Virtual Press Conference Replies: Part Four

Time to continue the RSR Virtual Press Conference with a few more replies. Today I'm focusing on questions from Carol Dean, Deborah, and Angela because they all have to do with art in general or art quilts in particular. In the next week or so I'll answer questions that pepektheassasin and Michelle had about books and authors, and questions that Corky and Andrea had about life. Now on to the questions du jour. Carol Dean asks: If you could engage in only one creative pursuit (quilting, drawing, writing, photography), what would it be? Why? I had to think about this one a while because that's a horrible dilemma for someone with my multiple interests and admittedly short attention span. I have to say that if I was faced with that situation, I'd be spending most of my creative efforts toward finding a way to get out of it! HA! But meanwhile, I'd choose quilting, because with quilting I could cheat just a bit and include all those other things you mentioned as part of the process. Not allowed to write? Oh, but I'm writing an artist's statement about the quilt, or maybe I'm writing a story or poem I'm going to print onto fabric and include on the surface. I might even be appliqueing or quilting some sentences directly onto the quilt as part of the surface design. That's only just stretching the rule a little, not really breaking it, right? Not allowed to draw? Oh, but I have to. How else can I do my design sketches? And I sometimes add shading to fabric with colored pencils - gotta be able to draw for that. And of course sometimes I may need to paint fabric too, in order to get just the right look. Not allowed to take photos? Oh, but what about incorporating photo images on fabric into the quilts? And what about photographing the quilts themselves in order to submit them to juried exhibits or magazines? Surely that's allowed. As J is frequently heard to say, "there's more than one way to skin a fornicating feline." Deborah asked: Who are your favorite quilt artists? Oh man, there are SO many I like it's hard to narrow it down to just a few. But ok, here are a half-dozen names that came to mind: Pamela Allen, Wendy Huhn, Linda MacDonald, Lori Lupe Pelish, Pam RuBert, Susie (Lucky) Shie. As I answered this, I was obviously focusing on artists who do fairly representational work and who have a certain exuberance and (often) humor in their finished pieces. Those are all qualities I really admire! But I also greatly admire the work of some people who work in a way that's much more spare and abstract, so if I answered this question tomorrow, I could easily come up with a whole new list. Angela asked: I was wondering how long you spend on your daily art things? It varies and I don't really keep track of the time very carefully. I know that sounds like a wimp-out sort of reply, but it's true. At a guess, I'd say anywhere from a half-hour or so on something fairly simple to several hours on some of the more complex ones. And now and then I feature fabric pieces (Really, y'all I do! I know it's been a while, but sometimes I DO show and talk about quilts here! Heh) that I might've worked on a few hours a day for weeks - interspersed with quicker projects - so that one of my DATs might be one of those long-term projects shown when it's finally finished. And speaking of DATs, here's the one for today: "Paintified Pears"