Well, I finally did it! I have had a piece of my fibre art published in Quilting Arts magazine and I must say, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
After a long and difficult winter struggling with health issues and tons of self doubt, this has been an incredible boost to my artistic alter ego. Quilting Arts has been an amazing forum for art quilters and mixed media artists of all abilities, and one of my career goals was to have my work shown on their prestigious pages. I truly felt that if I achieved this goal I would officially be validated as an artist, and I can tell you I have been on cloud nine since receiving the April/May issue #44 and turning to page 77 to see my artwork front and center. My heart beats a little faster, my cheeks glow a little pinker, and my breath catches a little in my throat, every single time I flip to that page and see my name at the top… it’s that exciting. The validation is everything I thought it would be and more. Thank you Pokey and Pippa and all the gang at Quilting Arts, you’ve helped to make one of my dreams come true.
My piece is called Self-Portrait 2010 : Industrious and was created in response to the Inner Animal Reader Challenge presented by the magazine. My description of the work included these words:
“Ever since Quilting Arts’ ‘Creative Self-portrait’ reader challenge in 2005, I have been creating an annual self-portrait timed around my birthday as a way to reflect on the past and set creative goals for the future. This piece serves as a visual reminder to maintain artistic focus and to be more creatively productive on a daily basis.
Freshwater pearls nestled in paper cavities like little larvae represent the tiny seeds of creativity planted in my brain, waiting to be nurtured into full-fledged art quilts. The honeycomb is generously sprinkled with amber droplets of the ‘sweet stuff’: that delicious sensation of being lost in the creative process.
I kept as busy as a bee creating my quilt from my own hand-dyed cotton, commercial fabrics, a transferred image of the anatomy of a bee, and hand-painted layers of paper. I used traditional English paper piecing, hand and machine quilting, beading, and stumpwork embroidery techniques to stitch the bee by hand.”
This whole experience has been positively uplifting and I am excited to see what lies around the corner in the way of new challenges and adventures. My motto this year is to be brave and be more persistent, and so far, it’s working.