Strata II, 48 x 60 inches, © 1999
As part of our work for the Distinctive Directions show, each artist agreed to write about why we work in a series. As I was trying to tell my story in that regard, it got me thinking back to my experiences in Nancy Crow’s workshops. These were some of the first art-quilting classes I had ever attended, and it was a sink-or-swim type of environment. Nancy’s dedication to her work is legendary, and she expected a lot from her students. Those who were willing to rise to the challenge got a lot out of it. There were some who found it a little too intense, and rumor has it there were even some tears shed on occasion.
For me, it was an eye-opening experience. Up until that time, I had only just been dabbling a bit with trying to make my own experimental variations on traditional quilt patterns, but still stuck in the rigid ruler-and-rotary-cutter world. Nancy showed us how to cut freehand, stitch odd shapes together, and use a design wall to design improvisationally. She also taught us to take our work seriously and introduced us to the idea of working in a series to fully explore our ideas. In the first class, called Sets & Variables, we had to take a single motif and do several different variations on it. I made a lot of pieced quilt tops from these exercises, but Strata II, above, is the only one that I ever finished. Most of the motif blocks were made in class, but when I got home I wasn’t happy with how they looked just butted together. So I added the black & white striped fabric to make a counterpoint to all the wild colors. I can see some things in it that I would do differently now, but it was a pretty big breakthrough for me at that time.
I also loved the outside edge that was formed by all the differently-sized blocks, and so I was pretty proud of myself when I figured out how to finish the edge with a decorative overlock stitch that I could make with the Pfaff 7550 I was using then.
Hi Diedre, I agree about the Nancy Crow classes. They are intense, but well worth it. Your work is exciting and I’m glad I stumbled upon your site! Keep it up!
Hi, Robin. Thanks for the kind words!
Deidre I just came across your blog today from over on the slow cloth blog. I wanted to leave a note after browsing your website – your work is just amazing. I am in awe of your creations.
Hi, Sue. Thanks so much. Your work is wonderful too. I love the handmade journals!
Hi Deidre: I came across a link to your blog while reading Lisa Call’s. Just an observation. The text that accompanies your beautiful paintings is confined to a narrow permimeter and cuts off the text either horizontally or vertically which makes it hard to read. I’m either scrolling up or across and it’s frustrating. Why not widen this area which features your paintings and text. You have all that white space on the right??
Anyway, something to consider. Your work is exciting.
Loved your blog entry! You inspire me to continue on in different avenues.