A Painter's Perspective from an 'Ancient Artist' -- Sue Smith

When I first discovered the Ancient Artist blog by Sue Smith, I felt like I had discovered a gold mine or golden mind! And then when I read her trials and discoveries while growing her art I saw very little difference between the discussions we've had here focused on fabric and her exposition about oil and watercolor art. I admit that I'm not ready to be referred to as an 'Ancient Artist,' yet I like the connection to the past that 'ancient' denotes. Ancient also sounds wise, doesn't it? And Sue is definitely wise.  I could identify with much of what she had to say and by so doing felt less isolated and yes, a bit more hopeful that I still have time to find my creative gene.

Graciously, Sue Smith accepted an invitation to join us at Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles and share her art and her experiences. Maybe you will discover you're an 'ancient artist,' too. -- Dawn
Facts of Life (shown here) is part of the Mesa Series is 24"h x 12"w. This bird lives in the imaginary spaces, and he, too, is imaginary - a composite of several species of bird plus a bit of whimsey. The technique is similar to that used in another piece in the Mesa Series shown below: How the Light Gets In.

How the Light Gets In is oil on panel. I use a lot of texture in the Mesa Series paintings, starting with gesso spread thickly on the panels. As the paint dries I scrape into it with sandpaper, sharp scraping knives, whatever is within reach to create more texture. Then more paint, more scraping, until I get what I'm after. These are landscapes that evolve out of my imagination - they are places that have never been explored before, wide open to your own imagination as to what you might find there. This painting is 12"h by 30"w.

The idea behind this series is finding ways for us to reconnect to the sense of the landscape as a sacred, unexplored and unpopulated place where we make a journey that reveals to us a new awareness about ourselves - sort of a shamanistic influence, about going to a secret place and returning with newfound wisdom.

I consider myself a painter.

I am fascinated with words and the meaning behind them - what does "artist" mean? What does "painter" mean - if anything other than they describe what I do and are interchangeable. I once read a statement by a successful artist who said he was an "artist" because he brought something more pure to his work than "painters" who merely slap color on to a surface - but I don't call myself a "painter" just to be contrary or because I think I just slap paint on the surface without meaning.

I call myself a "painter" because of a book that I read, called The Painter From Shanghai, by Jennifer Cody Epstein. It's the life story of the very talented Chinese Postimpressionist painter Pan Yuliang who moved to Paris and "lived at the intersection of great art and tumultuous modern history...the story of a bold and improbable woman" who suffered greatly but refused to give up on her inner knowledge that her life's purpose was to be an artist. I identify with her - will never face the difficulties she did - but her story gives me courage to struggle on and not give up.

So, in my own way, I am a painter.

When I turned 50 I took the risk to really educate myself and went back to school. I earned an art degree from Oregon State University and graduated with the Distinguished Student - Department of Art Award at age 56. I come from a line of needle women, even made a few baby quilts and crewel-embroidery. But nothing hit me as hard as painting.

It wasn’t until I went to Italy for a painting workshop that I realized this was something I had to do. One minute I was the old me, and in the next instant I had passed through a doorway and wasn't looking back.

I'm now 61, and in the years since becoming a painter, I've accomplished goals I never imagined possible: some as simple as discovering my artistic voice, others in the form of professional recognition. When people ask me why I'm doing this, I try to explain it this way:

“All I really know are my own experiences, what I see and perceive, beauty that presents itself to me in a flash and disappears. But when I read a poem, or see a painting, or hear a melody filled with recognition of the familiar, I am knocked breathless with the awareness that I am not alone in my experience.

This is why I paint.”

In addition to the Mesa Series, I also paint traditional landscape. I alternate between the Imaginary spaces and the real spaces - each one informs the other in a way. Here is another landscape for comparison between the two main styles I use - titled Beneath Whychus Creek Bridge. 14 x 18, oil on canvas. (third photo)

I started out painting in watercolor, but soon discovered that oil fit my painting methods perfectly. There is luminosity in oil paint that visually I find compelling, plus it is forgiving and allows me to really work the paint surfaces if I need to. I love that.

Liz Massey who writes the Creative Liberty blog interviewed me awhile back. This is what she had to say:

“A contemporary landscape painter who also does work in abstracts and other areas, Sue always has something interesting to say about the creative process, and her insights as someone who became serious about her art later in life ... provides valuable perspective in a youth-obsessed culture.”

What I discovered after I graduated and experienced life after art school is how hard it is for people at mid-life to get the culture to acknowledge them as having something important to say. There are so many people who turn to artistic expression as a second or third career, but they feel marginalized; yet research proves that older artists have advantages over their younger peers and can still produce strong work well into their 70’s.

I started writing Ancient Artist because I wanted to share what I was learning with other emerging older artists and provide one source of encouragement and support to people working in isolation. It’s so important to stay positive and determined, to realize you can succeed.

The truth is Ancient Artist has probably been the main driver that has kept me moving forward despite the setbacks and disappointments that occur every day in this business.

I think it’s helpful to take a moment and look back to see just how far any of us has come. In this first image, I'm petrified and have boxed myself into a corner, the wall at my back. A defensive stand for sure. It was my first Art Opening in a mainstream Contemporary Art Gallery. Shelly Hall Gallery. This was 2 years ago and sadly Shelly Hall Gallery closed in 2008 due to the economic downturn.

In this second image I am at my most recent Art Opening at High Desert Gallery of Central Oregon. I was too busy talking to people to worry about being nervous (I'm the one in the white jacket). As a certified, life-long introvert, I can tell you this is a major personal growth milestone – and proof that we are getting closer to our goals every day, even if we don't realize it.

Bio: Sue Favinger Smith began her award-winning career at the age of 50, earning an art degree from Oregon State University and graduating with the Distinguished Student - Department of Art Award at age 56. Since traduating from Oregon State University, she has focused on oil painting, exploring the techniques and color used by painters who inspire her. She is best known for her poured oil Elements Series, the semi-abstract Mesa Series, and representational landscapes...but she has recently added still life and the figurative Ancestor Series to her painting oeuvre.

Residing in Central Oregon, Sue has participated in national and regional exhibitions, solo and three-person shows, and is a juried member in Oil Painters of America, an associate member in Women Artists of the West, and a juried member in the prestigious National Association of Women Artists. Her work is in private collections across the country. Sue maintains not only her popular Ancient Artist blog, but also websites Sue Smith Fine Arts and Sue Smith.

Eye Candy on the Internet

What an innovative idea.  Cath Kidston, a stitcher, fabric designer, etc. etc. etc. kind of like the Karen Neuberg of the United Kingdom has put together a new book of simple projects. What makes this unique and excites me is her inclusion of  a length of a unique fabric specially printed for the book. She adds handles, a label and button -- materials to use to make the bag pictured on the front of her book. What an excellent promotion idea. I'm not sure the book is available in the U.S. But I'm more excited about including fabric and notions with a book so someone purchasing the book can make the project!

November 10th is the 234th Anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps and it is also the last day of the Smackdown to raise funds for Alzheimer's Quilt Initiative. The only connection is the date, that I know of. Well, perhaps they both deliver a 'smackdown.'

But I like to add a bit of trivia and factoids to the site. The marine's first battle was of course against the British during the American Revolution and at that time -- get this -- there were 234 marines! For more interesting Marine trivia, check out my Suite 101 article.

OK, back to the Smackdown. Four of the top quilt artists have pitted their creations against each other to see who can raise the most money for this charity, the brain child of Ami Simms. Who do you think will come out the big winner -- other than the charity? Here's one of the entrants -- Hollis Chatelain's Fading

Also on the Internet fascinating artists and their art jumped out and me. I just have to show you what I found.

With permission from a few of those artists, I'm compiling a little sampling of what I've found so far this week. And, it is only Tuesday!

Let me start out with fun art by Peter Anton, pictured here with a few of his sculptures.

Peter explains his art this way:

Artist Statement and Philosophy:  In my sculptures I like to alter and overstate foods to give them new meanings. I have an innate reverence for the things we eat. Food brings people together and there is no better way to celebrate life. Through the use of humor, scale, irony, and intensity in my forms, the foods we take for granted become aesthetically pleasing and seductive in atypical ways. I like to create art that can lure, charm, tease, disarm and surprise. My sculptures put viewers in a vulnerable state so that I can communicate with their inner selves in a more honest and direct way. I activate the hunger people have for the things that give them pleasure and force them to surrender. The sensual nature of the works stimulates basic human needs and desires that generate cravings and passion.

A comment on his work comes from an essay by Gerhard Charles Rump, art critic:

His works aren't meant to be modern moral subjects. Which means, again, that they are about seduction, showing us, how easy it is to seduce us, because, given the right enticement, we follow the call so willingly. But some of Anton's works show signs of consumption: Of ice creams, for instance, bits have been bitten off. This is a sign of human presence, the human consumer taking the part of the Old Masters' snails. And it also shows that eating candy is an all too short, a fleeting moment of joy Peter Anton tries to capture and hold for eternity. And that has always been a function of art, too.

On Peter's site he also takes visitors on a tour of his studio -- ohhhh my. Not only does the candy sculptures whet my appetite, but I'm drooling over that studio! (see a photo above of Peter Anton in his studio with what will become a chocolate covered cherry!)

You may have noticed that I have a weakness for crazy quilts. I'm actually working on a Christmas wall hanging featuring crazy quilts and one of my prized possessions that was made by my grandmother's mother is a life history crazy quilt. But neither of these efforts can compare to Sharon b's work!

A visit to Stitchin Fingers, and I found Sharon b. She is a most generous quilt artist and master embroiderer (is that the right moniker?) -- whatever it is called, she's fabulous! On her Pintangle (love that name) blog, she shares videos and how-tos and has amassed a great deal of helpful information.

Here Sharon b has taken crazy quilt to a new combination of traditional pattern and crazy piecing. She has based this quilt on diamond shaped crazy quilt blocks. And well, it is absolutely stunning!

Don't believe me, look at the detail photo here!
There are more photos on her website, too. She also teaches and one of these days she says she will guest blog here for us. I can't wait!!!

Don't forget that there are absolutely gorgeous and innovative crazy quilts at the Alliance for Art Quilts site yet this week. The sale is on! Don't miss it! I have a link to it in the right column -- see Pamela Allen's donation.

Also while at Stitchin Fingers, I found Kay Scheidt. Her work is diverse and beautifully made. Her choice of colors seems inspired and her meticulous stitching and attention to detail really sets her work apart. She has a fun and honest blog with the cool name "out of the basement" which showcases some of her work and many of her interests, travels and loves. She explains the name of her blog -- "because that's where my work and my blog originates. It's a bit of a joke in the family how much time I'm down there." Time well spent!


Pictured here is her Treehugger quilt to the left and her Not Quite Dream Time quilt to the right. I just love her choice of colors!







If you're looking for a small but memorable gift for a fellow stitcher or a soon to be stitcher such as a granddaughter perhaps, this Tea Flower Pincushion is just the item. The directions are easy to follow and available (free) at The Object Project. This was brought to my attention by BellaOnline.

One suggestion I would add is to stuff the 'cushion' with wool batting or wool fabric scraps cut into tiny pieces. Wool is so much easier to stick a pin into than the usual stuffing materials and can even clean and sharpen the pins and needles a bit. Of course you could use sand, as in an emery bag, but there's the spill and leak factor that I would want to avoid. This project may be the closest I have come to successful origami.

And on a final note, a bit of quilting humor can be found here by T. McCracken.

Flowers for a Cure: Linda Cooper

Linda Cooper continues to use her art for good and as you can see from this guest blog, she puts her imagination, varied techniques and all around best efforts into each quilt. Her Flowers for a Cure certainly reflects her talent and eye for beauty. It's so good to have Linda back as a guest blogger. Check out her Kinetic quilts guest blog, too -- Dawn

My art quilt teacher, Cyndi Souder  returned from the Houston Quilt show in 08 armed with a challenge for her students and a large box full of bridal gown fabrics. She had talked at the show with LaNelle Heron, a representative of the Making Memories Foundation which raises money for breast cancer patients by selling donated wedding dresses.

They were interested in having quilts made from pieces of the gowns no longer wearable. Karey Bresenhan, Director of the International Quilt Festival, (Quilts ) had offered display space for some of the quilts to be hung in the 09 show.

The quilts could be made of the recycled fabrics or any wedding-dress type fabric. I added to those materials by raiding the remnant bins and tables for more white fabric: satins, sheers, metallics, silks and polys. I decided to experiment with Setacolor and painted selections of all the remnants. They painted beautifully! (see photo) I used a technique I learned from Phil Beaver.

My initial design was going to be a stained glass window from Messiah UMC Church in Springfield, VA, (shown here) with an adjacent vase of flowers. I wanted the window in perspective.

The problem when I enlarged my initial drawing was that when I observed the drawing from the one side, it looked correct, but from the other side, the perspective was all wonky. Ironically, the Washington Post ran an article that week about Master's Paintings with the same problem.

Those paintings only looked correct if the viewer was at the observation post of the painter. My solution was to add a second window on the other side, making a bay window.

I transferred my window patterns onto muslin and used that foundation to stablize the slippery fabrics. The window mullions are made from purchased gold bias binding which I fused in place. I used a narrow zigzag stitch to attach pieces to the muslin to prevent the fabrics from slipping out or ravelling. Often I glue-basted the edges to keep them in place for sewing. I replaced the window inserts with the breast cancer pink ribbons.

To make the background of the center window, I fastened a large piece of fabric to wooden canvas stretchers and I painted that in an ombre style. I mixed a small amount of teal paint with water and after each stroke across the fabric, I added another tablespoon of water, giving me the paint dilution.

I used images for flowers either grown by my son and daughter-in-law (Matt and Jennifer's photos shown here) or from copyright-free images I found on the net. I enlarged the color images, printed them, and laid a piece of vinyl over them to trace with a large marker. Then, using a light box, I laid sateen fabric (which I stablilized with freezer paper) over the vinyl and transferred the outline. I painted the flowers with Tsukineko Inks and Fabrico Markers. (photo of flowers and vase before quilting)

Then I finally appliqued them by machine using variegated threads and my own raw-edge Broderie Perse method.

I had to eliminate my initial vase (which I loved) because it didn't look strong enough not to tip in the real world. My friend, shop owner Judy Gula (www.ArtisticArtifacts.com), is always encouraging me to bead and the flowers looked much better when I followed her advice.

I was happy to donate this quilt to Making Memories. I've known so many people whose lives have been affected by breast cancer. The windows are a memorial to them and the flowers are a tribute to the researchers and health-care givers who are working hard to fight the disease.

The size of Flowers for the Cure is 63x 45 inches. (Photo: Close up of beaded flowers)

BIO:  Linda's family has endured her quilting obsession for the past 20 years. Linda loves all aspects of the quilt world but has gravitated to art quilting in the past few years. She teaches fabric painting, raw-edge appliqué, and other classes at Artistic Artifacts Annex in Alexandria, VA. She is also available for lectures, workshops and commission work.

Her Flowers for a Cure was in the IAQ 2009 Quilt Festival's special exhibit: Making Memories. Her Fading Memories quilt with hand painted background is currently on tour with Ami Simm's Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative traveling exhibit. See more of Linda's work in her Subversive Stitchers guest blog featuring her kinetic quilts.

Making Faces: Ginny Greaves discusses fabric choices

I'm a sucker for a furry face and this fabric portrait by Ginny Greaves of her mother's faithful companion brought tears to my eyes. Yes, she chose the right title for this creation : Unconditional.

Ginny's  work is all about love, just like this little guy. Love of fabric, love of creating and love of her subject are just a few samples of her dedication to her art. Please welcome Virginia 'Ginny' Greaves to Subversive Stitchers. She has some important techniques to share about fabric choices. -- Dawn

When I was a little girl, I used to make faces behind my mother’s back. If I didn’t like what she had been telling me, I would stick out my tongue and scrunch up my mouth and eyes and throw a nasty look at her back. But one day she caught my reflection in the china cabinet – and I never made faces at her again!

My mom is an impressionist painter, and throughout my childhood, I watched her make oil landscapes. She would make large canvases from scratch that filled the entire studio because she couldn’t buy the size she needed. If she didn’t know how to do something, she worked until she found a way.

Mom was a great influence on me and I owe her a lot, but when my children were young and I was looking for an outlet of expression, I couldn’t paint. It felt too much like my mom’s work. Luckily, I was given a sewing machine at that time and I fell in love with fabric. I realized that I had found my medium.

Thankfully I inherited Mom’s eye for color and her problem solving ability. Now I spend my days making faces and working out problems – all of it in fabric.

I don’t really remember what led me to make my first quilt from a photograph – but an old photograph of the dalmatians from my childhood surfaced in an antique secretary, so I gathered my fabrics and started.

Dalmatian Downs
(See photo)

It is always easier to look at value in black and white, and starting with black and white dogs gave me a gift I didn’t understand for some time. The understanding of value and then color are the basics of creating realism in any media – and it is as achievable in fabric as it is in any other media. We typically envision paintings when we think of illustrative work, but I’ve seen portraits made from trash artfully poised and photographed aerially from a crane. Anything that you can dream you can achieve.

There are many ways to construct the face, but over many mistakes, I have found that the hardest part isn’t the construction or even developing the initial pattern – it is choosing the right fabrics. Not only do you have to have value change between fabrics, but they have to be good jumps. Subtlety isn’t good enough. The good news is that you can remove many of your worries about pattern. I have used hand-dyed fabric, but it really isn’t necessary. You do have to look at fabric differently however.

Faces in Cloth IV

I’d like to say that I magically pick the right fabrics but the truth of the matter is that I use my camera. I line up the fabrics in value order that I think will work and look at them in black and white, either on my camera or on my computer. There are always fabrics that don’t work that I think should. Sometimes a subtle pattern like a batik will throw a fabric from one value into another. I used to trust my eyes and make adjustments when the piece was all fused together – but as much as I love the cutting and fusing, I don’t do anything now until I have the fabrics right – and I know if I have them right or not by looking at the value of the fabrics in black and white.

Interestingly, just like the pattern in the batik that shifted the value unexpectedly, I’ve found that some types of pattern can shift value in the direction I’m looking for. A black or blue pattern on top of the color I need can give the illusion of a value change.

I’ve also learned to look in unexpected places. I have bins where I store fabric by color, but I’ve learned to look beyond how I’ve organized – and if I need a particular color, to look in the complementary color bins for possible matches. Although a fabric may come home from the store as one color, it can look different when placed against other colors.

Chameleon 

This is best explained by my quilt Chameleon – which is essentially a color study. It is one simple profile shot with four values reproduced in six primary colors. These profiles are then mixed with each other so that the mixed profiles have two values of light from one color and two values of dark from another color. For the most part, the same fabrics used in the primary profiles could be repeated for the lightest and the darkest values of the mixed profiles, but the two middle values required adjustment and better understanding of how the values changed with the introduction of new fabrics.

But color matters some, right? My early portraits are monochromatic, but lately I’ve been making more realistic color choices.

Chameleon taught me that color is less important than value, but my latest series of faces has taught me that understanding of value within color families can contribute significantly to realistic portrayal.

The trick is to step back from your work and evaluate its impact before you invest too much time in it. It is easy to fix mistakes in the planning stages and much more complicated during construction. We work so close to our work – sometimes we need to step out onto the crane to see it properly (or use a reducing glass or even the computer).
Photo: Adelpho, a portrait of another Ginny.

BIO

Virginia a.k.a. Ginny lives with her husband and two children in Atlanta, GA. She is most often working in her studio but can be found occasionally roaming fabric stores. She is easily distracted by shiny objects, refuses to listen to the naysayers of fusibles, and sometimes runs with scissors. Her work can be seen on her website  and her in progress adventures are documented on her blog.

And here's Ginny's self-portrait monochromatic in purple.

Kay Mackenzie: Armed with Needles Stitches Up Applique and a Business

Kay Mackenzie's quirky quilt, Shopping Bags, size 40-inch x 40-inch, caught my eye when I was checking out quilts at the Blogger Quilt Show. I was glad when Kay agreed to share her work and a bit of herself with all of us.

Her quilts and designs look like they flow from a happy, lets-have-fun spirit. Kay also demonstrates another aspect of quilting/fabric as a business selling her books, designs and sewing products via her online site. She also introduced me to Martingale and Company publishing through her book. And her innovative applique method makes my fingers itch to give it a try. Please Welcome Kay Mackenzie. -- Dawn

Kay in her own words --

I was so pleased when Dawn extended the invitation to be a guest on the blog. I can't claim to be very subversive, though I do admire the spirit. However, I am definitely armed with needles!

There are three main needles in my life.

Size 10 milliner/straw needles (same thing), Size 7 cotton darners, and sharp-tipped sewing machine needles, size 70/10 (shown above).

My nature as a quilter is as an appliquér. 

The straw needles are long and skinny. I can get a good grip on them and they glide through fabric easily without resistance. I use 10s instead of 11s because I bend the 11s like the wind! The 10s last until the finish wears off. Here's a quilt I made when I used to use the freezer-paper-on-top method.

(Photo) Sixteen Baskets by Kay Mackenzie, 38 x 38. This is the cover quilt for my book Baskets to Applique .

Now I've become a convert to the back-basting method, where no templates are required. The large cotton darners are perfect for the basting step when you want a thick needle. Here's a quilt that I made using back-basting hand applique.

 

(Photo) Blooms in Red and Yellow by Kay Mackenzie, 32 x 32.

This is a sampler of some of the flower blocks in my recent book from That Patchwork Place Martingale and Company publishing, Easy Blocks: 50 Designs in 5 Sizes. I'm so excited about this book because it comes with &;CD that enables you to print any of the 50 blocks at home, in five different sizes, or in reverse when you need a flipped pattern. Such a convenience!

When I became a professional I learned to machine appliqué so that I could get additional samples done more quickly. The Microtex needles (or other similar needles) are just right for raw-edge fusible machine appliqué with the blanket stitch on my Bernina. I also use them for machine quilting, another thing I had to learn along the way. Here's one of my machine-appliquéd quilts.

Delicious Tea by Kay Mackenzie, 24 x 10.

The apple teapot design is from my Teapots 2 to Applique.


Okay now I'll show you the closest I've come, in my estimation, to making an art quilt.

Free Flowers by Kay Mackenzie, 27 x 21.

This was a personal challenge that I issued to myself, to use no templates and to finish no edges. I pre-fused the fabrics and free-hand scissor-cut all the shapes, placing them improvisationally as I went. I kept going until I felt it was packed enough, then fused everything down. I quilted close to the edges of all the motifs. I love this one! It's so not me!

My company is By Kay Mackenzie. All of my books and patterns are available there. I also offer a few notions for appliquérs, and a back-basting intro kit that has everything you need to become acquainted with this very cool method. I write a blog called&;All About Appliqué, which is how Dawn contacted me. It's devoted to appliqué - any kind! There's lots of great information there. If you click on the category "Back Basting" it'll bring up a photo tutorial.

I grew up in North Carolina, went to school in Colorado, then lived in Los Angeles for a number of years. During all that time I had not one stitch of quilting heritage. I started in a beginning quilting class about 17 years ago after I got married and we were living in central Ohio. When I told my instructor that I enjoyed the Dresden Plate the most out of all the blocks in the sampler, she told me, “You just might be an appliqué person.” I still wonder whether that observation shaped my destiny, because it turned out to be so true!

From that class on I was gripped with the quilt pox. For a long time I made quilts from patterns or pictures. Then I began to branch out, modifying designs in some way. We moved to Santa Cruz, California, and I got my own computer. When I learned some skills in illustrating, I finally broke through to creating original appliqué designs of my own. I can’t draw at all with my hands, but the computer gave me the tool I needed. I was taking some classes in digital media at my local community college, and just loved the information on typography and page layout that was presented in addition to learning the drawing programs.

And so it happened that a peculiar combinations of interests in my strange brain led me to become a publisher of books for quilters… quilting, computer illustration, writing, editing, typography, and page layout all combined!  My company By Kay Mackenzie has six titles in print now. 


My most famous books are Baskets to Appliqué and Teapots 2 to Appliqué.;

I fill every position in my company I’m the quilt designer, quiltmaker, writer, illustrator, book designer, and publisher. I’m accounts receivable, accounts payable, marketing manager, and the fulfillment department. (I’ve become an experienced bubble wrap wrangler.) I love it all.

I never thought I’d say this, but I’m also the webmistress. It’s amazing what you can learn when you’re interested and you roll  up your sleeves. While you’re admiring my ‘coding skills’ over at By Kay Makenzie be sure to check out my Giveaway For Kids.

Thanks so much for the opportunity to show you what I do when armed with needles!

Emotions in Fabric by Nina Lise Moen of Stavanger, Norway

Mrs. Moen's art quilt Hot and Cold in the Blogger's Quilt Show touched me while telling me things I never knew. I can't get it out of my mind. Her choices when translating her story into fabric -- so perfect. The symbolism subtle but again, so meaningful and poignant. I have of course heard detailed accounts of anorexia, but Mrs. Moen's depiction of it seemed to finally get through to me what exactly this disease does. How it not only melts away the body's reserves, it eats away, leaving holes in the fabric of a life. I don't know if that is what she had in mind. But that's what I took away. The choice of background color further re-enforces emotions. I will forever see that quilt whenever anyone mentions the disease. Mrs. Moen's ability to turn complex issues and emotional topics into exquisitely simple clean designs intrigues me. Her Class Picture quilt also makes quick work of deep seated emotions with a playful style.

I'm so pleased to introduce you to Mrs. Nina Lise Moen.


Welcome to Subversive Stitchers! -- Dawn

My name is Nina Lise Moen. I’m 47 years old, and live in Stavanger, Norway where I share my life with my husband, our grown up daughter and our 2½ year old grandson.

I come from a long line of creative and highly skilled needle workers and seamstresses as both my mother and grandmothers have been avid crafters. I have been knitting, crocheting and embroidering for as long as I can remember, and have made my own designs and knitting patterns since I was a teenager. Now I am a textile artist, designing Mrs, Moen quilting patterns  and teaching workshops.

With a background previously in finance and the corporate world, this 11 year long journey into the textile arts has taken my life into a quite different direction.

Quilting in Norway

We have a long crafting tradition in Norway like embroidery of bunads (our national dress, of which I have made a Rogalandsbunad), Rosemaling, Hardanger embroidery, Lusekofte knitting, and traditional akel weaving.
When it comes to patchwork and quilting, we are highly influenced by the American quilting industry, and to some extent the German and Japanese. Even though our patchwork history has been well documented, it was not something everybody’s grandmother did.

We don’t have Norwegian quilting fabric, but there are interior fabrics with Norwegian design, some of them suitable for quilting. Even though we mainly use American fabrics, the choice of colours and colour combinations are often different. We have quite a few Norwegian quilting books authors and pattern designers, some of them with their own distinct style, others more influenced by American design. As we use duvets for bedding, we use our larger quilts for bedspreads. Smaller projects like table runners, pillows and bag are highly popular.

Guilds are a large part of quilting life all over the world and also in Norway, with traditional quilt guilds and Husflidslag. I am so lucky to be part of two; the regional guild, in which I serve my 4th year on the board, and 1st year as the leader, and a small informal group.

My work

At some point quilting evolved from being something I do, into a part of who I am. While I still do other kinds of fibre art, my main medium is quilts. I don’t work in any particular style, but enjoy making different kinds of quilts.

Always up for a challenge, I do a lot of experimenting with design and materials. I get an idea, and then figure out how to translate it into fibre. The design evolves as the work progresses, and I enjoy this process even more than the finished project. Often working in series, the focus might change with the ups and downs of my life, but the final product is always a reflection of me.

I love turning scraps of fabric into fun, small quilts, of which “But I have nothing to wear” and “Dance in the rain” are two favourites (pictured here.)

I also work with quilting as art therapy.

These are rather personal stories. One of them is “Hot and Cold; 7 and 1/2 years," which I entered into the Blogger’s Quilt Festival this fall. It was made for the European Quilt Association’s Suitcase exhibition. (See first photo above) “Hot and Cold..." tells the story of being a mom during a daughter’s illness.

Part of artist’s statement: “7 1/2 years ago, at the age of 11, my precious daughter got anorexia. She hit rock bottom two years later, when she did not even have enough energy to keep up her body temperature, and spent most of her time in a chair, wrapped up in one of her favourite quilts

At the age of 19, still struggling on and off, she is a brave, smart, strong and independent young woman - a truly genuine person - on her way out in the world. I’m so proud of her!”

It was quite a challenge getting each figure just the right size and in the right position, so that they seem to walk and drag the most fragile ones over the surface and into the future. You can read more about the quilt here.

“Class picture” is another favourite of mine. It started out as a hand appliqué project, and grew from there.

Artist’s statement: “A class is very much like a quilt; bits and pieces making up a whole. When you look closer, you’ll see the differences in backgrounds, styles and personalities; and who’s not fitting in.

You’ll find me in the back, by the window with the other oddballs; bright and shining.”

The quilt was a part of the exhibition at Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England in 2007. You can read more about the quilt here.

Currently -- I’m taking my first art class learning to paint with acrylics. It is so much fun with just the right amount of theory and lots of playing with colours and textures.

-- I'm working on finishing UFOs and find a lot of inspiration in old projects and taking them into another direction.

-- I’m falling into a much slower pace with hand quilting using pearl cotton. My last finished quilt is “If I lay here”, which is a whole cloth quilt painted with fabric paints and quilted with pearl cotton.

-- I’m working on woollen projects like this bag (photo and detail photo) made from a knitted and matted self made material with appliquéd and embroidered circles.

-- I’m finishing my Christmas patterns and preparing for a workshop I will teach in November.

If you would like to know more about me and my work, visit me at MrsMoen

Question of the Day: What do you like to read in fiction?

I have a confession to make. Most of you know I'm first of all a writer and a wanna be or utilitarian seamstress.

My specialty is nonfiction. Personal essays published in a variety of anthologies from Knit Lit to Cup of Comfort and some between. Also magazine articles including Quilters World, Ohio Magazine, Birds and Blooms, Notre Dame Magazine, etc. And several years worth of feature articles for various newspapers where I served as reporter, editor, columnist, etc. And then the years as freelance writer for Christian Science Monitor and The Washington Post, etc.

 Along the way I have 'secretly' delved into fiction, winning an award for The Vigil and publishing a few short stories. If you check out The Vigil, you'll see it is listed as nonfiction -- maybe creative nonfiction since its based upon a personal experience, but I consider it fiction.

Always in the back of my mind is the goal of publishing a novel.

Well, I haven't reached the 'published' goal, yet for a novel. But on my way to that end, I started this blog named for the working title of the series I'm writing -- Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles. This is a project that has been fermenting for quite some time.

So my question is -- what would you like to see in a novel with such a title? Or what you're tired of seeing and hope no one ever writes about again!

I keep switching characters and plots and can't seem to figure out where this is going. But next month, November is NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) and I plan to devote it to Subversive Stitchers.

Please don't hesitate to wade in with what you wish you could see in a book that has stitchers, fabric artists, quilts, and needles in it!

Thanks so much. Obviously I am going to need alot of nudging and prodding to get this project finished. I hope you'll keep me on track.