Virginia A. Spiegel

Woman and Child

I’m always up for collaborative projects with a purpose.

According to Jennifer Brooke Marsh, the International Fiber Collaborative is an opportunity for people around the world “to come together from all over the world to express their concerns about their countries extreme dependency on oil for energy. Those who participate will crochet, knit, stitch, patch, or collage 3 foot square fiber panels that will express each participants concern about this topic…. Once all 800 panels are received, they will be sewn together to completely cover an abandoned gas station in central New York State.”

Woman and Child is the piece I am sending. It is cut from a MUCH bigger art quilt I made in the infancy of my art quilt career. It was machine quilted within an inch of its life, but never quite finished as, aside from the life-size figures, it was pretty boring.

The figures are made from some of the first fabric I painted. I think Mother and Child is a good piece for this project because the image can still be “read” from quite a distance and I do believe activism springs from a desire to improve the world for the next generation.

The deadline is March 15, 2008 for pieces to be received.

A River of Grass

Prairie grass at sunset.

If it’s Tuesday, of course there is a new post in The Garbage Day Project. It’s the start of the holiday garbage season. Please note that something weird is going on with WordPress on The Garbage Day Project blog. I posted, but it’s not pretty.

If you enjoy reading my blog, treat yourself to Art, Nature, Creativity, Life. It’s an ongoing online book available exclusively by donation to the American Cancer Society.

Every Moment design by Karen Stiehl Osborn

Karen Stiehl Osborn has generously donated the use of her Every Moment artwork image to the Fiberart For A Cause Shop to raise funds for the American Cancer Society. To read more about the story behind her artwork, visit Karen’s blog.

Fiberart For A Cause was the #2 Nationwide Fundraiser for the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life in 2007. The Fiberart For A Cause shop showcases artwork focusing on hope, serenity and beauty with all profits ($5 per item) donated to the American Cancer Society.

Boundary Waters 30

Del Thomas of the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection recently acquired the above piece and Boundary Waters 28. If the pieces arrive in time, she will be taking them along to the following collecting forum at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles this Saturday, November 17, from 1-4 p.m.

The Art of Collecting and Becoming Collectible: A Conversation on Making, Appraising and Collecting Textile Art

Have you always wanted to collect textile art but didn’t know how to get started? Are you an artist whose work is ready for collectors? Get the inside scoop on how textile art is acquired, collected and valued from some of the most respected collectors and appraisers and some of the finest and most-collected artists, and in the United States. Participants include: Nancy Crow, renowned Saturn Returns artist; Julie Silber, nationally known curator and appraiser; and Louise Allrich, principal of Allrich Fine Art; and Del Thomas, well-known contemporary art quilt collector.

Boundary Waters 27 - Detail

Boundary Waters 25 and Boundary Waters 26 are now up on my website. The inspiration for these two works were the incredibly textured cliffs that we camped near in the Boundary Waters this Fall.

You can follow a link from there to four additional new smaller Boundary Waters artworks (27-30) or go directly there.

If you received my newsletter or subscribed to my online book, you will find the story of these pieces in “Enough.” It was a night in the Boundary Waters when the stars in the Milky Way were so close that we felt we could touch them.

These six artworks make 30 in the Boundary Waters series. Done or not?