Making art, and making art matter

Recently, there was a very lively, and somewhat vitriolic exchange on one of the art forum groups I belong to.  One artist was explaining a woven piece she had created which simply read “counteract” which I personally think is open to interpretation.  What do you want to counteract, or in her case, WHOM did she want to counteract?  I think art could and should represent that which we feel strongly about, whether we agree with the maker or not.  Isn’t the essence of art to provoke thought, emotion, or growth?

That discussion brought me full circle back to my sister’s quilt.  It’s been an emotional roller-coaster, sometimes with laughter all by myself in my studio, and of course, sometimes with tears, again, all by myself.  So while progress is slow, I’m just going to let it grow organically until I think it’s done.

The yellow/blue piece was another score (#Score32017) from the facebook page, “The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters” and is based on a stack of blocks I made at my 2nd or 3rd workshop, more than a decade ago.  I sliced, and randomly sewed them back together to make this little gem, which I think turned out really well.  If you haven’t yet tried your hand at improve, I highly recommend it – just dip your toe in and make something small to start – placemats, a crib quilt, etc.

Cheers,

Beth

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