quiltersmuse.com Blog

This morning, I visited YouTube and just realized that there are quite a few videos of collected molas as well as movies of those who make them, on the archipelago sites off the coast of Panama. I enjoyed watching native Kuna Indian women, with their traditional nose rings and bare feet, making molas and wearing them. Molas are a traditional part of their everyday wear. It is only when tourists began visiting these people, in their remote corner of the universe, that a pattern of trading was established.

I have written extensively about the Kuna Indians and have enjoyed seeing an exhibit at the University of Connecticut, and many years later, one at Dartmouth College. We produced several articles for print publications. Currently, there are two related files on our website: Quilter’s Muse Publications: “A History of Molas,” “Molas and their Makers,” and others. Just key in the word “mola” into the site search feature on the front page of our website and you will be able to access all the articles in which molas are mentioned.”

This photo shows the back of a former mola (blouse). The geometric patterns of this piece are repeating designs, as you can see. It is amazing to see the extent of precision that mola-makers bring to their work.

My favorite musical video on YouTube, on this topic of the Kuna Indians, is called “Memorias de Kuna Yala.” Various villages are featured, as well as celebrations. One is called the “Conmemoracion de Revolcion Tule.” (I cannot put in the appropriate accents for Spanish, in this particular blog interface).

In the bloody Tule Rebellion of 1925, all whites were killed or expelled from Kuna territory. It is interesting to note that the Kuna flag consists of three color bands: a solid yellow fabric with a black swastika flanked by two solid red colors. Clearly, their swastika is not linked to Hitler’s Germany. For more information about the history of the swastika symbol, please visit our website file on that topic.

The names of other YouTube videos that I viewed are:

1) Mola Art from the Republic of Panama
2) Mola Arts and Crafts of Panama
3) Kuna Yala montage
4) Mola Art from Panama
5) The Spirit of the Mola
6) San Blas Indians
7) Kuna Dance

One website that features molas is: www.molaartandcraft.com

I hope that you enjoy this information as much as I did!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

By now, I hope that you have seen my blog post of last night with the beautiful example of a quilt made by Linda Laird, based on Mayan symbols. The art of primitive man is fascinating and often limited in the color palette used. Of course, man had to adapt to color pigments available to him from the earth and from the blood of animals. The urge for creative expression appears to be as old as mankind.

After seeing the designs by Linda, I recalled a book that was a gift in 1994 from my brother, Jack. The name of it is simply Indian Designs and it reflects collected designs from the Southwest – Four Corners Area – where he visited, at that time.

I can’t help but notice the similarities in themes to the Mayan Indian symbols. Stylistic birds, faces, deer, fish, and an iguana, cricket, and buffalo plus other motifs, as well as abstract depictions of various spirits, are represented in the black and white drawings. An Egyptian “Banu Bird” is a symbol of immortality, according to this book. The authors of the book recommend their designs for quilting, needlepoint, appliqué, and other artistic applications. Many of the motifs are taken from extant clay pottery.

This week seems to be one in which we have seen or talked about symbols, if only mentioning them in passing. There is always so much to know, and short blogs can’t cover gigantic topics. I always like to leave you with ideas for a couple of books that will aid you in looking into any subject a little further. Many of the books I recommend, I own and have enjoyed in my own library. Others, “look good” and seem as though they would elucidate a subject. I love books, as is readily apparent.

In peaceful pursuit of creativity, wherever I find it!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications and Virtual Museum

First, let us turn to the dictionary for an explanation of the word “angel.”

angel (n): a spiritual being believed to act as an attendant, agent, or messenger of God, conventionally expressed in human form with wings and a long robe.

Yesterday, while antique-shopping near Rutland, Vermont, I found a wonderful old print of “Angel’s Heads,” a famous painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, b. 1723.

My delight in finding a tangible document, that I could reproduce to show you, was about on the same par as finding this image rendered in Redwork, in a Maine antiques shop, a number of years ago. I have re-created a usable line-drawing, for Redwork, for anyone who would like to order it and embroider their own design.

The Redwork version presented a conundrum and was nothing like we’d seen before. It features the words, “Angels Sing Thee to Thy Rest,” derived from Shakespeare’s play, “Hamlet,” of course. If you are interested in ordering this pattern, please contact me at: pat@quiltersmuse.com

Angels are often found as stone carvings in cemeteries. Perhaps, they help to transport a soul on their heavenly journey.

The most interesting point about Reynolds’ painting, held by the National Gallery of London, is that the angels’ head actually represent only one little girl, his model, Miss Frances Isabella Gordon. To him, she looked like an angel.

Looking at the reproduced Redwork piece, one would never guess that the angel represents the same little girl, from different angles and affects.

A question remains: Why was this piece re-created in Redwork? One answer is that the image could be ordered from a 19th century catalog for stamping patterns. The second reason might be the Victorian Era’s preoccupation with Death and the occult. The piece in our collection may have been used within a coffin, or on top of a coffin, at the time that funerals were held in the front parlor. When we purchased it, the white cloth was very dirty, almost as if it had been buried, at one time.

Since then, a few times I have seen this pattern worked with Black embroidery thread, but the angels did not look angelic at all. Rather, they looked demonic, a large sway from Sir Joshua Reynolds’ original intent to paint a beautiful little girl and “save” her for posterity. We are so glad he did, and I hope that you agree that it is fun to see the original work from which derivative pieces in needlework came forth.

We never know what will turn up in the antiques shops of New England. The “hunt” is the fun part of the game. This was a serendipitous find. We hope you will enjoy it.

I will be making the pattern available on the Products Available page on our website, when I can get around to having more copies made, which involves a trip to a copy shop. Hope your day will be a good one!

P.S. – We are making some changes at Quilter’s Muse Publications. The change we made to this blog is to do away with automatic feeds to subscribers. Please bookmark, http://quiltersmuse.com/blog/ to visit our posts. One reason is that too many subscribers had changed their e-mail addresses and every time we posted a blog, we’d receive notices from the Mailer daemon. It was a real pain.

In the future, we will not be posting one word comments that individuals make as a response to posts, just so they can list their own blog’s address. If you don’t have something substantive to say, don’t bother trying to leave a comment. I hope that doesn’t sound just awful. I am sick of being used for everyone’s else’s self-promotion. Whom I choose to promote because of their quality contributions is another matter. Thanks for understanding.

We do our best to bring great information to you and important public notices. We will continue to do so.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

Art is alive and well in New Hampshire in the home of Bill and Betsy Davis, our longtime friends. Bill has been in love with drawing, ever since he could hold a pencil. Although he has tried other media, he always comes back to charcoal, graphite, and watercolors. He states that he loves the large selections of color that are included in some professional watercolor paint sets, as that precludes having to mix colors. Trying to mix the same watercolor hue, a second time, is a bear.

Just recently, Bill posted a website that shows a small portion of his work that is for sale: William Davis Fine Art. He is semi-retired, having owned his own drafting business in Webster, New Hampshire, for a number of years, called DraftTech.

The sketch above is one by Bill Davis, seen here, with his permission. It is one of my favorites, reminding me of the farm and small town where I grew up. The drawing shows a horse-drawn mower from circa 1925.

I have lost track of the number of Christmas cards that Bill and Betsy have artistically-drawn and painted. Of course, I have saved them all. Here is an example of a greeting card, used here with Bill’s permission.

“Wood Lilies” by Bill Davis, 2002

The Internet version cannot capture the true color of the sky, which is blue. Called “Wood Lilies,” Bill created the card in memory of his beloved sister, Paddy. On the back of the card, he identifies the summit of Rattlesnake Mountain, West Rumney, New Hampshire as the place where he saw these Lilies. This was a favorite destination for his sister. She held a deep appreciation for nature. He painted the image in 2002.

This is a photo of Bill and Betsy when they were visiting Pat and Jim Cummings at the Cummings’ home on 11-14-1994.

Betsy, who is a State of New Hampshire retiree in the field of health promotion, is currently studying with Elaine Farmer of Londonderry, a renowned local artist who sells her work in galleries.

Betsy prefers acrylic paints. Having done some oil painting in my teen years, I asked her if the acrylics dry too fast, and she replied that she likes to purchase Utrecht paints and the company sells a retardant that slows down the drying process. However, with acrylics, once they are dry, they can be painted over.

She also likes the company called Gamblin because they stress that their products are safe for the environment and people! However, she is always sure to wash her hands before eating, especially if she has been working with “Cadmium Red” that contains Cadmium, not something that is good to ingest.

After dabbling in “En plein air” painting, which simply means painting outside to take advantage of natural light, the couple has traveled to Spain, Morocco, Portugal, Ireland, Great Britain, Italy, and Switzerland, in search of places to set up their easels and record bridges, buildings, and other sights.

In New Hampshire, a favorite place to do plein air painting is in Tamworth, at the Remick Farm & Museum, with its view of Mt. Chocorua and the yellow farm buildings.

For more information about plein air painting, a favorite technique of the school of French Impressionism, see this website.

I hope that you have enjoyed this little profile of two of my favorite people. We wish them all the best in all of their artistic endeavors.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

Whenever we are taking a ride in the car, I see countless interesting things that I would love to photograph, but usually it is inconvenient to stop, either because there is no room to pull off the road, or a Mac truck is bearing down on our bumper, or we are on a highway where there is no breakdown lane.

The other day, we passed a swamp that is situated along an Interstate highway. Just as the words came out of my mouth that the area looked like a great place for Herons to nest, I saw two nests. Herons usually choose dead trees upon which to create a home for their young. Tall, and awkward-looking, while tending their young, the birds look rather strange, perched on top of their makeshift contraptions of sticks, etc.

As we drive through rural areas, my eyes are alert to any birds or wildlife. My reaction when I do see something is, “Oh! Oh!” – which actually turns out to be an ineffective communication to the driver that I want him to pull over. The other day, a fat Grouse was just standing by the side of the road in a wooded area. She was not bothered by our passing; just took it in her stride.

I like old buildings – old abandoned mills that still (barely) stand along waterways that once turned them into productive hubs of activity, many of them former woolen mills. Old barns are neat. Once useful and vital, now they are hosts to mice, hornets, and other critters seeking shelter. I love to see old barns that have been well-kept. Only the rich farmer with time on his hands, or a lot of help, is able to maintain buildings, too.

We once saw a fox crossing a field, not far from our house, early in the morning. They are mostly nocturnal and like to “Dance by the Light of the Moon.” I love to see them.

Much of what we view cannot be captured on film. We have to train our eyes to see quickly and to remember the details of the experience. That’s why I say, “Put on Your Artist’s Glasses.” Train your eyes and your brain to be totally saturated with information, “in the moment.” Bring along a sketchbook and some colored pencils with you so that you can jot down design ideas, as they happen.

Being an artist is all in the details, but if one cannot remember many of those, there is still the opportunity to create a piece that is impressionistic … as did Monet and so many other artists of his era. Make notes of the colors you see in a field.

However, the first step is to be fully aware. Open your eyes and experience life. It’s “out there,” just for the looking.

Patricia Cummings