An Unexpected Award

Back in February, I told the story of entering a quilt I considered a “throw-away” quilt… one I’d just given up on…

As I said in that post, I was excited to know that it wouldn’t be forever locked away in my studio but would actually see the light of day in a gallery!!

“Dots Down the Drain”

Imagine my great surprise when I received a text on the opening night that said: “You received a merit award”!!

You could have knocked me over with a feather!!

AND, I was even more excited to find out that it was the “Nancy Lukasiewicz Award for Fine Craft”.

Because I knew and loved Nancy Lukasiewicz!!

I knew her first as the director of the Lyndon House, the tiny building that housed the arts in Clarke County, GA. But under Nancy and her husband’s leadership, that small house was transformed into a gorgeous art facility with a community room (where our guild meets), 6 open studios (one of which houses our guild Charity Bee), and several large exhibition halls!!

I also knew Nancy as a soccer mom, tirelessly following the team as our sons played on a Club team.

This line from her obituary describes her best…..

Nancy was an incredibly calm, grounded, supportive person who always remained positive.

This is how I remember her and why I am so thrilled to win an award named after her!!

And I have to say, having my quilt’s photo in the Exhibition Book is definitely a THRILL…

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Come back on Tuesday….. I want to think further about how we judge our creations!!

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Other Art is good too!

On Thursday, I showed you all of the quilts that were shown in our Lyndon House Art Juried Exhibition.

Today, let’s look at some of the other amazing art!!

I love this painting….

“At the Beach” by Michael Johnson

The colors and designs just seem fresh!!

AND, I love the lines in this piece…..

“Majorca Rooftops” by Dortha Jacobson

This one was so cute and captured the image perfectly…..

“Hand in Hand” by Adam Houston

This next one is a fun fiber piece….

“Land of the Candy Moon” by Chris Taylor

I was interested in how she used the fabrics to create rosettes…..

This next mixed media piece starts with a great woven background….

….adding lots of found objects….

“Wildflowers” by Erika Lewis

I appreciated the intricacy of this woodwork…..

“Kumiko Table” by Abraham Tesser

I do like the table, but love the idea of this quilt design…..

Finally, I enjoyed this piece which used recycled expired Covid tests…..

….but hadn’t seen the quilt underneath the design…..

“Mandala CLX” by Susan Lenz

Now I like it even more!!!

So, there is a brief roundup of some of my favorite pieces from the Lyndon House Art Show.

I love that I live in an area that supports and encourages the arts!!

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Subscribe to my mailing list and receive this free pattern for “Dancing Squares”…..

You can sign up HERE……

Quilts in the Art Gallery

One of my goals for 2024 was to visit at least one gallery, show or antique store each month. January was the Dallas Museum of Art. February was QuiltCon, March took me to the Victoria & Albert in London.

For April, I was back at home in Athens, Georgia!! Athens is an area known for a lot of things. First of all, the University of Georgia, a Division I school, known for excellence in teaching, research and of course, Football (Gridiron…not that British version)!

Secondly, Athens is known for it’s music culture. It is home to the rock groups….. B-52’s, REM, Widespread Panic, and many current country artists.

Finally, the area is teaming with potters, painters, photographers and, of course, quilters!

We have a wonderful Art Center and each year they have a much anticipated juried show. This year is the 49th show. Come and enjoy it with me.

Of course, the first thing that I headed to was a quilt…..

“Puzzle It Out” by Chris Langone

Next I was drawn to this multi media piece….

“Ground, But Not to Dust” by Peggy Des Jardines

….that included a quilt in the background!

Then there was another quilt, which won the “Cotton Patch Quilters Award” (sponsored by our guild)…..

“Sunshine” by Angela Meltzer

This next quilt was made by a good friend and I ADORE IT!!!!

“Zen Dangle” by Rosell Crockett

Just look at the details she added….

It was hard to get a good photo of this, but I loved this paper quilt…..

“Ode to a Sunset” by Susannah Pearson (Acrylic on paper)

In the “recycled materials” arena, I loved this “Morning Star” design made from recycled plastic bags…..

My Grandmother used feed sacks, so why not!!

Finally, there was this piece…..

“Threads of Time” by Vyvyan Hughes

I honestly didn’t notice the quilt in the background until another quilter pointed it out….

So, that’s all of the quilt related art.

I promise that there were other amazing artworks. Come back on Saturday and I will show you some of those!!

Quilts in an art show

Our local art gallery….Lyndon House Arts Center…..is holding it’s 46th Juried Exhibition and I was honored to have a quilt accepted into the show.

“Bridge Over the River Kew” hung proudly between other non-fiber art…..

The other quilts included were from local artists…..

“Pump Baby Pump” by renowned quilter Elizabeth Barton won the Nancy Lukasiewicz Award for Excellence in Fine Crafts.

She also had “Brief Encounter”…..

Elizabeth teaches many online courses and keeps an inspiring blog.…you should check it out!!

Also accepted was “Circular Reasoning” by Modern Quilt Artist, Sylvia Schaefer. Her website is worth a peekas well!!

I picked out a few of my favorites to show you……

“Blue Wave” – folded paper by Rebecca Kreisler

“Growing Patchwork” – Oil on Canvas by Hannah Jones

Did you notice that ALL of my favorites were geometric in nature? Wonder why that is???

Summer 2020….week 1 review

Well, the first official week of my summer has passed and I am happy to look back and see all that was accomplished!!

On Tuesday, Michael and I visited a local Art Gallery (Lyndon House) and enjoyed seeing their 45th Annual Juried Show. We enjoyed many of the pieces and I particularly enjoyed seeing works by some of my friends.

from local quilt artist…..Elizabeth Barton

“Girl in Yellow Hat” by guild member, Terri J. (One of my favorites ever!!)

“Razzle Dazzle Maze” by guild member, Diane K.

“Circular Intersections” by guild member, Charles N.

After touring the gallery, we headed to our favorite restaurant and enjoyed seafood on the deck…..

This week I also switched over to my summer decorations……

These pretties were purchased in Australia!!

I had two friends over for lunch one day and Michael and I had another couple over for dinner on Saturday.

BUT….the most enjoyable thing of the week was my cooking segment!! I was looking thru recipes trying to find something new to make and came across a German Chocolate Cake recipe. It looked interesting so I decided to give it a go! It was complicated and dirtied almost every bowl and pot in the house, but the batter was beautiful….