Pattern - Free Quilts by Kathleen Loomis

I returned from visiting my family in California last week to find a new book in my mailbox by my friend Kathleen Loomis.  The book is titled:  Pattern-Free Quilts / Riffs on the Rail Fence Block.  Many of you know Kathy from her years of involvement in the quilt community, her blog: Art With A Needle or perhaps her food blog: Kathy's Soup Kitchen.

Kathy is best known for her very contemporary improvisational quilts and has many accolades to her credit. Like many artists working in fiber, her love affair with quilts began with traditional quilt patterns when she started quilting as a teenager. Kathy also loves to share her knowledge of sewing and sewing techniques.  It is this desire that led Kathy to write Pattern-Free Quilts. 

People often have excellent sewing skills but just don't know how to get started creating their own original work.  This book addresses that issue and shows very clearly how to use what you may be familiar with (a pattern) and develop what you know using design choices to take a pattern to a new personal image.  Once you begin to see all the options available in one simple block you likely will begin to spread your wings and become a "pattern-free" quilt maker.  The ideas she presents can in fact be applied to all patterns.

The book is laid out in a very straight forward format starting with a short history of how Kathy began her sewing life, an explanation of the traditional Rail Fence pattern and several chapters on how to work with this pattern.  The writing, diagrams, pictures and instructions are solid with information on how to construct many options of the Rail Fence as well as a chapter on Color Choices and ending with a gallery of ideas.

The book can be purchased HERE and would make a lovely gift to anyone who might want to expand their knowledge of pattern/idea development.

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New Books for Your Library

During the past year I was very pleased to have work selected for publication in two books:  the ultimate guide to Art Quilting and American Quilts The Democratic Art.  

The ultimate guide to Art Quilting, written by Linda Seward, is an amazing compendium of processes  used in the creation of an art quilt.  The book is heavily illustrated with the use of photographs, drawings and diagrams.  I recommend this book for anyone from beginner to experienced artist who is looking to add "something" new to their studio practice.

The second book, American Quilts The Democratic Art, is authored by Robert Shaw and is actually a revised and updated version of his 2009 book of the same name.  This volume covers the history of quilt making in the US as well as the social background of the times.  The book is filled with high quality photographs of the entire spectrum of quilt making from Colonial times to the present.  The book is inspiring both in the work that is presented and the stories that go with the work.

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The All Important Signature

Today I received a new book , Art & Soul: Notes on Creating by Audrey Flack which got me to thinking that I need to reinstate a page on this blog which features my list of good books for artists.  I had this page a while back but somewhere along the way it disappeared.  While flipping through the pages one title caught my eye.  It reads, Picasso As A Star.  Flack relates the story of how Picasso once signed a napkin on which there was no art, just some doodle, and his signature was therefore more important than the art.  From this act of ego, Flack attributes Picasso with the contemporary role of artist as egomaniac.  I don't argue that but Picasso had a substantial resume of ego acts to his credit.

For those who have taught in high school I feel confident they have seen "The All Important Signature".  This is the large scale sprawling signature which covers the entire lower right hand corner of a drawing or painting.  This is the signature which the student artist has seen on commercial reproductions of some famous or not so famous artists and they have practiced their "soon to be famous" signatures numerous times.  This signature becomes much more important than whatever is underneath and is in no way a good addition to the work.  Thankfully most textile artists sign their work on the back.

I can't wait to read the other tidbits of art lore contained in this little tomb and I will be working on my Reading List page to be published later.

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I've been away and will be

away some this summer but

like Arnold S. said

"I'll be back!"

The Queen Must Die and Other Affairs of Bees and Men

Telling the Bees

Terry Jarrard-Dimond

wood, paint 

Last evening I participated in a gathering of a group of artists to discuss our favorite books.  There was no established criteria for choosing your book so we had a nice variety of subjects and types of books represented.

One Stop Bee Shop

Terry Jarrard-Dimond

wood, twine, wire

This work is now in the South Carolina State Art Collection housed at the

South Carolina Art Museum in Columbia, SC.

I choose a book I read some years ago, The Queen Must Die and Other Affairs of Bees and Men by William Longgood with illustrations by Pamela Johnson.  Longgood introduces the book with this description: This book is about those marvelous and perverse creatures, the bees.  In a larger sense it is an appreciation of the daily miracles we dismiss as commonplace or over-look altogether, a minute examination of the small better to understand the larger canvas of life.

No Kings

Terry Jarrard-Dimond

wood and paint

I'm not sure why I was so attracted to this book.  I don't keep bees, I'd never read about bees or thought much about them, but I did buy the book and I took it with me on a two week artists retreat at the Hambidge Center in North Georgia.  I went to the retreat with only a vague idea of what I would be working on but I had taken lots of mixed media materials, wood and my bandsaw.  I began reading and the descriptive language of Longgood began to fill my head with ideas for new work.  The writer had managed to fill this small tomb with drama, science, myth, history, all presented in a way that made it impossible for me not to see the stories and revelations in relation to people as well as bees.

Honey In the Hive

Terry Jarrard-Dimond

wood, woven fan, paint

During the retreat I created 13 new sculptures related directly to ideas spawned by reading The Queen Must Die.  This was very unique for me.  While I've always collected titles, phrases, bits and pieces of information which touched me and seemed to point toward new work, I've never been so moved by one book.  I did additional reading about bees and bee keeping and I continued to make work on this theme, however nothing has ever inspired me to make as much work on a single topic as Longgood's book.

Chambers

Terry Jarrard-Diond

wood, metal slats, wire, aluminum

Most of these works were sold through my gallery at that time, The Signature Shop in Atlanta, Ga.  I don't know where they are, who purchased them, if they are still hanging in some home or office, I don't even recall the names of all the pieces, but I hope they have given the owners as much pleasure as I received when I made them.

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Reading List

In preparation for teaching assignments during the past two years I have done a good deal of reading and I want to share some of that reading with you.

I think all of these books can be easily located and often you can find very nice used copies.

There is something of value in all of these book but my favorites are in BLUE. Good Reading!

The View from the Studio Door - How artists Find Their Way In An Uncertain World by Ted Orland

Creative Is A Verb - If You're Alive You're Creative - Patti Digh

The War of Art - Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield

Trust the Process - An Artist's Guide to Letting Go by Shaun McNiff

I'd rather be in the studio - The Artist's No-Excuse Guide to Self Promotion by Alyson B. Stanfield

The Creative Habit - Learn It and Use It For Life by Twyla Tharp

Art & Fear - Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles & Ted Orland

bird by bird - Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

Chance - Documents of Contemporary Art edited by Margaret Iversen

Design - A Lively Guide to Design Basics for Artists & Craftspeople by Steven Aimone

Expressive Drawing - A Practical Guide to Freeing the Artist Within by Steven Aimone

Why Is That Art? - Aesthetics and Criticism of Contemporary Art by Terry Barrett

Digital Essentials - the quilt maker's must-have guide to images, files, and more! by Gloria Hansen

Maximum Achievement - Strategies and Skills That Will Unlock Your Hidden Powers to Succeed - by Brian Tracy - This book is excellent. I might not have been interested because of the title but it was recommended to me by someone I really respect and it is a gem. Read it with a friend and let me know what you think.

There are a few more which I will add to my list when I've finished reading. I'm adding this as a permanent part of my Pages which appear at the top right corner of the page.

What are some of your favorite books relating to art, artist and life?

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The Noble Effect of Heaven-Sent Madness

Eva Hesse

I have been reading Steven Pressfield's the WAR of ART. It is a wonderful book which deals with recognizing, confronting and overcoming Resistance. Resistance being the spectacular list of excuses we make for not living the life we want to live, or make the art we want to make etc. I highly recommend this book.

The book is meaty but easy to read and is broken into three "books". In Book Two he presents the idea of the Muses and the role they play in creativity. The following passage rang very loud and clear to me in relation to some of the things I have been mulling over and hearing from you.

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"Here's Socrates, in Plato's Phaedrus, on the "noble effect of heaven-sent madness":

The third type of possession and madness is possession by the Muses. When this seizes upon a gentle and virgin soul it rouses it to inspired expression in lyric and other sorts of poetry, and glorifies countless deeds of the heroes of old for the instruction of posterity. But if a man comes to the door of poetry untouched by the madness of the Muses, believing that technique alone will make him a good poet, he and his sane compositions never reach perfection, but are utterly eclipsed by the performances of the inspired madman.

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Happy Thanksgiving to you all and may the Muses fill your studio. (Just be aware that you have to invite them.)

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I love hearing from you and remember:

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