SAQA national survey - inquring minds want to know!

Hello fellow artists, Lynn here again. I just wanted to take a second of your time to ask you if you've done the SAQA national survey yet? (Not the Michigan one I emailed you all about, this is the big survey.)

The SAQA Board set up an extensive survey wanting to know what you like - what do you think is working? What would you like to see improved? What big ideas do you have that you'd love to see them add to the organization?

I get it, its easy to say "I'll do this later" and then just sort of let it slip between the cracks. But here's the thing - they really mean it when they say they want to know what you think. They want to make SAQA as good as it can be - which means serving the needs of all of us.

The survey takes a few minutes but when I was going through it, I realized there are a lot of things in SAQA that I don't take good advantage of. And that there are things that I'd like to see changed or added. It felt good to give my opinion and to know that they will read it and take it into consideration.

So please, take a few minutes and do the survey. Help make SAQA be the best it can be!

Go take the survey now! :)

SAQA / SDA picnic - an awesome afternoon!

Hello fabulous SAQA MI artists, Lynn here. I thought I'd give you a report on how the joint SAQA / SDA picnic last week went. In short, we had an awesome time! How could we not, really? Great food, great artists and a really pleasant beautiful location. :)

Susie, the MI rep for the Surface Design Association,  hosted the gathering in her backyard. Part of the meeting was dedicated to seeing each other's work, here are some views of what each member brought:

Clockwise: Carole Harris shows her latest quilt top in progress; Terri Voight models beautiful felted vest (it is very light and has great drape); Carol Tamasiunas brought an art quilt that was inspired by Georgia O'Keefe, she painted the fabric for the piece; Ann Jacob shows her discharge dyed quilt and talks about the environmental issues that inspired it.

*********

Clockwise: Sandy Gellish shows her art quilt featuring a beautiful landscape; Mary Andrews holds up her art quilt full of incredible hand stitching and color; Jeanne brought one of her sheer wraps on which she has skillfully felted wool onto; Kate Lebowsky talks about a new series of plushie art (that she has coined Huggable Art) that she is creating based on fairytales (these are from the Three Little Pigs tale).

*********

On the left: Susie Krage holds up a new piece featuring fabric that was created from her photos of Detroit. On the right: Marilyn Prucka's piece is inspired by rivers and features fabric that has been discharged.

*********

Clockwise: Kay Lister shows off an art quilt that features dyed fabric and screen printing; Patrice Smith's art quilt was created using fabric that has deconstructed screen printing on it; Anne Hiemstra shows an art quilt that was free form pieced and designed.

And since I was behind the camera, I didn't get a shot of me showing off the work that I brought but here is a view of it on its own:

Its the 18th piece in my current series, Remnant Collages, and features hand printed fabric that has been collaged onto canvas.

The afternoon was very pleasant and it was such a great time to get to know everyone! Many thanks to Susie for hosting the gathering and we hope to see you at a future event!

new blog banner for June

I'm afraid I'm a bit late updating the blog banner for June - and its a wonderful one! I think it adds such a wonderful summer feel to the blog, don't you? :)

Here is a full view of it:

The Blue Pitcher

12" x 12"

Mary Vinovskis

Ann Arbor, MI

From Mary:  This "The Blue Pitcher" (12" x 12").  Here I was trying for a painterly effect. The inspiration was a photo I took.  I was able to use the small trimmings from a different fusing project to create "paint strokes" on the pieces of fruit.

 

Don't forget that you can see all the blog banner photos in their entirety as well as information about the artist and piece on the blog's Blog Banner Gallery page. Enjoy! :)

a survey - please let us know your thoughts! :)

Hi gang, Lynn here. I just finished sending out an email to each of you individually. I know I can send one through the SAQA site but its my biggest hope to connect with everyone and see what it is you'd like to do as a SAQA MI member.

So you'll see an email from me and I hope you won't mind that I'm invading your inbox. :)

I've set up two surveys through Survey Monkey (a free polling service) to find out what you'd like to do. Its in two parts because I can only put ten questions on one survey and I had more then that - but don't worry! It won't take long to answer at all!

The links are in the email I sent out to each of you but here they are again for your convenience:

SAQA MI survey part 1

SAQA MI survey part 2

And to thank you for taking the time to fill out the surveys, we're holding a very awesome drawing - a free yard of hand dyed fabric from Cathy Arnett's shop, Funky C Fiber Spree! Cathy is an awesome dyer, here is a sample of her work:

Lovely, right? You'll get to choose which ever one from her shop strikes your fancy if you're the winner. The surveys are anonymous so all you have to do after you take it is send an email to saqamichigan@gmail.com saying you did it and you'll be entered in the drawing.

You have until July 31 to take the surveys and the winner of the fabric will be announced here on the blog on August 4.

I sincerely hope that there are ideas on the surveys that appeal to you and if there is something we haven't thought of, by all means let us know!

Thanks! :)

Lynn

you're invited! a SAQA/SDA picnic! :)

Hello lovely artists - Lynn here. I've got some really exciting news!

I have the great fortune of being friends with the Michigan rep for the Surface Design Association. We were talking recently about how we thought the two groups would enjoy meeting each other so we're inviting all of you to attend a picnic to get to know other SAQA members from the area as well as SDA members too.

Susie, the SDA rep, is graciously opening her beautiful home in historic Indian Village in Detroit for the event. Here are the details:

What: Meet and Greet SAQA / SDA picnic

Where: Susie's home
             1731 Seminole St.
             Detroit, MI 48124

When: Sunday June 24 beginning at 2pm

What to bring: Please bring a dish to pass, your favorite beverage and a piece of your artwork to show off your wonderful talents! :)

RSVP: To Lynn at FibraArtysta@earthlink.net

I have room in my car to carpool if a few people are interested in doing that. Just let me know in your RSVP, only three spots.

Please feel free to bring non-SAQA members to check out the groups, we're always looking to welcome new artists into the organization and this would be a wonderful opportunity to introduce them to what we do.

Very excited about this gathering and I do hope that you will attend!!! :)

Lynn

call for entries: Thoughts with Thread exhibit

The Northville Art House in Northville, MI is seeking entries for an upcoming juried exhibit, Thoughts with Thread.

From the entry form:

The Northville Art House seeks fiber art entries for its August 2012 exhibit, Thoughts with Thread, examples of fiber art include quilts, weaving, needlework, cloth/fiber dolls or figurative work, wall hangings, fashion, etc.

Entries are due June 29th (receive by date).

Visit their Exhibits page for the entry form (scroll down to the bottom).

SAQA call for entry: I'm Not Crazy exhibit

There is still time to submit for the new SAQA exhibit, I'm Not Crazy. The juror is Sue Reno and the curator is Kathy Nida.

Details about the show's theme (from SAQA's website):

Mental illness carries with it a stigma; many of us have experience with disorders, temporary or permanent, curable or not, that in the past and in some cultures even today would be labeled as crazy. That stigma can make it difficult to admit its effect on our loved ones or ourselves. Disorders as common as anxiety or depression, or less common, like schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder, can have a devastating effect on families and friends, and on ourselves. Negativity towards those who have these disorders often causes many people to keep the diagnosis hidden from friends and family.

• What does “crazy” look like?
• What does it feel like?
• How does the world look through the eyes of someone experiencing a panic attack or depression or other mental disorder?
• How does loving or caring for someone with a mental disorder look and feel?

We’re looking for work that covers these experiences: from the eyes of the caregiver, the friend, the family member, and, of course, those who have experienced any of these disorders themselves. Your work can reflect the disorder or the chaos it holds on our lives, it can be humorous, it can be sad, it can be crazy or incredibly calm.

Full details on how to enter can be found here.