06.27.07
Posted in Art Discoveries, Embroidery at 1:13 pm by Administrator
What exactly does the word “primitive” mean? Today, we have a relatively new embroidery style that folks are calling “primitive.” This embroidery genre is based on simple line drawings of angels, pumpkins, houses, fences, and other “folksy” designs, all drawn to give a purposely unschooled look. There is nothing fancy about the work. It is often worked on tea-dyed fabric and executed with straight lines or outline stitch. The idea of “primitive” motifs has led me to think about the term, as it applies to ancient people and their art.
First, the work of prehistoric, Paleolithic man comes to mind, as seen in the images that were painted, incised, or sculpted onto the walls of a cave in Altamira, Spain. The most famous of the figures, perhaps, is a wounded bison that has fallen to the ground.
Cave paintings are a reflection of the culture that created them. Nor is that cave in Spain the only one to feature “art.” One lesser known cave in Spain depicts the processes of procreation and reflects an early understanding of biological actions and results. A cave in Lascaux, France also feature painted animals. Some art historians have considered the hunting scenes of early cave paintings to have been used as a good luck omen to cast a magical spell on the good fortunes of the hunt.
Another group, North American Indian “artists,” has now, mysteriously, disappeared. Once a thriving population, the Anasazi Indians of the Four Corners region of the U.S., were an advanced, sophisticated, and savvy group. Their ruins are a place that still calls many visitors to the southwest, each year. On rocks, the Anasazi etched “petroglyphs,” still studied by artists and archaeologists.
A third group of “primitive” people were the Mayans. They also had a very advanced culture. Please read the entry under “Art Discoveries,” on this blog, that describes how a professor from the University of New Hampshire discovered some new “finds,” not too long ago.
People have always found art to be pleasing, hopeful, satisfying, expressive, a good luck omen, spiritual, magical, reflective, and many other words we could use to describe what we generally just call “art.” The lesson to be learned, in this discussion, is that there really is “nothing new under the sun,” as is stated in the Bible. As long as there are people, I predict that many of those individuals will continue to want to create “art,” for its own sake. Primitive Art, in general, gives us a window into the creative processes of the human mind and its expression in art from times passed.
Patricia Cummings
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06.26.07
Posted in Museum News, Quilt Show at 7:19 pm by Administrator
Press Release
July 1, 2007
Susan Plump
Woodstock, Vermont…Billings Farm & Museum, gateway to Vermont’s rural heritage, will host its 21st Annual Quilt Exhibition from August 4 - September 23. Extended through late September this year, the exhibit will feature more than 50 quilts made by today’s quilters of Windsor County, plus quilting activities and demonstrations for all ages.
A variety of challenge quilts will also be exhibited. Something You Like, using blue and green fabrics, is the theme of The Delectable Mountain Quilters challenge. A challenge requires certain design and construction rules agreed upon by the guild members to increase their quilting skills, while they enjoy comparing results. There will be two quilting bees held by Upper Valley quilting guilds during the Quilt Exhibition.
Quilts have been a part of American rural life for over 300 years. They are colorful testimony to the fact that farm life, while sometimes austere, held celebration. The women who settled in Vermont during the late 18th century brought with them the hand skills, thrift, imagination, and traditional designs which would develop into a peculiarly American art form: the patchwork quilt.
Today’s Vermont quilters carry on a continuing and evolving tradition. Much of the contemporary work of Windsor County quilters is composed of patterns handed down from earlier generations and executed by hand; some adapt the traditional craft to more modern expressions and materials. All require skill, patience, and imagination.
Admission to Billings farm & Museum’s 21st Annual Quilt Exhibition includes the working dairy farm, orientation and farm life exhibits, the restored and furnished 1890 Farm House, plus daily programs and activities.
The Billings Farm & Museum is owned and operated by The Woodstock Foundation Inc., a charitable non-profit institution founded by Mary French and Laurance Spelman Rockefeller. For further information: (802) 457-2355 or www.billingsfarm.org
Billings Farm is a working Jersey dairy farm that continues a century-long tradition of agricultural excellence and offers farm programs and historical exhibits that explore Vermont’s rural heritage and values. Since opening to the public in 1983, the Farm & Museum has served as a gateway to Vermont’s rural heritage for over a million visitors and 100,000 of the region’s school children. Open daily through October 31, 100:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and weekends. November - February. Admission: adults: $10.00; over 62: $9.00; students (13-17): $8.00; children (5-12): $6.00; (3-4): $3.00; under 3: free. The Farm & Museum is located one-half mile north of the Woodstock village green on Vermont Route 12.
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06.25.07
Posted in Quilts: Art v. Craft at 7:04 pm by Administrator
The phenomena has always been with us. We have the artists, and we have the art critics. We have the quilters, and we have the art quilters (never the twain shall meet, according to some). Then, we have the quilt historians, who attempt to assess quilts and place them within a context. Many of those individuals are NOT quilters, or have made only a feeble stab at learning to quilt. In summary, there are those who do the actual work of creating something, (quilts), for others to either appreciate, or to denigrate, as suits them.
When is a quilt to be considered art? “Art is in the eye of the beholder,” or so it is said. However, “art” is also in the intention of the quilter.
Today, many people, especially baby-boomers who have wanted a change of direction in their lives, have left former occupations, for both medical and mental health reasons. They have sought creative outlets, and they have found that quilting is a good venue for self-expression. Quilting can garner a few sheckles, too, besides getting these folks noticed via various showings of their work in galleries, etc.
Today’s “so-called” art quilters approach quilting from varying viewpoints, and on a number of levels, but usually need a quick turn-around time for finishing a piece because they want to sell it. This sometimes results in poor workmanship. Mostly, it seems that people who tag themselves with the name of “art quilter” do not often take the time to solidly learn the basics of traditionally acceptable quilting practices. Their goal is mainly to express themselves.
One cannot generalize about a large group of people, with any certainty, but it does appear that they engage in quilting as a way to share their feelings about life’s challenges, disappointments, joys, discoveries, as well as their angst and anger at situations in which they have been victimized: incest, partner abuse, and more. No one shoe will fit all, and I am sure that no person, art quilter or not, would like to be summarily lumped into a category. Above all, they are individuals.
Each person has his/her own reason for making a quilt.
Personally, I am both an artist and a crafter. My early experiences were as an oil painter and needleworker. My formal art training is in art history, not studio art. My certification is as a “master craftsman in quilting.” That means that I learned how to do all types of quilting and embroidery and was able to prove my proficiency in quilting techniques by passing a series of tests. I am happy that I signed up for the national testing program, and I am happy that I now know how to do many needlework techniques, as a result of the motivation the program instilled in me, to learn on my own.
When I made a baby quilt recently, I considered myself a technician, a “crafter,” not because I used anyone else’s design but rather because of the simplicity of the design, (squares), and because I chose to quickly finish the quilt by machine quilting it.
On the other hand, when I design every facet of a quilt, from my own imagination, choosing the shapes, the colors, and the choice of materials, such as I did when I made a wall quilt titled, “On Windy Whispers,” then I consider myself to be quite “artistic,” and furthermore, I think of myself as an “artist.” At that point, it matters not what anyone else thinks of my completed work.
“On Windy Whispers” designed by Pat Cummings
I tend to think of ugly quilts as non-artistic. They show a lack of understanding of how color concepts work. When I see a quilt that is poorly pieced, or poorly quilted, I think - “What a shame that the quilter didn’t know better.” However, I have met quilters who have told me that they slap their quilts together and don’t give a care - the quilts are just made for warmth and that is that.
From what I have seen of antique quilts, I have to guess that an idea like that was more prevalent than we might realize because when we look at old quilts in books and magazines, we are viewing the pristine ones, still in fine condition. We are not seeing the ones with the mice holes, the stains, and the chewed up corners from when the dog was having a tizzy from being left alone.
This is a weighty subject, and also one that many people will continue to think about in light of the current Gee’s Bend quilt issues. Are those quilts truly art, or are they craft? I could go on and on because I am so heavily involved in quilting, as both a hobbyist and as a professional. However, your opinion is as good as mine. The important thing is that we all continue to think.
Pat
pat@quiltersmuse.com
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