Books in Bloom

Here in Southeast Ohio spring has definitely sprung.  I can see the neighbor’s magnolia filled with the creamy pink blossoms of the season, and the violets are beginning to fill my front lawn.  It’s a riot of color and texture, yet as recently as two weeks ago, branches were still bare and the grass was barely green.

An art career is somewhat like this, growth can be going on just beneath the surface and from an outsider’s perspective it can seem as though nothing is ever going to change. 

While I have been working on entering shows, creating work for sale, and updating my Etsy shop, the seeds I planted over a year ago have started to bloom.  Two books have recently been released which feature my work.

The first, “500 Art Quilts”, is the kind of survey of the contemporary art quilt scene which I looked at with longing when I first started making art quilts and entering my first shows.  It is one of the wonderful Lark “500” series which showcases the best in contemporary craft, and two of my works have been chosen to be included. 

“Marilyn”, 2008, shown above, and “Bird’s Eye View”, 2007  were the two pieces chosen for this wonderful book.

The second book is an instructional book, and I designed a project for it, in a patchwork and applique style. “Pretty Mini Little Quilts”  contains designs from 25 artists, with the main theme being that the quilts are under 36” in any direction.  You will be amazed at how much creativity and visual impact you can fit into a small space.

Here is a photo illustrating how to sew the elephant to the pieced background.

A detail of one of the elephants from the quilt.

I am proud and pleased to be included in each of these wonderful books.  The editors have done a great job, and I highly encourage you to check them out.