Category Archives: Artprize 2104

Fall Wrap Up

 

IMG_0065I have had way too much fun this fall with all things art and otherwise. As a result, I have been less than attentive to this blog as two people have recently reminded me.  I think it is just like anything else you procrastinate with: the longer you put it off, the harder it is to return to it.  So I will try again.

I kicked off the fall with an entry into Artprize 2014.  It is always a whirlwind of excitement, social events surrounding art and of course, the art viewing. The art viewing experience alone  takes up hours of walking amidst the crowds to a destination and then viewing a portion of the 1700 plus entries. This year was no exception.

I was a part of the Cathedral Square venue  which had a great selection of artists and proves to be a growing destination site. 18,000 people passed through the doors to see art from 56 artists.

Some highlights –

 

Elizabeth Brandt‘s piece

Elizabeth Brandt's entry titled" Random Thoughts"

Elizabeth Brandt’s entry titled” Random Thoughts”

 

Blair Reinckman

Blair Rieckmann's "The Shortest Route

Blair Rieckmann’s “The Shortest Route

 

My entry

Rooflines #15, Colleen Kole ©2014

Rooflines #15, Colleen Kole ©2014

 

Artprize2014-opening

Visitors viewing Elizabeth Brandt’s “Random Thoughts”

 

Kids education days which is my favorite part of the event.

Kids education days

Kids education days

I loved their silly questions. I loved their thought provoking questions . And I loved their open eyes and surprised look when I explained what I did. There is no better than than watching kids get excited about art. This is a significant perk for me in participating in Artprize.

 

Gail and Bill Baar came to spend a night and attend the artist opening at the DeVos Center. Gail had a primo spot there. I took them on a whirlwind 3 hour trip around and I exhausted all of us.

Gail Baar Colorforms

Gail Baar “Colorforms #55

It was great to catch up and we also snuck in a trip to Meijer Gardens before they left.

Gail and Bill at Meijer Gardens

Gail and Bill at Meijer Gardens

I was lucky enough to have an interview on a local radio station WGVSU and was fortunate to not say anything too silly. (Thanks Betsy for the opportunity!)  It was nerve racking but not as intimidating as I thought it would be. And then the icing on the cake was a photo in the Sunday paper of my little old piece that was a total surprise.

DSC_8090

In late September, I fulfilled my last duty as member to the workshop committee for my local guild,  the West Michigan Quilt Guild.  I was classroom monitor for the first day of Jacquie Gehrig‘s workshop titled  ” Slice and Insert Improvisations”. She is a kind, energetic and a “meet you where you” are kind of instructor. She is very passionate about the Modern Quilt Guild and a great ambassador for it. It’s no wonder she received Professional Teacher of the Year for 2014.

Jacquie Gehrig  workshop

Jacquie Gehrig workshop

Jaquie Gehrig workshop

Jaquie Gehrig workshop

October was filled with family. I had a quick trip to visit my daughter Hope in Iowa for parents weekend. I am proud of how hard she is working to make her way in the competitive pre-vet world.

IMG_0171

 

Lots of soccer games and my son Ben was named to the Olympic Development team which will mean trips to Sarasota, Phoenix and Costa Rica in the next 6 months.  Big news indeed but again he is such a hard working driven kid whose work is paying off.

Ben , my goalie man in mid-air

Ben , my goalie man in mid-air

We ended on a sad note with saying good bye to Grandpa and father-in-law Thurm . Death is always a lesson in appreciating the time we have today.  We will miss you Grandpa.

It has been marvelous fall filled with art, friends, family and the making of things.

 

 

 

 

Studio Shots

I haven’t wanted or been able to show you what I have been working on for a long time. So I struggle with exciting things to tell you about my process or my art happenings.

the state of things

the state of things

I am just hard at work work right now but I miss connecting with you.

So,  I will try something new here on this blog. I am going to institute  two regular postings. One will be simply studio shots and  thus,  title of the post will be : Studio Shots.  Not a very catchy title nor very original but I am really trying to get back to posting!  I take many photos which are simple but convey a moment of time I am trying to document in my studio.

from a tag sale

from a tag sale

My husband brought me this stash of books from a neighbor’s tag sale. What a sweet guy and I was jumping up and down when he gave them to me.

 

rocking in the studio with my music of choice today

rocking in the studio with my music of choice today

The second post will be titled: What’s Happening? I expect it to contain a really broad variety of topics : family fun stuff, events happening in whatever town I happen to be in and all things Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids is a pretty great town and I am really looking forward to Artprize 2014 beginning on Wednesday September 23rd. Wooho-let the fun begin! So there will be lots of new posts titled “What’s Happening? ” in the next few weeks.

Done Times Two

Some things I really appreciate. And finishing the machine quilting on a piece is one of them! This weekend I finished Rooflines #15 which has been accepted into Artprize 2014.

It is always with a bit of trepidation that I commit an unfinished piece to an exhibit but the last three years I have done it.  And each year there has been a moment of panic when there is a glitch. Not a devastating glitch- but a glitch. I pinned this up on the wall when I finished it before applying the binding to admire my work. And with a huge gasp, I realized I had a pretty significant skew and one of the main lines of the quilt was very “off to the left” .  I felt like I needed to tilt my head to look at the piece.

 

 

major squaring needed

major squaring needed

I just needed to be brave and lose a few inches in  order for it to look right.

Rooflines #15, 63X64, ©Colleen Kole, 2014

Rooflines #15, 63X64, ©Colleen Kole, 2014

All done and what a good feeling. I did a lot of procrastinating while quilting this because I had so many thread changes.

 

 

Details of Rooflines #15

Details of Rooflines #15

 

Details fo Rooflines #15

Details fo Rooflines #15

I also wrapped up fabric dyeing and over dyeing about 130 yards. And of those about 30 were overdyes as I started off very impatient and just didn’t tend to them like  I should have. I finished ironing last night and making some black and white sketches so today I will cut into theses pretties. I am ready to start something new.

Fabric Dyeing 2014

Fabric Dyeing 2014

All Things Summer

I have been in VT for 16 days already and you haven’t heard a peep from me!!! So I owe you a quick re-cap. Marc, I and dogs arrived on May 31st which is the earliest I have ever come for the summer. Marc and I came to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary with out kiddos. However, i promptly came down with a tremendous cold…so good thing he still loves me.

Lilacs in June

Lilacs in June

It was beautiful here and I have never seen this lilac bloom in the whole ten years we have owned the house. I did a really hard prune of it about 4 years ago and Iam amazed that it has re-grown so quickly.

DSC_7219Yes, the cows are just across the street.

We had the house painted this spring and I have to admit, it has never look this pretty so I will share it with you. Off to the left you can see my chairs where I watch the sunset and have glass of wine. Come anytime  and join me!

Vermont home

Vermont home

 

My sewing room is in the right front corner and I can hear those cows as I sew.

 

Lucy enjoying VT

Lucy enjoying VT

The barn is in the back and to the right and that’s Lucy, my sweet one. The Lab, Mandie,  is obsessed with the woodchuck and has pushed the word obsession to a new level. She is not in the picture because she can’t stop pacing… The dogs love it here as much as we do.

Crazy girl

Crazy girl

Marc left after a few days and my daughter Hope joined me. I knew when I saw her get off the plane that she was really sick. An ER visit diagnosed the very sick kid with mono. She wasn’ t happy though as all her plans of milking cows and working as a deli were on hold. as were my plans of working away. But I was so grateful that she was home from college and not sick 11 hours away. Best case scenario if you have mono: Be with mom so she can take care of you. I am not sure she quite thinks so.

Nice neutrals in the bunch

Nice neutrals in the bunch

I have been working hard. I started dyeing fabrics with my new dye knowledge. However, I had less than successful results with my colors turning out much lighter than the color swatches. I suspect old dyes and cold temps. I have replaced some of the older dyes and will see if my theory is right.

Lighter than expected-too cold and dyes old?

Lighter than expected-too cold and dyes old?

I am also machine quilting my Artprize piece. I did get accepted into Artprize 2014 this year and really look forward to it again.

Rooflines #15 under the machine

Rooflines #15 under the machine

I try to take a walk each day and this is one of my favorite spots on the Stowe Recreation Path.

Stowe Community Church

Stowe Community Church

And I always watch the sunsets here.

My nighttime view

My nighttime view

Hope you are sinking into those long summer days. What are you working on?

The Anatomy of a Piece: Rooflines#15 WIP

About two weeks ago, I was really feeling quite smug as I thought I had my Art Prize entry for 2014 all pieced out and ready to trim and photograph. I was going to use a workshop piece that I had created last fall.  But I pulled it out and really didn’t like it for this exhibition.

So , I gave myself 48 hours to decide: yes or no to Artprize 2014. The answer was yes but with a new piece. And I only wanted to devote one week to see if i could create something Artprize worhy. Here is the chronicle of events over the past few days in pictures. I am not going to spend  lot of time editing them for you but just lay them out as I took them.

I wanted a plan to limit my overall craziness as I obsess over new designs. So I wanted to make another piece similar to Rooflines #8, a red/blue piece. Super simple , I thought.

 

DSC_6981

 

Start with lots of strips so I have options.  I really hate strip piecing -why did I choose this?  Too late to change and I decided to just plod ahead. Ok, just focus and take pictures. Think about values.

DSC_6983

 

Black and white looks good. Keep going.  I have no more of the lighter colors but I ignored this blatant fact.

 

DSC_6987

 

No problem as the board is filling up. Ignore design and fill up the board. Seems like a great plan.
DSC_6996

 

Filling up but kind of dark. Add lavender strips. Rip it apart to do it.

 

DSC_7004

 

Needs rooflines inserted. Good job with one set in and looks good.

DSC_6988

 

 

Other sets of roof lines needed and placement looks good. Keep going. Wake up in the morning and realize that it looks like a set of draperies. Ugly draperies. It was a few hours of panic. One of those Ralphie moments form The Christmas Story when the dogs steal the turkey. What are you going to do now, Miss Smarty? Better cut it up. Ok, cut away.

My favorite tools for the nasty job of changing design mid -stream :


DSC_7018

 

A spiffy seam ripper

 

DSC_7017

 

and my tailors’ chalk as I can’t live without it now. Chop it up and insert pieces.

 

DSC_7010

Better, I suppose. But I had no idea how to inset parts and pieces on the other side. It was way past my construction level and i was in a piecing pickle. I could have done it so much easier IF I had a well thought out design.

Learn how to inset seams and do all sorts of strange rip outs in order to make it work.

 

DSC_7019

 

Slowly making progress.

 

DSC_7013

 

Almost there.

 

DSC_7016

 

Done as it will be for now. It measures about 68×65 so not a small piece.

 

DSC_7024

Rooflines #15 WIP ©Colleen Kole, 2014, approx 68×65

 

DSC_7027

My critique in my journal. I give it about a 5 on a 10 point scale with room for improvement need but a god seed project. Yup, I have spent 105 hours on it from april 16-April 26th as I am trying to calculate how long some of my processes take for our Master Class.

 

DSC_7028

That’s all the fabric I had left at the end of the piecing frenzy. And there is the anatomy of my process and Rooflines #15.

I will give it 48 hours to deem whether or not it is Art prize worthy. I never like a piece when it’s first finished. I do love the accomplishment , though, of conquering this piecing job!