Cindy Grisdela ~ art quilter

I’ve spent the last several days quilting this piece, which I want to enter into a major show. It’s  more than a little daunting and I was struggling with the quilting motifs because this show is known for accepting only the most cutting edge work. I wanted to do something new and different, but it wasn’t happening. After spending an embarrassingly long time beating my head against that particular wall, I realized that I have to create what is in my head and my heart. The work has to be authentic, or it won’t have any soul. Whether my piece gets into this particular show, or another one, or none at all, isn’t really important.   What is important is that my work comes from my authentic self–then I can send it out into the world with confidence. I can’t create according to someone else’s rules, or worse, my idea of what someone else’s rules might be!

Once I got that straight, it was much easier to finish the quilt. I can’t show the entire piece, which is tentatively titled “Wonky Stripes,” because I still plan to enter it into the show and the work for this show can’t have been shown anywhere else before it’s exhibited there. Maybe it will get in and maybe it won’t, but I’m satisfied with what I’ve done and that’s a good thing!

I’ve just been notified that I’ve been juried in as a participating artist in the 2010 Artfest put on by the McLean Project for the Arts. The event will be held Sunday, October 3, 2010 from 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM. I’m very gratified that this is the third year I’ve been accepted to this show. At right is my booth from last year’s Artfest, taken just after I set up before the show opened.  The majority of the pieces shown in this photograph have sold, so I’ll be spending the rest of the summer creating new work!

This event is incredibly well managed by the McLean Project for the Arts and it’s a fun day full of art, artists, music and food. It’s a fine art show, so you’ll find top quality painting, photography and sculpture, in addition to fine artists in ceramics, jewelry and of course, fiber.

Mark your calendars–I hope to see you there in October!

I was thrilled to get a “thick email” last night notifying me that two of my quilts, Amber Harvest and Beach House, have been juried into Art Quilts Lowell 2010 in Lowell, Mass. The show runs from August 7 through September 11, 2010 at the Brush Art Gallery and Studios at 256 Lowell St., with an artist reception on Saturday, August 14 from 1-3 PM.

Amber Harvest, at right, is part of my Color Block series exploring improvisational piecing and solid colors. This was the first piece I used only one large improv block set onto an asymmetrical background. I really like the combination of warm colors with clear cool accents. I also tried a new quilting idea on this one. I quilted echoing curved lines over most of the piece, then offset them with a round pebble motif in the upper right corner. Right click on the image to get a better view of the quilting.

Beach House is also part of my Color Block series. I created a horizontal band of improv piecing in this one, sort of like a landscape. The name came from the small house shape in the center and I quilted waves and pebbles in the lower section and a cloudlike motif in the upper portion.

I’m really enjoying the process on these pieces and I’m excited that they are going to this show. There’s more to explore with this idea and I have a couple of more pieces in the works. Creating the compositions is intriguing–almost like putting together a puzzle–only I don’t have the completed picture to guide me! It’s also interesting to come up with quilting motifs to complement the design. For each piece I challenge myself to come up with at least two or three different motifs that work well together and add interest to the whole.

I hope I’ll be able to get up there to see it!

Wow–I didn’t realize I’d gotten way off my posting schedule–sorry about that! The Great Falls Studios Spring Art Festival was tons of fun last weekend, but the people in charge of scheduling the venue accidentally overbooked it, so we had to take the entire show down Saturday night and put it back up again at 6 AM Sunday morning–it’s taken me all week to recover. Thanks to all who stopped by the show–it was great to see you!

In the last two weeks I’ve also curated and hung two group shows for Great Falls Studios, one at the Great Falls library at 9830 Georgetown Pike, and one at Keller Williams Realty at 6820 Elm St. in McLean. If you’re in the area, stop by and take a look.

I’m thrilled to report that “Jazz Rhythms,” at right, was accepted into the Denver National Quilt Festival. The show will be held April 29-May 1, 2010 at the Denver Merchandise Mart, 451 East 58th Avenue, Denver, CO. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to get to the show–my quilts get to travel more than I do!

For those who have been following my progress, “Jazz” is part of my Color Block series that uses improvisational piecing of fabric in solid colors to explore color and line without the distraction of pattern in the fabric. This is the largest piece in the series, at 57″ h x 36″w. Creating these pieces is intuitive and spontaneous, which is rapidly becoming my favorite way to work. I created the units in “Jazz” without any plan in mind, put them up on my design wall in the studio and played with them until I had an arrangement I liked. I particularly enjoyed adding in the wonky stripes to move the eye around the piece. I liked them so much that I took the quilt partially apart after it had been quilted to add more! Not something I would usually recommend, but in this case it seemed necessary. “Jazz” is handquilted with perle cotton in concentric circles to soften some of the hard lines of the piece.

I’m pleased to announce that “Time Travel” has been accepted into the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival to be held February 25-28, 2010 in Hampton, VA. This is the fourth year in a row my work has been accepted there.

I have a soft spot in my heart for this show. It used to be held in Williamsburg, where I went to college, and it was the first big quilt show I ever attended, probably about 15 or 16 years ago. It was moved from Williamsburg to the convention center in Hampton several years ago.

Time Travel is part of my Color Block series, which explores the graphic potential of solid color fabrics put together with improvisational piecing techniques. This quilt grew out of the previous quilt in the series, Regatta.  After I squared up the blocks for that quilt, I had these wonderful strips of fabric left over and I couldn’t bear to throw them away. I pieced them into wonky rectangular blocks using different color solid fabrics and alternated them with wonky log cabins. The strips go in different directions and add a lot of movement and activity to the quilt. It was fun to piece and then I handquilted concentric circles all over the top with a large needle and perle cotton. I didn’t really know how it would end up when I started it and that’s my favorite way to work.

Summer Breeze 33" x 27"

I just received notice recently that “Summer Breeze” was accepted into the “Creative Threads: From Fiber to Fine Art” Textile Exhibit at Glen Echo Park near Bethesda, MD. The exhibit will run from January 23 to February 28 in the Popcorn Gallery at the park, which is open on weekends. It should be an interesting show.

Summer Breeze is part of the series that happened when I wasn’t looking. I’ve decided to call it my “Windows” series, because that was the name of the first piece. These pieces are constructed with small improvisationally pieced compositions that are arranged into an interesting design like puzzle pieces, usually with a solid or mottled background to set off the blocks. It’s one of my favorite ways to work and the series has been popular, since three of the five pieces have been sold.  The other one that I still have is “Color My World,” which I wrote about on the blog about a week ago. Summer Breeze is set onto a reddish-pink background and mounted on stretcher bars so it hangs on the wall like a picture.

Glen Echo is a fascinating place. It used to be an amusement park and many of the buildings from that phase are still there. They have wonderful puppet shows and a magical merry-go-round where I used to take my boys when they were young, in addition to artist studios, theater performances, and classes in art and dance. It’s also a national park and there are opportunities to learn about the unique history of the place. If you have the opportunity to visit, it’s well worth the trip, especially if you have children to accompany you.

Impressions of Paynes Prairie

I’m excited to announce that two of my pieces were accepted into the Quilting Natural Florida II exhibit, which will be on display from Feb. 6-April 25, 2010 at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, Florida. I grew up in Gainesville and I’m thrilled that my work will hang in the museum where I visited as a child. Actually, the museum is in a new location now than it was when I was young, but you get the idea!

One of the accepted quilts is shown at right. It’s called “Impressions of Paynes Prairie,” which is a state park near Gainesville.  I remember driving through the park and hiking there with my dad. I had fun with the quilting on this one–it has waves and pebbles and boardwalk designs, plus some fun vegetation and clouds at the top. You can see some of the quilting in the detail below.

The other quilt that was accepted in this show is “Sunrise on the Beach,”  which embodies the many memories I have of long lazy days spent watching the seagulls and the ocean. I didn’t really realize until I began writing this that both of these pieces use the same curved piecing technique to represent a landscape. It’s fun to do and very easy once you get the hang of it. You simply lay two pieces of fabric right sides up with an overlap between them. Then you cut a gentle curve freehand with a rotary cutter, remembering to stay within the overlap.  After discarding the waste pieces, sew the curves together right sides together. They will look like they won’t fit, but trust me–they do! Press. It’s as simple as that.

Sunrise on the Beach

If you’re in the Alexandria area on Saturday, Nov. 21, I’ll be doing a show at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology on Braddock Road–my son’s alma mater. The show, which runs from 9-4, is for the benefit of the TJ crew team, which my son rowed for four years before going off to college. I’ve got some new small items for sale, including pillows, covered journals which are really fun, pieced coasters and holiday ornaments, in addition to my quilts. Stop by and say hello if you get a chance! It’s a great cause and there should be some interesting booths there. For more information visit their website at www.tjgiftshow.com

Detail of Jazz Rhythms

October was a very busy month for me, with two major shows–the MPA Artfest and the Great Falls Studios Studio Tour. I had tons of fun meeting new people and sharing my work and I was pleased and gratified that a number of my quilts went to new homes last month! A big thank you to all of you who visited me or contacted me online–I enjoyed chatting with you and I really appreciate all your feedback on my work.

Getting ready for a major show, let alone two in two weeks, is an exhilarating, exhausting undertaking. For me, at least, it’s also a time of intense creativity that makes me realize why I love my work so much. When I’m gearing up for a show, typically I have an idea of what I want to exhibit and I always try to have as much new work as I can so it’s interesting for people to come see me. It never fails, though, that I have more ideas than I can execute in the time I have available. Sometimes I have two or three pieces in process on my design wall and several more ideas bubbling around in my head. I try to write down either a rough sketch or a few words to capture the thought for when I have more time. Usually I’m working late into the night and up early in the morning to finish as much as I can before the show opens. It’s fascinating to me that I thrive on these times. The creative force that drives me gives me such energy and appreciation for the ability to do work that I absolutely love doing, no matter how much time I spend doing it.

Many people ask me how I have the patience to do the work I do. I’m a little confused by the question, because I’m not a patient person. In fact I’m very impatient when I have half a dozen ideas in my mind and not enough time to realize them right away. I enjoy every part of the process of creating and I feel incredibly fortunate to have the ability to follow my dreams of creating art and sharing it with others.

Which brings me to “Jazz Rhythms,” the detail which is shown at the upper right. You can see this quilt in progress by clicking on the “Color Block Series” category at right. I finished the quilt in September and entered it into a major show. On Friday I received notice that it had been rejected. So my great month ended on a down note, but when I looked at the list of artists who were accepted into this particular show, I realized that the jurors were most likely looking for a different kind of work than what I submitted. It doesn’t mean that my work isn’t good enough, simply that it didn’t work with what these particular jurors were looking for for this particular show. Humbling, but I’m still excited about this quilt and this series and I have a few new ideas to move the series forward!

Fire and Ice 41 x 35

Well–I missed a day–sorry about that! There’s always so much to do to get ready for a show. It energizes me and I enjoy it, but sometimes I bite off more than I can chew! My carefully constructed plan was thrown off yesterday by an email from the local newspaper asking if they could come today to interview me and photograph the quilts in my house. Of course I said yes, but that meant I had to scurry around and straighten things up before they came. It went well, though and hopefully I can post about the article when it appears in a week or two.

Today’s preview is “Fire and Ice” at right. You may recognize the bargello design, but I put a contemporary spin on it by combining the strong bright colors in the middle of the piece with the graphic black and white. It really makes the design pop! This design just flew into my head one day and demanded to be created. This one is quilted very simply with an overall meander design, since the design itself is so strong.

I had this piece at the Artfest last year, but I’ve updated it this year by having it mounted on black linen and stretched over stretcher bars. It really has a lot more presence this way and I’m very happy with it.

Remember the McLean Project for the Arts Artfest is this Sunday, Oct. 4 from 10-5 at McLean Central Park in McLean, VA. It will be held outside and in addition to fabulous art, there will also be great food and entertainment. Stop by and say hello if you’re in the area-I’m in tent #24.

Time Travel 34 x 30

This week I’m previewing work that I’ll be showing at the McLean Project for the Arts Artfest this Sunday, Oct. 4 from 10-5 in McLean Central Park, McLean VA.

At right is “Time Travel,” one of the first pieces in my Color Block series. I haven’t been able to show it much at my exhibits because it’s been traveling. This piece was juried into the Pennsylvania National Quilt Festival last fall and then it went to the Quilts=Art=Quilts juried show in Auburn, NY through January 2009.

” Time Travel” was inspired by the Gee’s Bend quilt exhibit I saw in Baltimore. I hand pieced the log cabin style blocks with improvisational piecing using solid commercial cottons. The blocks with the slanted stripes use strips left over from another project that I couldn’t bear to throw away. I pieced the blocks and then put them up on my design wall and played with the arrangement until I had a pleasing design. I really love the way the colors play off against each other in this piece–if you didn’t know it was fabric, it almost looks like it’s painted.

Because this piece had a folk art feel, I hand quilted it with red perle cotton thread in concentric circles over the entire top. The name came to me because I felt like I was traveling back in time to be inspired by the quiltmakers of the past, yet the bold graphic quality of the design seems very contemporary.

If you’re in the McLean area on Sunday, stop by the Artfest–there will be great art, food and entertainment! I’m in tent #24. For more information on the Artfest, visit the MPA website at www.mpaart.org