Summer Update

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Luana

Back in March when I was in New York, I mentioned that we saw a Nick Cave costumed performance at Grand Central Station. A few weeks ago I raved about his art and costume exhibit at the Denver Art Museum, as part of a larger textile exhibit this summer called "Spun".

Thursday I took Sophie to see the textile exhibits, and we had tickets for an evening dress rehearsal of Cave's costumes and performance art, and a local community dance company.

As much as I love his work, and as much as I enjoyed the current exhibit, I couldn't sit through the whole rehearsal. There was a DJ and a live band, which I initially thought was going to be great, but they had the volume cranked up so loud that it still hurt our ears, even with earplugs and our hands over our ears. Ouch! It was very disappointing because we definitely would have enjoyed it otherwise. We barely made it to the intermission, and then left with many other people who couldn't take the volume. However I am sure I'll return a 3rd time to admire the exhibit.

For those of you who sent entries to the SAQA/Andover Design Contest (and there were a lot of you!), there are 19 semi-finalists and we are working to come up with the final list of artists in the next few days or week. There were over 200 entries, so it was a lot of fun to see everyone's interpretation of Urban Textures! I did a blind jury of 209 entries, and now Andover is looking at the 19 semi-finalist entries.

Despite the fires all over Colorado in the last few weeks, we've had some big rain/lightning/hail storms here the last couple days. Hopefully the lightning won't ignite any new fires, and the rain will help to dampen any sparks from fireworks. Last night we had the biggest hailstorm my kids have ever experienced, which was scary and exciting at the same time…after I ran out and pulled my car into the garage!

If you would like to help out the flood victims in Calgary, there is a help page up on Facebook, and when they put up a webpage I will share that as well. They have set up the means to ship quilts from the US (Houston) to Canada, so American quilters can contribute as well.

On July 10, I will be in Oklahoma City with Sam, and Kathy Price from Mission of Love. We'll be distributing your 400 *beautiful* donated quilts, packed in the 400 donated tote bags (thank you Patty Reed Designs and EE Schenck!) to tornado victims there.

Have a fun and safe Fourth of July!

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Creative Nudge – A Magic Moment

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Luana

Waterworks2_550

Every once in awhile I like to take a class that will take me totally out of my comfort zone. (i.e. not a quilt class!) I find that the more nervous I am about looking like an idiot in the class, the more likely I will learn something really big, and crack open a new fertile egg of creativity.

This last week I took a technical photography class, that was 90 minutes of lecture, and 90 minutes of walking on Pearl Street with the class, to photograph the summer street scene.

I have taken this class before, and felt that I had failed miserably. I am an artistic photographer, and I love to play around with Photoshop after I get home and put the SD card in my computer. This class challenged me to get the same Photoshop-like effects with the settings for ISO, aperture and shutter speed.

Well I decided to eat crow and take this class again. I am preparing for a very big trip later this year, and I really wanted to challenge myself and learn some new skills before this trip.

I used to think my painting and illustrating were superior to photography. What could be so hard about taking a picture? As the years rolled by and I slowly began to use better cameras, I saw that my artist's eye combined with a good camera that could capture a fleeting moment, made for some beautiful images.

Here is a photo I took while playing around with all my camera's settings. Because I was experimenting, every photo was a toss of the dice. I kept changing the settings and playing around with different combinations as the sun set and the light changed. When I got home this was the magical image that captured my heart. I am still not a technical genius on the camera, but I love when I capture a moment that is full of emotion or mystery.

You can see my other photos on my Flickr photo page. (quilts, travel, and more)

Have you challenged yourself with a new class lately?

***********

Oklahoma Tornado Quilt Relief – Deadline Extended

Mission of Love and eQuilter are partnering to bring a truckload of disaster relief and comfort quilts to Oklahoma.

You can help by sending your donated comfort quilts to Mission of Love, or dropping them off IN PERSON at eQuilter's warehouse in Boulder Colorado, by July 1st. (Do NOT ship to eQuilter, only ship directly to Mission of Love.)

You can also help us purchase disaster relief supplies by donating funds via PayPal directly to Mission of Love.

READ QUILT GUIDELINES BELOW ON THIS PAGE PLEASE!

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Oklahoma Update

Posted on June 22, 2013 by Luana

 OkquiltsEQuilter1
This week our June 20th deadline arrived for Oklahoma Tornado Relief Quilts,
and I was just blown away by the response we received. Wow, THANK YOU
so much to all of you – individuals and groups – who very quickly sent
your comfort quilts to Mission of Love
for this relief effort. I am truly humbled and so appreciative to all
of you who have given to this, and all our other quilt relief efforts.

We have received 400 quilts, and now that my tickets are purchased and we have a distribution day in Oklahoma on June 10, Kathy (Mission of Love)
and I have decided to extend the deadline for those of you who really
wanted to contribute but couldn't quite make the deadline.

Please refer to the original guidelines, and please BE SURE to pass on the link with the guidelines as you share this with your friends and fellow quilters.

If you wish to help with the cost of the trip and purchase of relief
supplies, you can also donate to MOL via Paypal. Scroll down on the Mission of Love page for the Paypal link on the left.

We are also finalizing details for 400 donated tote bags to match up
with the 400 quilts donated. Kathy always tries to put each quilt in a
tote bag, because for someone who has lost everything, something as
simple as a tote bag has a great practical value. We have a very
generous donor who is providing these tote bags – we'll give you those
details next week.

On July 9, Sam and I are flying to Oklahoma City. On July 10 we will meet Kathy Price and her Mission of Love
volunteer(s) and a truck full of quilts and relief supplies, and July
11 we'll head home. Kathy has been working on a trusted contact to
distribute the quilts, and now that we have that in place, we are
proceeding with our trip plans. We will keep you posted… and
again…thanks to all of you who have donated, or will donate a quilt to
this effort.

Last year Colorado suffered many destructive wildfires, and our fire season this summer started early
with the most destructive fire in the state's history. (over 500 homes
burnt in the Black Forest near Colorado Springs) If there is interest,
after the Oklahoma deadline, we will accept quilts for Colorado fire
victims. More on that later…

We have had our new puppy for
a week (and I've been sleeping on the couch near the back door for a
week) so our kids are all starry-eyed from our cuddly snuffly adorable
fuzzball. She has grown so much in the first week it is kind of crazy.
You can follow our puppy photos on my Facebook Puppy Club.

Latest guilty pleasure: The White Queen on BBC/Starz. Have any of you in the UK seen this?
(Based on the best-selling historical novels by Philippa Gregory)

Happy Summer Solstice, and Happy SuperMoon!

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Quilts for Moore Oklahoma Tornado Victims

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Luana

 
OkquiltsEQuilter1

I wanted to let you know that 400 quilts have been received so far for the tornado victims of Moore Oklahoma. Most of them came in at the last minute, so Kathy and I have been waiting to see how many came in so we could make our plans.

We have a supplier who is going to help us with 400 tote bags to go with each quilt, and I have booked my flight to Oklahoma City.

I will fly in on July 9, we will distribute relief supplies and the quilts on July 10, and I will fly home (and Kathy will drive the truck back to Ohio) July 11.

As a result we have decided to extend the deadline to receive tornado quilts until JULY 1st.

For guidelines please visit our Quilt Relief page, before shipping your quilts.

We will present quilts to the families who have lost children first, then others who have lost homes and family members. If you send a quilt we will make sure it goes into the hands of someone in need.

READ GUIDELINES AT:
http://www.equilter.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/quiltrelief.htm

See photos of many donated quilts at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/luanarubin/sets/72157634238654411/

 

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Our new family member

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Luana

Three months ago we lost our beloved sheltie, and
a month ago our beloved elder kitty died in Sophie's arms the day she finished
5th grade. It has been a rough spring at our house. So a month ago when I had
the opportunity to pick out a special puppy for our family, I decided to go for
it. (after spending a month scouring the local Humane Societies and Rescue
centers, and not finding a match for our family)

For years I have always sought out Puppy Therapy – visiting friends with new
puppies so I could soak up a little bit of that effervescent joy of life that
emanates from a canine baby.

Now we are lounging in a hottub of puppy bliss, and everyone at our house is
walking around with a silly grin. There are an awful lot of delighted squeals,
and spontaneous "Awwwww!" noises coming from our place.

So I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the Rubin family – an 8
week old female puppy named Ruby! I've posted puppy photos on my photo page, and on my Facebook page…and if you
like puppies you can also check out my Puppy Club.

DSC_8086

***********

Oklahoma Tornado Quilt Relief

Mission of Love and eQuilter are
partnering to bring a truckload of disaster relief and comfort quilts to
Oklahoma.

You can help by sending your donated comfort quilts to Mission of Love, or dropping them off
IN PERSON at eQuilter's warehouse in Boulder Colorado, by June 20. (Do NOT ship
to eQuilter, only ship directly to Mission
of Love.)

You can also help us purchase disaster relief supplies by donating funds via PayPal directly
to Mission of Love.

READ QUILT
GUIDELINES BELOW ON THIS PAGE PLEASE!

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Puppy Love and Textile Exhibits

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Luana

 

The last two weeks I've been driving the kids to Denver Monday through Friday (for zoo camp, then music camp) and I tried to do all the things that I don't have time to do in Denver otherwise. (It is about a one hour drive from our house.)

Friday I saved the best for last, and now I wish I'd gone earlier! The Denver Art Museum has a new set of textile galleries, and as reported in the New York Times, they are presenting a huge grouping of concurrent textile exhibits known as "Spun".

When you go to see this incredible group of textile exhibits (and YES, it is worth coming from out-of-state!) be sure to get a ticket to see the Nick Cave and Red White & Bold special exhibits.

While I was in NYC the end of March, I saw the Nick Cave costumes and performance at Grand Central Station. On June 28 there will be a Nick Cave performance at DAM, but the tickets are sold out. There is some limited availability for members to attend the dress rehearsal on June 27. (I will be there on June 27!)

In the last two months we lost our beloved doggie and elder kitty, and we recently decided we wanted to bring a puppy into our home. This weekend we brought her home, and we are all in Puppy Heaven. There is nothing like Puppy Therapy to put a smile on your face and joy in your heart. If you are on Facebook and want to see lots of cute puppy photos, check out Luana's Puppy Club!  Woof!

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Down Time = Photo Safari

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Luana

TigerWading1

This weekend, I am halfway
through two weeks of extreme commuting.
This last week Sophie had Zoo Camp in Denver, and this week Sam has sax
camp at the Denver School of Performing Arts.
Driving to and from Denver Monday through Friday for 2 weeks is not a
pleasant way to spend one's time, and it sure makes me appreciate my
friends who have to do similar commutes in LA and other big cities.
(2-3 hours in traffic per day) Wow, it is so exhausting!

However I decided to make the most of it! I am always complaining that I
don't have time to go to Denver to see the museums and galleries, etc.,
so I am trying to squeeze in as much culture and visual stimulation as
possible these 2 weeks.
I guess this will be my version of Staycation 2013.

So last week I made business phone calls from the zoo parking lot for 2
hours each morning, tried to keep up with my emails on my iPhone, then I
went to 2 art cinema matinees ("Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's", and "Renoir" – I recommend both for those of you who love luscious eye candy), took photos of the animals for an hour or two every day, finally visited the Art Students League in Denver,
sketched animals for a few hours, and was amazed by the number of
pregnant women at the zoo! Because we are members at the zoo, we can go
in 30 minutes before the park opens to the public, and that is when I
got my best animal photos.

Do you take reference photos for your creative work?
Is there a certain time of year that lends itself to taking your
favorite reference photos? This is the time of year when I take my
camera everywhere.
I am taking photos of the snowy peaks of the Rockies and the green
foothills.
I am taking photos of baby animals in the surrounding farmland.
I am taking photos of the masses of flowers that are blooming this time
of year.

These things are so incredibly inspiring to me.
I come home and go through my photos late at night when everyone else is
asleep, and start dreaming up color palettes and creative projects for
the coming year.

Part of being creative is having empty space in one's head, one's studio, and one's life.
It is like staring at a blank canvas, upon which we project images and ideas that well up from the subconscious.
A Staycation is an empty space in your busy schedule.
Leave it empty and see what happens.

What inspires you this time of year?
Feel free to share your thoughts here.

*********

This weekend is the Irish Quilt Festival, and eQuilter is sponsoring the Spirit Rising exhibit
there.
(made by quilters dealing with some type of physical challenge –
illness, injury, loss of sight/hearing, etc.) If you have photos of our
exhibit, we'd love to see them!

Check out my photos from Quilt Canada – wonderful colors and creativity from up North!

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Handsome Cheetah

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Luana

CheetahSmile1_W
For some reason I couldn't get this image to load for the Creative Nudge on Tuesday night. Here is the handsome cheetah I refered to in my post. Actually… this might be the female cheetah at the Denver Zoo.

Here are more animal photos:

20151124_220622-1

….and here are photos from Quilt Canada last month:

GailGarber3

Here's a link to all my photos sets, if you want to keep going! *wink*

http://www.flickr.com/photos/luanarubin/sets/

 

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Creative Nudge – A Week at the Zoo

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Luana

 

The first part of our SAQA Andover design contest is over. After our May Call for Entry, we ended up with 190 designs from 65 artists! I am doing a blind jury now, curating the artwork into a short list before Andover and I make a final collection choices. Many thanks to all of you who submitted artwork!

Many of you are following the progress of Libby at www.caringbridge.org/visit/libbylehman – and the news May 31 was difficult to hear. The doctors have reported that she has lost her speech center. According to them, this means that she cannot speak, nor can she understand speech. Her speech center was located in the right side of her brain where the stroke occurred. Therapy will continue. The road ahead will be long and difficult. More details on the caring bridge site. Please do follow those posts as they are directly from her sisters.

You may wonder why I have a photo of a handsome cheetah this week. Sophie finally talked me into letting her do a week of camp at the Denver Zoo, which means I am driving over an hour from Boulder to Denver in the morning. Monday I drove back to Boulder during the day, which meant I was driving for almost 5 hours for 2 round trips. One day of that was enough, so I am just taking her to camp the rest of this week, and spending my time on creative studies all day in Denver until it is time to pick her up. On the way home today, I picked up a carload of Guatemalan ikat cottons from one of our suppliers. Yippee!

So I have challenged myself to walk the entire loop of the zoo each morning this week, to take animal photo portraits. This is one of the images I snapped this morning. I will add these to my photo archive for future art projects, and I'll post my favorite animal portraits on my Flickr photo page.

I also went to see a fashion documentary film at a nearby art cinema house. "Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's" takes you behind the scenes at Bergdorf Goodman with the long process of designing window displays, telling the history of the building and the company, and interviewing many iconic fashion designers. The textiles, artwork, and luxe eye candy make this a scrumptious 90 minutes of vicarious retail therapy. You may recall my Hong Kong roommate (then working for Oscar de La Renta) was Halston's head patternmaker during his heady couture days, so I'll have to talk to her about the Halston history in this film.

The first batch of quilt photos from the Quilt Canada show are up – I love all the nature themed art quilts!

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The Space In Between

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Luana

CrestonFabricArtisans
After traveling to 2 quilt shows in 2 countries, (Quilt Canada, and Quilt National/Dairy Barn)
and seeing 25,000 fabric designs at Quilt Market, my brain has been
totally saturated with Color over the last few weeks! Watch for quilt photos from Canada being uploaded this weekend.

I am happy to be home for awhile, even though there is a weedy patch in my back yard that should have been rototilled for a vegetable garden by now.
Happy June!

I've been thinking about the space between Modern Quilts and Contemporary/Art Quilts.
In this world that we live in today, where everything and almost
everyone seems to be so polarized, I habitually and almost compulsively
look for the space in the middle, when 2 sides are potentially
polarized.

Remember 20 years ago when the traditional patchwork quilters often were
polarized with the fledgling art quilt movement? (people used to argue
endlessly online about the definition of a quilt.) Today, sometimes the
modern quilters seem to be at odds with contemporary quilters.

But there is a very beautiful and attractive space in the middle, that
is slowly being populated by very talented and clever quilters.
Whether they like to call themselves artists or designers (or both!)
doesn't really matter.
What I find fascinating is that it is a fertile hot ground for a whole
new genre or school of quilting creativity.
Watch that space.

*************

OKLAHOMA TORNADO QUILTS –
Kathy Price (Mission of Love) and I are trying to figure out if we will have enough quilts and money for relief supplies by June 20,
in time for our projected June 27 distribution date in Oklahoma.
We want to maximize this truckload, so if you or your quilt group are
planning to send us quilt(s) for this effort by June 20, would you drop
us an email at [email protected] and let us know your plans…
so we can confirm our dates?

Hurricane Sandy Quilts –
This quilt relief project has come to a close.
In partnership with Timeless Treasures
who processed packages and stored quilts before distribution, and of
course with all of YOU who donated quilts, we donated almost 2000 quilts
to hurricane victims.
I am so grateful to everyone who helped with this effort, especially Joy
McKeon from Quilt Magazine who made it her personal mission to deliver
batches of donated quilts to so many communities.

Our last delivery was last week to Adopt-A-House in Lindenhurst, Long
Island.
If you still want to donate to Hurricane Sandy survivors, contact
eQuilter Customer Service for the address of a relief agency still
receiving quilts.

Here is a thank you message:
"We had a generous and thoughtful
donation given to Adopt A House families this evening.
Brand new Hand Made Quilts made for Super Storm Sandy Families.
I went around South Lindenhurst tonight delivering some to families.
These quilts are from all over America.
Some come with custom letters of encouragement and each stitch was
completed with love.
Even though I saw a lot of happy faces I still saw a lot of tears from
families who were touched that people all over America are still
thinking of them through this long haul."

Dates to Watch:

June 20 – Deadline for Oklahoma Tornado Quilts
July 20 – Not Fade Away – Quilt Alliance
– in conjunction with Sacred Threads
Aug 8-10 – Birmingham UK Festival of Quilts

********
Check out our eQuilter Facebook page!
(Sneak peeks of new collections throughout the week)

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