Monday, November 11, 2013

What you see....

Last week I got  nice email from a woman who reads my blog, with a photo attached of her standing in front of my "Red Domes" quilt, which is part of the High Fiber Diet "Simply Red " exhibit that is currently on display in Coos Bay, Oregon. She said she had watched its progress on my blog and so when she saw it was going to be in the exhibit there she was interested in seeing it in person. It was one of those really nice gestures from someone I didn't even know and it made my day.

Meanwhile, I have been working away on the piece for submission to another show and those submitting to this show have been asked not to show any progress photos on blogs or other online sites. Since this is a pretty big project, it leaves me with little to share here. I would love to be sharing some of that process and decision-making, but I will comply with their request. I understand that they feel the resulting exhibit will be fresher if pieces have not already been seen online, but thinking back to my nice message from last week, I wonder if instead they are missing a possible building of interest in the show that might be gained by engaging the potential audience in the artists' processes and previews of some of the work in progress.  My own experience of art over the years is that seeing a work of art in a book or on TV or online makes me want to see it in person. Indeed I have traveled great distances and spent plenty of money to see art that I knew first as a reproduced image. And it is always worth it. It is always better in person. Always. And it is always thrilling to discover that.

So I won't show it, but I don't like that rule and I hope it might be reconsidered next time around.  My piece is coming along. I started quilting it today. In time I can show the completed piece either if it is selected and even sooner if it is not. But you won't be seeing the front of it as it develops. Here is the back–quite different from the front, but kind of interesting in its own right, I think.


11 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:21 AM

    Well, I would travel great distances just to see the back! Thanks for being an inspiration in so many areas -
    Marcia

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  2. Interesting points of view--both. You've changed my mind about showing work in progress. I like seeing the back of the new piece. I thought it was the front!

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  3. I agree. I will go out of my way to see work that I have seen peeks of during its creation online. I think we have a connection since we have seen the process much more so than if we see it cold. I do like the back of your piece. I love the tree outline with limbs and fine branches. Have a wonderful week, Terry!

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  4. I hope you are taking photos as you go and we can share in the process once the exhibit is up. I love seeing your designs progress and your thoughts along the way.

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  5. I recently saw the SAQA Seasonal Palette exhibit at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah. The best part of it (for me) were the notebooks that each artist had put together documenting the process of making the entry. You could take the book over to the quilt and see just how it had come together. There were techniques I never would have guessed from seeing only the finished piece. I hope you're keeping a record even if you can't post the process now. I love seeing how art reveals itself.

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    1. x 100. An artist whose style I'm not fond of is still fascinating when I can see process and point of view.

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  6. I agree with you. The process is a big part of the piece being shown. Through blogs we feel the struggle, sacrifice and the creative process happening. Though I can enjoy art all on it's own. The story behind it makes it mean so much more. It almost brings a emotional attachment to it. I look foward to you sharing!

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  7. Couldn't agree more, Terry! Posting the process online increases interest in the pieces, in the artists and in the show! Basic marketing really. I'm glad you decided to share it in your own way...and the back is beautiful !

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  8. I like the back so much I don't care about the front!

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  9. I agree also, Just seeing the back of this quilt piques my interest in it. I hope that this rule changes. I understand that they want to show "new" work, but the peeks on a blog are just teasers, encouraging interest.

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  10. As a learning and exploring fabric artist, I appreciate that established and known artists also have struggles and explore new techniques and creatiog, and then the successful and winning completion pieces.

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