Cindy Grisdela ~ art quilter

“Afternoon at the Beach” is finished and on display in the Fiber Landscapes exhibit at the Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery until September 12, 2010.  This is a much more realistic piece than I normally create, but I had fun with the curved landscape piecing, the applique on the chair and the fish, and the beaded starfish and crab in the lower section. Click on the image to get a better view of the details.

At left is a closeup of the chair that shows the  thread sketching on the chair seat and back and some of the dense quilting on this piece. In an earlier post I discussed my process to create this part of the scene. There is pebble quilting in the sand sections–one of my favorite motifs–swirls for the waves, undulating lines for the ocean and cloud formations in the sky area at the top.

I think it’s a good idea as an artist to step outside your comfort zones and try something new and different every once in a while. I don’t think I’m going to give up my abstract color work for realism any time soon, but it was fun to work on this piece.

I also have some fun coaster sets in this show, one set is black and white with red accents and the other is bright colors framed with black and white. Each set has four coasters and all of the centers are different improvisational compositions. They have a bit of hand stitching for accent around the centers.

If you have a chance to visit the Torpedo Factory to see the show, the Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery is on the first floor in Studio 18 and the address is 105 N. Union St. in Alexandria.

Seashells 42"h x 21"w

I’m pleased with how my “Seashells” piece turned out. Regular readers will doubtless note this is very different color palette than the brights I normally use, but it was fun to try. I pushed the idea of a neutral in several directions, from beige to pink and beige to blue-green and there may even be a few lavenders in there. The result is interesting, yet restful.

These improvisational circles are one of my favorite motifs and I keep returning to them over and over. They are the basis for my “Playing with Colors” and “Salsa” quilts, which you can see in the Large Art Quilts gallery on my website. Depending on how you orient the quarter circles and the color scheme you use, you can achieve very different results. I didn’t invent the technique, as I’ve seen it used in the work of others at quilt shows, but how it’s interpreted is personal to each artist who uses it.

“Seashells” is on display at the Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria until Sept. 13.

"Sunrise at the Beach" detail

Looking back over my recent posts, I realized that I had promised a detail shot of “Sunrise on the Beach,” but never delivered. My apologies! I used various different quilting motifs to suggest the waves, the breakers and the sand, plus hand beading in the sand to suggest shells or starfish. The seagull was hand appliqued onto the piece after it was quilted to add some dimension and help the bird to stand out in the composition. “Sunrise” is on display at the Great Falls Foundation for the Arts gallery in Great Falls until Aug. 31.

I’m pleased to annouce that I’ve been juried in as a new member of the Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. At right is a picture of two of my pillows on display this month, “Neutral Circles” on the lower left and “Tropical Squares” on the right. Below is my “Building Blocks” quilt on the lower left, which is also in this month’s show.

"Building Blocks" at Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery

I’m excited about this new opportunity. The Fiber Arts Gallery is a co-op gallery that has been part of the Torpedo Factory since it opened 35 years ago. The Gallery has about 70 artist members, including weavers, knitters, jewelers, and quilters. Each month brings a new juried show, so there’s always something new and exciting to see.  The artists staff the gallery, with each one taking a turn about once a month, so it’s a great opportunity to see what other artists are doing and to interact with art enthusiasts.