“Architexture”: A SAQA-NE Exhibition (Jan. 8 – Mar. 27, 2015)

The Studio Art Quilter Associates of Nebraska (SAQA-NE) is excited to share their interpretations of the word “Architexture” with an original exhibition of fiber arts called “Architexture”.

Architecture is a general term that not only can describe man made buildings but can also include the diverse structures found in nature. Combining this definition of architecture with the word texture, the artists designed and created fiber artwork on a diverse range of topics. The texture portion of the word “Architexture” is evident on these fiber pieces which share the slick finishes of windowed buildings in large cities, the varied textures one finds in a home, the diverse textures of nature, and the rough boards of an old barn on a Nebraska farmstead.

Studio Art Quilt Associates is an international non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the art quilt and the artists who create them. SAQA-NE provides a network of support, comradery and inspiration. This regional group offers a variety of resources that help foster personal and professional development.

Artists

• Joanne Alberda
• Rhonda Baldwin
• Shelly Burge
• Jo Drueke
• Dorothy Heidemann-Nelson
• Elaine Jones
• Debi Kibbee
• Cynthia Levis
• Aimee Mahan
• Peg Pennell
• Dori Settles
• Diane Duncan Thomas
• Dorothy Tuma
• Shea Wilkenson
• Roberta Willet

Click image below to view complete quilt.

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  Granite Snowflakes

  Year made: 2014

  Maker: Roberta Price Willet, Omaha, Neb.

  Winter brings thoughts of biting cold here in the Midwest. The wind, which always blows strong even in the summer, becomes a factor of life and death in the winter. Those buildings that give us a brief “cool” feel during the summer heat, add to the chill in the dead of winter. The only joy to be found after the Christmas holidays is the snow. The beautiful flakes – falling and catching the sun – sparkle with the promise that God has not forgotten us.

  Materials/Techniques: Machine piecing, machine quilting, bobbin threadwork, artist transfer paper, crystal applied with heat, binding as part of backing cover.

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  Bifurcation I

  Year made: 2014

  Maker: Shea Wilkinson, Omaha, Neb.

  Bifurcations are an important part of the architecture of nature. What would a human, animal or tree be without bifurcating limbs stretching away from the main stalk?

  Materials/Techniques: Hand-dyed silk, cotton, polyester thread, free motion quilted.

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  Sunrise

  Year made: 2014

  Maker: Dorothy Tuma, Omaha, Neb.

  I’ve been contemplating the creation of the cathedral. When I found the beads; I knew that I had the right material to simulate bricks, so the idea began to take form. Lumiere paint brightened the sunrise.

  Materials/Techniques: Free appliqué, free-hand quilting, beading, lumiere paint, tee juice pens.

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  Bioluminescent Forest

  Year made: 2014

  Maker: Dori Settles, Omaha, Neb.

  Bioluminescent Forest was influenced by the whimsical world of Dr. Suess. I had fun creating this little world full of the unexpected, like the flower trees and drapery over the outside of the window.

  Materials/Techniques: Cotton, discharged and painted, free-motion quilting, and glass beads handmade by the artist.

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  Step Into the Past

  Year made: 2014

  Maker: Peg Pennell, Ashland, Neb.

  Staircases, built in ancient times, become the pathways of everyday life. Without a thought, we walk these wonders, never thinking of the anonymous thousands who have trodden there before us. In this piece I show pathways crossing to and from staircases leading both up and down. A never ending road, ushering us to unknown new adventures.

  Materials/Techniques: Photographic images printed on fabric, commercial cotton fabrics, pieced, machine quilted.

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  City Scape 2

  Year made: 2014

  Maker: Cynthia Levis, Lincoln, Neb.

  Looking at the sky light in a city or town, you will see shapes of all different sizes. I’m interested to see how I can replicate these shapes using different techniques. “City Scape 2” is the second Art Quilt in the series.

  Materials/Techniques: In “City Scape 2”, I started with a whole cloth and painted the buildings using inktense and watercolour pencils. The sky was colored using diluted dye-n-flow. Machine quilted.

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  Tlaquepaque (Tla-keh-pah-keh)

  Year made: 2014

  Maker: Debi Kibbee, Omaha, Neb.

  Using fabric as my canvas, I try to duplicate the beauty I see all around, that I have captured with my camera. The beautiful reds, rusts and golden tans of Sedona consume you with their beauty. I have tried to capture the spirituality and peacefulness that surround you in this sacred Indian land. Using fabric, paint and thread, I hope to have captured the feeling for others to enjoy.

  Materials/Techniques: Cotton Batiks, hand-dyed cotton, wool felt, acrylic paint & thread. I used an appliqué technique and acrylic paint to shade and highlight. Quilting adds an extra splash of texture.

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  Bird Song Construction I

  Year made: 2013

  Maker: Joanne Alberda, Sioux Center, Iowa

  Upon the completion of a large project last year, I was faced with the problem of what to do with a heap of beautiful left-over hand-dyed fabrics. A number of the smaller scraps from which a small circle had been cut reminded me of bird houses… leading to a series of “site constructions” which I called “Bird Songs.”

  Materials/Techniques: Cotton hand-dyed fabrics, collaged and machine quilted.

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  Wonky House

  Year made: 2014

  Maker: Elaine Jones, Omaha, Neb.

  Elaine created a drawing of a whimsical house, transferred it to cotton fabric and embellished it with a variety of beads, threads, pieces of jewelry, trims, buttons and stitching. The clear plastic on the left side represents a glass elevator. Each window has lighted candles to invite visitors in Old World style. The “house” piece is bound with hand dyed fabric and mounted on a burlap matt background bound with dupioni silk.

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  3023 Lees Ave

  Year made: 2014

  Maker: Dorothy Heidemann-Nelson, Lincoln, Neb.We who live in the Midwest are used to having a lot of space around us. It’s not that way in parts of our country. The plot plan of my son’s home is typical of the much more dense housing developments in California where every inch of space is utilized. I chose to capture this intense feeling by re-creating a plot plan of his property on a wholecloth art quilt using only quilting and color added to the surface of the single piece of painted fabric.

  Materials/Techniques: Hoffman white PFD #1377 painted with Pebeo Setacolor Transparent fabric paint for the base color of the single fabric piece. Additional color added with Inktense pencils and thread. Quilted on a stationary (domestic) machine.

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  Still Standing

  Year made: 2014

  Maker: Jo Drueke, Firth, Neb.

  An old barn stands as the only building remaining on the farmstead. Having served for several decades, the barn tells its stories through what remains and what has fallen apart. Old barns bring back memories of years ago when farms were smaller, when a family worked hard and when the barn was the center point of a farmer’s life.

  Materials/Techniques: Eco Dyed fabric, hand dyed and purchased fabric. Enlarged photograph taken by artist. Machine stitched. Paint. Machine quilted.

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  Architexture

  Year made: 2014

  Maker: Rhonda Baldwin, Grand Island, Neb.

  Design of one’s abode is maybe the first planned design. Providing shelter from the elements and protection from dangers, the earliest men and women looked at simple natural forms and copied them. In this piece, I chose to explore the stacking of stones forming structures. Medieval architecture demonstrates these stacked buildings, many of which still stand today. Simple blocks are stacked to form walls and embellished afterward with metalwork and carving.

  Materials/Techniques: Mono-printed fabrics, overprinted and stitched with applied text and embellishments.

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  Architexture 1

  Year made: 2014

  Maker: Aimee Mahan, Lincoln, Neb.

  Structures have a foundation and a variety of materials that fit together for strength and stability. Like building a structure, I intuitively collaged hand-painted fabrics, silk and a few commercial fabrics to create rhythm and balance with line and form, light and dark and scale. I incorporated elements that mimic stucco, stone and other building materials as well as decorative motifs that might be used for details to add interest to a structure.

  Materials/Techniques: First I painted mono-printed and stamped fabrics to combine with silk and commercial fabrics. Then I collaged the parts in a very linear fashion to imply a built structure. Then I used stitching to add texture and emphasize the elements of stucco, stone and column details. I added beads and washers to imply the hardware which holds some of the parts together.

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  Swinging Bridge

  Year made: 2014

  Maker: Shelly Burge, Lincoln, Neb.

  Swinging or hanging bridges are intriguing constructions. They can be found spanning deep gorges and some may appear insubstantial and untrustworthy. Crossing one of these swaying structures can require a large degree of courage. A swinging bridge could be a metaphor for people and situations we come across in our lives; do we trust our instincts to take the first step or to turn around to look for a different path?

  Materials/Techniques: Shelly created hand-dyed, shibori dyed, hand painted, and bleach discharged cotton fabric for this piece. The work also incorporates commercial cotton print fabric, vintage cotton print fabric, and floral silk velvet fabric. The tubes were machine pieced. Each tube was stuffed with polyester batting and hand stitched close. Black cotton cord was woven around the tubes to tie them together. Hand stitches were used to secure the tubes to each other.

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  Bowery and Spring, NYC

  Year made: 2014

  Maker: Dianne Duncan Thomas, Omaha, Neb.

  A nod to the heat in the summer on the streets of New York City where the towering building hold the sun’s rays. Bowery and Spring streets play important parts in my family life so I chose those two to represent all of NYC’s thousands of high rise buildings.

  After creating more traditional quilt for over 25 years, my work has turned to a more specific path in the art quilt genre. I seem to gravitate toward species quilts and have been lately working on a series of nature selections. Working with color gives me the most pleasure and I am enjoying the chance to produce large scale quilts as well as an occasional smaller piece.

  Materials/Techniques: I hand dyed and painted the background and rectangles which lent themselves well to the theme. The piece was quilted by fellow SAQA member, Aimee Mahan.