Living Colour! at Chattanooga and 2015 SAQA Benefit Auction

This week Living Colour! is on exhibition at AQS Quilt Week Chattanooga, Tennessee from 16-19 September 2015.  I have a roving “reporter” stopping by later in the show but if you are going on Wednesday or Thursday, I would love to see a photo or two.

AQSQuiltweek

2015 SAQA Benefit Auction

The 2015 SAQA Benefit Auction also opens this week.  This is the signature fundraising event for Studio Art Quilt Associates. Your purchases help increase the recognition for art quilts and the artists who make them while supporting SAQA’s exhibitions, publications, and education outreach. ALL Benefit Auction quilts, including artwork donated by Living Colour! artists and the curator,  will be available for $1,000 each on 18 September as part of a Diamond Day promotion. This early bidding window will remain in effect until September 21 at 1:30pm EDT.

Over 40 artists participating in the 2015 SAQA Benefit Auction have provided videos that show their creative process. Take a look and be inspired!

SAQA2015Auction

*Studio Art Quilt Associates offers many exhibition, network and mentoring opportunities for its members. If you’ve been thinking about joining SAQA, add the discount code “WKS ” to the application form (and add my name Brenda Gael Smith in the referral field) and you will receive a 10% discount on the membership fee.

Living Colour at Bunker Cartoon Gallery

You are invited to the first gallery outing of Living Colour! at:

Bunker Cartoon Gallery
John Champion Way, Coffs Harbour, NSW
8 August – 13 September 2014
Gallery Hours: 10am-4pm Monday-Saturday

There is an official opening at 6pm on Friday, 8 August 2014 with local artist Sandy Corry in attendance. All welcome! Please share this invitation with friends and textile enthusiasts on the Far North Coast.

Other upcoming attractions at the gallery include :

  • Surf & Turf – a series of amusing sporting cartoons; and
  • Through These Lines, 13-17 August, an original Australian play based on the letters and diaries of Australian army nurses serving in WWI.

Invitation to Exhibition at Bunker Cartoon Gallery

How to get to the Sydney Quilt Show

Living Colour! next tours to the Sydney Quilt Show, Craft & Quilt Fair from 9-13 July 2014 with a curator floor talk daily at 1.30pm.  The Sydney Exhibition Centre venue has relocated to Glebe Island but there are FREE ferries and buses from Darling Harbour (10 minutes), Central Station (25 minutes) and Circular Quay (30 minutes).  Click this infographic or check out the Craft & Quilt Fair website for more information.
Sydney Quilt Show Transport Options

2014 Brother Quilting Contest

Brother International Australia has generously provided financial support for Living Colour! touring expenses.  They also offer quilters the opportunity to participate in the 14th Brother International Quilting Contest.  The theme is “Eco” and they are calling for 70x70cm quilts. Entries close on 30 September. Check out the Australian entry form. If you live in another country in the Asia Pacific, contact your local Brother International representative to see if an equivalent entry form is available.
Brother Quilting Contest 2014 Entry Form
Living Colour artist Julie Harding was the winner of the Australian component of 2013 Brother Quilting Contest for her work Habitat. She also received an Outstanding Performance Award in the overall contest.  (The overall winner was another Australian, Dale Robson.)  You can read more about how Julie created her work in Issue #67 of Quilters Companion magazine that went on sale this week.  You can’t miss the magazine cover -that colourful quilt design is by curator Brenda Gael Smith.

Habitat by Julie Harding   Quilters Companion Issue 67
You can view all of the 2013 Brother Quilting Contest Finalists online.

The catalogues are in the mail

THANK YOU! to everyone who has purchased a Living Colour! catalogue so far. Mail orders were dispatched yesterday and I only have two copies remaining from the first batch.

I will be printing another batch in time for the exhibition in Perth later in May. Pre-order now to be assured of a copy. I can post you the catalogue or you can collect it at the show. The catalogue is available for sale from me at a discounted price (see the Living Colour! catalogue page). Alternatively, more expensively, you can order via Blurb.

Living Colour Catalogue

A Glimpse of Living Colour: Sue Dennis

Wattle Dancing is a leaf-printed work by Sue Dennis of Brisbane, Queensland.  And, speaking of Brisbane in the spring, I am pleased to announce that Living Colour! will be on exhibition at the Brisbane Craft & Quilt Fair:  8-12 October 2014.  Queenslanders, mark your calendar!

Sue Dennis - Detail

Living Colour! will premiere at the Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne, 10-13 April 2014 .  A Glimpse of Living Colour is a series of blog posts sharing preview detail shots of each of the selected works.  The blog posts are published every other day and the Preview Gallery will be updated weekly.

Introducing the Living Colour Artists

Announcement

THANK YOU to all the textile and fibre artists who submitted works for consideration. It has been so exciting to compile a vibrant exhibition with a strong narrative. I am pleased to announce that works from the following textile artists feature in the exhibition Living Colour – Celebrating Life Across the Spectrum:

Jenny Bacon (Aust)
Deborah Boschert (USA)
Betty Busby (USA)
Sandra Champion (Aust)
Sandy Corry (Aust)
Mathea Daunheimer(NZ)
Sue Dennis (Aust)
Christine Dowell (Aust)
Sue Duffy (Aust)
Robyn Eves (Aust)
Dianne Firth (Aust)
Di Flint (Aust)
Catherine Gowthorpe (UK)
Suzanne Gummow (Aust)
Kay Haerland (Aust)
Julie Harding (Aust)
Neroli Henderson (Aust)
Anne Jolly (NZ)
Linden Lancaster (Aust)
Alison Laurence (NZ)
Susan Mathews (Aust)
Roxanne Murphy(Aust)
Lois Parish-Evans (Aust)
Paula Rafferty (Ireland)
Charlotte Scott (NZ)
Caroline Sharkey (Aust)
Sarah Ann Smith (USA)
Carolyn Sullivan (Aust)
Phyllis Sullivan (Aust)
Gillian Travis (UK)
Annie White (NZ)
Brenda Wood (Aust)

The exhibition will premiere at the Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne, 10-13 April 2014 and a comprehensive website gallery will be published at that time.  Meanwhile, I will be sharing some preview detail shots of each of the selected works in a series of blog posts entitled A Glimpse of Living Colour.  I invite you to bookmark this blog feed (www.livingcolourtextiles.com/feed) in your preferred RSS reading app ; subscribe by e-mail by filling out the form at the top of the sidebar; or follow the Living Colour Facebook page to stay up to date.

A Glimpse of Living Colour!

Plight of the Bumblebee was created by Neroli Henderson of Melbourne, Australia.  Neroli’s painted trapunto work incorporates machine embroidery and needlepunched fringing. You can view more of Neroli’s work on her blog and Facebook Art Page.

Neroli Henderson Detail