Installing 'to be a child'

Hooray! to be a child is now installed at the Showcase Gallery (Northbridge, WA).

Here are the 24 quilts, all ready to go...

 

Phil and I spent an intense three hours getting them up this afternoon. I was as organised as possible, with a plan for where the quilts would go. (I drew up the walls to scale, and added to-scale images of the quilts). So I though it would be simple. But we still ended up spending quite some time rearranging - probably due to how the light fell on the quilts, and due to the colours of the quilts not showing up so well in my scale plan. My plan had also left the quilts a little squished so we had to sort that out too - I doubt I would have fit another quilt into this exhibition!

Here are a couple of teaser pictures... I'll share some proper photos after the opening.

And if you are planning to come to the opening, I look forward to seeing you there on Tuesday evening (between 5pm and 7pm)!

To the Third and Fourth Generation

Regeneration: Contemporary Quilted Textiles opens at Manly Art Gallery & Museum next week. Check out their eye-catching information page here. If the invitations I received in the mail are anything to go by, it should be an interesting and stimulating exhibition. I wish I could see it in person.

To the Third and Fourth Generation

(c) Ruth de Vos 2012
natural linen, cotton homespun, cotton batting, cotton thread
152cm high by 110cm wide
machine pieced, machine quilted, hand embroidered

Society is built on parents and grandparents teaching the children, who then teach their own children and so on through the generations. The nature of our society may be determined by how and what we are teaching our children. Are we teaching them well? Or can we be more proactive in the learning journey of our children in order to (re)build a healthy society?

Slow

It seems that there are various things conspiring to prevent me from blogging here as intended, lately. There has been a very little bit of sewing, but nothing to show you yet. There has been garage progress, but there's still a way to go. Everything is a little slow due to a dislocated rib (fixed on Friday, unfixed again this morning, hopefully fixed again this evening... I guess sometimes that's what it takes to force one to slow down. Never mind, I am thoroughly enjoying the cosiness of being inside on this first grey, rainy day for the year.

Also another little reminder that I am posting daily quilts onto my facebook page, leading up to my upcoming exhibition. All the quilts will also be added to my website and shop following the exhibition.

to be a child: quilt reveal on Facebook next week

Only a month till be my exhibition opens! (See this post for the details). Starting next Tuesday, I will be revealing the quilts on my Facebook page, one a day. 'Like' my page to catch the quilts in your Facebook news feed.

The same day that I wrote my past post, about being tired, I finished my latest quilt top. And I love how it looks. Nothing like a sewing success to inspire one to get going on more projects. I've been procrastinating about this next quilt for some time now. 

 

Its a quilt for friends who recently moved into a spiffy new home, and I didn't realise how nervous I would feel about making a quilt for a specific family and a specific room. It's hard to describe, but it's certainly different than making whatever quilt takes my fancy (even though I have free reign to make what I think is best for this quilt). Phil keeps telling me to trust my artistic judgement. I hope he's right. Meanwhile, here are some of the pieces set out on my design wall.

to be a child: contemporary quilted textiles by Ruth de Vos

to be a child 

contemporary quilted textiles by Ruth de Vos

26th April - 5 May 
at the Showcase Gallery, Central Institute of Technology,
cnr Aberdeen St and Beaufort St, Northbridge, Western Australia
Open Wed - Sat (11am - 4:45pm), closed Anzac Day
Ph: +618 9427 1318
www.gallerycentral.com.au

14 - 25 May 
at the Vancouver Arts Centre, 
85 Vancouver St, Albany, Western Australia
Open Mon - Fri (9am - 4pm), Sat (10am - 3pm)
Ph: +618 9841 9260
http://www.albany.wa.gov.au/website/page.php?folder=17l

Observing small children notice budding flowers, snail trails, ripening fruit, textured leaves, floating bubbles, dripping rain and pencil marks on paper for the first time is a wonderful reminder of just how special these ordinary things are. In an effort to retain some of that wide-eyed wonder herself and to share it with others, Ruth has stitched these vibrant textiles which incorporate traditional quiltmaking techniques in a contemporary way to powerfully record the learning experiences of little children.

Quilt!

QUILT! EXHIBITION

STANTHORPE REGIONAL ART GALLERY

6 OCTOBER TO 13 NOVEMBER 2011

QUILT! is an exhibition of contemporary art quilts by internationally respected Australian artists who over the years have all been selected for the esteemed American exhibition Quilt National. Their works incorporate new practices, but also refer to time-honoured quiltmaking traditions, extended and interpreted in a host of new ways. The result is a body of unique and striking works that incorporate a variety of concepts relevant to the life and time of each artist. The exhibition was curated by Barbara Macey and Glenys Mann. Read about the artists and their works on the exhibition blog: http://quiltaustralia.blogspot.com

I have three quilts in the exhibition, including "Weeyaww, weeyaww!". You can view the exhibition folder here. It's an exhibition I would love to see in real.

My quilts at the Australasian Quilt Convention 2011

Phil and I returned this afternoon from three wonderfully wintery days in Melbourne. We had a great break, and I'll share more highlights in another post, but for today, here are some images of my quilts in the Convention space, just to give you some idea...
Oops, that's not a quilt! That's one of two posters I had printed, incorporating photos of work-in-progress, just to give some idea of the process involved. As you may already have noticed, the Royal Exhibition Building is an awesome space for an even like this!
(Those are my quilts at the left of the image above, behind Dianne Firth's beautifully bold red and grey quilts (unfortunately I can't recall their titles right now, but they are part of 'Elements' by tACTile).
I was rather excited to find that the closest stall was my recurring favourite (Western Australian) quilt show stall The Thread Studio. (That's them at the end of my wall of quilts). I was also very happy with the setup I was given for displaying my quilts. The pin-up boards worked a treat, and we were very pleased to find spotlights installed when we returned the morning after setup. Thanks again, Judy, for this wonderful opportunity to share my work!

Priorities

A few posts back I mentioned that I had been thinking about priorities. This was prompted by the fact that there are many deadlines coming up for various exhibitions this year. There are quite a number that I would especially like to enter. But of course life is rather busy right now. After Phil, I have four other priorities that come before entering art exhibitions:
So I have had to get my head around the fact that I may not be able to make entries for these exhibitions this year. I have also decided that managing my daily routine to include those various daily activities mentioned a few posts ago, is more important than pushing myself to enter these exhibitions.

Meanwhile, I have three major quilts in various states of progress:
I will continue to work away at these, of course. And who knows, maybe I will still have entries completed for some of these shows by the time the deadlines approach.