It is almost April and this is my first blog post of the year. It isn't because I have been sitting twiddling my thumbs, quite the opposite. However, today is the day I have time to post! So here is a little roundup of some of the things I've been doing and making. I have made several new 3D pieces which have already had some success. The first is called Out of the Blue and is from my Connectivity series (click the image above and watch). It is inspired by memories of my favourite beaches in New Zealand and South Africa and I was delighted when it was selected to be exhibited in the latest Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) virtual exhibition 'Impressions of Oceania from Around the World', curated by Jennifer Bowker, Sue Dennis and Susan de Vanny. You can view all the amazing artwork in the gallery by clicking the button below. The second is called Out of the Funk and has inspired me to look to create something much larger in scale and significance in the future. Click the image above for a look at that. If you have clicked on the two images above you can see I have been exploring with different (and I hope better) ways to show my 3Dwork using video presentations. It has meant learning a whole new skill set, but I am pleased with how the work looks. The third piece of work is a development of my piece called 'In Loving Memory' which I talked about in my blog post at the end of last year (click here). The new piece is called 'Light, Life, Love' . Both of these pieces are have been submitted to different calls for entry, the results of which I hope to hear very soon, so I am keeping my fingers crossed for those. Another thing that has been keeping my busy lately is that I have been busy with online classes via zoom. Yesterday was the largest yet when I taught my Star Sign Mosaic class to 27 lovely members of The Quilters' Guild's Region 16 (a.k.a Scotland). It was an absolutely lovely day, relaxed, fun and v-e-r-y productive. Here is a quick screen shot of some of the work in progress (and even one almost finished!). It was a great thrill for me to be able to 'visit' Region 16, as in more normal times it probably would not have been feasible due to the distance and expense of getting there. In addition I was able to hold the class for 27 people, again something that would not really be possible in a hall. Whilst zoom teaching may not replace in-person teaching it certainly has some excellent plus-points, and with good co-ordination and preparation by all parties it proved to be a huge success. I firmly believe it is here to stay. I would like to thank Judi O'May, the Regional Co-ordinator for the Guild, for her part in making it so successful as well as all the participants. (The excellent service offered by the Post Office was also a huge help). Something else that is keeping me busy is the preparations I have been making with French textile and quilt artist Genèvieve Attinger (attinger-art-textile.odexpo.com/default.asp). She and I are jointly curating an exhibition of art quilts made by the members of the Europe Middle East Region of SAQA which will be called 'Plurality of Voices'. The call for entry closes on 31st March when it will then be our pleasure to review and curate a beautiful exhibition of work which will be exhibited in a virtual gallery on the SAQA website (www.SAQA.com). I will post a link to the gallery once it is up on 1st May. It is going to be a wonderful experience to have so much superb work to enjoy, yet also very difficult to make our decisions. I also have some other SAQA related news. From mid April I will be joining the Board of Directors of SAQA. Over the past few years I have become more and more involved and passionate about this organisation and I am thrilled to be able to play an important role in continuing the development and success of this nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the art quilt through education, exhibitions, professional development, documentation, and publications. To find out more abut SAQA visit their amazing website to get a feel for what they offer members. www.saqa.com As ever, tanks for reading!
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