Quarterly Meeting Coming Up!

I am excited to announce that our next SAQA Alaska Region quarterly meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 11 beginning at 4pm, dinner included - details from Cat to follow next week.  The reason I am excited: I will be able to attend in person because I will be in Anchorage for the Alaska State Council on the Arts Statewide Arts and Culture Conference January 12 - 14.  Hope to see lots of you at our quarterly, and perhaps at the ASCA conference as well.  Wishing you a creative and Happy New Year!

Christensen Exhibits New Work

Susan Christensen opened her latest solo show Friday night at Mielle Gallery in Petersburg.  The exhibit features over 30 dye paintings and monoprints, created over the past year.  Christensen talks about her work in an interview by the local radio station here.

Susan Christensen's work on display at Mielle Gallery

Wearable Art Competition Opportunity

"Eye of the Beholder Wearable Art Show"
Friday, March 9, 2012
Open to all artists, all media
Application deadline is Friday, February 3, 2012 (plenty of time to plan, design and enter your creations!
And the best part: $2,000 in prize money!

For entry form and rules go to
www.alaskafiberfestival.org

(thanks, Cindy Shake!)

Diane Melms Quilt Selected for Quilt=Art=Quilt

'Intersections' by Diane Melms

 Diane Melms' quilt, 'Intersections' has been selected for display in the
Quilt=Art=Quilts Exhibit at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn,
New York. This exhibit opened on October 30 and will run through January 8,
2012.  Congratulations, Diane!

Recap of the October Meeting

Our October 20th meeting was entertaining, educational and inspiring.  I attended from Southeast via 'Go-To-Meeting' on-line, and it was the next best thing to being there in person!

Cat gave a brief summary of the Rep's October conference call which focused mainly on the new ways to acquire funding from the national guild, before introducing guest presenter Rene Haag, owner of Blaine's Art in Anchorage.

Rene Haag

Rene displayed an inspirational assortment of products around the room and talked about the possibilities each offered textile artists like ourselves.  Cat took photos while Rene talked and I was able to see them on my computer screen thanks to 'GO-To-Meeting' technology.  Here's what Rene brought to show us:

'Tee Juice' fabric markers

Shiva oil paint sticks

Lutradur

Artist Transfer Paper

Jacuard textile paints

tote bags

quilting books

ExtravOrganza digital printing sheets

Blaine's Art offers a venue for classes in addition to its impressive array of products.  The Anchorage store is located right off West Benson Avenue in Anchorage, and the website is linked above and worth a visit.

After Rene finished tantalizing us with intriguing supplies for art quiliting, Maria Shell and Cat gave a fabulous slide show presentation of Maria's collection of the SAQA auction quilts she has purchased over the years.  Cat's excellent photos of both the fronts and backs of these little jewels were lots of fun to view.  You can take a look at the entire collection yourself here.  There is an icon on the top left of the page to view as a slide show.

Thanks to Cat for putting together such a great quarterly meeting.  Hope to see lots of participation for our next meeting which will happen in mid-January, time and place to be announced.

Best wishes for a creative early winter to all of you.  Cat and I are off to Art Quilt Tahoe in a couple of weeks and I will send up a post or two from that experience, my first and Cat''s 8th or 9th!

As always, if you have news you want posted here, just drop me an email - I love hearing from you!  Your Co-Rep, Susan

KTNA Featured Artists - Julia and Tony Crocetto

Julia March Crocetto & Tony Crocetto have been selected as co-Featured Artists by KTNA for their 16th Annual Art Auction. There will be a Preview of the artwork with Reception on Second Saturday, September 10th from 4 to 7pm at the Sheldon Community Arts Hangar in Talkeetna.

'Dahlia III' by Julia March Crocetto

Julia's quilt "Dahlia III" is one of the featured works that will be on display at the Arts Hangar until the auction on September 24.
More information can be found at KTNA.org

Exhibit of New Work at Well Street Gallery, Fairbanks

Ree Nancarrow, Karin Franzin, Kathie Cook, and Phyllis Movius have a group show opening at Well Street Gallery in Fairbanks on September 2.  It will hang for the month of September.

'Dark Mountain Range' by Ree Nancarrow; 26"x31"

Taiwan International Quilt Exhibition 2012 - Call for Entry

The Taiwan Art Quilt Society announces the Taiwan International Quilt Exhibition 2012.  TIQE2012 theme is 'Moving Water and River'  The exhibition will be mounted at multiple venues in Taiwan.  Entry deadline is February 29, 2012.  TIQE2012 Prospectus and Entry Form can be had by emailing Susan Christensen.

'Celebrating Works in Fiber' Exhibition

Nelda Warkentin’s quilt, ‘Glacier Rendezvous 2’ will be on display at  Artique, Ltd. Gallery, 341 G Street, Anchorage, July 15-30. Other artists with  work in the ‘Celebrating Works in Fiber’ exhibition are Nancy Dobson, Karin  Franzen, Polly Lewis, Diane Melms, Ree Nancarrow, Linda Schwamm and Carolyn  Strand.  

Nelda Warkentin’s quilt, ‘Glacier Rendezvous 2'

Pixeladies Photoshop Elements Class

For the past several years, learning Photoshop Elements has been languishing unaccomplished on my things to do list.  At the Visioning Conference last month, I met the solution to my problem when I took Deb Cashatt and Kris Sazaki’s introduction to PSE workshop and then signed up for their on-line beginners class.  

Kris and Deb – the Pixeladies – have put together a wonderful three week course which includes well paced, information packed video lessons, concise handouts, and a weekly webinar.  I went in as a complete newbie, and have emerged a confident wielder of basic Photoshop magic.

If you want to add Photoshop skills to your art making arsenal, I highly recommend Deb and Kris’s class.  As quilters themselves, they focus the course on applications we can really use and understand.  Their presentations are witty and fresh with follow-along examples to download so you have plenty of hands-on practice at your own pace.   The Pixeladies have really opened up the endless possibilities of Photoshop Elements for me, and I can at last scratch something off my list!

Have you taken a class or workshop recently?  Got a show coming up or accomplishment to share?  Want to show off a great new project or technique tutorial?  Drop me an email and I will get it posted here on our SAQA AK blog!  Best wishes for summer creating, Susan Christensen

Visioning Conference Highlights

May 19 through 21 Cat Larea, your Alaska Region Rep and Susan Christensen, your blog-mistress, were lucky enough to attend the SAQA Visioning Conference in Denver, Colorado.  The international event kicked off Thursday evening with an artists speed-dating icebreaker.  Artists sat at tables of 10 and had two minutes to share about themselves before a gong was sounded signaling the next artist's turn. 

Everyone had been asked to bring 50 business or post cards to hand out to their speed dates.  Great fun, and we all met at least 30 new artquilt friends.

Of the three excellent panel discussions, my personal favorite was entitled 'Off the Wall, Challenges and Rewards of Working Three-D' which featured artists Carolyn Crump, Jill Rumoshosky Werner, Mary Beth Bellah and Susan Else, who moderated the panel.  Above is Carol Crump with her piece 'Mother and Child' (measures over 7 feet tall).

Carol Crump with one of her large masks.

Jill Rumoshosky Werner with 'Splash'.  Jill is interested in words and creating a visual dictionary.

Jill with a politically charged piece 'Pork Sna-Fu' in mixed media and fiber.

Mary Beth Bellah sees her work as a conversation with her viewers.  Here she is with 'Party Animal', an exterior installation involving a quilted fabric surface over a fiberglass form, coated with UV sealant to protect from the elements.

Mary Beth with 'Fast Lane Teasers', one of her fabric tea pot inspired creations.

Susan Else showing one of her first 3-D pieces, 'Early House Cat'.  Humor is very important in Susan's colorful work.

Forced attendance at bingo games inspired Susan's quilted sculpture above.

Susan's life-size skeleton covered with quilted fabric was one of my favorite images.

Conference participants attended career and personal development workshops, lectures in curating and archiving quilt work, a gallery tour of SAQA exhibits in Golden, and a fabulous banquet on the closing evening among other events over the three days.

Cat and Susan are now be sharing Alaska Regional Rep duties.  We hope you will give some thought to what you would like to get out of your SAQA membership and share your good ideas at our May 31, 2011 quarterly meeting. 

Spring Quilt Contest at the Quilted Raven

THE QUILTED RAVEN - 415 G ST.  IN DOWNTOWN ANCHORAGE announces their spring quilt contest 'April Showers Bring May Flowers'.

Consider the challenge title and create your own one-of-a-kind entry, a miniature quilt no larger than 12 inches high by 10 inches wide.

Entry deadline: Tuesday, May 31st.  The show begins Friday, June 3rd, when the quilts go on display for First Friday. Customers will vote on their favorite quilt until June 30th. At the end of the show, the votes will be tallied; one $50 and two $25 gift certificates will be given to the top three picks!

Call the shop for details.

Agenda Items Sought

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, May 31st at 6:00pm at the BP Energy Center in Anchorage.  Please send any ideas you would like to discuss to Cat so she can get them on the agenda.  Instructions and call details for joining the meeting online will be sent out in advance.  For those of you interested in testing out "GoToMeeting" with Cat in advance of the meeting, please just dropher a line or give a call.  She'll be happy to arrange a practice session with anyone in advance. 

Check out the SAQA Benefit Auction quilts.  July 2nd is the deadline for submission of a piece to benefit SAQA.  Remember, this is a small piece (about a square foot), and is a great way to showcase your creativity.  Three of us to date have contributed (Cat, Susan and Gail).  It's fun, easy, and you'll feel good.  And the good news is I stop bugging you after July 2nd!

Cat and her husband will be teaching a short class on using Photoshop Elements as part of your creative workflow at "Across the Bay Tent & Breakfast" in August.  Per its name, the location is across the bay from Homer in Kasitsna Bay. 

We are always delighted to have your news to share on the SAQA Alaska blog - contact Susan for adding information!