Author Archives: Colleen Kole

Art Delivered

        It has been a summer of travels. We returned last week from Vermont.

       Within 12 hours of being home, I jumped right into the AQS show which was being held in Grand Rapids. I took two classes there and then volunteered with the takedown process which really was eyeopening. The volunteers put the quilts in their shipping boxes. It was very evident that long cardboard boxes get squished in the mailing process. The tubes remained intact and ready to ship the quilts back to their owners.

      Lesson learned: If you aren’t able to use a square box, use a heavy duty mailing tube. Do not take multiple boxes taped together to make a long tube.

      Yesterday, I delivered my Rooflines #10 for Artprize 2013. I purchased a large tube from U-Line. It didn’t quite fit in my car until I put the top down. I pushed it in between the seats and delivered it without a problem to my venue, Artprize Cathedral Square. Artprize begins on Wednesday September 18th this year.  Exciting times ahead.

This weekend we travel to Iowa to drop my daughter off for college. I am trying not think of how much I will miss her! 

The Last Hurrah

     I had given myself an assignment last time.

     Make something. Check.

     I really made the made the most of my last week here.  I finally made an indigo pot and dyed some samples I made after viewing this new DVD. Great DVD on stitch resist technique .


 Beautiful scarf from Hank and Spool shop which I will add some hand stitch to. This was my functional item. I also have another baby quilt pieced made from scraps that will go to a guild charity.

I also overdyed a few duds and dyed some nice greys for my neutral pile.

      And lastly, I made a huge mess and was really rusty on design. I took out another pile of scraps and spun aimlessly for two days. Then I cleaned it all up and packed it in the car to go.

   
I will see you after I settle back into Michigan! It has been a really great summer.

An Assignment

      I gave myself an assignment yesterday.

     1. Make something.
     2. Buy nothing new for it.
     3. Make it functional.

     This was after I was procrastinating on another assignment  which I should have been working on.  I am still in VT with my daughter and enjoying the sunshine. I have sent the majority of my newly dyed fabrics home with my husband last week. So it was more than a challenge.

     Stay tuned.

Barn at Shelburne Museum

A Surreal Day

     Still in VT and waddling through the end of summer seeing lots of art and having lots of family and visitors here. I am ready for a quiet week for my art next week.

     I periodically mull over pursuing an arts degree  (when I get frustrated or when I feel I am not moving forward fast enough…)  I had heard good things about a low residency program here in VT which shall remain nameless right now.  So, I took a day this past Tuesday to visit during their summer residency week. I figured a day was a quick investment in moving me forward towards that goal or removing a really time wasting “what if” from my thoughts.

     It was the most surreal day I have ever spent. I saw art in all stages of development. I read graduate process papers in the library. I saw the MFA graduate exhibit. I asked pointed and very honest questions to alumni and faculty. I found out how much it cost. I found out what alumni who graduated in 2002 are doing versus 2012 graduates. I found out whether or not they are using their careers post graduation for their primary source of employment versus personal enjoyment.   I listened to a visiting artist’s 90 minute lecture. I gave it my all and totally immersed myself into investigating .

     And I couldn’t sleep when I got home.

     Because I didn’t like the art I saw. It felt really cold. It didn’t in any way, shape or form move me. Quite bluntly,  it was silly and simple. Lots of installations. There was a significant difference in the current students and the graduate exhibit.  Diluted craftsmanship and art that was there just to make a statement. I was, in some cases, repulsed. I am not even going to take the time to describe what I saw. When I asked a very pointed question about their definition of art, I was told repeatedly:

ART is not art unless it has intention or meaning. Art made for the sole sake of beauty is not art.

     They were little robots all indoctrinated with the same philosophy. It was about the philosophy of art. All for the price of about 50,000 $ which is cheap compared to the new program at the Art Institute of Chicago which looks like about 85-90, 000$ for a 3 year low residency program. I can purchase a few books and be informed about all this philosophy. Or NOT.

     I do believe that art needs to have intention or meaning. But I do believe it can be beautiful as well while conveying a meaning. And fulfill what the great masters of our past did and use principles of  superb design, exquisite color and intriguing composition to make art they love and cause a reaction or interaction with the viewer.

     I am now informed , no longer ignorant artist and have removed this very distracting thought from my silly head.  I will not attend a graduate program which will only allow me to talk about my art in grandiose terms and elevate it to something it is not.

     I will continue to make art, find my voice and find someone to help me with a website. 🙂 I really do tire myself out sometimes, don’t I?

   

Shelburne Museum : Part One

     Last week we ventured to the Shelburne Museum. I wanted to see the two exhibits there:  Velda Newman  and Wyeth Vertigo.

Velda Newman quilt: Sunkissed
Velda Newman quilt: Zinnia
Details of Velda Newman quilt :Zinnia

Her work is spectacular and the colors just as vivid as these pieces. They are large too, hence the title of the exhibit.

     No photography at The Wyeth exhibit but seeing the work of the 3 generations of  the Wyeth family was really a treat.

     Both were excellent exhibits and if you can make the time to squeeze in a day there yet this summer, I highly recommend it. You might be able to see their new gallery and workshop space which will be open year round. It does not open for about another month.

    I am still working on existing projects and making slow and steady progress on the gifts.

125 Yards Done!

     I came back from vacation last Sunday, saw the weather forecast for the 90’s and decided to conquer the fabric dyeing. I had purchased some new supplies at the Vermont Quilt Festival and was really hoping this would improve my results.

     Much better! I have already ironed about 85 yards and will wait until it gets a little cooler to finish up the ironing. I am not going to do any more yardage until I get home to MI but I do want to work with print paste and some stitch resist in the next few weeks.

     But it has been sooo long since I have pieced that it is first up on my list next week.  

A Good Week

     We traveled last Friday and Saturday to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. When the kids were younger, it was our annual vacation spot and the kids have been begging for many years to return. We figured it might be one of our last times together as a family as they go off to college and jobs.  We finally did it and loved every minute of it.

Hilton Head lighthouse

dock at the lighthouse

love those leaves

Marc and the girls after dinner

 love the kids who went with me to the Gregg Russell concert 

Love the clouds behind the lighthouse 

Love their smiles 

Great memories of a treasured vacation and we are sad to go tomorrow as we all truly “loved” it.

Now back to VT where I will finish a baby quilt, a graduation quilt and do some more fabric dyeing. After we drive for 20 hours to get back there!

An Old Fashioned Parade

It was a hot steamy day for a parade. I haven’t gone to a parade in years. But this year the kids were asked to participate. 

Girls with parasols.

My goofy son carrying a banner for the local creamery.

My daughter helping her friend with the pony cart.

I am not sure who this is.

     The fireworks were cancelled tonight.  It has rained so much since we have arrived two weeks ago. A few hours of clear weather mid day and then torrential rains. You can see the water in this field which was just re-planted last week.

Hope you had a great 4th of July and enjoyed the day. 

A Great Weekend at VQF

     It has been a few years since I have attended the Vermont Quilt Festival. But this past weekend, I was able to spend  three glorious days soaking up quilts, classes and vendors. I even had the treat of seeing the show with a dear friend , Lynne, from Vermont as well.

     The first class I took was taught by the lovely and funny Katie Pasquini Masopust and titiled “Color”. We were asked to each bring 100 squares of fabric for the exercises. The first thing we did was a color wheel aiming for the most pure colors we could find on the table. Not so easy even though you know the color wheel. Or do you?

We compared our results and the results on black, white and grey.

Then we developed a mini composition with one grouping of the colors.

Analyzed magazine photos with regards to the colors that were used.

Interesting to see how many colors we were missing even though there were at least 2000 colors out on our table.

 And then moved on to the next day’s class which was composition.

More on that class tomorrow. Another great teacher. Sigh. So much to know but oh so good to have the opportunity to take all these classes.

Working on a baby quilt for a friend and a graduation quilt for my daughter this week. And overdyeing last week’s bad ones.

Dyeing Days #1

     One of my favorite things to do watch here other than the sunsets are the farmers cutting the hay. It has been a busy time on the fields around our home. We are here about two weeks earlier than last year and I am enjoying some of the blooms that I usually don’t get to see.

After about three days of getting settled in and walking around in kind of a foggy mood from the last month, I wanted to get busy dyeing fabrics. So I set up my dye studio.

Only to struggle with the process and colors. I wanted deep dark purples and ended up with lots of mottled and tired darks. I think I didn’t make my soda ash solution strong enough. Or I have old dyes.

I was unimpressed with my results with my results from the 50 yards I dyed. I overdyed about 15 yards and the darks still look washed out and grainy. Good thing I am going to the Vermont Quilt Festival this weekend for 3 days. I will have to replenish the dyes to see if this helps.