Firelands Association for the Visual Arts...The Artist as Quiltmaker XIV

We are home safely from a wonderful celebration of Art quilts ... the 14Th biennial exhibition of contemporary quilts. The day was lovely as we drove up Route 13 to Oberlin through bucolic farms and fields full of lamas, Amish field horses and the springs herd of black Angus and Dairy cattle. The sun was reveling in a blue sky dotted with light fluffy white clouds. Ken and I enjoyed quiet conversation and music without the worry of an interruption with a phone call or something breaking down in the usual every day events of living in our home. Thank you Tina Marie and girls for babysitting for my little Rosie while we were gone for a short adventure. We made great time and arrived in time to have lunch in this sleepy little college town. As we walked into the restaurant I saw two dear friends I had not seen for over 20 years when I was living in Canton, Ohio. Karen Pollard has visited us when the girls were small and we had recently moved into our log home. Clare Murray was my first quilt teacher who had a small shop in walking distance from my small home on 25Th Street in Canton, Ohio. Clare was a wonderfully patient teacher but I had trouble following directions ...imagine that. Clare now lives in Southington, Oh and has remarried and known now as Clare Murray Adams. What a joy to be able to share this day with these two incredibly strong and inspirational women. I have been so blessed with women who stand by and support life's challenges through out thick and thin...over decades and distance.

I am attempting to share some of the diverse works selected for this exhibit and share the activities of the afternoon... the gracious staff of FAVA made us all feel a warm welcome as many artists traveled to attend this opening. We each received a DVD of this exhibit and instructions to order a printed catalog from Blurb...I am new to this publishing process but several other artists have used this publishing company with their individual catalogs and marketing brochures. I will wait until the final editing of this exhibit and then I will share my catalog with you and others who might be interested in the near future. If you would like to see some of the Sunday happenings you can go to www.favagallery.org or favagallery@oberlin.net ; they had a special photographer documenting this sharing afternoon and gleeful embracements with Old Golden friends and meeting some pretty fabulous New Silver friends. I feel so honored to have been selected and exhibited with such prestigious and generous artists. The styles, the diversity, the large and the small...the exhibit was thrilling to view and to examine each sacred mark the artists shared in their individual works. If you get the chance to visit this exhibit ...it will be up until July 30Th...please enjoy the gallery's surprises, gift shop, educational classrooms and summer programs as well as the relaxed and quiet little community of Oberlin. The Ginko Gallery is right down the city block and there are wonderful restaurants and coffee shops to explore...and even a bead shop!

I would like to publicly thank Gayle Pritchard as curator of this biennial exhibit and her dedication to composing a unified collection of narratives through over 40 artists sharing their visions and voices. Gayle worked very hard while she was preparing for her daughter's upcoming wedding in a couple of weeks in North Carolina...my words prove to be totally inadequate when I try to express my gratitude for allowing me to participate with such a wonderful experience. The juror Carolyn Mazloomi was unable to attend due to a previous commitment in Cincinnati for another Art quilt exhibit she had organized. This was my only disappointment because I keep missing meeting her in person...we share a mutual friend D. Bill Harris PhD. who shared our home when he was finishing his studies here at Ohio State University. Maybe next time...:O)!

After the closing of this exhibit several artists gathered at a local Italian restaurant to kick back and relax with one another at Presti's family owned restaurant. The time went by way too quickly and my heart was filled with appreciation for artists who share my passion for making their voice visible in an ever changing global art community. I wish I could have been at both ends of the dining room table...the vitality and vibrancy radiated throughout the room. The conversations were exciting and enlightening and to be able to hear the individual stories and inspirations just added Grace to making our Art statements in colorful fabrics and threads. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart