Art Quilts Portfolio

THE WRITINGS ON THE WALL

                                                        2020

MIX chose “Text” as the subject for our 2020 Show. This choice and nearly all the work done on our pieces occurred before Covid-19 became the center of everyone’s life in the spring of 2020. Even without consideration of the impact of the virus, “text” is an interesting choice for a quilt group.
Does the meaning of the text itself receive the major emphasis, or is it more a celebration of various kinds of calligraphy and ways of representing language? And because letters in their curvy, varied, gorgeous shapes do not lend themselves to piecing, what method does each artist choose to get the text into her work? 
There is everything from precisely cut out shapes to printed words to hand-lettered bits, showing strong links to each artist’s way of expression.

Enjoy the show!

DISAGREE AGREEABLY by Lynn Anderson

WE by Kathy Blondell

THE CITY SPEAKS by Valri Chiappetta

BROKEN/FRACTURED; HEALING/MENDING by Betty Daggett

OPEN THE DOORS OF OUR WORLD by Diane Losli-Britt

RED STATE BLUE STATE by Annette McFarlane

A JOYFUL NOISE

JOY COMES WITH THE MORNING

JOY IT SEEMS

by Elaine Millar

PLEASE REMOVE BOOTS AND GUNS by Hilde Morin

WHAT GOES AROUND ...

2019

Circles and Cycles! Our lives are full of these two things from marbles to polka

dots to peas to the seasons and even a life itself. Our group decided to take on

these two concepts and “What goes Around…” was born.

It was decided that either or both ideas could be used, and so there is a piece

about the moon which can be round at one point in its phase, or many other

shapes throughout its cycle. And then there is a tongue-in-cheek bicycle

because after all, you can’t cycle if you don’t have circles! Some abstracted

tulips show their life cycle with dramatic changes of color, and tiny soap bubbles

become something else entirely when enlarged. And that’s just the beginning.

We hope you enjoy this theme and the ways we have chosen to express it.

Blowing Bubbles
by Annette McFarlane

Moon Cycles
by Betty Daggett

Gear Up
by Diane Losli-Britt

Round Pegs - Square Hole
By Elaine Millar

Seeing Red
by Kathy Blondell

Merry Go Round
by Lynn Anderson

Graffitti
by Valri Chiappetta

Tulip Envy
by Hilde Morin

WEATHER

2018

In choosing this year's theme, we made a list of possibilities. When weather was suggested, it seemed at once innocuous and yet so broad and full of possibilities.

Today it seems that the weather all over our globe is in the news more than ever. The wild swings in climate, whatever their cause, gives us continual headlines: Flooding, Drought, Monster Storms, etc. No part of our world has escaped these extremes and when these occurrences affect the food supply, results are of even more consequence, often in the "catastrophic" category.

In the end, instead of asking ourselves "What on earth will I do with this subject?", it became "How should I limit my portrayal to deliver the subject with the most punch?" Living in the northwest brought many thoughts naturally to rain, some for drama and some for it's soothing and sometimes playful aspect.Others illustrated the consequences of weather occurrences or pondered the often unknowable weather we all live with; even if we listen to the weather report every evening, we are still sometimes caught without our umbrellas.

Wind and Water #1 and 2

Lynn Anderson

Rain for Dry Land

Kathy Blondell

T Time

Valri Chiappetta

Convergence

Betty Davis Daggett

Rainbows of Rain #1 and 2

Diane Losli-Britt

Storm Watching at the Beach 

Annette McFarlane

Rain and Shine

Elaine Millar

Snow and Ash

Hilde Morin

REFLECTION AND RENEWAL 

2017

Portland’s Japanese Garden, created in 1967,  completed an expansion and renewal project in April 2017.  Our MIX group was excited and intrigued by this endeavor to add what is primarily an architectural space to what has been mostly a serene garden of lovingly tended plants.

As usual with our group, we established a few working parameters:

         A primary piece measuring 24” square

         A smaller piece (to be hung on either side, top or

         bottom), measuring 24” x 10”

         The possibility of adding another small piece

We did not specify the use of a particular color, nor did we say that concentration had to be on the new structures or the garden.  That was left that up to the artist.

As we discovered with last year’s show, “Urban PDX”, our affection for Portland is strong, and we enjoyed the whole process from time spent in the garden getting inspirational photos to wrestling with some new techniques.  We hope these pieces show our wonder at this beautiful spiritual sanctuary. 

 "The Spaces in Between" 
Kathy Blondell

"Japanese Pathway" (top)
"Garden Pathway" (bottom)
Annette McFarlane

"The Garden's Silent Welcome" (top)
"Sticks and Stones" (bottom)
Betty Daggett

"Pagoda" (left)
"Pathways" (right) Diane Losli-Britt

"Peace and Reconciliation" (top)
"Strolling Pond Denizens" (bottom)

Valri Chiappetta

                               

"Peace" (left)
"Tranquility" (right) Elaine Millar

"Under The Maple Tree" 
Hilde Morin

URBAN PDX 

2016

One can't help notice all the cranes dotting the landscape and neighborhoods changing, expanding and some, even shrinking as new replaces old. We thought it would be interesting to explore these changes in our art. Thus the theme Urban PDX was adopted. The challenge included making one piece of fiber art measuring 30 by 40 inches in portrait orientation and one piece that measured 8 by 20 inches. The smaller piece was to be somehow related to the first. As always, how that was to happen was left to artist vision. The last concept of this challenge was to find a way to include yellow, the color of a #2 pencil. We soon discovered that the good old #2 pencil is, in fact, not a standard color.

Enjoy our work and do leave a comment if you wish. Feel free to join our mailing list. You can do so on the right hand side of the home page either by a direct email feed or the RSS reader of your choice.

And/Or

 Kathy Blondell

How Dense is Dense Enough?

 Valri Chiappetta

Condemned

Betty Daggett

The Pearl

Melanie Grant

Go by Train

Diane Losli-Britt

Tillicum Crossing

Annette McFarlane

An Urban Conversation

Elaine Millar

Busy Day at the Portland Mercado

Hilde Morin

A SENSE OF PLACE: THE ALLISON

2015

In our search for a theme this year, our MIX group thought it would be interesting to see how our individual interpretations of one place, known to us all, might vary or coincide. We chose the Allison Inn and Spa in Newberg, Oregon and had a couple of field trips together and sometimes separately to obtain photos. These photos were intended as jumping off points for our pieces since we also undertook some studies of abstraction earlier in the year.

Some artists chose to lean closer to the representational aspect in their portrayal, while others moved toward abstraction. We each hoped to create one “Hardscape” piece and one “Softscape” piece. Hardscape inspiration was likely to come from either the architecture of the building itself, or some of the rigid lines surrounding it such as the stonework or sculpture. The Softscapes might be related to the lush gardens, surrounding bounty of Willamette Valley agriculture or the more organic sculptures the Allison has scattered about its grounds. While we did get together to show progress throughout our designing season, seeing the show as a whole has delighted and surprised us. We hope viewers who know the Allison will see some of what they have enjoyed there in our interpretations, and those who do not will feel inspired to go and see it for themselves.

All pieces in this Exhibit measure 24"W x 30"H

            Standing Tall                       Shadow Play

Kathy Blondell

     The Lost Weekend                   The High Life

Valri Chiappetta

Elephant Ears Hold No Secrets    Spa Secrets

Betty Daggett

             Vessels                      Architectural Elements

Melanie Grant

                  Bowl                              Follow a Path

Diane Losli-Britt

         Stacked Allison                   Stacked Grapes

Annette McFarlane

                    Arbor Vitae                       Micro Rhythms

Elaine Millar

           Where to Stay                       Where to Go

Hilde Morin

EXTREME STUDIES 

2014

MIX artists developed a series of new works examining the concept "in the extreme". Whether it be through use of a single theme or similar technique, the work explores material, shape or distortion and color "in the extreme". To further unify the body of work, each piece is rendered at 18 inches square.

All works in this exhibit measure 18"W x 18"H

 

  

Box of Crayons - It'ss Not All Black and White - Where Have You Been

Kathy Blondell

Red Is Just Part of the Story - Fire and Ice - Interruption

Valri Chiappetta

Glacial Melt - Move Over - Scrap in Orbit

Betty Daggett

 

A Neutral Point of View - It's Hip to be Square - Off the Grid

Melanie Grant

Ostracized - Cast Off - Running Apart Side by Side

Diane Losli-Britt

 

Annette McFarlane

She Gives New Meaning to Going Green - 

She Has a Night on the Town and Nothing to Wear - 

She Put her Freak On

Elaine Millar

A Study of Distortion - A Fun Experiment - The Forbidden Color

Hilde Morin

LOCALLY GROWN

2013

People are becoming increasingly interested in the health of the food they eat. Farmer's markets are growing in popularity. Restaurants proudly announce that their food is purchased locally. Barbara Kingsolver wrote in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle the story of her family's desire and subsequent trial to eat only what they could grow themselves. The quilts for this exhibit were inspired by these and other personal experiences with "locally grown."

Compost Bin

one 12x12 piece made by each artist

Betty Daggett

Kathy Blondell

Betty Daggett

Valri Chiappetta

Melanie Grant

Elaine Millar

Hilde Morin