Public Library

The Atlanta Central Library Downtown Branch with African Americans for the Arts presented it's annual Black History program called "Out of Many One". It runs from January 30-February 25, 2011. We were at the opening reception on February 3, 2010. Pamela Diana and Charles Coad performed among the beautifully displayed art. I was so proud to be a part of this exhibit.

Something really wonderful happened for me. I saw these tile pieces that I thought were so beautiful and well done. I kept telling Elaine how great this artist was, since I play around at tiling now and then. About a half hour later the artist came in and I said, "you look familiar." She said you taught a tile workshop last year at the Arts Exchange. I said yes, that is where I know you from. She said yes you taught me to tile. Wow! This is really a time when the student took it and ran way past the teacher. I was just so amazed that she got it. She really understood the intricacies of making it art.

I try to live by a story I heard about Miriam Makeba. I am not sure it is true or where I heard it from now. Very young Miriam was walking to the Laundromat one day when she heard this beautiful music coming from a basement of a house she was passing. She went to the window and peeked in. She saw a lady with her back to the window playing a piano. Miriam decided that day that she would become a musician. The lady never knew the influence she had on Miriam. We may never know the effects of our actions on others.

Be sure to get by and see this exhibit.

Great Quilt Block

I am always excited when I find a great quilt block that

is versatile. I first saw this block in a quilt that a friend had done. It takes on an even different look when many of these blocks are sewn together. I made just the block alone as a wall hanging and called it "Gradual Expansion #1 & #2. The first one was an experiment with some brown and beige fabrics that I had bought. Then I thought I would do this wonderful swirl effect with gradations of the same color on each corner. Each one was fun. I like the surprise of what turns out. Sometimes it is exactly what I thought it would be and many times it is a great surprise. Some better and some worse. I usually pick the worse ones out and start over.

I am also fascinated that it tricks the eye into thinking that it is sewn on a curve, but it is really straight triangles. I am always on the look for fun blocks like this one. One day I am going to put it together in a full bed quilt. That will be something to write about!

Making Triptych

Atlanta Triptych by Janice Hunter, Elaine Parker and Aisha Lumumba.

I was overjoyed when Dee asked if I would talk more about the making of this Triptych. At first I thought we would do some kind of landscape picture. Then Elaine mentioned that she would have a better chance with a cityscape. Atlanta was our choice. We went a bridge downtown where we could get a good view of the city and snapped several pictures. Needless to say we visited that bridge several times. I divided the picture into three pieces so that we could choose. It was quickly decided that Elaine would do the middle because her media was so different from mine and Janice's. Quilting on each end and beading in the middle.

I was the last to choose. Later Janice said she realized that her section had a lot of small buildings. Deciding on the size of it was hard. Janice and I wanted a large piece that would make it easy to replicate those windows in the buildings. Elaine wanted a smaller piece because it would take thousands of beads to cover a really large surface. I want to think we made a pretty good compromise, 20"x40". We made a lot of decisions before we even started working. In order to make it flow from one to the other, we decided to use the same fabric for the sky and the pavement. We met at Marquetta's (www.atikaart.com) and got just the right fabric.
It was much later in the project when we decided that we would all quilt the sky with the same quilting pattern to continue the consistency.

Then we went away to our prospective places to work. I suggested to Janice that she think about some plaid fabric that would give the feeling of the windows in the building. She searched on line and found some plaids that worked really well. Everyone comments on that tall plaid building that instantly reminds you of the real thing, while something inside your brain is saying but the real thing is not plaid.

I leaned on stripes and used one of Janice's plaids. I pieced one building by making strips and cutting them into small square pieces and sewing them back together. Elaine on the other hand was creating buildings and taking them apart and creating them again and again. Some days she seemed so frustrated with those beads. I knew that it would be fabulous when ever she finished. I was never worried.

The hardest part was seeing it as a whole. When you work right on top of the work so much, it is real important to stand back and look at it. For the longest time it was just bits and pieces of buildings, then fitting them into the space was the next challenge. Truth be told a few small buildings might have gotten left off. I had collected green fabrics with leaves over time, so we all shared those.

A few months rolled by and we were steadily working. Then we were quilting.

Finally we were finished. It was just days before the exhibit opened but before was the operative word.

Snow in ATL

Snow Days are usually the best time to get some work done for an artist. When it snows in Atlanta, the whole city literally shuts down. When my children were little we built a snow man. Mind you, we only would have about an inch or two of snow. So they would take their wagon up and down the street scraping snow off the neighbors cars and then carting it back to our yard. Of course we were know for having the only snow man the next day after all the snow was gone. My new grand baby is too little for that and hopefully I'll still be up to it by the time he gets old enough to cart snow from the neighbors. If things (weather) keeps going like it is going, we won't have to get snow from the neighbors. We had our very own 4 inches this time, much more than enough to make a great snow man.

Boy was I excited to have these snow days. You see, I have this quilt that I have been working on far too long and I just got it to the final stage. I loaded it on the Long Arm quilting machine and planned to wilde away the days stitching up and down. The first day I was really rolling when I noticed a strange smell. It seemed like it was coming from the motor, but the machine still sounded good. I'm always listening for that sound that means something is not just right. No sound, though.

I put my nose close to the motor. The smell was not coming from it. So I started taking long breaks thinking that maybe I was running it hard and hot. Each time I came back to the machine, it would smell the same by the time I reached the end of a row. I couldn't figure it out.

Then all of a sudden the machine stopped. When I pressed the button the motor would run but the machine itself would not budge. Finally I moved the protective cover of the belt and it popped out. It had snapped. Oh well, so much for finishing that project.

So I hurriedly grabbed another one. It would be a shame to let these lazy days past without getting some real lazy day work done.

Happy Birthday

I was asked to create a small piece of art for a friends' birthday. In the past I have shy-ed away from making really small pieces because my clientele wants the smaller pieces to cost less, when in actuality it takes a lot more time and skill to work in the smaller space. We've been trained to think the bigger the better and the more expensive, but I have found that in the art world objects are not priced by size but by workmanship and skill. The dream of all artists is to get paid for our workmanship, time and worth. We generally settle for less.

All said, I was so inspired by the little piece of art that I made many of them. I decided to make these just because I liked them with no thought to money or worth. So in saying happy birthday to someone, I received a gift as well.

Art Talk

I have really been working hard all year and now I finally have the opportunity to share. I read a blog where this quilter had vowed to share her work step by step. I tried to visualize myself doing that. It terrified me. I guess I am a closet quilter. I like to work alone with my own thoughts and blaring blues music. When people see things in progress they seem to feel like they should voice their vision of your piece. They always tell me what I need to do to it. Most of the time their ideas are contrary to what I had in mind. I don't take the advice and it strains the relationship. So rather than have that, I work privately.

This the most exciting time of the year for me because our annual quilt and bead art exhibit is going on. We chose "Vistas" this year and it was an exciting challenge. Each year I have great aspirations of all the quilts I want to do for the exhibit. As time gets closer I get realistic. The exhibit always opens with me still working on the last two that didn't make it. I still have a butterfly quilt on the table from last year. It won't go to waste because that one will go in the calendar next year.

Friday, November 26, 2010 we have Art Talk with myself, Elaine and Janice. It's 2-4pm at the Atrium on Sweet Auburn The Oddfellows Building 236 Auburn Ave. Atl, GA 30303. Tell everybody you know, especially people in Atlanta. As tradition will have it, I will tell a couple of my quilt stories. So as you can probably tell, I'm excited. See you there!

The Place To Be

Last night was the opening reception to our new "Vistas" Exhibit at the Atrium on Sweet Auburn in downtown Atlanta. The exhibit features the work of three artist: Aisha Lumumba, Elaine Parker and Janice Hunter. We've been at it for four years now and it is great.

Of course, I was a mixture of excited and exhausted, but it made for a good combination. Friends (old and new) as well as new acquaintances and my cousin (Mildred, who is always so supportive), were pouring in. Many people who have watched us over the years were there and some who just found out about us this year. Anyway as ZZ Hill says, the party was jumping and we were having a good time. The food was really good and I am told the wine was too.

I am so proud of this exhibit. We work very hard to get better every year. I think we did it this year. Elaine, Janice and I created a triptych of the Atlanta skyline. We were all nervous about how it would turn out. Would they match? Could we get the dimensions right? I think it is daunting enough to be one person doing a triptych but to have 3 people working on one was wild. We communicated a lot and worked it out. Tell me what you think. Look close because Elaine's buildings are made of beads.

If you are going to be in Atlanta for Thanksgiving, you can still catch a glimpse of the artists at the Artists' Talk and Quilt Stories on Friday, November 26, 2010 (Black Friday) at 2-4pm Atrium on Sweet Auburn Oddfellows Building 236 Auburn Ave. Atlanta, GA 30303 (404) 418-5413. The exhibit will be showing through December 31. Atrium's hours are 9am-5pm Monday through Friday. Call about Private Showings (404) 418-5413.