Recently, I found out my neighbor had discovered a new hobby in his retirement.  He was making all sorts of stained glass windows and other small pieces that were just beautiful.  On my long wish list for my house were stained glass windows around the front door, a wish I sometimes entertained by looking at artists at crafts fairs and online.  But Jack said he would love to make me anything I wanted.  ANYTHING I WANTED.  He gave me a stack of books to look through, all of which were filled with gorgeous windows, but you don’t tell an artist anything you want and then expect a design from a book.  Nope, I spent weeks designing stained glass windows and dropping them into a photo of my house with photoshop.  What fun.  I finally settled on a design that both my husband and I liked (I was willing to be more brave than he was) and then came the fun part–the glass store.

A glass store is not unlike a fabric store.  There is a large room filled with glass pieces, different colors, different textures (not perceived textures like fabric, real textures), some look like batik fabric, some are old, some are imported.  What fun pulling the samples out and looking at them together or holding them up in the window to see how they will look.  Sound like anything familiar?

I picked out my glass, and the other supplies–what size lead strips did I want (like bias binding), Jack suggested beveled rectangles where I had planned on clear–and the amount of glass needed was figured just like fabric is–looking at the design and doing the math (but with no 1/4″ seam allowances to figure in).

My windows went together pretty fast and were installed last week.  Wow.  I had him make two sidelights and the arch over the door. The big surprise for me is that during the day it is really only visible inside and at night it is only really visible outside.  But that is sort of a nice surprise.  Here is Jack installing the first sidelight (I have discovered it is not easy to photograph stained glass installed in a house):

Here is a more dramatic shot:

and the whole enchilada:

I have often taught a stained glass quilt class, and designing the real thing was essentially no different.  Cut like rotary strip cutting, pieced and when it all looked right, soldered together.  Just like a quilt.  Only see-through.  Too cool.

On to the next thing on my wishlist–a real Moroccan fountain in the yard…….

As you may know from reading this blog, I recently returned from a SAQA conference in Santa Fe, NM.  While there, I was honored to be one of the presenters, giving a live version of the voice coaching I have been offering on my website for over a year now.  What is voice coaching?  Glad you asked.

Voice coaching has nothing to do with singing–at least not in my case.  You have probably heard the expression “find your voice” and the importance of producing a cohesive and consistent body of work.  When I was on the PAM (professional artist member) review committee for SAQA, it was obvious that the majority of applicants who were rejected from professional status were rejected because the review team felt the artist had not yet found a voice.  In other words, the ten pieces they submitted looked like they could have been made by six different people.  Some artists argue that this is “thinking outside the box” but that means to be using techniques or materials in a way no one has used them before.  This is, in fact, an artist who has still not found the unique style that immediately identifies her (or his) work.  They have not found their voices yet.

So voice coaching may help.  If you are feeling as if you don’t have a clear direction, it may help you.  I find that the majority of people I coach do have a direction, they just don’t see it yet.  I like to tell the story (and you may have heard it here already, so bare with me) of early in my career when I went to a quilt show in NJ in which I had a piece.  Standing near my work, two women were standing in front of it and I heard one say to the other “that looks like a Leeney Weener.”  Her friend looked at the card and replied “you are right, it IS a Leeney Weener.”  I leaned in and said “it is pronounced Lenny Wyner” and was promptly reprimanded with “oh no, you are wrong.”

The point of this story?  Two strangers who couldn’t even pronounce my name recognized my work without seeing the card.  I was ecstatic, it was at that moment that I knew I had found a voice–but more importantly, a voice that others saw immediately.

I have a good friend who is an off and on again art quilter, and we often have discussions about finding one’s voice.  She tells me she hates when I talk about that and that she wishes my voice would shut up.  She says there is nothing wrong with just doing what you want to do, when you want to do it, with no rules or regulations.  Is she wrong?  Nope.

So when is it important to find your voice?  If you want to teach, you need to be known as an expert in something.  Write an article, write a book–same thing.  People want to know that you do this, and you know what you are doing.  When you establish a look and style, you will find that you are invited into exhibitions, you no longer have to rely entirely on submitting work for it to be shown.  If you want to be a professional artist, you need to develop a style that screams your name.  If you just want to do this for yourself–then no voice is necessary.  Remember, we work to please ourselves, right?

How does voice coaching work, you may ask.  I will tell you.  First, I send a list of questions that on one level give me an insight into who you are as an artist–but more deeply, give you some things to think about.  Fact is, I don’t find your voice for you, I only act as the guide and you do the rest.  After that, you send me images of your work (as many as you would like) and we set up a time to talk on the phone.  During that conversation, we look at what you love to do, what you hate to do, and we try to find a balance between the seemingly different styles in which you might be working so we can find one clear direction that will speak clearly of who you are as an artist.

So if you were at the conference in Santa Fe, you may have sat in on the session, where I coached four people in front of an audience.  Or you may have seen or even picked up these postcards:

I don’t really care if you attended or you didn’t, I am putting the offer out to you all for a discounted voice coaching now through the middle of July.  Just email me and tell me you are ready to do this.  I am there to help.  For more information, check out the voice coaching page on this website, or email me at Leni@leniwiener.com if you have any questions.

Every May there is a wonderful weekend–it always happens that the Lyndhurst Crafts Festival and the Northern Star Quilt Show in Somers come at the same time.  What fun for me–Lyndhurst on Friday and Somers on Sunday.

I always share my favorite pieces from the Somers show in my blog.  I have to say, there was a time when the quilts were split evenly between the traditional and the art quilts, but they seem to be moving more towards the traditional.  Some are quite beautiful and skillfully done, but it is the art quilts I come to see.  And it never surprises me that often, year after year, the same quilters are the ones who attract my attention.

First there is Norma Schlager.  I love her work, love everything I have seen of hers.  She has a wonderful sense of color and composition.  Three from this year’s show are Emerald City:

Itajime Surprise:

And this collaborative work called Brown Planet that she created with Kathy Loomis:

I am proud to call Debbie Bein a friend, and have always loved her bold work (her personality is bold, too!)  This is her piece, entitled Generation Gap:

Next up, someone I haven’t seen before, but love the movement in this piece called Patchwork Quilt (which as a title doesn’t do it justice) by Joe Cunningham:

I love the dimension and the beading in the flower centers in Bobbie Schiller’s Sunlight and Sunflowers:

and the beautiful thread work in Judy Gignesi’s Farmland:

What about the wonderful whimsy of this animal quilt by Patricia Waill entitled Come out Come out Wherever you Are–also showing you two details of her animals:

Speaking of animal quilts, I love this one called African Elephant by Cathie Billings:

The dimension of the ears, the way the trunk falls below the frame, and the simplicity with which she has captured the essence and the texture of this elephant are fantastic.  One of my favorites.

My friend and former student , Dee Plouffe had this sweet little quilt, called Maggie at her best:

Finally, in the animal category, is Pink Desert with Roadrunners by Margaret Phillips:

The one traditional quilt I will include here is the crowd favorite by Mary Cannizzaro called Log Cabin Spiral.

I love the spiral pattern she employed, and the blocks are white on one side and bright colored single fabrics on the other.  What makes this so interesting is that the original strips must have been cut at about 1″, so the resulting strips are very small.

She used a trick to quilt this piece that I used to use when I was doing more traditional work–in her case she actually appliqued the back and then used the edges of the appliqued flowers as the guide for quilting the front.  I ever went that far, but would often find a large scale floral print (or something with wonderful movement) and using a clear thread in the top of the machine and a colored thread in the bobbin, I would do the quilting from the back of the quilt, following the lines of the design which would appear on the front of the quilt as an interesting meandering design.  I even made a jacket that way–solid on the outside, lined in a large floral and quilted from the inside so the design shows up on the front.  It gets a lot of compliments and wasn’t nearly as hard as people think it was!

Hope you enjoyed this mini-tour of the Somers Quilt Show by the Northern Star Quilt Guild.

Yesterday I returned home after a week in beautiful (and inspirational) Santa Fe, New Mexico.  The primary reason for the trip was the SAQA conference.  Every year SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association) has its conference in the US, trying to move it around to make it accessible for people in different parts of the country.  Inaccessible or not, who could pass up the opportunity to go to Santa Fe?  Not me.  I had only been there once before, about twenty years ago, and really wanted to go back.  And getting there isn’t exactly easy (especially as I flew during the week the air traffic controllers were doing what can only be described as a slow down to make a point) so I stayed on after the conference ended for a few days.  Glorious.

If you are a SAQA member (or thinking of becoming one) and have never been to a conference you should consider it.  Yes, it adds up when you figure the airfare and hotel costs, but it is invaluable.  No one talks about their husbands or their kids, they talk art.  I get to meet other like-minded artists from around the world.  Friendships develop with people I see every year at the conferences.  As a networking opportunity it can’t be beat.

There are presentations as well.  For example, I learned I really do need to have a facebook page (watch for an announcement when I get it together).  I did a presentation on finding one’s voice, which I think was well received and people seemed to learn from it.  Then there is the purely social aspect, like the cocktail party/silent auction one night and the banquet with speaker another.  Truely inspirational.  I came back with tons of photos and lots of ideas to implement.

After the conference I got to explore Canyon Road and all the galleries a little more (there is a lot of commercial art that frankly starts to look the same but sprinkled in are some truly extraordinary artists and pieces that are wonderful), walk around Santa Fe and even took the high road to Taos through the mountains to the Taos Pueblo and back on the low road which follows the Rio Grande River.  Gorgeous.

Although I am not a huge Georgia O’Keefe fan (sorry) it was interesting to see the museum dedicated to her work in the part of the country she chose as her home.  She really does capture the special light and the colors of the area, as well as the shadows which really do look different in Santa Fe than anywhere else.

I am including just a few of the hundreds of photos I took while I was away so you can get a taste of what beautiful country it is.

along the “high road” to Taos from the car…

The small trading post in Chimayo–the highlight of which is supposed to be the sanctuario di chimayo but this is so much more interesting…..

We got lost along the way and these dogs made it clear it was time to turn around and find the main road again….

The primary water source in the peaceful and beautiful Taos Pueblo, still home to more than 100 members of the Tewa (Red Willow) people…

Just a few of the more than 100 photos I took in the Pueblo alone–everywhere I looked there was something beautiful to capture–the colors, the shadows, the shapes–gorgeous….

The Taos Pueblo is actually like an apartment building that goes back more than 1000 years…..

The “low road” coming back along the river–also from the car so the color isn’t the clearest–but aren’t those mountains beautiful?

I took so many photos that will make their way into my work–probably enough to keep me busy for the next year or more.  So many ideas floating around in my head, so much inspiration.  Next for me, several days of workshops in North Carolina and then I really do need to finish my turtle quilts for Earth Stories.  By then I will jump head first into a new series that is formulating and percolating in my brain…….

Such a beautiful Sunday, my friend Robin and I decided to drive up-county to the lovely little town of Katonah, NY to visit the Katonah Museum’s quilt exhibit.

Described this way:  Beyond the Bed: The American Quilt Evolution traces the dynamic evolution of the North American quilt – in form, fashion, and function – from the beginning of the 19th century to the present day…  and promising contemporary quilts, I was excited to see what was there.  The show was, I am sorry to say, a disappointment.

The museum is small, really only two galleries, so the breadth and scope of the show had to be rather narrow to begin with.  In the first room were the “older” quilts, the traditional.  Two examples each of crazy quilts, Hawaiian quilts and whole cloth quilts were mixed with some nice examples of other traditional pieced quilts including a Baltimore album, lone star, a log cabin derivative often called either pineapple or courthouse steps and a Gees Bend (or Gees Bend look-alike) quilt in an unfortunate color combination of red, black, off-white and what Robin accurately described as “dead baby pink”.  The Gees Bend quilts mostly date from the 1960′s, so this quilt seemed like a mis-match in the room with the older quilts anyway.  All in all an odd mix of pieces that didn’t tell a story about the evolution of quilting, or even of a particular period in time.  Just a nice selection of traditional quilts that didn’t particularly pull together in any meaningful way.

In the other room was the real disappointment.  Yes, there were some beautiful pieces by “contemporary” art quilters but most of them were from the 1990′s.  I think the sum total of the research for the exhibit was the now out of print book that was called “100 best quilts of the 20th century” (or something like that) published back in the late 90′s (which would explain the stalled time frame).  Cynthia England’s gorgeous pieced landscape, Paula Nadelstern’s kaleidoscope, and other examples of what WAS cutting edge “back in the day” all still stand the test of time.  But they do not move us into today by any means.  Not that these aren’t beautiful examples of the bridge between the traditional and today, but they don’t represent what is new and current.  And they certainly don’t even begin to tell the story of where the traditional ended and where the future lies.   There were two pieces from this century, a wooden quilt from 2008 and one made of metal and computer parts from 2009.  Moving in the right direction, but they didn’t fit with the other “contemporary” examples in the room–and they could have done so much more.

“Fashion” consisted of two bonnets, a quilted skirt and a dinner jacket made up of small silk squares all in the “older pieces gallery”.  Not a single example of fashion that was contemporary (although the dinner jacket was more recent, which means it was in the wrong room).  Any single piece from any year of the Bernina Fashion Show (that used to be seen annually in Houston at the Quilt Festival) would have been a fine example of where art quilt clothing has gone, plus it is not hard to find many examples of gorgeous art quilt clothing around without too much searching.  I am not sure what they meant by form, maybe just that some were meant to be on a bed and others on the wall–aren’t we light years past that pithy realization already?  Or is that what they mean by function?  I am not sure.  I would have liked some sort of narrative that explained why these examples were chosen–except that maybe that is what they were able to get.

All in all, an opportunity missed.  So if you are in Katonah and have 40 minutes to kill, maybe you will find it interesting.  But in the NY area, you would be better off seeing Beth Carney’s show in the city at the City Quilter (133 West 25th Street) in their new art quilt gallery.

Sorry Katonah Museum.  This show just didn’t cut it.

Suzie Hammond left the following comment on the blog and it brings up an interesting topic I would like to address:

…I have taken online classes and find I have trouble with the finishing details on an art Q. ie; obvious example of eyelashes, stitching around the corner of the mouth, echoing water movements, etc. The things that add the fine details that add that ‘ahh!’ to a piece. I am usually afraid to do much as I don’t want to ruin all my hard work, but know it’s lacking what it could be. Most online courses have told me ‘finish as desired’ which was quite frankly VERY unsatisfactory! Techniques as to what to watch for and ensure would be fantastic. (Sounds like it may be another book instead of a chapter-but some guidelines and ideas would be super)

So let’s talk about fine detail.  There are two different directions to consider (and I have done both) so I will begin with the addition of fine detail.  Very fine detail is extremely difficult to accomplish in fabric, unless the piece you are making is quite large.  For pieces that are smaller or even in a mid range in size (somewhere in the neighborhood of 24″ to about 40″ on any given side) the best way to depict fine detail is with thread.

Look at this closeup of the face from “Outstretched Hand” and you can see that most of the fine detail in her face is done in thread.

Adding thread to a piece on which you have already spent hours does require a leap of faith, and it is hard sometimes to start–worrying about messing it up.  My trick is to trace the main lines of the details onto tracing paper from your full sized photo.  Carefully line up and pin this tracing paper onto the quilt top and do just the outline lines with free motion stitching to set their placement.  Then tear out all the paper.  This gives me a guide as to where the stitching will be done.

Having the original photo near my sewing machine allows me to look at it, see where the details are, and slowly follow the photo, working a little, stepping back to evaluate and then adding some more.  Remember that thread can be removed with a seam ripper, if you have totally messed up, but it is a long and tedious process.  Keeping your stitches a size that will allow them to be removed is helpful when you are working this way.  Remember to use your eye, not your brain.  Follow what is there, what you see, not what you imagine the line should be.

In “Market Day, Sarlat” you can see fine detail in her face, hands, the small gold necklace around her neck and even in the building details and the iron light hanging in the background.  (a larger photo of this appears in the Gallery 2 section of this site)  All done the same way, the basic lines are laid in using tracing paper, then the paper is torn away and more stitching fills in to thicken the lines and add others.

In some cases this thread detail method is all I have used in depicting detail, all done on a single piece of fabric using tracing paper to start:

Separate and apart from the detail is the comment “finish as desired” which more often refers to the functional and/or decorative stitching done to secure the layers of your quilt.  Look at the light blue background just above–the quilting is done in a pattern derived from Sashiko threadwork, whereas the woman next to her has only functional stitching along the edges to hold everything together.

More detailed quilt stitching can also provide contour and texture, like this detail from “old woman”

Here the stitching is dense, but it is not about detail, rather it serves to contour the face and make the overall piece heavier and stiffer.

In more recent years I have personally been moving away from the depiction of fine detail, preferring a more simplified and pared down graphic art look.  Here you can see that the details in the face are stripped to the bare essentials, in comparison to the details in the face we started with from “Outstretched Hand”

In this detail from “After” see how the fine detail is simply implied–the very subtle pattern in the black fabric that serves as her hair, the contouring that is implied by the use of two contrasting skin tones, and the downturn of the mouth–are all very subtle but carefully chosen to allow the face to “read” like a more detailed face with very few fabric pieces.  Most of the paring down work is done at the pattern stage, but other changes and considerations are made while working.

Another example is this detail shot of the face from “in the moment” which has more detail than “after” but still refrains from any real fine detail…but it still works.

Hope this helps…let me know if you have more questions.

Recently for my birthday, my husband gave me an ipad (I am slow to move to new things but I get there).  So while playing with it and finding interesting apps I discovered two I would like to share.  Those of you who have had your ipads since the ice age may already know about them, but they are really terrific.

The first app is called Quilters Calc and was developed by the Robert Kaufman fabric company.  (Love their fabrics, by the way!)  The app is simple but effective.  If you tell it the measurement of your quilt it will calculate the yardage for each component, tell you how many yards you need for borders, bindings and backing fabric and calculate the interior measurements of a square in a square block (I know HOW to do it the hands on way, but this is SO much easier!).

There are other apps that are similar but the Quilters Calc is free, so you can’t go wrong.  Frankly, I think every fabric store should have this at the cutting table–we have all experienced that collective calculation when the sales women are trying to figure out how many yards someone needs for the quilt back.  I plan to make full use of it when I teach my traditional classes.  Too cool.

I have also found a neat little app called softbox.  Meant to be a light for photography (kind of weak for that) it works well as an on the fly light box.  Simply purchase a sheet of stencil plastic to place over the surface of your ipad (both the protect the glass and prevent advancing the screen) and use your ipad as a mini lightbox.  Not as good as the real thing, but it works!

I received an email this morning from Martha Sielman announcing that for some reason Amazon has her new Art Quilt Portfolio, People and Portraits book (which I don’t think has even hit stores yet) at a price that is less than the cost price.  For some reason they do this sometimes, one of my books was on Amazon last year at less than I pay for it.

But this is an amazing opportunity to own this gorgeous book for a fraction of the retail price–less than $9 a copy.  Yea, not a typo.

Since I announced in my last blog post how excited I was to receive my copy, I have spent a long time reading through it and looking at the gorgeous art quilts in the book.  It has been very interesting and inspirational to read about the influences and motivations of the other artists.  In many cases, I was familiar with the work but learned more about the artist and now have a deeper appreciation of why they do things the way they do.  I love that the collection of art quilts is so varied, and I found myself saying “oh, I love how she did this” or “wow, what an interesting way to interpret that.”

No one knows why Amazon does this with prices, or more importantly, how long it will last.  So if you were even thinking about buying this book (or if you were thinking about possibly doing your Xmas shopping early!), you can order it from Amazon for just $8.44!!!
Use this link and do something nice for yourself.

Yesterday I received my advance copy of the new Lark book by Martha Sielman entitled Art Quilt Portfolio: People and Portraits.  The second in a series of art quilt compilations (the first is called the natural world), the book has featured artists and single pieces by many others.  I was honored to be one of the featured artists.  What a thrill.

The book is beautiful, the art quilts in it awesome and inspirational.  I have been dancing around my house since it arrived.  Scared the dog half to death!

On the subject of books, now that I am completing my new one, several people have asked when it will be available.  The process is a long one–although I am nearing the end of my part (writing and making all the samples, plus some new quilts), that is only the beginning.  Once the publishing company gets my manuscript and samples, they will do editing, photography, book design, cover design, proof printing and finally the printing and shipping of the book.  Unfortunately, that means it will not be released until some time in 2014.  A long time to wait, believe me, I know.  Like being pregnant for a year and a half!

But I will keep you all updated and let you know as soon as a release date is set.

i apologize for not being a very active blogger of late, but I am working on the new book which occupies most of my time.  I am very excited about the way it is coming together, and hope that readers will find it helpful.  Some things I am including are:

• a way to make a pattern for your art quilt that doesn’t require Photoshop;
• a new and easier way to establish values without the ruby beholder, which gives some people trouble;
• an instructional art quilt step by step–like being at a workshop in your own home;
• quick and easy ideas for common elements like trees, water, animal fur, faces, and more.

I have made about a dozen or more new quilts that illustrate specific principles discussed in the text.

The good news is that I am almost done with my part of the process, so soon I will be back to writing regular blog posts–after I tame the chaos on the floor of the studio!

Hang in there with me.