Vessels Made of Cloth and Fiber

CAROL  LANG

I learned to quilt watching my grandmothers and hand-stitched my first quilt when I was eleven years old. Needle arts have always been part of my life.  In 2008 I began making art quilts.  I often work in series and find that to be a wonderful way to experiment, using materials on a small scale to see where they’ll lead.  Sometimes these small pieces become part of a larger quilt, or they might stand on their own.  Working in series allows me the freedom to make mistakes because I know I’ll have another opportunity to make it right, and I find great satisfaction in watching each piece improve and become more focused.  I’ve begun to explore mixed-media in my quilts using paint, metals, old rusted bits and all manner of ephemera as I continue to develop my own style.  I also enjoy making art dolls.  My love of texture and fiber is the driving force of my work. I especially enjoy making art that tells a story, reflects emotions and connects with the viewer on a personal level. 

Biography:

Carol Lang is an award-winning artist and member of the Contemporary Quilt and Fiber Artists Guild of Cincinnati – having served on the Board in numerous capacities, including as president. She is a founding member of Sculpters’ Night Out. Her work has been widely exhibited regionally. She also teach at local quilt shops and enjoys sharing her love of art quilting with others.

Study # 1 – Vessels (Shells)

VALERIE MASER-FLANNIGAN

I’m intrigued with the lines and shapes observed in natural settings and city architecture.  My abstract designs are influenced by bold lines formed in venerable forests, refined lines flowing in stone and wood grains, complex ice crystals, and unusual shapes formed by stone walls, asymmetric holes in tree trunks, and worn brick walls in old N.E. mills.  Making my first portal was an unconscious process. I later realized that I was seeing them everywhere in nature: in tree trunks, stone walls, stacks of wood, and cracks in ice or pavement. Portals energetically draw me in, wondering what it would feel like to enter and experience the other side. Would it result in a different state of awareness?

My approach is improvisational and my medium is fabric, starting with a general idea, a palette of colors from hand dyed fabric, and a blank design wall. Freely cut lines in cloth blend shape and color into an initial composition. I find this approach intriguing because of the fluid motion created when freely cutting lines and shapes. It is a dynamic approach because the interaction of line, shape and color cause unexpected results that the artist needs to continually respond to.

Biography: My relationship with fabric began at a young age, learning how to follow patterns and sew clothing.  In those early years, I enjoyed sewing and discovered the importance of practice and repetition.  Yet there was always something constraining about making clothing that I didn’t understand at the time, save the realization that I wanted to be more creative with fabric. 

I was drawn to quilting in my adult years and gradually shifted my focus from employing the beautiful patterns made by other quilters to a path of self-discovery: I wanted my quilts to be of my own creation.   This transition has been difficult, emotional but exciting.  My background is not in art.  I had to learn and continue to learn foundational art principles.  I also had to shift my internal beliefs to allow myself the ability to move forward in this endeavor. 

Recently, I moved on from a 30-year professional career to devote myself fully to making contemporary art quilts.  I live with a supportive husband in a country home surrounded by majestic oaks and pines.    Daily walks in the woods inspire my imagination:  light and shadows, natural shapes, seasonal changes, and so many unexpected findings. I’m blessed with a peaceful surrounding and a passionate drive to integrate what I see into my work, and to embrace change.   

  

Portal #2

CHRIS FEE

My quilts are a reflection of my interest in the people around me and the daily circumstances in which we find ourselves. I am also intrigued by the idea of using the fabrics with which we have long covered ourselves as a means to depict the human form.

Many of my quilts begin with a paper drawing done from a live model sitting which I then interpret using fabric, paint and thread. In my current work, I have been eliminating the paper stage and have been working directly from model to fabric. I am attracted to the immediacy of the process while trying to capture my drawing style. I am also attempting to reflect something intimate about the individual or moment depicted.

Besides my figurative work I enjoy making quilts that are inspired by the colors and messages of the 60’s. These quilts reflect the humorous and nostalgic side of my imagination. Their construction heavily depends on the sewing and quilting techniques that are a fundamental part of quilt making history.

Making quilts satisfies my love of working with fabrics and act of sewing while providing me with way to express myself artistically.

With “Some Days Are Like That,” I was attempting to make a realistic self portrait but found the more I worked on it the more I disliked the results.  Sometimes things are just like that, discombobulated. Cutting the piece up seemed like the only solution. 

Biography

Chris Fee is an award-winning fiber artist whose work has been widely exhibited regionally, several states including California, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee as well as Japan. Her work has been published in several magazines, newspapers and on gallery post cards.

Some Days Are Like That 

SANDRA PALMER-CIOLINO

Fabric is my medium.

My ongoing connection to the tactile quality of fabric and its potential to be transformed into objects both utilitarian and beautiful is undeniable.  My interest in quilting grew out of several decades of garment and home decorator sewing and a desire to preserve my mother’s embroidery work in small quilts and quilted pillows.

Creating quilts for the wall presents opportunities to manipulate color, value, composition, piecing, and machine quilting.  The process satisfies my desire to work in solitude and fulfills my longing to create lasting and beautiful art.

I am passionate about meticulous craftsmanship and obsessed with machine quilting, for it is this phase of the creative process that presents opportunities to add additional layers of character, texture, and structure to the composition.

As my eyes focus less on actual images and more on the infrastructure of my surroundings, my body of work has evolved from a representational to an abstract viewpoint.  Creating fiber art feels most authentic when I consciously work within the limits of fabric and thread.

Though I create art quilts for personal fulfillment, I experience a great sense of satisfaction when my work communicates at some level with the viewer.

Vasi

                                                   

SANDRA PALMER-CIOLINO

Biography:

Occupation: Artist
Medium: Fiber
Hometown: Oak Harbor, OH
Education: Bachelor of Arts, College of Mount St. Joseph, Cincinnati, OH
Current Residence: Cincinnati, OH

Exhibitions
2013  Kennedy Heights Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH – Vessels: All the Eyes Can Hold
2013  Lincoln Center Art Gallery, Fort Collins, CO – New Legacies: Contemporary Art Quilts
2013  Whistler House Museum of Art, Lowell, MA – What’s My Line
2013  Gallery Veronique in The Shops at Harper’s Point, Cincinnati, OH – Material Matters
2013  Carnegie Center for Art & History, New Albany, IN – Form, Not Function
2013  Fitton Center for the Creative Arts, Hamilton, OH – 46^th Greater Hamilton Art Exhibition
2013  Zanesville Museum of Art, Zanesville, OH - Superlatives II: Ohio Quilts
2013  Avenue 9 Gallery & Art Guild, Chico, CA - Snow Goose Festival
2012  Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY - Quilts=Art=Quilts
2012  San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, San Jose, CA - High Fiber Under Five
2012  North Bank Artists Gallery, Vancouver, WA - Strands, 2012
2012  MFA Circle Gallery, Annapolis, MD - Fiber Options: Material Explorations
2012  Rosewood Gallery, Kettering, OH - The View Landscape Competition
2012  Riverworks Gallery, Greenville, SC - Textiles in a Tube 2
2012  Ross Art Museum, Delaware, OH - Celebrating Our Past
2012  Carnegie Center for Art & History, New Albany, IN - Form Not Function
2011  Aullwood Audubon Center, Dayton, OH - Water, Water, Everywhere
2011  Zanesville Museum of Art, Zanesville, OH - Superlatives: Contemporary Ohio Quilts
2011  Kennedy Heights Art Center, Cincinnati, OH - A Celebration of Cincinnati Fiber Artists
2011  Loveland Art Studios, Loveland, OH - Loveland Fiber Art Show
2010  The Carnegie, Covington, KY - A Global Affair featuring Art Quilters Anonymous Mandala Quilt Exhibit
2010  Sigra Gallery, Bellevue, KY - Contemporary Quilt and Fiber Artists Exhibit
2012  to 2005  Cincinnati Nature Center, Cincinnati, OH - Contemporary Quilt and Fiber Artists Quilt   Show
2008  Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH - Solo exhibit in conjunction with antique quilt exhibit of The Shelburne Masterpiece Collection

Commissions
2009  Nancy Crow, machine quilted Structure #6

Permanent Collections
2011  Zanesville Museum of Art, Zanesville, OH

Awards
2013  Fitton Center for the Creative Arts, Hamilton, OH – “Martello #7: Biofeedback,” Honorable Mention
2012  Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, NY - “Martello #5: Liaisons,” Catherine Hastedt Award for Workmanship
2012  Rosewood Gallery, Kettering, OH - “Sgabello #1: Ascent,” Honorable Mention
2010  National Quilt Association, Columbus, OH - “Homage to Herbert,” Third Place Wall – Pieced
2009  Rosewood Gallery, Kettering, OH - “Homage to Herbert,” Merit Award
2009  GHAE, Fitton Center for the Arts, Hamilton, OH - “Homage to Herbert,” Honorable Mention
2009  National Quilt Association, Columbus, OH - “Chromatose,” Honorable Mention
2008  Form Not Function juried exhibit at the Carnegie, New Albany, IN - “Magnolia,” Honorable Mention
2006  Zonta Club Quilts for Change, Cincinnati, OH - “Feathers and Fillers,” 1st Place, Traditional Other
2006  Zonta Club Quilts for Change, Cincinnati, OH - “Free Fall,” 2nd Place Contemporary

Honors
2012  Form Not Function juried exhibit at the Carnegie, New Albany, IN - “Fractures #3: Intersections” featured on gallery exhibit postcard
2010  Original Sewing & Quilt Expo 8-City Traveling Tour through 2010 - “Chromatose” and “Redeemed”
2008  Cincinnati Nature Center Quilt Show, Cincinnati, OH - “Homage to Herbert,” Viewer’s Choice Award
2008  Form Not Function juried exhibit at the Carnegie, New Albany, IN - “Magnolia” featured on gallery exhibit postcard
2006  Gallery Salveo, Cincinnati, OH - “Free Fall” featured on gallery exhibit postcard

Affiliations
2013  Studio Art Quilt Associates
2013  to 2003  Contemporary Quilt and Fiber Artists, Cincinnati, OH (secretary, vice-president, president)
2012  to 2010  Art Quilters Anonymous
2011  to 2009  A.R.T. Quilt Group
2011  to 2009  ArtQuiltNetwork

Professional Services
Teacher/Facilitator - Machine Quilting, Technique, and Process Skills Workshops

JUDY  SHAFFER

Judy Shaffer is new to the world of art after a 40-year nursing career and ten years into her retirement. Her first introduction to fiber art came after attending the 2011 National Quilt Show. Subsequently, she purchased a sewing machine and began this completely new journey. Her exploration into the community of fiber art has launched her work into juried and judged exhibits where she has received multiple awards. Additionally, her work is exhibited in the retail setting and is sought after for charitable fund raising. Each of her art pieces are unique as they express her developing interest of methods, styles and supply resources. Judy is an active member of the Cincinnati based “Contemporary Quilt and Fiber Artist” guild and has quickly become an invited fiber art instructor in the retail community.

                                                     

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TERRI WRIGHT

Terri Wright native of Cincinnati, Ohio has been weaving baskets for nearly 30 years. Learning by taking classes and attending seminars around the country, working with skilled baskets makers in all types of basketry. The medium she likes most is  working with natural materials and  personally harvested barks.

She has been an active member of the  Ohio Valley Basketweavers Guild and participated in the Applachaian Festival in Cincinnati, the Vinkolet wine festival, Winter Fair for many years and numerous local festivals.

She teaches beginners basic basketry, and some more advanced basket classes. Other interests include beading, quilting, doll making, paints, clay and other arts and crafts.

Twill Cat Head