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| CQA and SDA members join for a pair of meetings |
Members of Contemporary QuiltArt Association (CQA) and
the Washington
chapter of Surface Design Association (SDA) were in for a special treat on
October 12, when the two groups arranged back-to-back meetings featuring two
stars of the fiber-arts community: Bonnie Bucknam and Jane Dunnewold.
Thanks to CQA members Lorraine Edmond for preparing the
following reports on the presentations and Christina Fairley Erickson for the
on-scene photos.
Part 1: Bonnie Bucknam and the art in nature
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| Bonnie Bucknam with her piece "Canopy" on the wall behind her |
The October CQA meeting gave us an opportunity to hear from
one of our own members, Bonnie Bucknam, who described both her inspiration and
the details of her creative process. The title of Bonnie’s presentation,
“Sticks and Stones,” succinctly captured the two diverse threads that have
inspired much of her art.
Bonnie majored in anthropology and minored in geology, and
recalled always being interested in geology from an early age. She explored the
Sierras and Death Valley, both places where
the details of the landscape are clearly exposed, as vegetation is
sparse. After moving to Alaska,
where she spent over thirty years, those wide-open spaces were an important
visual presence as well. Upon retirement, Bonnie moved to Vancouver, Washington,
where, she noted, “the trees are so thick you can barely see the ground.” Trees
with complex patterns of limbs inspired work based on the branching forms.
These two influences led to her current series, “Geology” and “ Tangle.”
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| Bucknam's piece "Cavern" |
She showed images of both series as she explained the
evolution of her work and the construction processes she uses. Bonnie
studied with Nancy Crow back in the early’90s and learned to develop one motif
from a collection of sketches. Now she may make 20-50 sketches before deciding
on one to develop. The motif is stretched and turned as the overall composition
is developed.
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| Detail view of Bucknam's "Reflection" |
Sometimes a sub-sample or fragment of a sketch becomes the
final motif she works with. Much of Bonnie’s earlier work was inspired by
ethnic arts and crafts. A sketch of a pre-Columbian weaving became a basis of
several quilts.
Bonnie’s quilts are constructed with one of three processes.
Some smaller pieces are free cut based on a sketch. When a piece is so large
that doesn’t work, she will make a pattern from the sketch instead, after
having the final sketch enlarged at a copy service with a wide printer. The
third process involves improvisation directly on the design wall.
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| Bucknam's piece "Crater" |
She takes numerous photos of her work in progress; this allowed
her to show us her process in some detail. Decisions were made and some were
re-made. Lines were added and subtracted, colors were auditioned and sometimes
removed. Sometimes the whole piece would be re-oriented late in the design
process. We also had the benefit of seeing some of the final resulting quilts,
visually stunning in their combination of simplicity and intricacy.
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| Bucknam's "Canopy" |
Bonnie bought a long-arm quilting machine after she moved to
Vancouver, and
that helped her make larger work--especially important since her quilts are
very densely quilted. It may take her 6-10 days to quilt a large piece, working
on it 3-4 hours a day.
Her final message for the group was “Persistence Pays!” She
has been quilting for 44 years now. Back in 1987, a friend suggested she
enter a piece in Quilt National. “Quilt what?” she responded. She ended up
getting accepted that very first time. Then she entered for many more years,
but it was 2009 before she was accepted again, and in 2011 she won Best of
Show. She closed her talk with urging the audience just to “Keep Quilting!”
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| Attendees study Bucknam's samples following the presentation |
For more information about Bonnie and her work, go to http://www.handwerktextiles.com.
Part 2: Jane Dunnewold and “the psychology of doing art”
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| Jane Dunnewold, left, is introduced by Barbara Matthews of SDA Washington |
Immediately following October’s regular CQA meeting, many members stayed in their seats as the Washington State chapter of the Surface Design Association was treated to a visit from the national SDA president, Jane Dunnewold. Jane has been a teacher and mentor to numerous members of the CQA community for years, but this was her first visit in her new role. Known in the wider world as a textile artist who literally “wrote the book” on surface design (Complex Cloth), Jane also teaches and lectures widely on other topics related to creativity in a more general sense.
Interestingly, Jane doesn’t refer to her work as textile
work. She wants the focus to be on the art rather than the media. When asked,
she calls herself a mixed media textile artist, even if the piece is a quilt.
For this presentation, although she showed us many lovely and inspiring images
of her work and her new studio and teaching facility in San Antonio, Jane chose to talk primarily
about what she called “the psychology of doing art.”
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| Dunnewold's new "wet" studio |
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| Dunnewold's new "dry" studio |
She asked the audience to consider the question “What
inspired you to think of yourself as an artist?” She noted our common
beginnings: “We’re all seduced by color, but after the initial burst of
enthusiasm the analyzing begins. We acquire workshops, teachers, supplies.
There are so many things at our disposal, we don’t experience limitations or
boundaries.”
Of course we are engaged by the world and by our senses, but
a time arises to become more interior. Jane advised us to sit carefully and
quietly as we consider what our best path is. She believes that we area
seeking is alignment—that blissful state where what you love to do is what
you’re good at.
You can be good at something and hate it, which can make it
hard to leave it behind. Conversely, you can love something and not be
good at it. In that case, practice is needed, but daunting. We
start out wanting to play, and not wanting judgment of our work. By the time we
understand what we’re doing, we’re invested in being good at it, and then it
becomes more rewarding than when it was merely play. But how to get there?
That’s elusive!
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| "Degredation" by Dunnewold |
Jane advises that we first have to drop some old ideas.
First, “the talent question.” We all have different gifts, but it isn’t helpful
to focus on where you are on the continuum. Second, the “busy, crazy life” that
gets in the way. Everyone has that. Third, and maybe most important, “The
Committee.” The Committee lives in your head and it may be your own voice or
that of a parent, or your first art teacher, or even Nancy Crow. Your Committee
is all the people you want to please. When you realize who is on your
Committee, you can dismantle it, and then have a new kind of freedom.
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| "Tender Heart" by Dunnewold |
The next thing to work on is something Jane calls “Creative
Stamina.” Stamina develops as a result of strength training, and Creative
Stamina develops as a result of Creative Strength Training; and furthermore, it
needs to be the equivalent of Cross Training. This might include what
Jane referred to as “cultivated looking.” It might include something similar to
her year-long daily photography blog. Jane credits that daily photography
practice with making her a better artist as she learned to see the world in a
richer way—closer, and in more detail. Other approaches might include writing
(asking yourself questions and writing the responses) or doing timed free-association
exercises and noting the visual images that emerge from that. It’s important
both to cultivate curiosity and to keep track of the things you’re curious
about.
Jane’s final words of wisdom included the following: “It’s
OK to screw things up. If you haven’t, you’re not trying.” And last, but
probably most important for many of us, those words that need to be printed as
a giant poster: “Go back to the studio and stay there.”
For more information about Jane and her work, go to http://www.artclothstudios.com.
