Gallery Stroll

The gallery that carries my work sent out this email yesterday:

Saturday and Sunday, October 6 & 7

Help celebrate the 30th annual Gallery Stroll!

Lake #44 - 23"x 20"

Good Goods of Saugatuck will feature the work of two artists: Nellie Durand and Bill Olendorf. Nellie is a local textile artist and Bill, who summered in Saugatuck for many years, painted in oil and acrylic.

Nellie Durand has set a goal of creating a hundred different images of Lake Michigan in fabric. She creates quilts, often embellished with pastels and paint that calls to mind the waves, beach, sand and storms of Lake Michigan. Her Lake Michigan Series will be featured for Gallery Stroll, and Nellie will be present demonstrating and discussing her techniques.

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The above pictured lake piece was made especially for this venue. The curator and owner requested that I make a larger cornerstone piece. They had come for lunch and to see what was involved in the making of these lake pieces. Sandra, the owner, influenced the direction I took for its mood by being drawn to this piece from a previous sunset series.

"Contrails at Sunset"- 8 1/2"x16"

I found it more of a challenge to work on this large of a scale (23"x 20")than for the smaller lake pieces. The problem was obscuring the patterns of the larger pieces of fabric chosen for the water. I most certainly do not want a viewer's reaction of, "Oh, look at that piece of fabric in the lake (or on the beach, or in the sky)". Patterns were not obvious to me before the piece was quilted.A few of them popped right out there when it was done, necessitating the use of oil stick pastels and paint. Wish I had taken a photo before those additions, but I could hardly wait to diffuse them. Here most of the work is done. The setting sun peeping through the clouds, plus intense red reflections were accentuated even more after I finished the edging.
I just came home from delivering it to the gallery. I'll be there both afternoons from 1:00 to 5:00. Whew! I'm looking forward to creating "live".