Finally some sun in Texas!

This is one of Kacy’s ( my daughter) paintings. Vote for Kacy (Asvoria’s) band, Death is not a joy ride.

She is at UT in Austin as a art major, has a 4.0 and works part time as a floral designer.

Her band is trying to get s slot to play at Austin City Limits, a big music festival.

 You can vote ONCE PER DAY PER EMAIL ADDRESS by clicking the link below

http://acl.mp3.com/feature/soundandjury/?band=DEATH-IS-NOT-A-JOYRIDE

and also  if you are still game,

go to http://krox.com/discdrive/index.aspx and request Acacia by Death is Not  Joy Ride

I have been thinking about this for some time. Does my artistic voice match my inner voice?

In 1999 when I had my first solo show at the Wheelwright Museum, Phil Jones asked me what I thought, seeing all my work hanging together. At the time I think I had an inane answer but thought it was such a good question I have asked it to myself every time more than one of my pieces hang together in a show. When I look at my work, I realize I am a much more positive and optimistic person than I think I am, when I explore my darker sadder side in my head.

I am angry about a lot of society’s problems especially the way women are treated and discounted in many ways. But my work, especially the works in the Womenagerie Series and the Quilted Goddesses series which address women’s issues, doesn’t seek to attack society but to empower women, to show the inherent beauty that is inside all of us. My series, “Handy Woman” explores women’s roles. This work is a
tongue in cheek look at the everyday lives of women. Again the work comes off a lot like I do in person, laugh at the bad and the ugly because that takes away its power over me.I have a slightly wicked sense of humor that acts as an escape valve to let off the steam. My kids call me on it all the time 
But none of my work explores the really angry side. 

 In some ways my art is an attempt to deal with the anger about the brutality of the real world, to create something beautiful or funny to counteract the ugly meaness that surrounds us at times. I know now that my earlier works about nature are the same, my attempt to center myself and find the beauty in life.

When I  got to the opening and saw ”Saints and Sinners and Wisecracking Women” hanging at the Brazosport Art and Science Center, once again I got to see an overview of my work. My life has had some real low points in the last few years but surprisingly my work is even lighter and more humorous than before. It was great to see that I am still resilient and optimistic about life.  

“Saints, Sinners and Wise-Cracking Women”  Juror’s Statement by Kim Ritter 

The dolls in “Saints, Sinners and Wise-Cracking Women” illustrate the vibrancy and range of the art doll form.  The theme seems to have evoked some pretty funny takes on life. The most successful dolls carry on a conversation with the viewer and tell a story.

“The Sin” by Neva Waldt is a wry comment on the concept of sin and the dolls are made with loving detail that the viewer can’t help but feel they know these two women personally. Her “Bernice and the Nude Model” is another funny look at human condition. While the doll is not moving, a whole scene plays out in the viewer’s mind at first glance. We can almost hear her gasp.

“Hypocrisy” by Marsha Krohn is another doll pushing the envelope by using the doll as social commentary. Her doll “Some Gourd Advice” is hilarious.

Janet Bodin makes a real statement with her funny and telling “Old Bag and Saucy Baggage”. Bodin has created a real sense of persona with “Harijuku Girl: Take a Picture-It’ll Last Longer”.

Pepper Hume makes use of a bell as an ingenious hanging device to give her figure movement and rhythm while evoking the image of poor “Quasimodo”.

Donna Sims “Greed” is a whimsical imp complete with an abundance of wonderful details of like money and chocolate bars. He makes me smile.

Another funny doll full of individuality is “Dahling” by Marlene Slobin. Joyce Patterson’s “A Wine Princess” is funny but sad while Betty Ruble’s “Saint and Sinner” exhibits a sense of ironic humor. Angela Jareki’s “Abundance” is a different take on the concept of plenty.

Camille Pratt’s dolls, such as “Garden at Midnight” exude stately beauty. Rosie Rojas’ “Remembrance” and Bodin’s “

Solar Power …hot off the frame

I was named “Featured Artist”  on a special project with the Texas Childrens Cancer Center and the Periwinkle Foundation. I will be creating a Spirit Horse quilt for “Making a Mark” their annual art exhibition of children impacted by cancer.  Children at the center have collaborated on the quilt by creating stamped and stenciled fabric for the quilt.

The 6 mornings I spent at Texas Childrens Cancer Center  were eye openers. I had not realized what a warm and supportive environment I would be working in. The volunteers were all top notch. Carol Herron, the director of the Arts in Medicine program at the center, brings a real sense of purpose and excitement to the projects she has planned for the center. The center seems to run like a huge family, everyone seems to know everyone and be happy in their work.

The parents and children are very special. Many of these families spend long hours over long periods in the center having transfusions and chemotherapy. It is an honor to work with them

Yesterday I hung 24 quilts at the Brazosport Arts and Sciences Center and I was the juror for the Texas Original Art Doll Association which is also exhibiting in the same space. The opening is Sat July 14 from 7-9. I will be presenting the awards for the doll show that night.  “Saints and Sinners and Wise-cracking Women” is a fun show with lots of humor.

The last two nights I have been scribbling away…

I like to use smooth laser paper in a very bright white. Usually I use a sharpie but these were scratched out with a Bic. I keep all of these drawings in a tub I have dubbed “The Well”
Later I will draw from the well and some of these drawings will inspire quilts in the future.
Back to binding!

Born in 1956 and raised mid-century modern, I had a head start on creativity. I always had the big box of 64 Crayons, huge pads of paper and parents who valued creativity and a sense of humor.

My parents were childhood sweethearts in a small town called Sapulpa Oklahoma 

Daddy was an IBM exec who broke out of his dark suits and white shirts on the weekends to don Ricky Ricardo shirts, jump in his latest sports car, play a few rounds of golf and wield his latest camera in the search of some artistic outlet in his corporate life. 

Mother dabbled in numerology, painted, longed for clothes straight from Vogue and made them all herself. My favorite creation was a pink mini-dress with marabou feathers sewn to the bottom to make a tiny skirt.  She was kooky and had us watch for UFO’s every nice evening in the summer in Oklahoma. We’d sit on the patio and watch while waiting for Daddy to come home from IBM.

We lived in a modern house in Bartlesville, Oklahoma with flip down appliances and all aqua and red furnishings.  

I am originally from Oklahoma and most of my family has some Native American roots. I had a great grandfather who was a sheriff in Indian Territory and another who was a Pony Express rider.  

My maternal grandfather owned a pool hall (which my grandmother MiMi insisted was a “billiards parlor”) and later became country tax assessor. MiMi was the first woman in the chamber of commerce in her town; she owned a baby shop from the time my mother was little, that grew to children’s clothing as my mother grew up. She still had the Nancy Kay Shoppe when I was a kid so I was spoiled for clothes. She and her sister (who was a professional seamstress) made quilts. I have one they made.  

On the other side of the family I had a grandma who was a baby in the back of one of the wagons racing for land in the Oklahoma Land Run. They didn’t get any. My dad was the first one on the family to go to college. His dad went thru 3rd grade and went to work in the oil fields; his mom went all the way to 8th grade.

This grandmother, Nanny, spoiled me and taught me knitting, rug hooking, sewing, crochet and hand embroidery.   

We were moved often over the years as I grew up and I was constantly being exposed to different types of people and absorbing new ideas. It was fertile ground for a young person searching for a voice. My brother is the poet Brent Hendricks. 

I attended Emory University at 17, met my future husband at 18 and became a teacher after graduation. When I was 24 years old, we married and moved to New Orleans where I got my Masters degree at UNO and worked as a high school teacher in the public school system. We had a daughter five years later and a son in 1987. I

n 1992, we moved to London, where I completed my City and Guilds in Patchwork and Quilting and in Design and built a collection of antique quilts and cross-stitch samplers. 

In 1993, we moved to Copenhagen where I wrote my book Quick Quilting. I entered and won prizes at my first quilt competitions, the National Patchwork Championships in the UK and the American Quilt Society show in Paducah, Kentucky.

In 1995, we returned to the US to Connecticut and in 1996 we landed in Houston, the home of the International Quilt Festival.

Since my return to the states, I have concentrated all my energy in the studio and in getting my work out to the public.

I also help promote the art of the quilt with my volunteer work for the International Quilt Association and Studio Art Quilt Associates and through my work as Co-Director of the national touring exhibition Fine Focus.  I live in Houston with my husband, my 4 cats and my 2 dogs. My two kids are off at college.  

I am currently working on a project with the Texas Childrens Cancer Center and am planning to make an art car.                                

It’s Binding! And not my favorite part of the quilt making process!

I have a PILE of quilts to bind and sleeve for my show that hangs next Monday at Brazosport Art Center. This is one of those chores I always put off until last moment. Most of the quilts already have the first part of the binding already machine sewn in place.

I have worked really hard to get a lot of new work for the show which has about 130 linear feet of walls for me to fill.

At least the weather is cooperating. It is rainy and grungy and just the type of day to snuggle up to a good movie or dvd and do the hand work. Usually it is too light in here from the glare off the lake to see a tv.