Artist Jane Davies spent her first week with us and a full house of eighteen students using acrylic painting, collage techniques, and more to create beautiful and colorful abstract art.
As always, we’ll share a few of the images we captured here on our blog, but encourage you to also check out the full gallery on our Facebook page. You can also scroll back in our Instagram feed to see what we captured during the class and watch the video in our Facebook Video Library.
Fiber artist Esterita Austin returns to Greenville at the tail end of our season for a workshop exploring her original technique utilizing fusible web to transfer original painted imagery to Organza using metallic acrylic and textile paints. In preparation for her December 3-9, 2017 workshop, Esterita took a moment to answer a few questions about her approach to fiber art.
Q: What do you want your work to do?
EA: Inspire quilt artists to try a new expressive technique that can add new techniques to their quilt tool box.
Q: How has your style changed over the years?
EA: I started quilting making traditional quilts. After having taken a few art quilt workshops I began being more spontaneous and designed my own. I was still using cotton fabrics. Eventually I began using a variety of fabrics other than cotton, as well as using paint to further enhance my pieces. Eventually my pieces sequel into pure paint which I then transferred onto transparent organza. I have now found my niche combining painting and quilting. Sometimes it takes a while to find your voice and sing on key!
Q: How do you come up with a profitable pricing structure for your pieces?
EA: It’s just a gut feeling. I don’t want to price my work out of the market. If I want it to sell I will put a reasonable, or what I think is reasonable, price on it.
Q: Do you have a motto?
EA: Technique is only a tool for expression.
Q: Are involved in any upcoming shows or events? Where and when?
EA: I have three shows going on now until mid June in Ohio in conjunction with QSDS and Dairy Barn. One is “Pushing the Surface 2017” at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum in Coshocton, Ohio. the other is “With These Hands” at the Ross Art Museum in Delaware, Ohio.
Quilt Artist Jane Sasaman returned a fiber art workshop inspired by the natural world and filled with big, bold, and beautiful floral designs! Here’s a few things we heard from the students about their week;
“Yes, the workshop exceeded my expectations, and they were high! Jane is a wonderful, supportive instructor!“
“Jane is an extraordinary teacher – sensitive, experienced, and supportive!“
“Overall this was amazing from pre-registration through departure. Thank you for providing such a fun, affordable, challenging retreat.
Jane will be hard to top! Jane is remarkably generous with her time, talent, and knowledge, She brought many of her wonderful quilts to show. She has a great ability to teach her techniques and inspire individuality. Great at giving, tips, help, and suggestions.
The whole Inn staff is warm, helpful, and welcoming, You have created such a special place!“
As always, we’ll share a few of the images we captured here on our blog, but encourage you to also check out the full gallery on our Facebook page. You can also scroll back in our Instagram feed to see what we captured during the class and watch the video in our Facebook Video Library.
Instructing since 1988, quilt artist Sue Rassmussen will be joining us for a three-day workshop at the end of the year on Machine Quilting In Depth. From November 29-December 3, spend an immersive long weekend learning to create designs while quilting – and yes, we do have machines available to rent while you’re here!
In advance of her workshop, Sue took a moment to fill us in on her approach to fiber art and a bit on her current projects.
Q: Where do you draw your inspiration from?
SR: I find inspiration for my quilting designs in textures all around me, from literally watching and drawing the movement of ants as they do their search for food to fissures in boulders to bark on trees. If we all take a minute to look around us, we will recognize that the world is filled with texture and designs. It’s only a snap shot away. A perfect example of this is several years ago we were visiting Yellowstone National Park. I asked my husband to pull over so I could take photos of the beautiful birch bark in the grove of trees. I must have been taking pictures for 10-15 minutes, and when I turned around there were five other campers parked, all crowding around my husband who was trying to explain that, no, there were no animals there but that I was taking pictures of the bark. None of them came to even look at the wonderful designs in the bark. Their loss!
Q: What are you most proud of in regards to your art?
SR: I love working with photos of animals (and flora) and transforming them into realistic (or not) quilts. I enjoy the machine quilting process because it adds a secondary layer to quilts which equals more interest and texture.
Q: What are your biggest challenges to creating art and how do you deal with them?
SR: I think finding more time, not getting sidetracked by the computer or the television, and believing that this is an important and justified use of my time.
Q: What advice has influenced you?
SR: One of my first teachers and now friend, Margaret Miller, once said to me “Why use one fabric when you can use five?” and then two seconds later said to me “why use only five fabrics when you could use twenty?” and from that moment on I have been shopping for variety of fabrics. Using a wide variety of fabrics in my mind just make the quilt more interesting and challenges me to think outside the box.
Q: Is there something you are currently working on, or excited about starting that you can tell us about?
SR: I have been collecting silk fabrics for some time and because I don’t generally use solid type fabrics, this is a bit more challenging for me, but fun! I am beginning a ‘landscape’ with these wonderful fabrics. Lately I have been moving into more art quilts and I love to just play with all my scraps to create a collage background to to do something with.
Art quilter Deborah Fell joined us for the first time a couple of weeks ago for a small but mighty workshop filled with the most creative uses of found and reused materials! One student even managed to reuse the wrappers from our soap bars and tea tags in her pieces.
As always, we’ll share a few of the images we captured here on our blog, but encourage you to also check out the full gallery on our Facebook page. You can also scroll back in our Instagram feed to see what we captured during the class and watch the video in our Facebook Video Library.
Our first fiber art workshop of the year kicked off on April 2nd with an instructor coming to us all the way from Australia, Pam Holland! This was a detail oriented workshop as nine students worked to paint pictures of their own pets, beautiful birds, and more under Pam’s guidance.
We’ll share a few of the images we captured here on our blog, but encourage you to also check out the full gallery on our Facebook page. You can also scroll back in our Instagram feed to see what we captured during the class and watch the video in our Facebook Video Library.
Our second workshop of the year kicked off on March 26th with six intrepid students, a slew of gorgeous photos for inspiration, and guidance from Susan Ogilvie. Each student brought a number of beautiful photos from their own travels to reinterpret through pastels. The early spring weather even gave the group just one day warm enough to do some quick sketches outdoors on our grounds in a warm sun.
We’ll share a few of the images we captured here on our blog, but encourage you to also check out the full gallery on our Facebook page. You can also scroll back in our Instagram feed to see what we captured during the class.
