Excellent News!

Today the Maryland State Arts Council released the names of the Individual Artist Award Winners for 2012. I am thrilled to announce that I have won an award. I entered my work in the Crafts category which is described as "Functional and Non-Functional Crafts: Ceramics, Glass, Wood, Metal, Fiber, Textiles and Recycled
Materials". I know several of the other winners are fiber artists, but most of the names are unfamiliar. I will need to do some research.

This is Knots, one of the pieces I submitted for jurying. It's a small piece, about 24" x 24". Currently it's on display at the Ratner Museum in Bethesda. I wrote about this in my previous post.

Right now I'm sitting here with a patch over one eye, having had cataract surgery this morning. It's weird having an eye operated on and being awake while it's happening. They numbed up my eye so I couldn't see out of it and also couldn't feel anything. A very strange feeling, to be sure. I'll take the patch off soon and see the doctor tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed....

In a Collection

Last fall my SAQA auction quilt was purchased by Del Thomas for her collection. I was thrilled that she bought it because Del only buys the really good stuff. She has some very famous names in her collection. Right now there are 40 quilts from her collection on view at the Visions Art Museum in San Diego. The show will be up until April 22. On Del's blog you can see a picture of the display. If you are lucky enough to be in the area, I hope you have an opportunity to see this show, along with two other shows. One is Art Meets Science, a show of 35 quilts, which is sponsored by SAQA. The other is Magical Mystery Tour, inspired by a song, title, or movie by the Beatles.

Currently I have work on display at the Ratner Museum in Bethesda, Maryland. The show is up through February 27 and you can see the works of 7 fiber artists. The opening reception was on the 5th and we all brought food and wine. I looked at the heavily laden table and thought we had brought way too much. Wrong. Every drop of wine was drunk and the only food left was some forlorn pieces of broccoli. I think that there are a bunch of locals who come for every show opening, knowing there is free food and wine. There must be an assisted living facility nearby because I saw an inordinate number of walkers coming through the door.

I was assigned a corner for my work. On the left is 105 Degrees, followed by 4 small pieces from my Ventanas series (ventanas is Spanish for windows). Next is a 4-tych titled Four Square. I really love the effect of the graffiti line traveling through the different pieces.

And around the corner is Knots, which looks like it could be an extension of Four Square, but was not intended to be. Other works in the show are silk paintings, more quilts, and embroidery work. If you are in the Baltimore/Washington area, it's worth your time to visit the Museum.