Recent Local Art Events

Me with "Pansies" at the DVAC exhibit.

Last Friday night, Apr. 29, was the Dayton Visual Art Center's Annual Art Auction, held at Sinclair Community College. There was food, wine and lots of art.  I really enjoyed seeing the outfits and jewelry that people wore, very artistic.

Me with "Fireflies" and some other wonderful art at the ODC Best of 2011 reception.

Two days later on Sun., May 1 we went to the Ohio Designer Craftsmen's Best of 2011 artist reception at the Ohio Craft Museum in Columbus.

My piece, Fireflies, is the large black and gray piece in the photo.  It was hung inside a glass display case from fishing line so it looked like it was floating.  There were some black and white and gray pieces in the display case and they all worked together very well.  By being in the case, my piece had a lot of light on it, which really made it stand out and sparkle like, well, Fireflies.

There is a lot of really great work in the show including several other wonderful fiber pieces.  The show will be at the Ohio Craft Museum, 1665 W Fifth Ave. in Columbus, until June 19.  Hours are Mon.-Fri. from 10 am-5 pm and Sat.-Sun. from 1-4 pm.

The show then travels to the Southern Ohio Museum, 825 Gallia Street in Portsmouth, Ohio from July 8 to Aug. 27.  Hours are Tues.-Fri. from 10 am-5 pm and Sat. from 1-5 pm.

Then the show travels to the School of Art Gallery at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio from Oct. 11 to Nov. 11.  Hours are Tues.-Fri. from 11 am-5 pm.

If you can't make it to any of the shows, or if you want to see a preview, the Ohio Craft Museum has all the Best of artwork on their website.
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Fireflies on exhibit with Best of 2011 Show

My art quilt "Fireflies" is in the Ohio Designer Craftsman's "Best of 2011" show. The travelling exhibit will be at the following locations:

Ohio Craft Museum
1665 W Fifth Ave., Columbus, OH
May 1-June 19
Mon.-Fri. 10 am-5 pm and Sat.-Sun. 1-4 pm
Opening reception Sun., May 1 from 1–4 pm

Southern Ohio Museum
825 Gallia St., Portsmouth, OH
July 8–August 27
Tues.-Fri. 10 am-5 pm and Sat. 1-5 pm

School of Art Gallery
Kent State University, Kent, OH
October 11–November 11

Fireflies at DVAC, First Friday event this week

My art quilt "Fireflies" is in the 19th Annual Open Members' Show at the Dayton Visual Arts Center. The show runs until Aug. 19.

Since I wasn't able to go to the artist reception last month, I am planning on being at the August First Friday event at DVAC this Fri., Aug. 6 from 5-8 pm, although I will likely be there for the earlier part.

The event includes back-to-back, 5-minute gallery talks by weveral local artists. It is also Game Night, and they will have the ping pong table up in the street if it's nice, or in the backroom if it's not. DVAC is located at 118 N. Jefferson St., Datyon, Ohio

Fireflies Art Quilt - it glows in the dark!

"Fireflies," 15" x 17.5"

This art quilt was made for the 19th Annual Open Members' Show at the Dayton Visual Arts Center. The theme this year was "Darkness."

One of my favorite things about living in south west Ohio is that we are on the western edge of the Eastern Time Zone, so it says light in the summer until almost 9:30 pm. And when it finally does get dark, the lightning bugs come out. Did you know there are some places in the country where they don't have lighting bugs?

The best place to see lightning bugs is in an open field where there are trees at the edges. The bugs like the field, and with the dark trees behind them, they are easier to see. So for my "Darkness" quilt I wanted to have a lighter area in the center for the field, and darker areas at the edges for the trees.

I started with some black fabric, added some shiny silver fabric in the middle, then added some pieces of dark blue and purple fabrics on the left and the right of the silver fabric and dark green across the bottom. I added many embellishments, then placed some black sheer over the top of the items then quilted it all down, being careful to quilt around the embellishments, which trapped them in the fabric.

After adding the binding, I couched some yarn where the binding met the quilt to add a little bit of color and frame the quilt. Here is a close-up photo:

Some of the embellishments I used were buttons, beads, and colorful threads. I also added some parts of glow-in-the-dark stars and some pieces of a broken CD. And while those pieces don't blink like lightning bugs, the CD pieces will catch the light and "wink" as you walk by the quilt.

I even used glow-in-the-dark thread, although it doesn't stand out very much. Below is a photo of the glow-in-the-dark parts, you can see the faint image of the quilting looping in the middle. This wasn't an easy photo to get!

More about Fireflies

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The 19th Annual Open Members' Show at the Dayton Visual Arts Center runs from July 13-August 19. An Artist Reception will be held on Fri. July 16, from 5-8 pm. DVAC us located at 118 N. Jefferson St., Datyon, Ohio.