Reminder

Bid in SAQA's 2010 Benefit Auction starting September 20th
http://www.saqa.com/news.php?ID=1423




I am re-sending this as a reminder of the upcoming trip on Saturday hope to see you all there. We will try to take a few pictures to post to the blog. If you haven't sent me any information about your self to post on our blog http://www.saqailwi.blogspot.com, I hope you will sooon.


Laura, Trish and I hope you are having a very productive summer. I hope you are finding time to visit the SAQA site and keeping up to date on all the news that is provided there.

The time is fast approaching for our third group event an outing on July 31st to the Milwaukee Art Museum to view the American Quilts: Selections from the Winterthur Collection.

Our plan is to meet Saturday July 31 at the Milwaukee Art Museum to see the American Quilts Exhibit. We will meet at the main entrance at 10 a.m., view the exhibit and gather for lunch at the Café Calatrava in the museum and again have an impropto SAQA meeting. As I remember there is a wonderful gallery region in Milwaukee and perhaps we can wander over there after the exhibit. Or if any of you WI people have a better idea please share it with us by email before the trip. We look forward to experiencing these great art outing with who ever shows up. Please mark your calendars and try to join us.

SOFA will once again be in Chicago this fall November 5-7, 2010 Festival Hall, Navy Pier. SAQA would like to have a table and needs volunteers to man the table. If you are interested please contact Trish Williams and she will set up a schedule of times for those that respond. You get in free to the show and it is well worth the trip into Chicago.

DON’T FORGET - We are organizing a show called, Material Ways, an exhibit of art work by you, our Illinois and Wisconsin regional members opening at the Fine Line in St. Charles, IL in January. The entry form and images are due September 1, 2010. You can find the entry form and guidelines in our SAQA IL/WI Yahoo files. Or it is attached with this email. Or email Laura at laura@artfabrik.com for the information.

Thank you from your hard working, or hardly working regional reps.

Frieda, Trish and Laura

13 Ways of Looking at Blackbirds

Greetings All,

"13 Ways of Looking at Blackbirds" is opening this week at the Circle of Arts in Charlevoix, Michigan and several of our SAQA IL/WI members are participating in this exhibit which runs July 17 - September 19, 2010. So if you are in the area do check out the show. Participating members are: Casey Puetz, Cheryl Dineen Ferrin, Clairan Ferrono, Frieda Anderson, BJ Parady, Laura Wasilowski, Peg Keeney, Shelley Brucar, Pat Kroth, and Trish Williams. Clairan is also the curator of this exhibit.

Pat Bishop

Pat Bishop – Fiber Rich Art – Soul Nutritious

Artist Statement - July 2010

Textiles provide a unique vehicle of interpretation with their tactile nature, vibrant color and endless variety. Instead of paint, I select fabrics to get the desired effect. The happy accidents of working in this medium give results that can be challenging and pleasingly unpredictable. I love the feel, texture, depth of color, even the smell of fabrics and the ability to lose myself in the whirr of the sewing machine.

Using cloth slows the process, which gives me the time I need to make decisions about what to do next. Although I have not had formal art training I have always had a huge interest in art and have taught myself or taken classes in different avenues of the art world. I believe it was a natural progression for me due to my history of sewing and traditional quilting to progress into creating my art with cloth. I am inspired by simplicity, the ability to achieve representation in the simplest form possible and also by artists who have done their own thing without concern for the opinions of others.

My work has evolved from traditional to realistic to abstract. In my abstract work, simplicity is used to achieve my goal. Abstract gives me freedom to manipulate components of the composition to express my own impression and representation. I am very inspired by nature, some of the best times of my life have been in nature, enjoying the birds, animals and all living things in the quiet of the woods, fields and waters. Being able to use my art to represent what I see and feel gives me the greatest satisfaction.

“Walk of the Cranes” won first place in the 2010 Secura Fine Art Show, Appleton, WI. This is the second time in the past three years that one of my pieces has won first place in the Secura Fine Art Show. I am very please and proud to have been asked to exhibit in my first solo show through the Appleton Art Center at the Gallery of American National Bank, Fox Cities. Everyone is invited to the reception July 22, 2010, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., 2200 N. Richmond Street, Appleton, WI 54911

Walk of the Cranes was inspired from a photo I took five years ago. Each morning this family of cranes would cross the yard on their search for breakfast, Mom in the lead, making sure Dad and kids are following along. (40 x 30)

View of Vernazza was taken from a photo taken by my nephew and his wife on their honeymoon a few years ago. I was inspired by the colorful buildings and thought it might make an interesting piece. (40 x 30)

She #5 is part of a series I am still pursuing. I’ve enjoyed the piecing process in a simple basic method, where things aren’t measured but “eye-balled”. Its those happy accidents that keep it exciting. I’ve taken classes from some wonderful people, one being Cynthia Corbin. She inspired me to work in this method, and I really enjoy it. She #3 is now on tour with Lois Jarvis’s Rust-Tex Collection. The whole Rust-Tex Collection can be seen at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair July 16-18, 2010 at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake, IL. Check out their website: http://www.fiberandfolk.com

Future events where the RTC can be seen in person are at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England Aug 20-23, 2010, the AQS shows in Des Moines, IA October 6-9, 2010, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, March 16-19, 2011 and to Australia in June of 2011.

Please check out my website and blog to see more of my work.

Thank you,

Pat Bishop

Appleton, WI

patbishop@new.rr.com

http://www.patbishop.info

http://www.patbishop.blogspot.com

Clairan - Updates

It's been really busy around here!

1) My website has been updated. HURRAY!! From "Galleries" click on
new work to see what I've been doing lately: www.fabric8tions.net

2) I have work in the HGA Conversion 2010 exhibit "Small Expressions"
in Albuquerque, NM at the Convention Center from 22-25 July.

3) The detail above is from "The Darkness Surrounds Us," a piece
commissioned by Carol Saller. It was first shown at the Gerald Ford
Presidential Library in Grand Rapids, MI, and now has been accepted at
the highly prestigious Art Quilts Lowell exhibit at the Brush Gallery,
Lowell, MA 11 August - 11 September 2010.

4) Two of my pieces will be part of an exhibit "Thirteen Ways of
Looking at a Blackbird," which I curated for my exhibiting group Fiber
Artists Coalition (FAC), at the Charlevoix Circle of Arts, Charlevoix,
MI 17 July - 19 September.

4) Another exhibit I curated for FAC, Some Like It Hot, will be at
Simply Chicago Art in Evanston, IL 4-26 September. Please join me at
the opening reception, September 4, 1-5 pm 1318 Oakton Street
Evanston, IL 60202 (847) 738-0716.

5) Several of my pieces can be seen in the exhibit Midwest Meditations
at the Bloomingdale Park District Museum, Bloomingdale, IL 11 Sept -
23 Oct. Opening reception 2-4 pm on 19 Sept.

6) One of my pieces, "Last Conversation" is in Lark Books "500 Art
Quilts." This is a beautiful book and I'm honored to be part of it.

Finally, I spent a week in Columbus, OH recently, taking a Master
Class at QSDS with Judy Hooworth. It was fantastic, I constructed 4
pieces there that I can't wait to quilt!

best,

Clairan