Last Thursday I traveled to McMinnville to pick up Chloe at college. She decided to spend the weekend in Portland with me. She was able to see some friends, eat great meals on Mom's budget, and get most of her homework done. I was still recovering from the bronchitis and so Thursday after the long travel time I was wiped out. We had an early dinner at a food cart, went to Powell's on Hawthorne for a little bit and then retired to the hotel room early.
My artwork (bottom right) in the book, 1000 Quilt Inspirations, at Powell's on Hawthorne.
The SAQA Fiberlandia Conference was a great way to connect with other members and see some great art quilts! On Friday morning it started off with a presentation by Namita Gupta Wiggers, Quilt: A rose by any other name does not smell as sweet. This one was about the difference between art and craft and ways to critique art. Following this was the first Breakout Session. I went to see Sue Reno talk about how to develop and sustain your daily creative practice. There were some excellent tips here and she gave examples from a range of quilt artists.
We had a lunch buffet followed by a panel of International Artists including Rosalie Dace (South Africa), Hsin-Chen Lin (Taiwan) Maggie Vanderweit (Canada), Sue Dennis (Australia) and Gul Laporte (France). This presentation was about keeping balance in an artistic life.
After the International Panel I went to my second Breakout Session: Carolyn Higgins: Master Social Media and Rule the World (Or At Least Sell Your Work). This was a second choice for me as the first choice was cancelled. This was interesting because even though I know and use most of the online services she talked about I did learn a few things and saw some very entertaining short videos. My take-away was that I'm doing everything right as far as an online presence.
On Friday evening Chloe and I joined my friends Marion, Jan and Sheila for a delicious dinner at Pazzo in downtown Portland.
Tiramisu at Pazzo- YUM!
Saturday's program started off with the best one of all. I'm not just saying this because Maria Shell is a friend. Her presentation was titled The Art of the Word- Getting Grants and Other Art Opportunities by Crafting a Well Written Proposal. Maria's talk was entertaining, well researched, and spot on. It was really just what I needed and worth the price of the whole conference!
Also on Saturday we had the Student Artist Panel featuring students from the Oregon College of Art and Craft. The panel was moderated by Emily Nachison and is a faculty member at the college. The students were: Molly Eno, Melina Bishop, Kaylin Francis, and Tyler Peterson. These young people are doing some amazingly creative work. Some are working in the art quilt form, but they are doing much more in the realm of fiber art. I sort of wished Chloe could have been there for that presentation.
Saturday afternoon was free time to tour Portland. Chloe and I joined Marion, Jan and Maria Shell for lunch at Habibi in downtown Portland. After lunch we went to see the Exploring Layers art quilt exhibit at the AIR Gallery in Pioneer Place. We did a little shopping and made it just in time to see the MIX Fiber Art Group's A Sense of Place: The Allison Inn art quilt exhibit at the Methodist Church.
After a little rest in the hotel, we all went to the Fiberlandia Wild About SAQA Dinner and Spotlight Auction. This was lots of fun. I had donated my small quilt, Fanciful Blackbird, to the auction. I was so pleased to see that it went for at least $200. There were so many amazing small works of art! I am showing a few here, but there were many more that I wished I could bid on.
Fanciful Blackbird by me for the Spotlight Auction
Artwork by Terry Grant
Artwork by Heather Debreuil
Artwork by Diane M. Wright
On Sunday morning I saw part of the presentation about the Quilt Visions show that takes place in the San Diego area every year. The final presentation was the Local Artist Panel. The panel was moderated by Jeannette Di Nicolis Meyer and the artists were Sidnee Snell, Jean Wells, Sheila Finzer and Bonnie Bucknam. This was the only part of the conference were I managed to bring my big camera and the only one where the artists showed their work in person. The photos of their artwork and the panel can be seen below. It's always great to hear artists talk about their work and how it has developed over the years.
Local Artist Panel: Sidnee Snell, Jean Wells, Sheila Finzer, Bonnie Bucknam, Jeanette Di Nicolis Meyer
Artwork by Sidnee Snell
Artwork by Jean Wells
Artwork by Sheila Finzer
Artwork by Sheila Finzer
Artwork by Bonnie Bucknam
Chloe and I left the hotel right after this presentation and went to lunch at my favorite cafe in the Pearl District- Lovejoy Bakers. Then I went to Powell's for a bit while Chloe did homework in Starbucks. I drove her back to school and made the long trek home.
Lovejoy Bakers Egg Salad Tartine- more YUM!
I picked up this book at Powell's. It's a great one! Marion has a quilt in it!
The student at work.
What a great weekend!
The big news of yesterday is that Chloe got her dream job in Portland at Oregon Health & Science University! She will be a research assistant in an addiction studies lab. She's very excited. The next step is finding housing while she tries to finish up the semester, graduate, and goes to New York City to present a poster at the Psychology conference there. It's going to be a busy few weeks!
Proud mom and daughter on the campus of Linfield College.