About bravery
Sometimes I am brave. (In artmaking. In life.)
Sometimes I am not brave at all. (In artmaking. In life.)
I admire bravery and I respond to it, often, at a gut level that’s a combination of emotional response and conscious thought.
This weekend I went to see an exhibit by three quilt artmakers I know from SAQA in Florida, and I encountered artmaking bravery. It’s always good to visit exhibits and learn from the work of other artists.
Here are some takeaways.
Here’s a shot of the exhibit space at the Southwest Florida State College Museum of Art and Culture. The artists exhibiting are Ellen Lindner, Gabriele DiTota and Sue Robinson.
It’s good right at the beginning to stop and take a breath. Wow. Any artist or group of artists who have a group show in a beautiful space are brave souls. Somebody had to make the proposal. Or if a request was initiated, somebody had to say yes. And get the works together and delivered. And have sufficient confidence to show the works and do all the required PR.
(Making the work is just PART of the process, and sometimes the easiest part.) I applaud artists who have made the work and then tackle exhibiting opportunities.
One wall displayed one work from each artist that I experienced as a wall of bravery.
This is Sue Robinson’s work, Light from Above.
Bravery in composition. It’s very hard to leave that much negative space alone to let it speak. Always tempting to fill it in with stuff or crop differently. The powerful, empty background of this work is part of its strength. This work is haunting and memorable. I love it.
This is Ellen Lindner’s work, Raking Season.
Bravery in vision. Ellen has been a quiltmaker for a long time. In the last several years she has created a new body of work created from her experiments in hand-dyeing fabric and creating with improvisational construction. This work is bold and unexpected. I love it.
This is Gabrielle DiTota’s work Bothered.
Bravery in surface design. Gabrielle showed a body of art focusing on fabric printing techniques that evolve in unpredictable ways: cyanotype (sun) printing and breakdown screen printing. The artist has to learn and master some techniques, and then stand back and let what happens happen. The result is great spontaneity. This work has lots and lots to look at. I love it.
Back home, I am planning on some days in the studio bringing along my current large project depicting the house with leaves. I hope I will be inspired to make decisions and create bravely!
Finally: the staff at SWFSC made a terrific video interview of Ellen, Gabriele and Sue. It’s very well done and well worth watching. Pop some popcorn and take a look:
If you are inspired to see even more wonderful textile art, I invite you to explore the new Gallery of Textile SAQA-FL website. You’ll find more art by Ellen and Gabriele, and me, and about twenty other textile artists making interesting – and brave! – work.
https://www.gallerytextileartsaqafl.com/
For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
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