Holi Joe

Thanks Diane Wright for the "Play Time" challenge! What a nice way to wrap up our Viewpoints 9 cycle. My inspiration for this challenge is the colorful Indian festival of Holi, which is coming up on March 6th.



I have been "working on" a portrait of my Dad for over a decade. I have many times started and stopped and put various sketches on the back burner.  My previous attempts at a portrait revolved around this one black and white photo that was used on my Dad's funeral mass book (ask your Catholic friends what that is).
As I considered the Holi festival, I thought about playing, laughing and repairing relationships. So in in that spirit, I decided to "repair the relationship" between my memories of my Dad during his life and the associations I had with this one black and white photo. I lifted the pressure off myself to create a serious portrait and just had fun with it. This one uses every color EXCEPT black and white.
I loved the freedom I felt in creating this piece. Every time I added a new tie dyed piece of fabric to this portrait, the results were surprising and it made me smile. It still does. I look at my dad's face and it makes me happy. And it seems like a truer version of "Joe" as I remember him.

Technical details:
Finished size 18"x20"
Tie-dyed cotton fabrics, cut and layered then quilted using hand-guided machine stitching

Living Color

My inspiration for the "Play Time" challenge is the upcoming Indian festival of Holi.

Holi is celebrated at the approach of vernal equinox, on the full moon. The festival date varies every year, per the Hindu calendar (this year it will be March 6). Holi signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, a celebration of color and for many a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forgive and repair relationships.

In India during Holi, people of all ages laugh, yell and run around like children at play. It is not unusual for kids to hide around a corner waiting for an unsuspecting stranger to walk by… so they can squirt them with water or throw fistfuls of colored powder on them.

By the end of the day, people are like human tie-dyes, covered head to toe in colorful splashes.

Biology, Puzzles, and the Hidden Potential of Online Gamers

For 15 years, Scientists at the University of Washington's Biochemistry department had been struggling to fully understand the enzyme structure for viruses such as HIV/AIDS. But even with the help of powerful computers, they were unable to create a working model.

Finally in 2011, they decided to take a new approach. Dr. Firas Khatib created a video game called Fold it.  The game requires players to figure out a protein structure, given certain parameters, tools and information that the scientists had figured out thus far. They put Fold it on line and challenged gamers to find the solution, hoping that human brains could do what computers could not: think intuitively and creatively in 3 dimensions. The puzzle was available on line for free, for a period of 3 weeks. 

The idea paid off. Gamers figured out the structure in just 10 days. 

In fact the gamers' solution allowed scientists to refine the model for a protein enzyme structure, which has contributed to research in anti-viral drug therapy, causes and cures for cancer and immune deficiencies and environmental work on bio-fuels.

“The ingenuity of game players,” Khatib said, “is a formidable force that, if properly directed, can be used to solve a wide range of scientific problems."
I love the idea of looking outside one's own circle of influence to tap into new ideas (new viewpoints, if you will). Serious research scientists are always looking for new sources of information and ways to interpret data. 

Until the invention of the internet, there was no way to access such a large, diverse group of "thinkers" and ask them to work simultaneously on a single problem. Now we have a world full of strategists, puzzle solvers and curious minds, all with the potential to become virtual research assistants (or maybe test subjects). Who knows where the next break through will come from?

(detail)

Title: Control
Technical Details: Finished size 18" x 18"
Depicts a close up view of an Xbox game controller
Hand dyed cotton and batik fabrics, cut and layered via raw-edge applique, sewn together using hand-guided machine stitching, with rayon and polyester thread

Human Potential

This has been an interesting challenge, thinking about a vessel filled with potential good…  My thoughts kept going back to the human brain – so full of untapped energy and secrets waiting to be revealed.



As I began sketching out ideas, I thought about different ways we as human beings can reach our potential and bring out our best qualities. We face many complex problems.  Some of them seem almost impossible to solve, unless we work together as a group and utilize the talents of various people.

The human mind is capable of so much: innovation, creativity, pragmatic plans and far out dreams.  How can potential be focused into positive action?

Monarch and Milkweed

I believe most people on Earth realize our climate and ecology are changing.  Yet even in the age of information sharing and awareness, we have not seen a large-scale, coordinated effort to reverse these disturbing trends. We the people (individuals, political parties, corporations, governments) have failed to connect the health of the environment to our OWN personal survival.  We consider Ebola and terrorism as existential threats worthy of multi-national cooperation but ignore the fact that we, as a species, are making our planet less able to support human life.

Most adults can recall a different world of plants, insects, animals and coastlines compared to our childhood days.  I'm talking about something more than just nostalgia and wishful thinking.  Since 1970, the year I was born, the Earth has lost over HALF its wildlife. Holy %$#!  “If half the animals died in London zoo next week it would be front page news,” said Professor Ken Norris, Director of Science at the Zoological Society of London.

In my young son's lifetime (9 years), Monarch Butterfly populations decreased by over 90% - from an estimated 550 million in 2004 to just about 33 million in 2013.  The decline is due in large part ot the loss of the Monarch's main food supply, Milkweed.  So here's part of the problem.  Much of the reporting and news about climate change and ecological trends are given in these cold statistics. People usually respond with "Why should I care about butterflies and weeds?  I have enough to worry about, trying to put dinner on the table."

For this challenge as always, my first priority is to create something beautiful. I'm trying to use that to remind people WHY we should care. These beautiful creatures are disappearing from our world.  Then hopefully once I have the viewer's attention, explain how there's more at stake than just the loss of colorful insects.

As Lindsay Smith of National Geographic put it "monarchs have long been considered both an indicator of our ecological health and a representative of pollinator populations."  That means putting dinner on the table IS related to the health of butterflies and weeds. It seems counter-intuitive for farmers to see weeds and bugs as part of a healthy farm and increased food production.  But by allowing milkweed to grow in some areas of their land and stopping the use of devastating herbicides like Roundup, bees and butterflies may survive to pollinate their other cash crops.  Without insect pollinators, foods like apples, oranges, almonds and onions would all but disappear, too.  And that's bad for everyone's dinner table.

Technical details: I started with hand dyed fabric for the background, cut and layered bits of hand dyed and batik cotton fabrics using raw edge applique to create the butterfly and flowers, stitched/quilted everything together and added small details with polyester and rayon threads, hand-guided machine stitching.  Finished size 40cm W x 80cm H.

In Defense of Bugs (well, some of them)

There is an American expression, to "shoot yourself in the foot". It means to say or do something that ends up hurting yourself. 
I feel like this often applies to our approach to farming and the agricultural industry. There's no doubt that a country of 300+ million people needs to produce a lot of food, and we need to use large areas of land for farming.  But the way we farm can have a negative impact on bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects. In the long run it hurts us and our ability to feed ourselves.  Without these natural pollinators, our food supply would be drastically reduced.  There has to be a better balance.

Excerpted from "Monarch Butterflies Keep Disappearing. Here's Why." by By Brad Plumer January 29, 2014 
Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/01/29/the-monarch-butterfly-population-just-hit-a-record-low-heres-why/ 

"Lincoln Brower, a professor of biology at Sweet Briar College who has studied the monarch migrations for decades. In a 2012 paper, he cited three big reasons the populations are dwindling: Deforestation in Mexico, recent bouts of severe weather, and the growth of herbicide-based agriculture destroying crucial milkweed flora in the Midwest."
"….The most catastrophic thing from the point of view of the monarch butterfly has been the expansion of crops that are planted on an unbelievably wide scale throughout the Midwest and have been genetically manipulated to be resistant to the powerful herbicide Roundup."

Viewpoints 9 Exhibitions

Viewpoints 9 is pleased to announce a special exhibition of contemporary fiber art selected from each of the original 2012 and 2013 challenges. Exhibits will be held at the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza XXI, September 18-21, 2014 and Quiltfest Oasis Palm Springs, October 2-4, 2014. 

To learn more about the artwork in the exhibition, visit www.Viewpoints9.blogspot.com.

Partridge

For this challenge, I went "back in time" to my first handmade quilt (12 Days of Christmas) and thought about how I might approach the same project if I were making it today.  So I decided to do a portrait of a partridge, minus the pears.

The background is made from shredded scraps of green fabric under a layer of green organza.  Finished size is 9"x9".  Pretty small for one of our challenges, but I am hoping to continue this into a series.

Stitches in Time

I've been thinking back to the first "art quilt" I ever made – the one that started it all.  When I say art quilt, I'm using the term loosely. I did draw all the applique patterns free hand.  Other than that, it's a pretty basic block quilt.  The "thread work" on this piece consisted of a few straight lines between blocks, giant hand-appliqued stitches and some buttons to hold it all together.

     
(Images: 12 Days of Christmas quilt by K.Themel, circa 1996)

Over the years I've added more and more quilting into my pieces.  I can almost measure time by the density of the stitches.

I'm not sure what direction I'll take with this challenge, but I think it will have something to do with the measurement of time. But I better get to it. As always, time is running out!

The Whole Wide World

I usually listen to music in my studio. The song "Whole Wide World" by Wreckless Eric came up on random rotation. The words made perfect sense for this month's challenge.

When I was a young boy, my mama said to me

"There's only one girl in the world for you

and she probably lives in Tahiti"

I'd go the whole wide world

I'd go the whole wide world just to find her

I started thinking about the distance Tom and I traveled before our paths crossed in Westbrook, CT.  And how lucky I am that we ended up in the same place. Which led me to the idea of maps.
I pulled out one of my favorite photos of Tom, a very rare one of him sailing. This background fabric reminded me of vague land formations and water. I used similar colored fabrics and shapes to create Tom's portrait, and used echoing lines within the shapes to make him look more like part of the map.

The red dots are like push pins you might use to mark your travels. The numbers next to them are coordinates – latitude and longitude – related to 9 important places for Tom and me.  They range from Rijeka to Dublin to San Francisco as well as our home in Cheshire, CT.


Technical details
Finished size 18" x 18"
Materials: hand dyed fabrics, ink, fusible web
Techniques: raw edge applique, machine quilted with free motion stiching

I am the .1 percent

I've been thinking about this month's challenge along the lines of chance meetings, amazing coincidences and seemingly random events that turn out to be not-so-random.

The idea of DNA comes to mind. Every cell in our body contains DNA, which contains instructions and information to re-create itself and build whatever the body needs to function. It's like a master blueprint that contains all our biological traits.  When the cell reproduces, it has to pass all of this information on to its "daughter cells".

Putting aside how amazing it is that two cells have enough information to reproduce and grow into an actual human being, and about 90% of the time a fertilized egg will "get it right" to combine all the DNA and in roughly 9 months produce a healthy, living baby….

There are approximately 7 billion people alive on earth right now. If you examined a cell from any 2 random people on earth and looked at their DNA, you'd find they are 99.9% the same. But that 0.1% can represent over 3 million specific differences between the two people's genomes. And every time a child is born, that child gets a mixed combination of genetic information from their parents and sometimes creates a "mutation" or two all their own.

Where does that story lead for me?  I can't help wondering how many different versions of "me" could have been, between the DNA of my parents. All the versions of my husband that could have been.  Would we have fallen in love if we were maybe a thousandth of a percent different?  I think about my 2 sons – all the factors that had to fall into place to create these wonderful human beings.

All at once I feel connected to every person on Earth, thinking we are 99.9 percent alike.  But at the same time I know I am somewhat "alone" because of that 0.1 percent! I will never meet anyone exactly like me even if I could know every living person and live to be 1000 years old.

Suddenly 0.1 becomes larger and heavier than 99.9 – between you and me.

Back when he still had that new baby smell

For as long as I can remember, September has meant the beginning of school.
This month, my son and I have been on the road visiting colleges. Hours of driving, talking and sharing music have allowed me to get to know the amazing person he is today.

So maybe I will stop picturing him as a 3 year old, when I dropped him off for his first day of pre-school. I remember holding back tears as I said goodbye.  He waved briefly, headed toward the Legos and never looked back.



I purposely avoided soothing pastel colors for this portrait.  I see my baby's beautiful angelic face and calm temperament, and I'm tempted to picture a blissful carefree childhood. I could pretend life was simpler and sweeter in the "old days". But it wasn't.

Life has offered amazing opportunities but it has also yanked the rug out from under this kid many times. Fate rearranged his family without his permission and sometimes without warning. His heart has welcomed new family members and grieved the loss of others. By high school, he had gained and lost 2 dogs, attended 4 schools, lived in 6 houses and visited 8 countries.
Life has taught my son to travel light and plan loose. To live in the moment, not hold onto the past or the future too tightly. He doesn't panic when plans or expectations suddenly change. He simply adjusts and finds a way to live in whatever environment he finds himself.

He has the emotional and mental strength to survive and succeed on his own. I will try to remember this as I drop him off at college in the fall. I know I'll be holding back tears as I wave goodbye. I expect he'll start exploring his new place, and not look back.

Technical details: hand dyed cotton fabric, cut and layered, raw edge applique, machine quilted using free motion stitching. Finished size: 18" H x 27" W

September = new beginning

For me, September means the beginning of the school year for the kids and the start of my "weekday studio time".  My son asked me Why did you draw a smiley face on the calendar for the first day of school?! That's not a happy day! 

I replied, "It is for me."



Ah, I love the smell of new backpacks and sharpened pencils! Squeaky clean sneakers, empty folders, freshly buzzed haircuts.  As I wave goodbye, he enters the big glass doors of the elementary school (or the college dorm) and I head back to my quiet studio and imagine the adventures and challenges that await us.

Yes and No

To me, "no" isn't always a negative experience. Sometimes it's neutral.  A way to keep going on a certain path without being diverted.  We need to say no sometimes, to retain some kind of structure in our lives. I have to say no to one thing in order to keep a commitment I made to something or someone else.

But you know what they say about all work and no play!  Saying "yes" is much more exciting. YES makes life colorful and surprising, even if it sometimes leads to disappointment and grief. YES opens up the possibility for growth.

In this piece, the plain white areas represent "No". It coexists with "yes", creating a framework and structure.  NO allows a break in life's constant activity and energy. But if you say no to everything life would be so bland… monotonous… vanilla.

The diamond shaped windows represent "Yes".  Something new is revealed in each one.  Not all the yes-es are bright and cheery.  Some are dark, some might even be ugly on their own.  But together they create a rich and varied collection.



Technical details:
Individual 9" x 9" white fabric squares, folded and sewn together; scraps of hand-dyed and batik fabrics inserted and machine sewn using "Easy Cathedral Windows" technique (found here: http://hyena-in-petticoats.blogspot.com/2007/08/cathedral-window-quilt-tutorial.html ).

No Mas

photo: http://www.etsy.com/listing/112192340/circus-acrobat-woman-knife-juggling?ref=market

There are times in my life when things run smoothly. I get through the day with a sense of confidence and efficiency.  Things fall into place, I'm the master of time management and I go to bed knowing that I've checked off every item on the "To Do" list.  This is not one of those times.

This is a kind of perfect storm cycle of responsibility… like a convergence of planets.. where all my projects and promises come due at the same time. Several images come to mind – a frantic juggler, the target in a giant dodgeball tournament, the waitress with a heavy tray stacked with glasses filled to the top. 

The "Nein" challenge was a really interesting one for me, because lately I have been thinking (as I do when I'm in one of these all-things-due-now cycles) that I should probably learn to say "No" MORE often. I should simplify my life. Just say NO.  But … I know I won't. 

By now, I know myself well enough to know I will always take on a little "too much".  I'm grateful to have such a problem – too many opportunities to do things I enjoy.  A folder full of ideas for the next project and the next; I'll need two lifetimes to do it all.  Part of me must love panic and chaos.  Why else would I keep creating it for myself?  The other part of me loves to conquer it!

So every once in a while I drop a ball.  That's no reason to quit juggling. 

Spelunking

spe·lunk·ing - noun: the sport or practice of exploring or studying caves

If I had 9 lives, I'd spend one of them swimming through the craggy caves and hidden passageways under the sea. 

I would call myself somewhat claustrophobic, although I can usually overcome this fear when I need to.  Touring caves on land, taking a tiny tram up to the top of a mountain or climbing a narrow staircase for a bird's eye view of New York City are a few examples.

The one time I went scuba diving, I loved it and would definitely do it again if I have the chance. But I just cannot imagine exploring caves under water.  Especially the ones that have long dark passage ways, with such tight spaces you have to remove your scuba tank and hold it in front of you to swim through.  Even picturing that in my head makes me queasy!

My challenge quilt is probably the closest I'll get to swimming through one of those tunnels. I added some colorful fish to make the "cave" seem more inviting and less scary. Good enough for me; I don't think I'll be underwater spelunking in real life anytime soon.

Technical details:
Commercial and hand dyed cottons and batik fabric, rayon thread
Raw edge applique, machine sewn and quilted
Finished size 18" x 18"

 

Challenge 2: What would you do with 9 lives?

There is an old myth that cats have 9 lives.  The idea may come from the fact that cats have a natural instinct to twist their bodies and land feet-first, allowing them to survive falls from high places.

Human beings only have one life, and most people protect it at all costs. Unlike the cat's instinct to land feet first from a fall, our natural instinct is to AVOID falling from high places whenever possible.

But what if we could fall… and survive? 

Challenge: What kind of risks would you take if you were guaranteed to NOT GET HURT even if you failed? Possibilities might include physical risks, emotional risks or artistic risks.  What kind of heights would you attempt if you knew you'd land on your feet?

Gallery opens December 27, 2013

Generations

A recent trip to Ireland provided the inspiration for this challenge. Unlike the relatively "young" USA where we think of history in terms of decades, Irish history is measured in millennia. My family name (O'Brien) harks back to Brian Boru, who united the tribes of Ireland 400 years before Columbus set out to "find" America.

Of the many things that captured my imagination during our visit to Ireland were these ancient stones carved with Ogham writing. The stones date back to 4th and 5th century AD, but some scholars believe the Ogham alphabet was invented around 100 BC.

There are a few hundred of these stones still standing today. They're typically carved with names, as memorial stones or border markers for tribal territories. Family stories are very important to the Irish, as a way to stay connected with past generations.

I based my drawing (image on left) on one stone that was found in County Kerry and later moved to Adare. 1,500 years ago, when this stone was freshly cut, it honored the people who lived before. Usually names were written as part of a family or lineage. This stone reads (translated to English) "Coillabus, son of Corbos, descendant of Qeraios".  There were stones that listed daughters too, but not many survived and I didn't see any of them in person.

In this piece, I've added a mark of my own in Ogham letters, along right side of the composition. It reads "cate inigena iosef mucoi obrien". Crudely translated it means "Kate, daughter of Joseph, of the tribe O'Brien". (I apologize to any Irish language scholars; I have no idea how our names would be spelled in old Irish and the grammar is probably shite.) All I can say is my heart is in the right place.

This piece represents my appreciation for my parents, grandparents, and the people who raised them – as far back as our stories go.  I doubt my marker will last a thousand years, but you never know. Maybe a generation or two.

Technical details: finished size 18"w x 45"h.  The edges are not completely straight, which is a departure for me. I used a remnant piece of fabric for the background, and I liked the way it was shaped. Slightly imperfect, like a fragment of paper or weathered stone.

I created the image of the stone starting with light cotton fabric, spots drawn and colored with black sharpie markers. Black areas were then quilted heavily with dark thread, leaving the light areas in shallow relief. Light lines (on right) were cut in fabric strips, fused to background and quilted.