Friday, December 12, 2014

Message from the Co-Rep

There will be no Central Oregon meeting in December. We meet again in January to share thought, concepts, and work in progress for the "Blending Poetry and Cloth" exhibit. We'll also share our artistic goals for the New Year - 2015. The time and place for the meeting as well as additional content will be announced right after the first of the year.

BLENDING POETRY AND CLOTH

I'm pleased to announce that we have secured a third venue for Poetry and Cloth. The Rogue Gallery in Medford will display the exhibit from June 3rd - July 29th, 2016. In this same time period a national SAQA show will be on display at Grants Pass Museum of Art which is only 36 miles from Medford.

For new members - look for a statewide SAQA email next week in which I'll go over the call-to-entry for "Blending Poetry and Cloth." We hope that you will be inspired to participate and hopefully have your work on display throughout the state of Oregon.

Wishing you much joy 
in the holiday season,
Leotie Richards
Co-Rep SAQA Oregon

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

"What's Blue to You?" and "Portland Bridges" on Display at PDX

 
Several SAQA Oregon members have work in High Fiber Diet's exhibit "What's Blue to You?" which is now on display at the Portland Airport in Concourse B.  It's behind security, so you have to be a traveler in order to see the show.  The exhibit will be up through the end of May, 2015, so if you are traveling, be sure to set aside a few extra minutes to see the 17 quilts interpreting the word "blue".


 
In the same concourse, across the hallway, is an exhibit by Portland's Westside Modern Quilt Guild depicting Portland Bridges. SAQA Oregon members have work in this exhibit as well.
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

The Pi Project

SAQA member Sally Sellers has created the Pi Project.  Check out her website for details of the project.  Then CONTRIBUTE A SQUARE!http://www.thepiproject.org/

 
Why:  Next March 14, the date will be 3/14/15, or the first 5 digits of pi: 3.1415.  Pi, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, is arguably the most significant number in history.  Many celebrate Pi day each year, but this next Pi day is special.  This alignment of digits will not occur again for a century.
 
What: Therefore we are celebrating Pi by creating a fabric ribbon of its digits, stretching as long as we can make it, whether that be 20 feet or 2000 feet.  The digits will be sewn on in the correct order that they actually appear in Pi.  Not only is it a fun and educational project, but it will put fiber art in the spotlight (for once).  
Help us by creating as many numbers as you can!
 
 
 
 
The Requirements necessary to make this happen:
  • Each digit will be on a square of fabric which is 9.5 x 9.5"
  • The number can be any number from 0 to 9.
  • One number per square.
  • The number can be any size, any style, any font, but hopefully will not be closer to the edge than 1/4".
  • You can sign the back if you want, with your city and state or country, and your name -- or just leave it plain.
  • Numbers will not be returned but will become part of the artwork.
Ways to create your number:
  • another pice of fabric appliqued on
  • beads
  • paint
  • dye
  • sequins
  • silkscreen
  • waterproof magic marker
  • embroidery
  • stitching
  • stamping
  • buttons
  • whatever else you can think of.  



Because the artwork will most likely be displayed outside, it would be best if it were waterproof or on materials that won't be damaged in the rain.

School classrooms, quilt guilds, surface design artists, painters, politicians, military, and those in law enforcement -- and anyone else -- are all welcome to participate.  Your fabric can be cottons, canvas, old dishtowels, whatever, just so long as it is the proper size and has a single number on it.
Mail all finished numbers to:
The Pi Project
PO Box 2127
Vancouver, WA 98668

"What's Blue to You?" Opens at Portland International Airport

Pushing Through the Blues
Kimberly Connelly
Photo by Bill Bachhuber


Many SAQA Oregon members are part of High Fiber Diet, a specialty group within Columbia FiberArts Guild, and have work in High Fiber Diet's newest exhibit, "What's Blue to You?" This is a larger show than usual for High Fiber Diet, and so it has been divided into Parts A and B for some venues.  Part A will be on display at the Portland International Airport Concourse B, opening November 13, 2014, and running through May 28, 2015.  This area is behind security, so you need to be a traveler in order to view the exhibit there. If you won't be traveling soon, don't worry. The exhibit will be showing at other venues later in 2015. Part B will debut as a special exhibit at the Oregon Gardens' Stitches in Bloom January 23 - 25, 2015.  Be sure to make an effort to see these wonderful and creative works.

Wetland Blues
Emily Stevens
Photo by Emily Stevens

Blue Notes
Anita Kaplan
Photo by Steve Kaplan
 
!

New SAQA Oregon Parlor Group Forms in Ashland

Looks like we have a new SAQA parlor group in Oregon! Georgia French, Jean Wells and Leotie Richards recently traveled to Ashland for a meeting with prospective members of a new SAQA parlor group in the Rogue Valley area. About twenty three quilt artists attended the meeting, and Lynne Goulette has volunteered to lead and organize the group. Thank you, Lynne; and we wish all of you the very best as the group develops.

Bucknam's "Sea Cave" Takes 2nd Place at Quilts=Art=Quilts

Bonnie Bucknam's quilt Sea Cave won 2nd Place at Quilts=Art=Quilts at the Schweinfurth Art Center.  Take a look at the wonderful group of winners


Sea Cave by Bonnie Bucknam
60" w x 72" h
Photo by Mark Frey

Friday, October 31, 2014

News from the Portland Group

In July, over 20 Portland members, joined by some of our friends from Central Oregon and Valley South, staffed the SAQA booth at the new Quilt!Knit!Stitch! show in Portland. We signed up 21 new members for SAQA (yay!), SAQA members from several States led walk-throughs of the SAQA exhibits on display - Metaphors on Aging and Text Messages. Thanks to SAQA National for the excellent "thank you" chocolate bars! Portland members also met at the home of member Terry Grant for a relaxed picnic in her garden and a tour of the studio; thank you, Terry!
 
In September we launched our three-session Critiques Practice. Bonnie Bucknam gave us a review of Jane Dunnewold's critique guidelines, and members brought in some wonderful art quilts for critique. Each artist specified what they would like to learn from the critique, and we focused our comments accordingly. We continued this program in October, and November will be the final session, as we enjoy and critique the 50 small quilts from the SAQA Trunk Show H. In December we will celebrate with a Holiday party, details TBD.
 
We continue to welcome visitors and new members to our group meetings, and to enjoy lunch and social time at a local restaurant following our meetings. Many of our members are working hard on local arrangements for next year's "Fiberlandia": national conference (with Diane Born and Christina Brown coordinating our efforts with those of SAQA National). From time to time we send out State-wide calls for volunteers; we need everybody's help, particularly as we get closer to the time of the conference, so please get in touch and do your part.
 
For more information on what we're up to in Portland, contact Elizabeth Bamberger: elizabethbamberger@gmail.com

Valley-South Members Have Fun!

In September, nine of the Valley-South members had a weekend retreat at SAQA member Vera Rogers' ranch in Southern Oregon. Vera gave us a workshop: You CAN Resist! In her wonderful big studio we played with nine types of resist (potato dextrin, corn, flour, soy wax, water-based...) and went back to our samples over and over with dyes all ready for us to use. In between all this creativity and learning, we pot-lucked some wonderful food, and had a great weekend! We are learning - the more examples we have, the easier it is to see what really "works" and what doesn't work as well. Our next exercise, not due until January, will help us focus on negative space.
 
We (as the "Valley South Art Quilters") are confirmed for another exhibit at Oregon State University's MSU gallery next September, and our theme is "Artistic Intent". One idea we really like is to find a way to have our Valley-South mini-exhibits travel to the other parlor groups in Oregon, as a way of keeping in touch with the other groups and also of getting new and creative ideas to stretch ourselves, as their mini-exhibits will come to us. We're ready to do our part to make this happen!
For more information on what we're up to in the Valley-South region, contact Georgia French: gfrench1946@gmail.com.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Bucknam Exhibits at Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights

 
Two pieces by Oregon SAQA member Bonnie Bucknam, Crater and Canopy, are at the Union Street Gallery in Chicago Heights, Illinois.  The exhibit, Material Matters, closes October 25.  If you're in the area this week, stop by.



Monday, October 20, 2014

News from Central Oregon

Central Oregon SAQA:

The call for entry for “Blending Poetry and Cloth” was presented to all members in late September. The description and prospectus for this Oregon wide exhibit can be found on the SAQA website under “Membership” and “Call For Entries.” Quilt photos and entries are due in June of 2015. More information will be provided on an ongoing basis.

Georgia French, Jean Wells and Leotie Richards traveled to Ashland to meeting with prospective members for a new SAQA parlor group in the Rogue Valley area. About twenty-three quilt artists attended the meeting. Lynne Goulette has volunteered to lead and organize the meetings.

September, October, November Meetings

September 18 - SAQA Anniversary Trunk Show was presented to the group. We revealed and shared background on our 18” x 40” Mapping – A View from Above Quilts which will go on display at The Stitchin’ Post starting October 24th. The opening reception for this exhibit is on Friday the 24th, Fourth Friday Art Walk in Sisters, Oregon. The quilts will also be on display at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in July of 2015.

October 16th - Open Discussion - The Artist As A Risk Taker, Finding the Warrior Within. We talked about how we can create a safe place for personal growth in quilting and at the same time challenge and elevate our art. Mapping Quilts - Completion Celebration We celebrated the major accomplishment of the completion of our “Mapping – A View From Above” quilts. We broke into small groups in which each artist had a chance to share the experience of creating their quilts. Guidelines were provided for soliciting specific kinds of feedback from the group.

November 20th – Dawn Boone, Executive Director for Atelier 6000 - a print making studio - will lead a discussion on self critiquing and will then provide critiques for 5-6 member’s quilts. There will be a $7 fee for the lecture and $20 for individual critiques. The fees will go to the Atelier 6000 general fund. We will meet at the Atelier 6000 site at 369 SW Scalehouse Court Ste #20 in Bend near the Old Mill at 1pm to 3pm.

There is no meeting in December.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

SAQA Oregon Social Media Refresher


Yes, Oregon SAQA uses a number of different social media, but they each work best for different purposes. If you only want to deal with one, the Yahoo group is where essential information about the SAQA Oregon group gets exchanged and files are kept.


- Gerrie Congdon is the moderator of our Yahoo Group, "PDXOregonSAQA"; contact Gerrie at gericon@comcast.net

  - Sherri Culver is the moderator of our Oregon SAQA Facebook site, which we use to share news, art and events, and enjoy socializing; Sherri would love to sign you up if you are a SAQA Oregon member and haven't already joined the Facebook group: sherriculverohio@gmail.com

 - Sidnee Snell has offered to help members who are having technical problems using our communications media: sidnee@snellpete.com

 - Post news at our SAQA Oregon blog: www.saqaoregon blogspot.com. Contact Bonnie Bucknam: bonniebucknam@gmail.com. This site is open to the public for viewing.  SAQA Oregon members should announce an exhibits, an acceptance to an exhibit, a class, etc. The blog is a good way to reach a wide audience and to see what else is going on. The blog also announces local group meetings and exhibits.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Quilt! Knit! Stitch! Nets 21 New SAQA Members

 
Joan Kimmins and Pam Johnson are two of the twenty one new members we welcomed to SAQA at the Quilt!Knit!Stitch! show in Portland last week.

Friday, August 22, 2014

"Simply Red" Reception in Newport, OR, September 5

High Fiber Diet's  'Simply Red' exhibit will be having an artist reception Friday,  September 5th5:00-7:00 at,

The Newport Visual Arts Center
Runyan Gallery
777 NW Beach Drive
Newport,  Oregon     

The exhibit will move to Cannon Beach for the month of October.  There will be an artist reception on Saturday, October 11th,  at 6:00pm.

Cannon Beach Center and Museum
13875 S. Spruce St.
Cannon Beach,  Oregon

Several SAQA Oregon members have work in the High Fiber Diet exhibit.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Quilt! Knit! Stitch! at Convention Center, Portland, August 14 - 16



SAQA members Kristin La Flamme and Gerrie Congdon setting up the SAQA booth at the Quilt!Knit!Stitch! Show at the Convention Center in Portland, August 14 thru 16, 10 am to 6 pm each day. We're all ready to go and look forward to seeing you there. Stop by the SAQA booth and say Hi!

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

American Art Company 12th NW Contemporary Art Quilt Exhibit, Tacoma



Several SAQA Oregon members have work in the American Art Company exhibit.  Stop by if you are in Tacoma, or come to the opening Saturday, August 16, 2pm.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Exploring Layers to Show at Pioneer Place

A message from the curators of "Exploring Layers":
We are pleased to announce that we have found a gallery space for our Regional SAQA Exhibit, "Exploring Layers". The exhibit will appear at the Rotator Gallery on the fourth floor of the Pioneer Place shopping mall in Pioneer Square in Portland. The exhibit will open on Apr 13 and continue thru May 15, 2015. There will be a celebration of the 3rd Year Anniversary of the galleries located there. The show will be available to SAQA members who will be attending the 2015 National SAQA Conference, "Fiberlandia", which will take place in Portland, Apr 30 to May 3, 2015. This will be the final showing of this exhibit. Further details about our exhibit are still being organized and we will keep you all informed of updates. The curators of "Exploring Layers" are excited to have our regional show at a gallery with visibility to our local community and to visitors to our city.
Curators: Betty David Daggett, Jean Keenan Wells, Georgia French

Monday, August 4, 2014

Volunteers Needed for Portlandia

From Sherri Culver:

SAQA is coming to Portland April 30-May 3, 2015! Oregon SAQA members will take on the challenge of selling Portland to the entire SAQA membership and also for making the Annual SAQA Conference experience unique to Portland. It is time to begin gathering together and organizing to get the job done. I have accepted the job as Chair of Hospitality and here is how I'd like to start.

We need all types of volunteers and each of you should fit perfectly into one or more jobs. I have established an email account for the committee and all correspondence should be sent to: SAQAhospitality@gmail.com

Choose what works for you, and send me an email.

Planning Committee (will meet only 1-3 times, beginning the first week of October)

Task Committees (will take on specific jobs that will be determined by the Planning Committee with input from all of you)

Convention Workers (will work during the convention)

Everyone, send ideas! Tell us about great things to do in your part of Oregon, as well as Portland. We can promote extended visits with our publicity about the Convention. And we can share our favorite restaurants, galleries, transportation tips, etc.

Share your specific talents, so we can use them throughout the process.

Be apart of this amazing opportunity to showcase the state/city we love and share it with our quilting friends.

Sherri

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Simply Red at Newport Visual Arts Center

On Friday, August 1st, High Fiber Diet's Simply Red opened at the Newport Visual Arts Center. The artist reception was attended by several HFD members including Mary Ann McCammon, Jill Hoddick, Mary Arnold, Bonnie Bucknam, Kimberly Connelly, and Karen Miller, all also members of SAQA Oregon. The work was warmly received and the gallery is perfect for fiber exhibits. The show will be up until September 28 and is open Tuesday-Sunday, 11-6pm.  Simply Red moves to the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum for its final venue in October.  That artist reception is October 11 at 6pm.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

SAQA Oregon Local Update on Planning for Fiberlandi​a

Hallo again, SAQA Oregon members,

Here is an update on planning and recruiting volunteers from the Local Organizing Committee on the 2015 SAQA National Conference "Fiberlandia".

"Chris Brown and Diane Born, local committee heads, are very pleased to announce that Sherrie Culver has agreed to lead the hospitality committee for Fiberlandia 2015. This is a new concept at SAQA conferences, with hopes of involving local members (and please remember we will soon be drawing on SAQA members from all parts of Oregon and SW Washington for other committees as planning for the conference moves forward.)

The local Portland-area volunteers for the hospitality committee are: Trisha Hasssler, Terry Grant, Pam Pilcher, Sara Miller, Maris Cavanaugh, Mary Ann McCammon, Gerrie Congdon, Hilde Morin, Sherrie Moomey, Karen Spencer, Kimberly Connelly, Nancy Dasenbrock, Jill Hoddick and Elizabeth Bamberger.

We also have the need of some local volunteers for the Gallery Venue committee, to help identify galleries where we might hold fiber art exhibits at the time of the 2015 conference. If you would like to help with this, please contact Diane Born: dvduck@comcast.net, or Chris Brown: sienna5@comcast.net.

Deb Cashatt, head of the national Special Events Committee, has asked SAQA Oregon members for a paragraph detailing their "favorite thing to do in Portland". Some may be placed on-line, to educate SAQA members not familiar with Portland. We know the wonders and beauty of Portland and Oregon - let's get the word out!

Diane and Chris were part of a 1.5 hour phone conference with eight other SAQA members, discussing 33 breakout presentations for Fiberlandia and something exciting for this conference - workshops. It was hard work to whittle the breakout presentations down to 4. Eleven workshop concepts were submitted. You will know the names of these artists and be as excited as we are when this all comes together! Deb Cashatt and Betty Daggett continue to work on speakers for Fiberlandia. Once all are under contract, Oregon will be the first to know!

We'll continue to send updates as the planning work for "Fiberlandia" progresses. As always, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions about any SAQA Oregon matters, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me - Elizabeth Bamberger: elizabethbamberger@gmail.com, or my fellow co-rep, Leotie Richards: lotidesignworks@gmail.com. You are all SAQA Oregon and we need your feedback so we can do a good job for you.

Enjoy the rest of this summer that seems to be passing by all too quickly.

Elizabeth

SAQA 2015 National Conference Updates on Planning and Volunteeri​ng

Hi everyone,
The planning for next year's national SAQA conference: "Fiberlandia" scheduled for Portland in April-May 2015, and for volunteering to help with the conference, is moving right along, and we thought you might like some updates. This email contains a letter from Deb Cashatt, Chair of the national Special Events Committee at SAQA National. I'll be sending a separate email with an update from Chris Brown and Diane Born who are heading up the Local Organizing Committee in Portland. Lots of relevant information here, so please take the time to read both emails - we're looking forward to having all our members involved in preparing for what promises to be a really good conference.
Thanks! and, as always, keep on making art!
Elizabeth Bamberger, SAQA Oregon Co-Rep

From Deb Cashatt:
Dear SAQA Oregon members,
As I'm sure you are aware, SAQA's 2015 Conference will be in Portland next spring. What you might not know is how much behind-the-scenes work has been going on already. I thought you might appreciate a little update from the Special Events Committee (SEC).

During the past few months we have been soliciting ideas for speakers, breakout sessions, and post-conference workshops. Any options that an attendee must register for have to be finalized before we can create the registration fornms and start advertising the conference. If we have meal choices, then the meals must be selected. Fortunately, our conference hotel (the DoubleTree) has several delicious-sounding buffets, and we've opted to go the buffet route.

Once we receive proposals from speakers and presenters, the committee meets to choose which ones we think would appeal most to our members. We attempt to have something for everyone, the beginning art quilter, the established professional, and the non-artist. We try to find a nice mix of business, art, academic, and entertaining topics.

Next we have to figure out what all of this is going to cost, so that we can develop a budget. We make a guess at how many people we think will attend, and set the price to cover our expenses. Are you still with me here? After we get the registration forms up on the SAQA website (we're shooting for mid-September 2014), the SEC can breathe a small sigh of relief, and the Conference Coordinator (this year it's Desi Vaughan) can really start working (not that she's been resting).

At the same time all of this is going on, the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) has been trying to figture out how they can sell Portland to the rest of the SAQA membership. They sold Portland to the SEC. The SEC sold Portland to the SAQA Board. But what about the rest of SAQA's 3000 members? We want 200 of them (this also means you!) to sign up for the conference. The LOC has been trying to line up galleries to show fiber art; they've been recruiting volunteers; they're in charge of getting information from the SEC and getting it to you. And sometimes the information doesn't seem to flow quickly enough.

If you have volunteered to help with the conference but have not yet received an assignment, it's simply becasuse we haven't yet finalized all the LOC duties. But rest assured that we will be relying on you! No conference is a success without "boots on the ground" (our local SAQA members), but much of that work occurs closer to the actual conference. In the meantime, I've asked the LOC to get some suggestions for why people should come to Portland early and/or stay after the conference. I'd love to put quotes from locals on our registration page. We don't want people to make their plane reservations and then realize that they should have added a couple of days to go to the wine country. Just a couple of sentences from local members would be helpful. I know if Kris Sazaki were local, her quote would be something like, "If your flight arrives early and you can't check into your hotel room, go to Voodoo Donuts! It will make your wsait bearable." Or "Sally SAQA says, 'Don't forget to visit XYZ fabric store. I just love their selection of batiks." Or "Deb, the wino, suggests arriving a couple days before the conference and exploring the Willamette Valley." We need these before September 1, so send your quotes to Diane Born: dvduck@comcast.net, Chris Brown: sienna5@comcast.net, Betty Daggett: Bdavisdsaggett@gmail.com, or Elizabeth Bamberger: elizabethbamberger@gmail.com.

Remember that budgeting back in paragraph 4? Well, registration fees only cover a part of the conference, so we have to recruit conference volunteers. Some will be national sponsors, some will be local. We also sell ads in our conference program - partly to pay for the conference, partly to give out-of-towners ideas for places to go. Do you have a favorite shop you'd like to share with the rest of SAQA? Write down the contact information or give it to the LOC. Soon we'll be asking for help with advertising. And don't forget, we'll want a few vendors for our vendor marketplace on the Thursday of the conference.

In short (I guess that should be "in long"), the SEC just has to get our ducks in a row before we know where we need help. We're almost there. Remember that small sigh of relief we are planning on breathing in mid-September? It's very short-lived. We've got to start filling in the rest of the conference tasks. But there's only so much we can do from the comfort of our computers in Virginia, California, Texas, Michigan, Connecticut, and even Portland. We'll start asking the LOC to recruit people for specific tasks. If you have ideas, send them to someone on the LOC. Just remember they have to get approval from the Special Events Committee, and we might have to get approval from someone on the SAQA staff. Even if we don't use your ideas here in Portland, it might be just the thing for Philadelphia in 2016 or the conference in 2017 - all of which we're working on at the same time we're working on the 2015 conference.

I can't wait for April 30, 2015. I look forward to seeing many of you in Portland!

Sincerely,
Deb Cashatt, SEC Chair
deb@pixeladies.com

PS: If you want to join in the fun, the SEC is accepting applications for our new members. Contact me for further information."

Saturday, July 26, 2014

High Fiber Diet "Simply Red" Opens at the Newport Visual Art Center

The High Fiber Diet Exhibit "Simply Red" is showing in Newport! Several SAQA Oregon members have work in this show.

The exhibit will be presented at the Newport Visual Art Center, 7777 NW Beach Drive, Newport,  Oregon

Artist Reception:   Friday, August 1st5:00-7:00
The show will be there until September 28th.

Friday, July 25, 2014

Fiber Inspirations Exhibit at ArtReach Gallery, Portland

 
Several SAQA Oregon members have work in the Columbia FiberArts Guild exhibit, Fiber Inspirations, at the ArtReach Gallery in Portland.  The Artist Reception is Thursday, August 7, 5-7pm.  The show runs August 5 through August 31, 2014.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

SAQA Fiberlandia Convention Seeks Publicity/Advertising Expertise

The planning committee for the national SAQA conference, Fiberlandia, is looking for a member who has had professional experience in either publicity or advertising.  We plan to create a script for our use in selling ads to potential advertisers in the Portland area, as well as create publicity for Fiberlandia 2015.  Please contact Diane Born at dvduck@comcast.net or call 503-528-1071.  

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Sidnee Snell Exhibits at Guardino Gallery

 
Sidnee Snell's fiber work will be on display at the Guardino Gallery, 2939 NE Alberta, Portland OR 97211, from July 31 through August 26, 2015.  The artist reception is Thursday, July 31, from 6 - 9pm.  An Artists' Talk is on August 16 at 2pm.  Gallery hours are Tues 11-5, Wed-Sat 11-6, Sun 11-4.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

New Venues for High Fiber Diet's "Simply Red"

Simply Red opening at the Architectural Heritage Center in Portland

'Simply Red' is  booked back to back for the year!  Several SAQA Oregon members have work in this show.

Currently we are at:
Architectural Heritage Center
Portland,  Oregon
June 6th through July 26



New venues have been added to our schedule

Newport Visual Arts Center
Reception:  Friday August 1st5:00-7:00
Exhibit runs August through September 29th

Cannon Beach History Museum
Opening and closing TBA
Artist reception October 11, 6pm



 

Monday, June 2, 2014

SAQA Artists Show in North Bend

Artists Reception 5:00-7:00 Friday June 6 at Oregon Bay Properties Community Gallery, 1992 Sherman Ave., North Bend, (corner Sherman & Virginia). Works feature SAQA artists, and fiber sculptures of North Bend artists. Food catered by SOCC Culinary School.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Valley South Members to Exhibit at Maude Kerns, Eugene

Five Valley-South artists have just been accepted for a group exhibit at the Maude Kern Art Center in Eugene, OR. They are Diane English, Georgia French, Laura Jaszkowski, Paulette Landers, and Deb Sorem. The exhibit will be titled "A Color Runs Through It," and each artist will create five new works for the occasion, which will be scheduled in the 2015-2016 season at the Maude Kerns Art Center.  The group was notified that their proposal was one of ninety-six submitted for consideration.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Jean Wells Keenan in PBS "Oregon Art Beat" Exhibition

Jean Wells Keenan is one of the artists featured in "The Oregon Art Beat Annual Exhibition", an exhibit by Oregon Public Broadcasting of artists who have been featured on Art Beat on PBS.  The exhibit is on display until June 15. The work is displayed in the galleries on the third floor of Pioneer Place, Portland, Oregon. The galleries are open Wed.-Sun, noon-6.

Jean received these thoughtful comments from Jeannette DeNicolis Meyer:

Dear Jean,
It was lovely to come upon your quilt at the OPB Art Beat Exhibit in downtown Portland today. The quilt's composition is so strong -- that little sliver of sky managing to balance all the subterranean  weight below. And I really resonated with the beautifully drawn and expressive quilting lines. It made my heart sing to be able to say that a quilt was one of the best pieces in such a large and comprehensive show. It's work like this, in shows like this, that will eventually make people realize that fabric and thread are just art supplies and that people who use them thoughtfully and with intentful are as much deserving of the term artist as those who work with paint or marble.
Congratulations!
Jeannette

Friday, May 16, 2014

SAQA Oregon Members' Quilts Acquired for National Quilt Museum


Displaying LayersLR.jpg
Layers by Pat Pease


Quilts that Jean Wells Keenan, Judith Harrison, Sue Matyszak, Ginny McVicar, Judy Peterson and Patricia Pease submitted to the SAQA "This is a Quilt" trunk show will become part of the permanent collection of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky. Congratulations!
Displaying JeanWellsKeenan.JPG
Jean Wells Keenan

Displaying JudithHarrison.JPG
Judith Harrison

Displaying GinnyMcVickar.JPG
Ginny McVicar

 Displaying SueMatyszak.JPG
Sue Matyszak

Displaying Judy Peterson.JPG
Judy Peterson

Monday, May 12, 2014

SAQA Members Attend "Simply Red" Opening in Corvallis

Several SAQA Oregon members have work in High Fiber Diet's ‘Simply Red’ exhibit.  The opening reception in Corvallis at LaSells Stewart Center was received well.

There were positive comments and happy chatter. The committee members for ‘Simply Red’ are:
Emily Stevens, Mary Ann McCammon, Shirley Macgregor, and Jan Duke, all SAQA Oregon members as well. Art work in the background is Paint the Town by Laura Jaszkowski and Red Barn by Mary Arnold, also SAQA Oregon members.



Simply Red Schedule for 2014
LaSells Stewart Center, Corvallis, Oregon, until May 31st.
Architectural Heritage Center, Portland, Oregon June/July
Reception Friday, June 6th 6:00P.M.
Cannon Beach History Center & Museum, Oct., Nov. and Dec.
Reception Saturday, Oct. 11th.

Emily Stevens Receives Juror's Choice at ARTQUILTSwhimsey

Emily Stevens won a Juror's Choice award from juror Nancy Cook for her quilt Up The Down Staircase. The PAQAsouth (Professional Art Quilters Alliance-south) exhibit, "ARTQUILTSwhimsy", will be at the Page-Walker Arts & History Center, Cary,  North Carolina through June 22, 2014.  You can view Emily's work here.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Bonnie Bucknam Named Best of Show at Form, Not Function

Bonnie Bucknam's Tumble was awarded Best of Show at Form, Not Function, an exhibit at the Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany, Indiana.  Click here to check out the show awards.

Tumble by Bonnie Bucknam
Photo by Mark Frey
 

Monday, April 28, 2014

SAQA Members Exhibit at Rio de Janeiro Patchwork Design

Geology 4
Bonnie Bucknam
Photo by Mark Frey
 

SAQA Oregon members Bonnie Bucknam and Mary Arnold have quilts in the Patchwork Design exhibition in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Click here for a video of the show.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

High Fiber Diet's "Simply Red" Exhibit Features SAQA Oregon Artists

 
fractured, textured, red
Georgia French
 

High Fiber Diet's Simply Red exhibit features the work of several SAQA Oregon members.  The show has three venues scheduled through the end of the year:

Giustina Gallery, The LaSells Stewart Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
May 1, 2014 through May 31, 2014
Opening - Monday, May 5, 6:30pm

Architectural Heritage Center, Portland, Oregon
June 6 through July, 2014
Opening - June 6, 6pm

Cannon Beach History Center & Museum, Cannon Beach, Oregon
October through December, 2014
Opening - October 11, 6pm

Bonnie Bucknam, Red-Winged Dragonfly

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Notes of the Valley-South Meeting

Valley-South meeting April 25th, 2014:  At the Eugene Textile Center
Thanks to Katie Walwyn for the list of who was there (if we missed anyone, please speak up) and to Anne for the notes: here’s the recap of our Valley-South meeting yesterday:
Who was there: Georgia French, Sharon Leahy, Deb Sorem, Diane English, Judith Harrison, Kathy R….(from Salem, a visitor?), Erika Close, Joanna Price, Christine Stanley (visiting), Ginny McVickars, Sheila Steers, Anne Daughtry, Judy Peterson, Daphne John (visiting), Mandy Miller, Sheryl LeBlanc, Lynda Christiansen, Vera Rogers, Naomi Weidner, Katie Walwyn
First, we decided to keep track of who is at our meetings, and from now on we’ll pass a sheet to sign in. How many are we in Valley-South? Probably 30-40 now?
Second, we decided we need nametags --- please bring one next time!
Third, if you aren’t on our FB page yet, and the Oregon SAQA FB page, please join in!
And on to the real agenda:
Quilt County 2015: our intrepid committee will have a written prospectus for us by next month. This gives us over a year to prepare for the exhibit. Volunteers will be asked to sign up for various tasks associated with the exhibit, and there will be a $10 fee to cover miscellaneous costs.
Next month’s meeting will be MAY 23rd, in Philomath. Our business meeting will be at 3pm; our speaker will start at 4pm. We’ll post the address on the FB page; it is already on the Yahoo site, I think. Plan to come to town early for lunch, to see the High Fiber Diet “Simply Red” show at the Guistina Gallery, to visit Karen Miller’s studio (details to be worked out there), to have lunch, to have coffee, maybe to hit the quilt shop…..??? We might be asking for definite signups for this meeting, depending upon capacity of the room. Keep your eyes open for more info on this. Plan to donate $5 as our speaker’s honorarium (and hearing Babette Gruenwald’s talk will be worth it!). Note that it is not the third Friday of the month, but starting in June, we will get back to our “regular” schedule.
In June we’ll meet in Coburg. How about coming early and bringing some handwork or something --- a little play time for socializing, kibitzing?
We talked about bringing an instructor in, doing a dyeing retreat at Vera’s studio, other studio visits, more…..
We talked about the exhibit opportunities that have been on the FB page and other places. Both good venues; go for it!
We discussed having work “ready to hang” before exhibits. Info you need for this is on the main SAQA website.
We discussed returning to our more formal critiques, in addition to our Show & Tell. More about this before our next meeting. There are very helpful guides to critiquing artwork on the main SAQA website and elsewhere on the web. If someone wants to post some of these (Jane Dunnewold’s, Sandra Sider’s to name two of many) on our FB page, that would be great…..
Remember that Hollis Chatelain will be speaking at Columbia Fiberarts Guild in Portland in June; visitors may attend.
Mandy talked about a show by John Westmark she saw in South Carolina recently. (And she will post a link? Or look him up?)
And then we adjourned and enjoyed looking at "MOVING FORWARD: LITTLE GEMS OF QUILTED ART" by the amazing Valley South Art Quilters. Many thanks to Sheryl, Diane and Deb for making this happen for us.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Georgia French Exhibits at the Umpqua Valley Arts Center




Georgia French will have twenty-one works on display at the Umpqua Valley Arts Center in Roseburg (www.uvarts.com) as part of the exhibit "Latitude,"  a show by members of the Gallery Committee at the Center. The exhibit will open on May 9th and run through June 28th.  1624 West Harvard Blvd, Roseburg.  541 672 2532
 

Next Valley-South Parlor Group Meeting April 25 in Eugene

Valley-South SAQA will meet Friday, April 25th.  We will meet at 2pm at the Eugene Textile Center to enjoy our VSAQ exhibit there:  "Moving Forward:  Little Gems of Quilted Art."
Thanks to Diane English, Sheryl LeBlanc, and Deb Sorem for making this happen.

The agenda for our meeting:
--  Update on Quilt County.....still lots of time, but let's not lose track of it.....Vera Rogers, Paulette Landers, Naomi Weidner, Lynda Christiansen and Mandy Miller in charge.
--  Our new Facebook Group.....and the new SAQA Oregon Facebook Group.
--  Studio tours?
--  Play dates?
--  Quilt, Knit, Stitch in August in Portland
--  Exhibit opportunities at Oregon Bay Properties Community Gallery, Pacific Park Gallery (Sharon Leahy)
--  SHOW AND TELL:  Please consider bringing something you want some very specific input on......and be ready to present one or two very specific questions to the group when you show it.
--  Reminder:  Our May meeting will be on the 23rd at 3pm in Philomath, for a presentation by Babette Gruenwald.  After that meeting, we'll return to our third Friday schedule.

We welcome any SAQA members, and guests interested in learning more about SAQA.  Questions?  gfrench@rosenet.net

April 18 Portland Parlor Group Recap

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At the April meeting of the Portland SAQA group we launched our program of members' Artistic Journeys, which turned out to be very enjoyable and interesting. Eight members showed an early and a recent piece of their art, and talked about their journeys as artists. It was fascinating to see how different those journeys were for each artist, and impressive to see how individual "artistic voices" had developed and technical skills been mastered, along the way.

We also continued our discussion of the most appropriate social media for our communications within our group and with other Oregon SAQA members. For the present, we will continue to use Yahoo to store files and to send out announcements to members. Announcements will also be posted on the SAQA Oregon Blogspot. The SAQA Oregon Facebook group will be used for informal communications, including individual announcements and news, between those members who have signed up for this group.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Exploring Layers Opens in Coos Bay



Santa Fe Fences:  Sculpted by Time, Sand and Sun
Diane Born

Last night the Exploring Layers exhibit, SAQA Oregon's third juried show (in case you forgot!) opened at the Coos Art Museum in Coos Bay.  What a great day we had!  In the afternoon we went on a planned journey to Paulette Lander's brand spanking new studio, then to the Oregon Bay Realty gallery, about which I've written already, then to the Pacific Gallery, then to new SAQA member Sharon Leahy's studio/home.  Wow --- what fun!  Diane Born, Paulette, Sharon, Lynda Christiansen and I were the SAQA members on this jaunt, and we finished up at the CAM at 5pm for the reception.  Downstairs we saw the opening of their big juried show, Expressions West.  It's a lovely show, but surely suffers from lack of fiber pieces…..I wonder if the prospectus is written this way or if fiber artists just don't realize what a coup it would be to be in this show.  Never mind; up the elevator we went to the brick-lined gallery, and Exploring Layers.  It looks wonderful on the brick, and they hung it imaginatively.  They have an unusual hanging system there, but they made it work, and they moved some of the pieces "into" the room foot to enhance the "layers" effect.  I would have to say that the gallery was a little crowded, but every piece is up and they seemed very, very happy to have a quality SAQA exhibit there again (they used to pay to bring in national SAQA shows, but budgets don't allow that these days).  SAQA member Anne Daughtry was there, and I think I've covered the SAQA members who attended; I hope so; speak up if I missed you.  And a little past 6pm, in walked our juror, Renee Couture, with a couple of other staffers from the Umpqua Valley Arts Center in Roseburg, where the show will be next winter.  Renee was thrilled to see the pieces in person.  I hope lots of you SAQA Oregon people can get to Coos Bay to see the show there; it will be up until June 28th.  I had a camera in my purse but never took a shot; maybe Diane Born can post one?  It was crowded, festive, and the margaritas afterward were well earned and much appreciated!  Many thanks to Paulette and Sharon for setting up the "tour," too --- it was terrific! 
Georgia French
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Central Oregon SAQA Meets May 22

Please note that rather than meeting on May 15th we will now be meeting Thursday, May 22nd at the Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon, from 3pm to 5pm. We have organized fun and creative demonstrations of various surface design techniques including the following:

• Screen printing incorporating stencils, thermofax etc. 
• Digital printing on fabric... layers, backgrounds etc. 
• Shibori dyeing, both folded and on a tube
• Rubbings with Artist's Paintstik
• Monoprinting with gel tablets
• Block printing for unique stamp art

Please bring $7 each to help with the demonstrator's supply expenses.

WHISPER QUILTS
Please bring your whisper quilts (from 2013) to the meeting. Jean Wells wants to start collecting these for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

OREGON SAQA on FACEBOOK 
Many lively exchanges are taking place at the Oregon SAQA Facebook site. To join go to Facebook and search for SAQA Oregon.  Click on the request to join box.  The site manager will confirm your membership in SAQA and set you up on the site.
See you soon,
Leotie Richards
SAQA Oregon Co-Rep

Thursday, April 17, 2014

SAQA Members Exhibit at Portland First Methodist Church



Be sure to see the 12th Annual Quilt Show at the First Methodist Church, 1838 SW Jefferson in Portland. Five Portland SAQA members work is on display in this show that will be on exhibit April 11-25. The artists are Hilde Morin, Betty Davis Daggett, Melanie Grant, Valri Chiappetta and Elaine Millar, who are also members of the group MIX, Material in Extreme.  Request admission to the exhibit through the business office at the church.