Invisible art quilt takes center stage

My art quilt, Invisible, is featured in a new video posted by the folks at the Dairy Barn. The directors at the Dairy Barn graciously asked the artists in the show to create short videos that would feature their quilt. There are many other artists who also created a video so pour yourself a cup of tea, sit back and be entertained. The links that follow will lead you there.

The Quilt National show is considered one of the premier art quilt shows worldwide. People from all over submit their work to the judges to be included. This year Nancy Bavor, the Director at San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, and professional textile artists Brigitte Kopp and Karen Schulz, were tasked with sorting through 747 submitted artworks from 388 artists from six continents. 84 pieces were chosen. The show is in Athens, OH until September 6 then some of the pieces will travel for three years at venues across the continent. If this show comes near you, or if you are within shouting distance of Athens, OH, take the time to see it. If not, the digital exhibition is here. The works are seriously ground-breaking textile works of art.

Here is the video I made to familiarize people with my point of view and the way the piece was conceived. Spoiler alert: It’s on wheels. Check out other artists works in the show here. Enjoy!

Inspirations and year end insights

Inspirations all around. The spells generated by books, politics, nature, artists and musicians fuel my journey as I create my art. Here are some of my favorites for your end-of-year browsing pleasure.

Beastie Boy and His Pals will be part of the Stitched Dissent show at Christian Brothers University Beverly + Sam Ross Gallery in Memphis, TN January 10 - February 12

Theo Jansen creates spectacular strandbeasts of wood and plastic that come to life when exposed to the wind. I could watch them for hours. He says that he wants to put these animals out in herds on the beaches so that they can live their own lives. I think about my artwork as it travels into the world, living its own life. Check out his video explanations of how these beasts work. Fascinating.

Leo Ray gives us joy and play and commentary and history and calligraphy and dreamscapes in his Infinite Painting. His canvases are all the same size and each one abuts the previous one to add to the inner dialog he is translating for us. There is a wonderful slide show of the painting you can visit with this link. The work ranges from abstract to cubist to surreal to realistic, freely combining texture, rhythm and color over the surfaces. There are over 100 canvases to date. He calls it a “public-access diary”. And isn’t that what all artists do when creating their work — releasing the inner to the outer?

Ragnar Kjartansson’s, The Visitors, left me spellbound when I saw his nine-screen performance at the Columbus Art Museum in Ohio. The performance combines video, music and poetry in a way that I have never before experienced. I floated through the space with a longing, a sadness, and a joy that stays with me to this day. This video link doesn’t really do justice to the experience in person. If you can imagine walking into a room with nine huge screens each showing one of the musicians and their instruments in separate rooms of a historic mansion you might get an inkling of the experience. The music builds and ebbs. The musicians move in and out of the rooms. I am still humming this evocative tune 2 years later.

As for me? I put together this little movie of the work I have done this year. It was a great year. I finished 14 pieces and I’m in process on three more. I led a 3-month festival (Stitched: Celebrating the ART of Quilting) in Memphis, taught three week-long workshops (Quilting By the Lake, Focus on Fiber and Art Quilt Tahoe), and took a brilliant workshop by Michael Brennand-Wood at the Shakerag Workshops in Sewanee, TN. I had a solo show at the Rockland Art Center in West Nyack, NY and created a proposal for a show devoted to our political realities (Stitched Dissent) that will travel to two different venues in 2020. Just in time for the vote.

Please vote in 2020.

Here’s a little summary slideshow that highlights some of my favorite moments.

Insights?

I know that I am inspired by reading. Reading feeds my inner voice and gives my artwork ballast. I know that I need to find beauty in everything to keep myself grounded. I know that sometimes my mind will not rest until I have worked things out in stitch. I know that the challenges ahead in our government, our environment and our health will affect the way I think and work. I feel like time is condensing and I am breathless and restless with the ticking sound of not enough hours in the day. I know that I need to learn to rest.

Best in stitches to you all. Thank you for taking the time to read thoughts .

Quilt National 2019

My piece, Disruption, will debut at Quilt National tomorrow in Athens, OH. The Dairy Barn is a treasured space for art quilts and art quilters. I have met some inspiring folks there, seen some inspiring works. I wish I could be there this weekend during the opening festivities. It would be great to get to meet some of the first time artists and catch up with the artists I have met before.

Meanwhile my work will speak for itself. It’s a little raucous. A lot anxious. Ragged on one side and dark on the other. Not sure if the folks at QN will hang the piece away from the wall so that you can see it from both sides. If not, and you are there, ask them to show you the dark side. It’s full of stitch.

The piece is made with a quilt top I pieced then printed with a steamroller. — yes, the same machine they use to flatten roadways. I was given a 4’x8’ wood panel to carve. It was inked, placed on the road and covered in fabric, paper, a felt blanket and wood panels then rolled over with the steamroller. More about that process here and here.

My best to all the artists who will be celebrating this weekend in Athens. I’ll have to wait to see the show some other time.

Disruption, 90” x 40”, 2018, Paula Kovarik

Disruption, the dark side, 90” x 40”, 2018, Paula Kovarik

Quilt National reveal

One thing about the Quilt National show in Athens, Ohio: the artists have to have a lot of patience. Understand that we actually made the pieces sometime between October 2013 and October 2014. Then, after submission to the show, there is that long wait for the email that says you have been chosen as part of the exhibit, or, you have not.

As an accepted artist, you send in your quilt for final acceptance and photography in December.  Then, the longest 6 months in history starts its plodding way. From December to May you hold your breath and try not to say anything to anyone about the piece.

Getting ready to tell the story of my piece, Insomnia: His and Hers at the Quilt National opening. Gathered round me are some of the luminaries in the art quilt world. What could be better than this?

Getting ready to tell the story of my piece, Insomnia: His and Hers at the Quilt National opening. Gathered round me are some of the luminaries in the art quilt world. What could be better than this?

Finally the show comes around and the Dairy Barn hosts the artists and their friends and fans to see the results of the careful choices. I attended the show this weekend and had a great time talking with and meeting the artists, enjoying discussions about the pieces and their relevance to the art form, studying details and colorways, and standing awestruck before many of the accepted pieces. The show was beautiful, varied and thought-provoking.

One of my favorite parts of the weekend is when the artists have the opportunity to talk about their piece for 2 minutes. It is a delightful gathering of fans, friends and luminaries. Betty Busby sent me this photo of me doing my talk during that session. I'm not sure what I said. I think the Dairy Barn is going to post the results of these short clips on You Tube so I will be able to figure out if I made a fool of myself or not.

So here is the reveal of the piece that was accepted to the show. Insomnia: His and Hers were conceived during a period of transition in my life. I had lost my mom, passed my business on to my friend Shannon and set up shop in my studio. I redefined reality for a while -- felt like a rabbit without a hole and couldn't sleep very well. The piece tries to channel that urgency, insecurity and subconscious into a landscape of conscious thought. It is a diptych made with two pillow shams that were given to me by a friend. The quilting is free-motion stitching with my Bernina machine. The two shams have a built up pillow forms behind them that mimic actual pillows.

Insomnia: His and Hers, ©2014 Paula Kovarik

Insomnia: Hers, ©2014 Paula Kovarik

Calming the static prior to sleep can be a journey into the unknown escorted by the imagined and replayed.

Insomnia: His, ©2014 Paula Kovarik

In

Happy to announce that my piece Insomnia: His and Hers, has been accepted into Quilt National 2015. Can't post a photo of the finished pieces due to the rules of the show. The piece is made with two vintage pillow shams. It is the same piece that was rejected by Quilt Visions. Goes to show that it all depends on the judges.

Other news: I am proud of my two grandsons, who allowed me to use their incredible drawings to create a piece called Face Value. It recently won second place in the Wall Quilts - Other category at the LaConner Quilt Festival.

Face Value, detail, work-in-progress, Paula Kovarik

Face Value, detail, work-in-progress, Paula Kovarik