Virginia A. Spiegel

Noshi Ribbons by Gerrie Congdon

The Invitational Reverse Auction of Fabulous Fiberart opens tomorrow at 10 a.m. CST. All the information about the artwork and how to participate is here.

A  lineup of great artists have generously donated their artwork to benefit the American Cancer Society.  Today’s featured artwork is by Gerrie Congdon.  Noshi Ribbons is an art quilt created with vintage Japanese fabrics.

Detail from A Good Time For Change by Marjorie DeQuincy.

Great Art for a Great Cause!  That’s the Invitational Reverse Auction of Fabulous Fiberart with 100% of the proceeds donated directly to the American Cancer Society.  

The Preview opens today here with the minimum donations listed for each day for each artwork.

The Reverse Auction will be held March 24 – 26.  

Artist Marjorie DeQuincy and the other artists also share their materials, techniques and inspirations for their donated artwork on the Reverse Auction webpages.  The other invited artists are:  Natalya Aikens, Gerrie Congdon, Rayna Gillman, Carol Larson, Linda Teddlie Minton, Susie Monday, Judy Coates Perez, Leandra Spangler, and Roxanne Stoner.

Marjorie’s art quilt includes surface treatment of crayon rubbings on the artist’s hand-painted cotton cloth, newspaper text on inkjet printed cotton cloth, fusing, free motion machine threadwork with cotton, polyester and rayon threads and machine quilting throughout.

As with many of the other artists Marjorie created this artwork specifically for the Reverse Auction, “I am honored to be invited to participate and let my art do good with your help. There is no best time to do good …there is only NOW.”

Pomegranate Cross by Susie Monday
24″ h x 20″ w x 1.5″d
Art quilt mounted on wooden frame.
Original fabrics: dyed and screen-printed; photo transfer, machine and hand stitching.

Susie Monday has donated this complex art quilt created from her own original fabrics to the Invitational Reverse Auction of Fabulous Fiberart.  The Reverse Auction Preview begins Thursday, March 19 with information about minimum donations for each day, the artwork and the artists.  The link will be posted here on Thursday.

The Reverse Auction opens Tuesday, March 24.  The Reverse Auction continues through March 26 with the minimum donation to the American Cancer Society decreasing each day. Wait too long and your favorite piece of artwork might be gone!

Susie is known for her use of colorful and eclectic fabrics, her storytelling in fabric (see her Angels, Saints, and Sinners series on her website), and her teaching. 

Susie has a degree in studio art from Trinity University in San Antonio, and after living and working in the shadow of the Alamo for 35 years, retreated to the Hill Country just four years ago where she now works and teaches in the studio of her dreams. Her fiber art and surface design work has been deeply encouraged by study with Jane Dunnewold, and expanded by her work with Sue Benner, Arturo Sandival, Kerr Grawbowski and other great and generous teachers in the fiber arts field. Susie serves on the board of directors of Fiber Artists of San Antonio, is an active member of the Art Cloth Network, and also participates in the work of SAQA and SDA. 

She is on the faculty of the Majestic Ranch Arts Foundation in Boerne and at the Southwest School of Art and Craft, and has also taught nationally at the Textile Center in Minneapolis, at the International Quilt Festival in Houston and other venues. Her work has been displayed and purchased for private and public collections in the U.S., Israel, Great Britain, Italy, and Mexico.

Susie is also the co-author, with Susan Marcus, of New World Kids:  The Parents’ Guide to Creativity.

Green

I was looking for a photo today that would capture the new and tentative green I am seeing in my garden.  I was out poking around yesterday under the theory that just being outside has to help cure this plague I have.  Under mounds of dried leaves, I am finding the palest green of daffodil shoots, hardy obedient plant, and iris growing strongly already.  It seems too early, but Spring is coming.

It’s ironic that this Photoshopped photo of a hosta leaf headed into Autumn is just the pale green color I was seeking today.  The circle of life in a garden continues.

Hey, where’s the art?  What AM I doing?   I’ve had the lovely flu/cold thing that’s been going around.  I seem to have the Texas-sized variety.  So I’ve not set foot in my studio since I have returned home, but I have bonded with my cat and my couch.

So this is a good week for me to promo not only Fiberart For A Cause, but other good causes. I’m convinced even more in these times that we can make a difference with our art and that small acts of kindness and generosity do make a difference:

1.  Walk to Defeat ALS

Dawn Goldsmith, writer and supporter of all things fiber through her blog, Subversive Stitchers, shares the following :

Derrol and I are forming a team to walk in the ALS Association fundraiser: Walk to Defeat ALS on April 24 at Lake Eola Park, in downtown Orlando.   We are asking you to support us and join us if you can. We welcome you to walk with us and enjoy the festivities. And we urge you to donate toward research and patient care. 

The ALS Association has seen us through some tough times. They provide information, help coping with this incurable disease, maintaining quality of life, and even donate equipment for our use.  In our family the disease is part of our legacy since the Goldsmiths have an inherited form of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

My husband, Derrol, has an inherited form of ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. There is no cure. More than a dozen members of his family have died of it including a brother. Our sons have a 50-50 chance of inheriting the disease. We desperately need a cure and hope you’ll help us raise funds for research.

Please visit this site for more information and to pledge your donations to the Goldsmith Team. 

Dawn is a strong and vocal supporter of Fiberart For A Cause.  Our support of the Goldsmith Team is well-deserved and much needed.

2.  Art quilts to benefit A Place To Bark

Last year Lynn Krawczyk’s Breaking Traditions exhibit benefited Fiberart For A Cause. 

This year, the annual quilt exhibit will benefit A Place To Bark, a non-profit dog rescue that helps provide loving homes for abused and orphaned dogs.  A Place to Bark is an all-out effort by artist Bernie Berlin.  Read her blog if you don’t believe one person CAN make a difference in this world.

The theme for this year’s exhibit is Home. The required size is 12 x12″. The entire $10 entry fee will be donated to A Place To Bark.

The Call For Entries is here.   Make a quilt, be in an exhibit and support a very good cause!

3.  Fiberart For A Cause Calendar  - 100% from all events donated directly to the American Cancer Society.  This will be the last year for FFAC.

March 19   Preview for Invitational Reverse Auction of Fabulous Fiberart 

March 24   Invitational Reverse Auction Opens – Gold Donor Day

March 25 – 26   Invitational Reverse Auction continues with the minimum donation dropping each day.

April 1   Deadline for submission of jpegs for Collage Mania

April 29   Collage Mania Preview Week begins.  ALL collages revealed!

May 5   Collage Mania opens. All collages available for a minimum $80 donation.  Patrons are encouraged to donate a bit more if they can for a favorite collage.

May 6 – 7   Collage Mania continues. All collages available for a minimum $40 donation.  Patrons are encouraged to donate a bit more if they can for a favorite collage.