A group of internet artists from all over the place who have decided to give each other a challenge every few weeks, on a theme chosen by each in turn. We have different ideas and styles, but share a love of textiles, and want to have some fun.


Tuesday, 8 May 2012

Survival

How appropriate this theme has turned out to be for me, because time has been even more of an issue for me this past month than usual.  And that means I am late with this challenge, and it is not even finished yet!  But this afternoon I am leaving for Singapore for a few days work, and so no further quilting will be done, at least until my return, so I thought I should at least post a progress picture:
I have actually been having a wonderfully creative time since my last post, so I am really not complaining!  I attended the 4 days of the Australasian Quilt Convention here in Melbourne, and did a fabulous 4 day course with Kay Haerland on "Realistic Landscapes". http://kayhaerland.com/  Such a talented quilt artist and generous teacher!  AQC is without a doubt the highlight of my year!

The following week I was very fortunate to do a 3 day "Abstracting from Nature" workshop with Jane Sassaman www.janesassaman.com/ at Kraft Koulour kraftkolour.com.au/  So from realism to abstraction in the space of a week.  I reckon the creative part of my brain was glowing when I went to bed at night!  However, I am not sure that I really made the leap into abstraction....

For the IQC theme of Time, I had planned a long banner of the different life cycle stages of a dandelion (snap, Angela!), and have completed the design on paper, but have yet to do anything about transferring the idea into fabric.

But...as I was working on this quilt, "Survival", I realised that it is really about time, so I hope it is not cheating to adopt this as my challenge quilt.  Not just because of the lack of time I have had to make the dandelion quilt, but because this quilt is about the really difficult journey towards survival (of individuals, families and communities) after a disaster.  It is inspired by the devastating "Black Saturday" bushfires, here in Victoria, just over 3 years ago.  I don't really feel comfortable providing an "artist statement" about the different elements, and hope that it is sufficient that the quilt speaks for itself.

Surprisingly, this is actually the result of the Jane Sassaman workshop.  I know, hardly abstract, but this is actually a very meaningful quilt for me, and I am pleased with it so far.  I will post another photo when it is completed.
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3 comments:

Julie said...

I am sure that survival is often a matter of time so a perfectly appropriate interpretation in my view. Even in its unfinished state the quilt does speak for itself. It doesn't seem possible that it is three years since the fires and very sad that the scars are running deep.

8 May 2012 at 21:46
Felicity said...

it's stunning! the leaves look so real... and is that some dijanne cevaal fabric i see? look forward to seeing the finished piece :)

10 May 2012 at 05:18
Liz Plummer said...

Love this, Kathryn! I like the contrast between the crisp outlines of the flowers in the foreground and the subtle texture created by the dyed fabric in the background.

13 May 2012 at 13:50

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