Join the Live Zoom Exhibit

Parkinson

Several pieces from my Parkinson Series, including the new ones I shared last month, have been included in the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation April Artists Gallery. NW Parkinson’s has been raising awareness all month by showcasing the work of artists with Parkinson’s disease.

Tomorrow, April 30, the gallery is presenting a free, live exhibition event via Zoom that starts at 4 pm PDT. During the online exhibition, NW Parkinson’s staff and artists will discuss their work and answer questions from the community. You can register for the Zoom presentation here. I hope to see you online.

My Battle with Parkinson: Hope
My Battle with Parkinson: Hope

My Battle with Parkinson

Parkinson

I know it’s not good taste to open a communication with an apology, but I’m known for not following the rules—plus my taste buds are diminishing as my Parkinson disease progresses. So I apologize for not keeping you up on the more important aspect of my life: working on my art.

Since my last post, I have completed three additional works for “My Battle with Parkinson” series.

My Battle with Parkinson: Balance 1

My Battle with Parkinson: Balance 1

“My Battle with Parkinson: Balance 1”
Size: 22″w x 22″h
Materials and techniques: Cotton fabrics hand-dyed by Liz Axford and the artist, polyester quilting thread; machine pieced and quilted

Statement: When I inherited beautiful hand-dyed circles by my friend the late Liz Axford, it gave me the opportunity to combine them with some of my fabrics to portray “Balance.” Losing balance is one of many Parkinson symptoms as the disease progresses.

 

 

My Battle with Parkinson: Balance 2

My Battle with Parkinson: Balance 2

“My Battle with Parkinson: Balance 2”
Size: 22″w x 28″h x 28″d (approximate depending on arrangement of the 4″ cubes)
Materials and techniques: Fabrics hand-dyed by the artist, Pellon fusible ultra-firm stabilizer, polyester and silk quilting thread, pearl cotton, X-Bet Ferrite magnets, permanent markers, Gorilla crystal clear mounting tape; machine pieced, quilted and couched, hand assembled

Statement: “Balance” problems have been an increasing concern as my Parkinson disease progresses. In this piece, I went three-dimensional to portray these concerns, which range from stable to very tippy.

 

My Battle with Parkinson: Singin’ the Blues

My Battle with Parkinson: Singin’ the Blues

“My Battle with Parkinson: Singin’ the Blues”
Size: 25″w x 23″h
Materials and techniques: Cotton and silk fabrics hand-dyed by the artist, polyester and silk quilting thread, wool thread, permanent markers; machine collaged, appliqued and couched, painted with markers

Statement: I’ve been a singer (alto) since my youth. I especially enjoyed singing with ensembles and choirs. I mourn (am Blue) that Parkinson has robbed me of my singing voice. But I still love music, everything from classical to jazz.

The past three days I’ve taken a break from quilting and have been experimenting with some resist dyeing. Yesterday’s work resulted in grades of 2 B+ and 6 C–, meaning they need re-dyeing. I was using the last bits of some old dyes. Like many of my experiments, if at first I don’t succeed, dye, dye again.

When is an exhibit not an exhibit – or displaying art in the time of coronavirus

Nonseries Work

I find myself spending more time in my studio during this “odd time.” I’m working on several new pieces that I will show you soon. But now I’d like to brag about an exhibit that my art quilt group has in San Diego. It started last year when the Visions Art Museum contacted our Fiber Optix group to see if we would be interested in having an exhibit. Visions is a prestigious gallery that biennially hosts one of the top fiber international juried exhibitions. Our group was delighted to participate.

We submitted digital photos of our quilts. They were juried; I had two accepted. Then in February everything changed. The museum closed. The two quilts I shipped were held in a FedEx office and eventually returned to me; they now hang in our hall.

The museum didn’t give up and decided to have a virtual exhibit. I invite you to explore it.

Here’s how:

  1. Enter the Fiber Optix: Recent Works exhibition here.
  2. Scroll down, reading the information about our group.
  3. Under “Meet the Artists,” you’ll find me. Click on my name to see the “interview” the museum did with me. (Click on the mini version and you can actually read it.)
  4. Go back to the exhibit page and scroll down to the quilts. Mine are “Janet and Me” and “Influences.”
  5. Click on each quilt for details, plus my inspiration.
  6. Do the same for others from our talented group.

Thanks for coming to the opening. I’m sorry you missed out on the wine and nibbles… and that we missed out on a trip to San Diego. These ARE odd times. Keep safe and keep creating!