Conversations in Stitch Exhibition

Save Darfur

Greetings All,

Another exhibition that I will participate in is titled Conversations in Stitch, an exhibition of fiber art by members of the Fiber Artists Coalition, will be on view at the Anderson Art Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin, January 23 to March 20, 2011. An Opening Reception is scheduled from 1:30 to 4 p.m. on January 23.

The Fiber Artists Coalition is made up of Professional Artist Members of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) from the upper Midwestern United States. FAC curates traveling exhibits of its members' works. Members employ a variety of innovative materials and techniques in the creation of fiber art with a contemporary edge.

Where Dancers Go

UJAMAA-Cooperative Economics and NIA - Purpose

Greetings All,
The principles for day 4 and 5 of Kwanzaa are late because I've been busy finishing several pieces for my up and coming exhibit. So please forgive me for being tardy and you can see the pieces below completed or almost.

Dec. 29th UJAMAA COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS - To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Dec. 30th NIA PURPOSE - To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

"Collaboration - V (Ella)"

The above piece was created with the assistance of my mentee, Myia Esper. Myia painted the background and I add humming birds with Golden Gel Medium. The upper left hand one was cut from a magazine and the middle and lower left were printed from my pc on regular paper that I got from a copyright free website and I then cut humming birds from a blue plastic bag and applied them over the paper. I love this mix media process and I love working with Myia. Myia and I are a part of a mentoring program at Urban Circle Ministries and have been partnered since 2007.

James Moody (below) was an easy piece that took me about 8 hours to create. I love the simplicity of this piece and for me it was all about the cool blue. His jacket fabric is some of the fabrics that were created by the Henderson and they are the children that live next door to me. His shirt was some of my own had dyed and his sax is out of silk duponi that I have had for years and I'm just about at the end of the yard. I must get more because I just love the hand of silk and I love me some James Moody who died on December 9, 2010.

Kwanzaa day 3 - UJIMMA - Collective Work

Greetings All,
Today is day 3 of the Kwanzaa and that principle for today is UJIMA - COLLECTIVE WORK and RESPONSIBILITY. To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.

With the collective work of friends I was able to have one of my pieces pick up to be in an exhibit at the Peltz Gallery in Milwaukee, WI. The piece below (They Make Me Feel Like Dancing) will be a part of "Visions, Voices, and Viewpoints" curated by Della Wells and the exhibit opens January 21,2011. More info to come and I am truly grateful to Della, Sonji, and Townsend for their support/effort in getting my piece there. I could not have done it without them. They work together with a sister to solve her problem and she's dancing:-)

Kwanzaa day 2 - Kujichagulia - Self Determination

Greetings All,

Kujichagulia - SELF DETERMINATION to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves & speak for ourselves. Below is a collage of some of the pictures that I took day-2 at the Kwanzaa celebration andI was glad to see the people that I took pictures of. Some I've not seen in years and it was good know that all is well and that they were self determined.



Kwanzaa Village Men in Action (below) wearing the garments that I created for them and I'm thankful to Mr. Love for asking me to do so. Below from left to right, Brother Blanks with Jessica Holloway, Bro. Blanks, and Ted/Judith Love. Thank you all for your support and kind comments.

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy Kwanzaa

Greetings All,

I have been busy this week creating 25 garments (above) for the Kwanzaa Village Men of Action. They will be participating at Malcolm X College and along with the Shule Ya Watoto (School for Children) in conducting their 16th annual Kwanzaa Celebration from Dec 26, 2010 through January 1, 2010, focusing on "A Kwanzaa 2010 Tribute to Positive Youth Leadership". Kwanzaa, and especially their celebration, has grown immensely in popularity. Last year , over three thousand people came to the college to join in the festivities. This event is the only seven-day celebration held by a public institution in the country. It is warmly received.

Overview of Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa, a celebration of the first fruits, was created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966 as a cultural idea and an expression of the US Organization in California. Dr. Karenga was inspired by the harvest festivals found in the various parts of Africa and used symbols from various cultural groups to create a holiday that reflected the needs and experiences of Africans in America.

Today, Kwanzaa is celebrated by millions of people of African decent throughout the United States and the Diaspora. It is a non-heroic, non-religious, nonmilitary, apolitical celebration that reflects the history, struggle, triumphs and labors of African-Americans and Africans throughout the world.

Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26th through January 1 1st and maintains at its core a value system, which should become the minimum moral standard for all Black families. This value system is called the "Nguzo Saba" (seven principles) and each day of Kwanzaa stands for one of the principles:

This value system is called the "Nguzo Saba" (seven principles) and each day of Kwanzaa stands for one of the principles:

Dec. 26th UMOJA UNITY - To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.

Dec. 27th KUJICHAGULIA SELF-DETERMINATION - To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.

Dec. 28th UJIMA COLLECTIVE WORK and RESPONSIBILITY - To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.

Dec. 29th UJAMAA COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS - To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Dec. 30th NIA PURPOSE - To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Dec. 31st KUUMBA CREATIVITY - To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Jan. 1st IMANI FAITH - To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Kwanzaa, like all holidays, has its symbols and rituals. Celebrations can take place in homes or at larger community gatherings. Coming together in unity is important because families, especially the children, can participate fully during Kwanzaa by discussing and practicing the principles of the day.

Above is The Piece of The Week another in the collaboration series that was created with the help of Felicia Grant Preston, Mary Scott Boria and Deborah Norwood who came to my house earlier this year for a play date. It will be a part of my exhibit next month at Concordia University. Thanks to my sister-friends for their collaboration.

Michele Hardman thank you for the fabrics I used some of your pieced fabrics to separate the painted cloth and I also used some other fabric that you gave me on the back. This is truly an effort of UNITY - UMOJA and thank you all again for being a parts of it and for being friends.

P.I.E.C.E.S.

Concordia University Chicago Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day

and

Black History Month:
P.I.E.C.E.S
Trish Williams - Fiber Artist/Quilter
“Precepts Inspirited by Episodes of Creative Expressions of Self”
January 10 - February 13, 2011
Artist Reception: Sunday,
January 16, 2011, 2 - 4 PM
Special Artist’s Talk: January 17, 1 PM

Concordia University Chicago
Ferguson Art Gallery, Kretzmann Hall
7400 Augusta St.
River Forest, Il 60305

For more information contact: 708-290-3012

Gallery hours:
Monday through Friday 9 a.m.–7 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Illinois Artisans and Piece of the Week

Greetings All,
Here are some images from the Illinois Artisans where I'm the featured artisan for this month. Above is a view from the outside of the shop and the walls where my "Short Stories" are being displayed. Below are some other images of the shop and there are some wonderful artists and crafts person represented here. So if you are in downtown Chicago Monday - Friday during the month of December stop by and take a look.

The Piece of The Week (above)is a wall hanging that was created by students of A. Turner-Crawford of Northeastern University Center for Inner City Studies. They created block by drawing, collage, or photography. Then those images were printed onto fabric and created into this last class project. I was just the quilter in this case and was honored to do so.

10 Artists for Ruinart opening.

Greetings All,
The opening for 10 artists kickoff during the Art Basel in Miami Beach on December 2nd at the Betsy Hotel. I am one of the ten and the others are: Melissa Ayr – Texas, Elijah Blue – California, Isaac Fortoul – New York, Mark Leibowitz – California, Pascal Pierme – New Mexico, Johnny Robles – Florida, Dane Storrusten – Washington, Carrie Sunday – New York, Kiki Valdes – Florida.

The exhibit closes by February 2011, at which time these contemporary works of art will travel to New York to be auctioned in the Spring. All proceeds will go to The Art of Elysium, a non-profit organization founded in 1997 supporting the creativity of children battling serious medical conditions.

About Ruinart
In 1729, when Nicolas Ruinart laid the foundations of the very first champagne house, he was in fact realizing the ambition of his uncle, Dom Thierry Ruinart. A Benedictine monk, Dom Ruinart intuitively foresaw the fame and success champagne would enjoy by gauging the popularity of this new sparkling wine amongst his contemporaries in the court of Versailles. The House of Ruinart was the first to use Gallo Roman chalk cellars to age its wines, and opened the American market as early as 1831. Since then, Ruinart has continued to develop its reputation as the sophisticated boutique champagne for discerning wine lovers.

Ruinart Champagne Lounge

Bittersweet and Not Just Another Pretty Face.

Greetings All,

This past weekend was a bittersweet one. My birthday was on Sunday and it was a milestone, but it was also the death of one of Chicago history makers Dr. Margaret Burroughs. Dr. Burroughs was one of the founders of the Du Sable Museum of African American History and a great artist and will be truely missed. This past summer I saw Dr. Burroughs at the Lake Meadows Art Fair were she was strolling through passing out signed poster of herself to all the artists and vendors. I was so honored that she was doing so that I asked if I could take her picture andshe kindly stop to allow me to do so and above is that image. She has left a great legacy and we all are grateful by her time spent here.

On a lighter note on November 20th was the opening reception and unveiling of "Not Just Another Pretty Face" at the Hyde Park Art Center. I was blown away by all the wonderful art and people and a special thanks goes to my friend Patric McCoy. Patric commissioned 6 of us to create pieces for him to add to his great collection. Patric is one of the founders of Diasporal Rhythms and is a collecter/educator of art.

Before we went to the opening we did dinner together were we both cook and had a great meal of Bay shrimp salad that Pat made with shrimp, green onions, parsley, cherry tomatoes, olives and dressed with olive oil. Just lovely combination of favors and colors. I baked lake bass fish that he had caught early this year and I used some lemon season that he provided that was just perfect on the fish. I also brought Brussels sprouts that we cooked with shallots and white wine. Pat also made hot-water cornbread and we at like champs this delightful Nuvo-Soul Food;-) Sorry that I didn't take any pictures of the meal, but I will the next time. For dessert we had Ruinart champagne and dance to Gary Taylor. Below is a slide show and I hope that you enjoy.

Patric McCoy."I, and others in Chicago, maintain that it is important for the peoples of African descent in the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa to be in the forefront of acquiring and validating the creative images produced by the artists in their communities. And, through these collecting and promoting activities, be the first voices in naming those high quality creations as fine art."

---Patric McCoy
President, Diasporal Rhythms

Short Stories - Illinois Artisans

Greetings All,
Next month I'm the featured artist at the Illinois Artisans and they chose "Mother Earth" (above) to grace their "Facebook" page and she's on the website in feature artist section. She's one of my favorites also, but then again all of my work is my favorite until it's no longer mine. Here's the press release and if you are in the downtown Chicago area and looking for some great gifts stop by and check us out.

"Short Stories" by Trish Williams, Chicago, IL
This December, Trish Williams is featured at Illinois Artisans. These art quilts are created within a one to two day time frame and “where I work out whatever trials I may be going through at the time.” By the time of completion, the issue has been addressed or resolved. Her therapeutic process helps her explore a new idea, thought or challenge. Her idea is self-contained in each small to medium piece: a short story. I’m a self-taught fiber artist/quilter who discovered art quilting in 1997. This format has been a life changing discovery for me. It has allowed me to combine
two of my passions: art and sewing. I include some mix-media techniques in my work by painting fabrics, adding paper, metal and other found objects for embellishment. This allows me a broader sense of expression and creativity. My work is inspired by my culture, community and color.
She has exhibited her quilts since 1998 and is represented by the Illinois Artisans in Chicago. Short Stories is on display during December and all quilts are for sale.

The Illinois Artisans Shop, a not-for-profit endeavor, is a showcase for art work created by the state's finest artisans. It provides an ongoing opportunity to view and purchase the best designed and crafted traditional, contemporary, ethnic and folk art made in Illinois.
Illinois Artisans Shop, 100 W. Randolph, Ste. 2-200, 312-814-5321, Monday - Friday 9 - 5

The Illinois Artisans Program Home Decorating Art Spree

The Illinois Artisans Program Home Decorating Art Spree is on Thursday and Friday, November 18-19, 2010 from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM in the James R. Thompson Center Atrium, 100 W. Randolph Street, Chicago, Clark/Lake Stop. Meet the following artisans, learn about their craft, and
purchase one of kind pieces:
Kathryn Collins, Chicago, Painting
Bud Greene, Highland Park, Jewelry
Ala Jaron, Chicago, Jewelry
Larry Kanfer, Champaign, Photography
LaVonne Nye, Lostant, Jewelry
Mary Obodzinski, Crystal Lake, Ceramics
Dennis O'Malley, Wilmette, Prints
Marie Polick, Northbrook, Jewelry
Jennifer Ridley, Chicago, Glass & Ceramics
Dale Sinderson, Harvard, Walking Sticks
Zofia Tomala, Chicago, Ceramics - November featured artist.
Trish Williams, Chicago, Wall hangings/Quilts/Dolls

Next month I will be the featured artist in the Illinois Artisans Shop and below are some of the items that will available. The Illinois Artisans Shop, a not-for-profit endeavor, is a showcase for art work created by the state's finest artisans. It provides an ongoing opportunity to view and purchase the best designed and crafted traditional, contemporary, ethnic and folk art made in Illinois. Illinois Artisans Shop, 100 W. Randolph, Ste. 2-200, 312-814-5321, Monday-Friday 9 - 5.

PAQA 2008 challenge - I Didn't Know That A Quilt Could Be Political.

Greetings All,
Here is an exhibit from the past that was a challenge presented to PAQA members 2008 by Michele Hardman. Enjoy.

Piece of the week and more art..

Greetings All,

Below is the Piece of the Week and it's called "Ruinart Champagne Lounge". This piece was created for the Ruinart company annual exhibit and auction. The auction proceeds go to funding art programs for children. The exhibit will open at the Art Basel at the Betsy hotel in Miami in December and from there to the auction in New York city. I will post more as I know it.

Art Basel is an exciting program of special exhibition, parties, and crossover events featuring music, film, architecture and design. Artworks by over 2,000 artists will be on display. Check out the website for more information.

The pieces below are new works created by Jennifer Scott who was a part of the Carrol Street artists open studios last weekend. Jennifer's studio is at 3200 W. Carrol and she's working on a group of paintings that are from photos that she took in the southwest. I love the softness of these image.

Then next images below are images from the artist Andy Holck ( below left) and some beautiful people that were there when we stopped by HD Design & Printing at 2950 W. Carrol. This was a first time for us to visit and a first for them being a part of the tours. I was drawn to Andy paintings and line drawings. The wooden sculpture outside in the vacant lot was a true surprise and could not resist taking a picture.

Once we left Andy's we went to the Albany-Carrol Building and there I was drawn to Christine Worley art. She love rust and in the art-quilt world that has become a new patina that we use to change cloth. Her work is done on paper and I ask could we set-up a play date. We shall see. You can see more of Christine's work at http://www.christineworley.com/

Lucy Slivinski is the artist below and she creates these wonderful works out of wire, chain, metal, and other found object. She was just great to talk too and I was so drawn to her work and studio. There was an organized clutter. You can see more of Lucy's work at http://www.lucyslivinski.com/

The next studio that we visited was a occupied by a mother and her son. Scott Becker is the artist below (right) standing with my friend Kaana (below left) holding one of his digital prints. Scott not only dose digital art he illustrates, animation, audio production and he teaches. I love the fact that he was sharing the space with his mother and dad was sitting there in attendance. A true family affair.

Glady Becker (below right) who's watercolors I found just delightful, even the one that she did of a storm clouded road in Mississippi. She was a pleasure to talk with and very charming. We had a great time visiting with her and all the artists and I look forward to the next open studio tours.

More closings and openings.

Greetings All,
Yesterday I went to Bloomingdale, IL to help take down FAC - Midwest Meditations exhibit at the Bloomingdale Park District Museum and this Saturday the I pick up pieces from Artists Breakfast Group - Caffeine IV exhibit at Murphy-Hill Gallery and MHG are preparing for the opening of an international exhibition of "5 Decades of the Fantastic -Surrealism - Fantastic Realism - Visionary". Also on Saturday afternoon I will be attend the closing of CWCA - Urban Pulse from Noon - 5 pm at Tom Robinson Gallery. This has been a wonderful month of art.



Sunday there will be "11th Annual Open Studios Events" at the Albany-Carroll Arts building at 319 N. Albany / 3039 W. Carrol Ave from Noon to 7 pm. Also in that area there are open studios at HD Design & Printing at 2950 W. Carroll, Switching Station Artists Lofts at 15 S. Homan and West Carroll Open Studios at 3200 W. Carroll. One more good dose of art/artists. I just love this and I will post photos later.

Closing, Opening and Piece of the Week.

Greetings All,
This past weekend I check out two different venues. The "Fiber Art Divas" had their opening at the Naperville Arts League in Naperville, IL at 508 N. Center Street. The show has art quilts, knitted, felted, mixed fiber media and more on display until October 30th. Below is a slide show of some of the pieces that caught my eye.Fiber Art Divas exhibit and check out their blog at: http://fiberdivas.blogspot.com/

Also this past weekend Sapphire & Crystals Friendships Exhibit closed and I preview my piece for Ruinart Champagne. I was contacted by a representative of this company and asked to donation for an event that they do to raise funds for art centers that focus on children. You will see it in the background behind the JaNille Price who so graciously pored champagne during the salon. I'd like to thank Charlotte Duntz for asking me to participate. Pat Mangan that you for the inspiration and Chicago Gourmet.

The Piece-of-the-Week are some more of those wonderful/colorful Bark-Cloth pillows that take me back to my youth. These are going on Sylvia's sun-porch and will add a bit of tropical all year long. I love the mixing of the plaids/stripes with the floral and I can here the birds singing.

Updates - Piece of the Week.

Greetings All,

Below is the slide show from Needles and Threads Quilters Guild. I love seeing all of my old guild members and there wonderful works. Enjoy the slide show.

This past week I created pillows and I've gotten to the point that there are somethings that I must do just for the love of it. I love Bark-Cloth and the persons I made the pillows for collects it and loves it more that I do. She has all types of Bark-Cloth and colors. Below are just some of the pillows that I'm making for her and I mixed these with velvet and other fabrics.

CWCA-Urban Pulse-Opening reception slide show.

Greetings All,
Here's the CWCA - Urban Pulse Opening Reception Slideshow. Enjoy.

Sapphire & Crystals Friendships Opening Slide-Show

Greetings All,
Last night was the opening of the Sapphire & Crystals Friendships Exhibit and I hope that you enjoy the slide show.



Before I went to the opening and had my weekly meeting with my mentee, Myia Esper and she taught me how to make Roast Turkey Alfredo pizza. We only meet for an hour to meet and it's become a challenge to come up with something that we can create in that time frame. This young lady loves all things Alfredo and this was great and will become a part of my recipe files. Tonight is the opening of CWAC Urban Pluse exhibit at Tom Robinson Gallery at 2416 W. North Ave. and if you are in the area come on by 4 pm until 8 pm.

Chicago Artists Month - Openings

Greetings All,

This is Chicago Artists Month and I have two opening receptions this month and two closing artists salons. Plus there are two ongoing exhibits that I'm participating in. On Friday, October 8,2010 at the South Side Community Art Center, Sapphire & Crystals will have their opening of "Friendships" exhibit. Reception:6:00 - 9:00 pm.
Address: 3831 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60619.
Website: http://www.southsidecommunityartcenter.com/
Phone: 773-373-1026.


The three piece below are the pieces that I've submitted for this exhibit. The piece to the left is call "Collaboration -III" and it's a part of a series of pieces that I created with the children that live next door to me. Jabriha painted the fabric and I quilted it and added her image to it just the other day to show-case her and her creativity.

The piece in the middle is called "Felted Landscape" and I chose it because it was created with the use of a Baby Lock felting machine that belonged to a friend Erica Graff and I use wool roving and felt from another friend, Judy Coates Perez. Also I added some hand painted fabric from Frieda Anderson.

The piece to the right is called "New Season" and it was inspired by a poem written young woman who's a member of my church. I was so taken with it that I asked if I could create a piece in honor of it and she granted me permission. I will not know which piece will be on display until Friday and to me that's exciting.





Saturday, October 9, 2010 at Tom Robinson Gallery the members of CWCA will host their opening reception from 4 to 8 pm at 2416 W. North Ave. The exhibition runs from Oct 9 - 30, 2010.

Below is my piece called "Dishy Dinah" and I chose this one for this exhibit because for me it represents a part of Chicago's history as being one of the major contributors of America music history. Dinah Washington is one of my she-ro and that's why I chose to honor. I loved her song styling and they have not been matched in my ears thus far.

Sapphire & Crystals Friendships Exhibit - Chicago Artsts Month

Greetings All,

Next month is "Chicago Artists Month" and Sapphire & Crystals will be exhibiting their "Friendships" show. We would love that you come out and support us. There are 18 artists works on display and the list includes:Rose Blouin, Alpha Bruton, Makeba Kedem DuBose, Juarez Hawkins, Chlee, Malika Jackson, Renee Williams Jefferson, Marva Lee Pitchford Jolly, Joyce Owens, Frances Callaway Parks, Felicia Grant Preston, Janet Sheard, Patricia Stewart, Shirley J. Sullivan, Perlie Taylor, Cheryl Toles, Shahar Caren Weaver, and yours truly Trish Williams.

Exhibition:

October 8 - 24, 2010

Artist Reception:

October 8, 6-9 om

Artist Salon:

October 24, 3-5pm

South Side Community art Center

3831 S. Michigan ave.

Chicago, IL 60653

773-373-1026

http://www.southsidecommunityartcenter.com/

Gallery Hours:

Wed - Friday 12:00 - 5:00 pm

Sat 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Sun 1:00 - 5:00pm

Chicago Gourment - 2010

Greetings All,

The third annual "Chicago Gourmet" was all about eating, drinking and, of course, rubbing elbows with celebrity chefs such as Rick Bayless, Cat Cora and Graham Elliot and I didn't see any of them, but we had a great time. I did meet lots of other wonderful people and had a good time chatting in line and passing out business cards/receiving them.

I got tickets at the last minute from Pat Mangan of Moet Hennessy. I'm creating a piece for the Ruinart Champagne annual event and I will post later. In the mean time I was there to introduce myself to Pat and we had a great time. The people were everywhere, the lines were long, the weather was not the warmest or sunny, but we had a great time.

Champagne, wine, beer, Patron Ultimate Mule, Lemoncello, Hennessy Black and I'm glad that most drinks were in small cups. You just got a sip or two. Cheeses, crackers, breads of all types and some fruits. The food lines where just so long. We went to 5-Guys afterward and were told that we were not the only ones from the event that had stopped by. We enjoyed every bite and crumb. It's been a good weekend of art, food, drinks, and people. Enjoy the slide show.

View all

Get your own

Caffeine IV Opening Night Slide-Show

Greetings All,
Caffeine IV opening night was a big hit! Big art! Big crowd and great fun. I'm sorry that I didn't take more pictures of the art, but I did get all the pictures of the fiber/art quilts and plenty of artists and friends. Enjoy.

SAQA Benefit Auction

Greetings All,

SAQA Benefit Auction has started and you can view all the pieces at this link http://picasaweb.google.com/katethemel/2010SAQABenefitAuction. Shop and enjoy.

Midwest Meditations Opening Slide-Show

Greetings All,

Here is the slide-show from the opening reception of "Midwest Meditations" a SAQA IL/WI group exhibit at the Bloomingdale Park District Museum in Bloomingdale, IL.

Caffeine IV opening.

Greetings All,

Next Saturday, Sept 25th is the opening reception for "Caffeine IV" a group exhibition of 47 artists of different types of media at Murphy Hill Gallery. There are 7 of us that are fiber artists, Mary Jo Bower, Donna Cook, Iva Freeman, Gwen Jones, Gerry Macasai, Kathy Weaver, Linda Sorkin-Eisenburg and myself so the fiber art/art quilt world will be well represented. Below are the three pieces that I have in this exhibition, plus each artists was ask to make a coffee cup for the silent auction. I made a Demitasse set and used one of those old CD for the base. I'm in looking forward to opening night and if you are in the area do stop by and say hello. Now I'm preparing to attend the "Midwest Meditation" opening this afternoon. More photos:-)

Midwest Meditations

Greetings All,

This coming Sunday is the opening reception of "Midwest Meditations" an exhibit of 30 pieces of local fiber artists that are members of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) of IL/WI. The reception starts at 2 pm at the Bloomingdale Park District Museum, 108 S. Bloomingdale Road, Bloomingdale, IL 60108. So if you are in the area do come by and say hello. If you can't make the opening the show is up until October 23, 2010. Check the link to the museum for more information.

Sapphire & Crystals Postcard Show-2010

Greetings All,

Here is a slide-show of Sapphire & Crystals Postcard exhibit. Enjoy.

International Textile Biennial San Jose, Costa Rica"Beyond Category: Visions of Jazz in Fiber"

Greetings All,

Here is a slide show that I created from some of the images of the lecture the Ambassadors of Fabrics (Marion Coleman, Ed Johnetta Miller, Adriene Cruz, and L'Mechie Frazier) in Limon at El Costurero as part of the Beyond Catergoy exhibit. You also see images of the opening reception at the US Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica by clicking on US Embassy which will take you to their Face Book page. I have a couple of questions to ask and one is do all quilt shops look the same around the world? The second question being is everyone on Face Book? I would also like to say to Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi thank you for allowing us to be a part is this wonderful endover. Enjoy the slide show and the links.

Sapphire & Crystals Opening

Greetings All,

Sapphire & Crystals opens Saturday, September 11th at the South Side Community Art Center and "I'm so excited and I just can't hide it". Am I telling my age by quoting the "Pointer Sisters" and for those that don't know them look them up. Above is a sneak pre-view of some of the postcards by Joyce Owens and Juarez Hawkins. Enjoy :-)

This is month has started off with so much art. First the International Textile Biennial San Jose, Costa Rica"Beyond Category: Visions of Jazz in Fiber" and I hear that the show has been well received. "Some Like It Hot" in Evanston, IL is a show that's a must see and I've gotten good reviews thus far. Also this month there will be the openings of "Caffeine-IV" at Murphy Hill Gallery and "Midwest Meditations" a SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) group exhibit at the Bloomingdale Park District Museum in Bloomingdale, IL. There will be more to come next month which is "Chicago Artists" month and I will keep you posted.

"Some Like It Hot" - Opening

Greetings All,

Here is the slide-show from "Some Like It Hot". Enjoy.

Updates on Openings.

Greetings All,
Here's the postcard for the Sapphire & Crystals Postcard Show. The art work is by Shyvette Williams and have a great love for black/white images and thought that I would share it with you. If you are in town do come by and say hello. Tomorrow is the opening for "Some Like It Hot" by members of FAC (Fiber Artists Coalition) in Evanston, IL at Simply Chicago Art gallery and I'll pick up postcard then. "Beyond Category: Visions of Jazz in Fiber" is a big hit in San Jose, Costa Rica and I can't wait to see pictures.