early age, and the heavy influence from Marvin (my late husband) in his love of books and history, and the continued interest in history by our youngest David and in my oldest son’s and his wife’s interest in astronomy…plus my desire to make pretty things that bring joy to people after my 27 years at my tough, but interesting job. But I do really love your blowing weeds, so well represented in your beautiful Prairie Afternoon.

    • Thank you Betty Jo-it’s exciting to jury in. It’s interesting to read about your influences. I did not realize that your work really does draw on a continuum of your life’s experiences. I will look at your work from a different perspective.

  11. Startford is part of MY childhood stomping grounds! How funny :) They have a fantastic toy store – totally worth checking out if you’re there. Congrats on the acceptance, it’s always a boost when that happens.

    • Thank you Margaret-I am so excited. I have really good images of this quilt from an art scan company. On my black and white quilts I think it actually gives the best image.

  13. Jenny, what an accolade! Congratulations. ( Stratford is a lovely small town in south western Ontario, near Niagara-on-the-Lake, and the famous Canadian ice wines. The best peaches and cherries come from this region.)

  16. Kudos! I LOVE this piece! It turned out so perfectly! And I love those weeds too. I did notice it was hard to find milkweed here as I was searching them out this summer. I think I’ll make more of an effort next year to find them now that I sadly know there really is a decline. Keep up the good work!

    • Thank you Janis! I haven’t been back in milkweed season and did not know they were in decline. I’m glad you can see beauty in “weeds” too.

  17. Jenny, I’ll be on the lookout for this SAQA show in hopes it visits within shouting distance of northeast Ohio. I’d love to see your work in person.