June 2013
Greetings from Betty and Jean
We wanted to catch everyone up on SAQA happenings in our state. Both of us will be retiring in August but will stay on to work with the new reps. and put on our first Conference on
March 13, 2014 in Newberg at the Chehalem Cultural Center in conjunction with our
Exploring Layers exhibit.
Our parlor groups are very active as we found out in our reps meeting at the Santa Fe Conference. It made us feel good to have such good participation in all of our activities.
We will be attaching the prospectus for
Exploring Layers, our upcoming exhibit. You will be able to begin the entry process the beginning of October. We are still working out the details for that process with SAQA. You will find sleeve instructions on the Yahoo Group site that MUST be adhered to unless you are doing a structural piece. There will be no exceptions. We will be providing the hanging devices so it is imperative that you follow directions.
Portland SAQA Group
The Portland group has developed into a lively and highly participatory group drawing extensively on members' talents and experience, which are shared with the group, as well as from outside activities such as hosted visits to art galleries and a workshop on quilt photography skills. In the first meeting of 2013, members reviewed their accomplishments and frustrations of the past year, and shared their goals and focus for the coming year, and we discussed the year's agenda. In recent months, the first hour of our meeting has focused on "help sessions": sharing knowledge to develop our professional skills. Members have contributed their expertise in the areas of the history of the sewing machine, the subtleties of needles and threads, pricing quilts for sale, and preparing work portfolios, and have reported on recent workshops and conferences they attended and on quilt-related volunteer activities. We have also practiced our artist "elevator speeches". In June the husband of one member will provide a presentation and hands-on practice about processing and resizing digital images for show entry. Summer meetings will be more casual show and tell and critique sessions, and in September, two members will give a presentation on setting up and managing websites and blogs.
Our members also participate in exhibits and other professional activities, including the following recent accomplishments (alphabetical order by artist).
- Mary Arnold has two pieces in the Contemporary QuiltArt Association's exhibit, Salsa!, at the Mighty Tieton Gallery in Tieton, WA.
- Elizabeth Bamberger's piece, City Under Siege, is appearing in the online art quilt exhibit at www.infinityartgallery.com .
- Bonnie Bucknam is featured in a recent SAQA Journal gallery (Cavern appears on the Journal cover) and her piece Tangle has been acquired by the textile museum of Neumuenster, Germany for their permanent collection.
- Karen Miller will have 15 pieces in the show Art in the Aquatic Underworld at the Giustina Gallery at OSU's La Sells Stewart Centre in June.
- Emily Stevens will have two pieces exhibited in the West Coast Wonders exhibit at the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, California and Houston, Texas.
- The High Fiber Diet show Elements: Air, Earth, Fire and Water is currently at the Walters Cultural Arts Center in Hillsboro.
- Trisha Hassler's new work, Contrapunto, is on display at Waterstone Gallery in July with the preview July 3 from 6 to 9.
- Naomi Weidner is showing in Sacred Threads at Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, VA.
- Christina Brown is showing in the High Fiber Diet Elements exhibit.
- Gerrie Congdon is showing with the Twelve by Twelve, The International Quilt Challenge: ColourPlay; Chilcompton, UK; AQS Quilt Show, Grand Rapids Michigan; AQS Quilt Show, Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Gerrie is also in PAQA South: ARTQUILTS Water; Greenville, NC and Sacred Threads 2013-Herndon, VA. Pauline Landers, IQA Long Beach Festival, West Coast Wonders, Aug. 2-4, 2013.
Central Oregon SAQA Group
The much anticipated reveal for the Whisper Project quilts was held in May, after six months of a silent and progressive sharing and mimicking of design processes. Each SAQA member studied and picked up on design elements of the quilt passed on to them without sharing any details with other members of the group. Five groups of six each participated in the slowly progressive process. Five new members formed a group on the spot and will complete quilts for the exhibit, which brings the total number of participants to 36. The results were quite pleasing and intriguing. Jean Wells is now going to exhibit the quilts at the Portland Quilt Expo in September.
Four different members gave enthusiastic reports on the Expanding Horizons Conference in Santa Fe in April. Several of these members were particularly impressed by Patty Hawkins's presentation on "Finding Voice and Consistency." Patty is going to teach a collage workshop in Sisters, Or in September of 2013.
Many members were forthcoming with ideas for the content and organization of future meetings. Going forward, we'll start the meetings with an in depth presentation of artistic processes by two members on a rotating basis. We'll then spend 30 minutes in carefully organized small group critiquing sessions. Guest speakers will take up about 45 minutes of meeting time and we will finish with a show and tell session for new work. We will be meeting monthly.
- Shelia Finzer shared a very large stunning commission piece that is painted with dye and heavily stitched on.
- Jean Wells and renowned painter, Judy Hoiness, have a collaborative show at the Lodge Gallery at Black Butte Ranch until the end of June. Jean will also have a show featuring her abstract landscapes the month of July at the Clearwater Gallery in Sisters.
- Many of our members belong to a small group, Journeys, and we will have a show at the Redmond Public Library July 15 through August.
- Oregon State of Diversity II is now showing in Bend at the High Desert Museum Gallery, Bend, OR through the month of July.
- Catherine Beard has a piece in the Coastal Fiber Arts Show in the Astoria Visual Arts exhibit at Clatsop Community College July 18 to Aug. 16.
Valley-South SAQA
- Members from this group will be showcasing their work, Passion Forward, at the M.U. Concourse Gallery, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon September 9 through October 27.
- Laura Jaszkowski is showing work in Elements and in the SAQA on-line mini gallery, Images of Summer.
- Deb Soren has a quilt in Pacific West Quilt Show August 23-25 and Sacred Threads July 10-28.
