Heather Piazza joined me for a visit to the O’Hanlon Gallery to see their current exhibit Bay Area Women Artists. The art center is located in bucolic Mill Valley, just north of San Francisco.
Of the 56 pieces Donna Seager selected for this exhibit only four are textiles. I continue to be impressed by the hanging of the exhibits. They always show that the curator has an artful eye. Here is Ginkgo Dust Up.
Just a few steps away is Jean Jurgenson’s Tangaroa, inspired by Rey Jonsson’s 40′ wooden sailboat built in New Zealand in 1939. The three dimensionality Jean brought to this piece is quite stunning.
A few other pieces quite caught my eye as well. Such as this pair of figures created with buttons and hand-knit clothing by Marie Bergstedt.
Marie has quite a way with creating all the shading, coloring and depth with these every-day objects.
Kathy Seward created this fun textile with a collection of feed sacks that she and her brother collected. I particularly liked its irregular shape and wide binding using two different fabrics — a perfect stripe plus a small piece of chickens marching toward the left (top left corner). The Sun Bonnet Sue block is of the same vintage as the fabrics and feed sacks.
Driving away from the gallery we had to stop for six deer to clear the intersection. We managed to capture the doe with fawn — so sweet.
Just getting to the gallery is a real treat and the exhibit is quite worth the effort. Bay Area Women Artists will be on view through August 29th.
Hi Franki,
We love your posts of all things textile- what you experience, what you learn from your work, your art. Thanks for letting us peek in at your world and see things for a bit through your artist’s eye! Deborah & Hollis
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Thank you so much for being with me. It’s always more fun to have friends along.
You’re quilt is bigger than I thought and even more magnificant hanging in that gallery. I love the the button quilts too. How fun.
Ginkgo Dust Up is 27 1/2″ x 54 3/4″. I made it to hang over our king-size bed. There’s actually no Q word for the button pieces; they are layers of buttons clothed in hand-knit garments. Quite impressive!
LOVE your Ginkgo Dust Up Franki! And I particularly love the Tangaroa quilt: what a great concept in the representation of sea and boat.
Thank you Maureen! And yes, Jean really caught the experience of being on that boat, didn’t she?
You’re in good company there, Franki, great pieces of art!
I feel quite honored to be there Meta.
Thanks for sharing all the images – not least the last one.
I think your and Jean Jurgensen’s quilts are wonderful. I also thought your quilt was smaller so it is nice to see it on a wall to get a feeling of size.