Featured Artist Profile: Jean Brueggenjohann

Hi everyone and welcome to 2014! I hope everyone survived the holidays and year end business and can dive into art with a relish. Today I'm thrilled to share a little more about one of our fabulous Missouri artists, Jean Brueggenjohann.  I love her use of bold geometric shapes to create a feeling of place, as well as a sense of depth and texture.

  

1. Who are you and where do you live?

I am a professional graphic designer and professor of Art in the Graphic Design Media Area at the University of Missouri–Columbia, MO. I work in the graphic design field designing mostly books and other print material for non-profits and art museums. I have been making quilts since 1991.

Jean Brueggenjohann, Window to Enchantment-I wanted to do a really elaborate and fantasy-like quilt.

2. Tell us a little bit about your artistic journey and how you got started?

My grandmother, great grandmother, aunt and great aunt were seamstresses, tailors and all were quilters. My mom is an excellent seamstress and I learned to sew clothing at an early age from her. I took my first quilt class in 1991 and found that I loved the similarity to graphic design working with cloth. I received a Sabbatical in 1994 when teaching at California State Northridge in Los Angeles to create a letterpressed small edition book but the Northridge Earthquake happened and the Fine Arts Building was destroyed. Instead I made my first art quilts using fabric paint for my Sabbatical. 

Jean Brueggenjohann, Four Square Third Leave–Hand set letterpress printed type on antique textiles and feed sacks. Text is a post civil war children’s rhyme.

Jean Brueggenjohann, Reminiscent of the winter sunsets in central Missouri. First illustrative quilt.

3. How do you describe your work?

My work is usually a combination of traditional piecing, applique and using unusual materials such as dyed fabric, tulle, letterpress printed typography, beading, sequins and embroidery. Mostly, I like the interplay of traditional and nontraditional techniques, design and materials.

Jean Brueggenjohann, Enchanted Evening-Continuing the theme with a more elaborate landscape. I made 12x12 inch blocks for easy quilting because I had tendonitis in my shoulder.

4. Do you have any favorite techniques or approaches?

Most recently I have been making landscapes and I am most happy when using my sewing machine so I do most of my work using the machine. I do hand work as needed mostly paper piecing applique making my own patterns and designs. When I lived in Los Angeles I took adult education quilt classes at the local high school with a wonderful teacher, Rita Streimer. She researched every technique you can image for class and I learned so much from her. The quilting techniques I learned gave me the freedom to create almost anything I want in my quilts.

Jean Brueggenjohann, Enchanted Baskets

5. What do you want to communicate with your work?

I don’t really have any idea about what I want to communicate. I feel like my quilts are pretty clear about what they are.

Jean Brueggenjohann, Enchanted Jungle-The outer blocks made with African fabric were left over from another quilt. I made the center design to go with them.

6. What methods, or lifestyle tips, or time management tips do you find helpful to producing work?

I treat quilting like my design work. I make pencil sketches and keep a sketchbook for ideas. I think about the ideas and when the time is right the quilt comes together. I do not worry about getting things done on any time frame and usually have several quilts going at the same time. I am a big believer in planning and using grid paper to refine my sketches and then I blow up my sketches to the correct size at a local blueprint shop. I tack this full size paper sketch to my design wall and I have a precise sketch to follow. I used this method for all the landscapes. For traditional pieced quilts I just stick to the small-scale sketches. I use my camera along the way to document and compare pinned variations of designs as I finalize the quilts. Occasionally, I make Illustrator or Photoshop sketches to work out the color and design. I always listen to music when I work, usually alternative rock.

7. What kind of studio/workspace do you have and what features of your surroundings are most helpful for your productivity/work?

I have a dedicated room for my quilt construction, sketching and cutting. I have a larger room, which used to be a family room that houses my design wall, long arm, cabinets and bookcases.

8. Which artists, other individuals or subjects currently inspire you?

I have been very fortunate to see lots of people and their work. When I lived in Los Angeles, I belonged to the San Fernando Valley Quilt Guild and during the early to mid 1990s we had just about anyone who was anyone in the quilt world as a guest speaker. It was inspiring to see such outstanding work. A turning point in my work came when Jinny Beyer was a guest speaker. I bought her book and made one of her intricate quilts. I realized that I possessed the skill to be a very fine technical quilt maker.

Jean Brueggenjohann, Rising Star-Traditional wall quilt.

9. Do you have a blog or website you'd like to share?

No blog or website. I work with students trying to make websites everyday in class and it is the last thing I want to do when I get home. I would rather sew. 

Thanks so much to Jean for sharing her work with us!  Please just let me know if you'd like to be featured in this space!

Featured Artist Profile: Janice Filler

Today I'm thrilled to bring you the work and comments of Janice Filler, one of our regional SAQA members from here in Oklahoma.  I was privileged to meet her and talk to her at the SAQA conference this spring in Santa Fe, and am so excited for you to all see her fabulous work.

1. Who are you and where do you live?
My name is Janice Filler, and I live in Oklahoma City.  I am the current state representative for the Surface Design Association (SDA), as well as a member of SAQA.

2. Tell us a little bit about your artistic journey and how you got started.
I learned to sew from my grandmother, who was meticulous and expert at garment construction and tailoring.  My mother taught me and my sister to crochet and embroider, which my sister mastered.  I got distracted in my college/medical school years and the following medical practice of pediatrics, but retirement found me dragging out my sewing machine.   I have very much admired beautiful traditional quilts, but after a “detail-oriented” profession, I was looking for something spontaneous and more liberating; I found my passion in art quilting/ surface design.  I love exploring new surface design techniques and hand-dyeing fabrics.

Doorway (Time Portal), Janice Filler 2011

3. How do you describe your work? 
Mostly pictorial, but often with humor or an ironic twist.

Vanishing Habitat, Janice Filler 2012

4. Do you have any favorite techniques or approaches?
I am an admitted technique-junkie when it comes to surface design.  Lately I have been interested in digital imagery and the use of transparency in design, whether by use of sheer fabric, or layers of color/design.  I find words or phrases to be inspirational, and frequently use them as I design my work, whether or not they are used literally in the work.  Sometimes, I focus on the less conventional meanings of words.

The Forest's Treasure, Janice Filler 2012

5. What do you want to communicate with your work?
Often irony or humor; sometimes the juxtaposition of different ideas, or just visually pleasing design in the unexpected medium of fiber.

Oklahoma's Sons and Daughters: Will Rogers, Janice Filler 2013

6. What methods, or lifestyle tips, or time management tips do you find helpful to producing work?
In a good week, I try to spend some time in the studio every day.  Most weeks, I don’t succeed, but feel most productive when I am able to do that.  It is helpful to my creative process to have an abundance of visual imagery around me, and I use my design wall partly for that purpose when it’s not in use for a current project.

Nod to Gustav Klimt, Janice Filler 2009

7. What kind of studio/workspace do you have and what features of your surroundings are most helpful for your productivity/work?
I have a home studio with an inspiration/ design wall and areas set up for “wet” work, (i.e. sink, paint, dyes, refrigerator, microwave, elevated print table, silk screens, etc.) and for “dry” work, (i.e., cutting table, fabric storage, sewing/ felting machines, shelves for embellishments and thread, etc.).  I have a small “office” area with computer, wide-format printer, books, journals, etc.   A favorite is an automated massage chair in an alcove for “recovery” after a long day.

8. What artists, other individuals or subjects currently inspire you?
I am especially drawn to fiber and quilt artists who keep pushing their boundaries in art, especially in regard to the variety and manipulations of materials they use, and who think about using fiber media in non-traditional ways.

Profile (Tippi Hedren's Revenge), Janice Filler 2011

Thanks so much to Janice for sharing with us, and please let me know if you're interested in being a featured artist on the blog or have any announcements to share.

Featured Artist Profile: New co-Rep Cherrie Hampton

Update:  You guys!  I'm so thrilled to let you know that Cherrie's beautiful quilt Oklahoma Windsong (first one below), just won The Future Of Quilting Award at IQF Houston.  So fabulous!

Hi All,  today I'm super excited to share with you a little bit about our new co-Rep Cherrie Hampton.   Her work is just gorgeous, and has won many many awards. I had the pleasure of meeting with her recently and was thrilled and encouraged by her great ideas and enthusiasm.  I'm sharing her profile today and then later this month I think we'll have a post about our other co-rep, Ada Niedenthal.

Please remember to send me an e-mail if you're interested in being a featured artist on the blog.  It's not a complicated process and I'd love to see more participants share their work!

1. Who are you and where do you live?

My name is Cherrie Hampton and I am a native of Oklahoma City, OK.

Oklahoma Windsong

2. Tell us a little bit about your artistic journey and how you got started?

Although I have been sewing and quilting for many years, art quilting is a new phase of my creative journey.  My formal career was as a college professor teaching singing, specializing in opera and musical theater.  I have designed and made numerous costumes and sets as well as training singers as actors.  These experiences formed the artistic eye that now guides my art quilting.

3. How do you describe your work?

I produce mostly small wall art quilts with construction techniques which are appropriate to the image concept.  I like for my work to be realistic and easily self-descriptive.  My theatrical training leads me to consider the impact of the quilt from a distance as well as the nuances of detail.

4. Do you have any favorite techniques or approaches?

Since taking up watercolor painting 4 years ago, I have found that painting on fabric has opened a new avenue for realistic expression.  I have used inks, pencils, fabric pens, crayons, acrylic paints, pretty much anything that allows me to apply color to fabric.  I also use commercial fabrics in my applique process.

5. What do you want to communicate with your work?

I am daily renewed by the beauty of creation around me.  I strive for realism in my work because I want to share the colors, textures movement and images as I see them.  I am particularly interested in portraiture and some of my first efforts in art quilting have involved human images.

6. What methods, or lifestyle tips, or time management tips do you find helpful to producing work?

In my studio I have music playing most of the time.  My favorite "creative" music is gentle music with no words but with nature sounds laced throughout the melodies.  I find this type of music acts as an eraser of other thoughts and concerns and helps me enter into a peaceful mindset.

7.  What kind of studio/workspace do you have and what features of your surroundings are most helpful for your productivity/work?

My studio has a large north window and is arranged with two work spaces, one for sewing and cutting and the other for painting.  I view my work much as one would a stage setting, and for that reason my design wall is my most important creative tool.  I tis located across one entire wall of my stuido directly across from the sewing machine. I also draw inspiration and energy from my wall of threads which is arranged in color families and my wall of fabric held in open baskets.  I am surrounded by rainbows of color.

8.  Which artist, other individuals, or subjects currently inspire you?

I am constantly searching blogs to understand other artists' methods and works.  These research soirees have helped me to begin to develop my own voice and preferences as an artist.  It is also interesting to find other artists with similar voices and  inspirations.  I have learned so much about how to create my own art and how to be an artist by observing Velda Newman, Patt Blair, and Maria Elkins.  I am also challenged by BOB, a small group of quilt artist who meet monthly.

Thanks so much to Cherrie for sharing and for stepping up as our co-rep.  Please feel free to e-mail her or Ada with ideas about what you'd like to see our SAQA region do.  You can e-mail Cherrie (her info is on the left sidebar) or check out her blog, http://windsongquilts.blogspot.com/

Carol Gilham Jones: 12 Months of Free-Form Quilts

I'm excited to share with you today that beginning October 3, 2013 one of our members, Carol Jones, will have a gallery show titled  "12 months of free-form quilts" .

It's being held at:

Strecker-Nelson Pop Up Gallery

406 Poyntz Ave.

Manhattan KS  66502

785 537-2099

Each quilt is based on a visual impression from a month of 2012.

If you are in the area, please stop by and see the show; and be sure to spread the word to others who might be interested.

c. Carol Jones

Don't forget if you're having an upcoming show or are featured in an upcoming show, let me know so I can share the information here!

Featured Artist Profile: Ruth Powers

Today I'm thrilled to introduce Ruth Powers.  She is a long time professional artist, teacher, and lecturer and her award-winning pieced quilts are just gorgeous.  I encourage you to visit her website to see more of her art.  www.ruthpowersartquilts.com.

1. Who are you and where do you live?

My name is Ruth Powers and I live in rural Kansas, south of Topeka with my husband and two dogs.

2. Tell us a little bit about your artistic journey and how you got started?

I have always been artistic but didn’t start quilting until 1989, when I wanted to make a wall hanging for my home.  I did not expect to enjoy it so was very surprised to discover that the whole process was totally satisfying and I was hooked! When I first started, the work was more traditional, but still artsy, That very first wall hanging was a combination of traditional blocks and a pieced scene similar to what I do now, only less intricate.  In 1994 I started my own pattern company, INNOVATIONS, which now has 57 patterns ranging from traditional to picture piecing, wall hangings to bed size.

First Quilt, 1989, Ruth Powers

3. How do you describe your work?

Mostly what I am doing now is machine pieced pictorial work made from commercially printed and hand dyed fabrics.  They are very heavily free motion machine quilted on my Bernina. 

4. Do you have any favorite techniques or approaches?

My current love is Picture Piecing. I work from my own drawings or from photographs or a combination of the two.  These are broken down into sewable sections,  enlarged and transferred to freezer paper which becomes my pattern for the sewing. The seams can be either straight or curved.

Eagles Soar, 2013, Ruth Powers

5. What do you want to communicate with your work?

My love of nature and color.

6. What methods, or lifestyle tips, or time management tips do you find helpful to producing work?

As a professional, this work is my priority, my job. So most days are dedicated to some aspect of  it. Not just sewing and designing, but shipping, computer work, entering and keeping track of shows and exhibits,  teaching and lecturing and running my pattern company. 

7. What kind of studio/workspace do you have and what features of your surroundings are most helpful for your productivity/work?

I have a wonderful, large studio that was built as an addition to our home specifically to house the business and the sewing space.  There is plenty of room for storage of all kinds, office space, my quilting/art library, TV, seating area,  and of course the expected sewing area with everything I need, including an 8x8’ design wall. With windows looking out over the water garden and bird feeders, it is my perfect work space.

Ruth Powers, Studio

8. Which artists, other individuals or subjects currently inspire you?

I enjoy the work of Ruth McDowell whose things are similar but quite different from my own, but for inspiration, I usually go to nature. 

Many thanks to Ruth for sharing her work with us in this space! 

Featured Artist: Candyce Copp Grisham

Today I'm pleased to feature the wonderful work of Candy Grisham.  I love her earthy colors and different ways of featuring botanicals.  I hope you'll take a few minutes to browse through her blog  candyce54.blogspot.com !

1. Who are you and where do you live? 
Candyce Copp Grisham.  I live in Washington, MO outside of St. Louis 

2. Tell us a little bit about your artistic journey and how you got started? 
I have been sewing all my life and self taught to quilt from high school.  It's in my blood and genes.  As I have continued, I find using the traditional but adding a twist or a new take has appealed to me.  I have sought out new tools, new methods but always seem to bring a bit of my traditional background in somewhere and somehow. 

3. How do you describe your work? 
Ever-changing.  I still haven't settled on a style that I can say is what I always do.  I love to try new techniques, to make them my own vision and to express my joy with fabric and texture. 

4. Do you have any favorite techniques or approaches?

 I tend to work rather intuitively.  I love to learn new approaches, to bend the rules a bit to make something that pleases me. 

5. What do you want to communicate with your work? 

Nature and color.  Architecture and graphic modern.  Traditional and contemporary.

6. What methods, or lifestyle tips, or time management tips do you find helpful to producing work?

 I work in small bits of time whenever possible.  I find that if I have 10-15 minutes I can get a lot done.  I also work on different projects at once as they are often in different stages of development and I can fit them to my mood

7. What kind of studio/workspace do you have and what features of your surroundings are most helpful for your productivity/work?

I have 3 different areas of work space:  sewing with machine and fabric, messy with paints, screen-printing and dyes and my long arm machine space.  This way I can keep different projects in the works without overlapping or getting too messy. 

8. Which artists, other individuals or subjects currently inspire you?

 Elizabeth Barton always - her design and color style, her buildings.  Stephen Redfern (English artist) for her fabric creations and books, Anything to do with maps,  Deborah Boschert for her collages 

Thanks so much to Candy for sharing!

Regional Meeting

Hi All,

I hope you guys can attend the upcoming SAQA meeting for our region.  It's being held Saturday September 14th in Kansas City.  Ada and Dora and the other meeting organizers have put a lot of work into the event and it should be tons of fun.  We'd love to have more people sign up to attend. Here's the info!