Over the last 3 days I’ve been at a creative arts retreat, and one of the things I heard many artists say is that they did not feel they had permission to be an artist as a child and/or adult. I must be very lucky because I had a very different experience as a child. In fact there were several mentors in my youth, who inspired me and gave me permission to explore my creative interests in art and music.
In high school one of the profound moments of inspiration, was when I went to Europe as a summer exchange student. On the way to Germany, we stopped for 2 days in Amsterdam. Somehow at the age of 15 I managed to pick the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum for my day trip. I saw the Nightwatch 2 months before a deranged man slashed the painting. The end of the day I rushed through the Van Gogh Museum because it was closing early. As I quickly ran to see the masterpieces, I was in tears because I had so little time. Since then I have sought out Van Gogh‘s paintings in other museums around the world.
About that time I was reading lots of biographies of artists. I devoured The Agony and the Ecstasy, Lust for Life, and Renoir My Father. I felt such a deep connection to these stories about the artists’ passion for Life and Making Art. Later in life I visited Giverny – where Monet created his Lily Ponds and the flower garden outside his studio. I visited Arles and the Mental Hospital where Van Gogh stayed….and the famous Night Cafe. (The bedroom scene above is from Arles.)
It was very emotional for me when I finally saw the Sistine Chapel, the David, and the Pieta in Italy. When you sit in contemplation at a great Masterwork, instead of rushing in to take a selfie and leaving 5 minutes later, you can have a very deep esoteric experience of connecting with the artist. I try to practice this deep appreciation of art whenever I can, because the longer you spend looking at a Masterwork, the more its secrets are revealed. This certainly holds true with the masterpieces of quilt artistry that we see at quilt festivals! I always come back to the 2 or 3 quilts that really moved me, to give a long appreciation for the work of the quilt artist.
I’ve put together a collage of (framed) paintings from the Metropolitan Art Museum in New York, with current digital printed fabric reproductions of Van Gogh and Monet paintings. The blenders for these collections are just beautiful – showing every brushstroke by the artists.
In case you missed Saturday’s newsletter, we are planning 2 sewing days to make comfort quilts for disaster relief – on Saturdays Oct 14 & 21. Please read about the details here.
Friends in New Zealand – I will be attending the WOW show in Wellington Oct 5, and will be giving my lecture at the Symposium in Christchurch on Oct 7. Hope to see you there – tickets to the lecture are limited!
sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana
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Travel Calendar:
Oct 1-11 – New Zealand – Intl Quilt Trends lecture at Quilt Symposium – Christchurch
Oct 27 – Nov 2 – Quilt Market & Festival – Houston
Dec 29 2017 – Jan 5 2018 – Tanzania Africa Wildlife Migration Tour
Feb 22-25, 2018 – QuiltCon – Pasadena, California
Nov 14-20, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour – Join me in Churchill!
