Virginia A. Spiegel

I’m back after a glorious artist’s residency for the month of February at Karey Bresenhan’s Great Expectations Creativity Center in La Grange, Texas.

I painted, screenprinted, stamped and used other surface design techniques to transform 200 yards of 60-inch wide white cotton fabric. It was a lot of work, but I am very pleased with the variety and richness of the fabric.

I thoroughly enjoyed the company of Carol Moore, the other artist-in-residence. Carol worked in the  AIR studio and created fiber artworks of great texture and complexity. Here she is trimming the threads on the back of her stunning Redwood piece:

A month of time to do work, to think and to let the creative well fill is a gift to be cherished by any artist.  I know this time will make a difference in my art making and I thank Karey for the opportunity to experience this perfect time and setting.

More later this week about all that fabric!

Special Note:  I didn’t take any photos at the Open Studio Day and would appreciate receiving any photos from that magical day that others would like to share.  Low-resolution jpegs are fine and may be sent to Virginia(at)VirginiaSpiegel.com

Photo from my residency in 2007.

Karey Bresenhan, Director of International Quilt Festival, Houston, Chicago and Long Beach, is hosting an Open Studio Day on Friday, February 27 near the end of Carol Moore’s and my residencies at the Great Expectations Creativity Center in LaGrange, TX. 

I hope you will be able to join us as it promises to be a day filled with art, conversation, and nature. Click here for all the details and how to RSVP. Arrangements can be made to stay overnight.

I’m thankful for this opportunity to once again be an artist-in-residence for an entire month thanks to the generosity of Karey and Quilts, Inc.  

Waiting for me in Texas are 200 yards of white Kona cotton and several gallons of textile paint.  I am using the entire month to focus on painting and surface design on fabric.

Also an artist-in-residence for the month of February is Carol Moore. Carol is in full-time private practice as a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Her artwork appears in the book Creative Quilting: The Journal Quilt Project edited by Karey Bresenhan and was recently shown at the International Quilt Festivals in Houston, Chicago and Long Beach.  

Carol has also generously donated her artwork to the Invitational Reverse Auction of Fiberart to benefit the American Cancer Society.