A Quilt Show

This past Friday, I went to a wonderful quilt exhibit in North Charleston that was organized by Cookie Washington, a local artist.  This was in conjunction with the North Charleston Arts Festival, a yearly event that celebrates all of the arts in the community.  This exhibit was somewhat unique in that all of the artists were black women.  Several of us enjoyed the show so much that we went back today to see them again.  We all agreed that we liked this quilt the best--Lessie Rose by Barbara McCraw.  It is really difficult to capture all that was going on with this piece.  The swirling background fabrics added movement to the quilt and emphasized the motion of the women's hair.

And if you look at this closeup, you can see the hair on the women and the detail of the faces.   We spent a LOT of time looking at all of the details and appreciating the skill and thought process of the artist.

 And here is a second quilt by Barbara--Oya 11.  If you look closely, you can see the outline of a twirling woman.  And you can see a closeup view in the next picture.  One of the amazing things about this piece was that it appeared that she pieced the components of the woman entirely separately from the background and then superimposed them on it.  Really incredible and beautiful.

This piece is Love--Generosity & Service by Yvonne Fraer.  There is gold beading around the heart that doesn't really show up in this photo.

 And this is Southern Greens by Rachel Clark.  Rachel was in North Charleston--from California--for several days teaching quilted garment construction and, by all reports, the classes were fun and stimulating.  I was fortunate enough to attend her fashion show and was quite taken by her sense of humor--as well as her artistic and technical skill. Among other things, she loves to make clothing that celebrates Christmas; however, she also loves to make clothing that features watermelons.  She showed a watermelon coat that was a show stopper and, as you can see in this quilt, she likes her watermelons there, also.

Arianne King Comer created this wall hanging entitled Oasis.  She is a very talented Charleston artist who does a lot of her art work in indigo fabrics, mixing her dyes in the traditional way.  I think the border of this quilt is done in that fashion.  The poem at the top of this quilt was very moving and seemed to be reflective of the time she spent in Africa--we think.

Cythia Cephas presented this quilt--Strong Women.  I loved the combination of the women in the panels and the style of piecing.

This piece by Pauline Barrett is called the Gift and you might notice that the woman is placing her hands on a belly that is heavy with child.  I have included a closeup of some of Pauline's quilting in the next picture.  Her stitching was wonderful throughout the entire quilt.

And, finally, this is Wholesness: Giving Birth To Fully Consciousness by Cookie Washington, the organzier of the show.  It's quite an interesting piece.
I was really glad that we took the time to revisit this show today.  The building was quiet and it afforded us an opportunity for reflection as we looked at this wonderful group of quilts by some amazing women.  So many of them were telling stories about their lives and experiences and I'm grateful that I given the gift of  a window into their world.