A N N O U N C I N G
”‹The Fabric Collage Quilts of Susan Carlson
September 26 through December 30, 2018
”‹Join Us for the Curator’s Reception and Gallery Talk with Susan Carlson
Saturday, October 20, 1:00 p.m.
New England Quilt Museum
18 Shattuck Street, Lowell, MA 01852
nequiltmuseum.org Ӣ (978) 452-4207
At last, after looking forward to this show for well over a year, it’s here.
And after all that time, of course there were still last minute preparations! I had a couple older quilts that needed fixes and I was up late making those repairs before I left the next morning for two weeks of teaching. While I finish up a class in WI and begin a new one in OR, Tom will have the job of packing and delivering the quilts to Lowell, MA.
If you’re in New England, or are contemplating a trip there, I hope you’ll take time to visit the museum which is just west of Boston. As you see above, I am giving a talk on Saturday, October 20. Maybe I’ll see you there!
I’ll be doing at least one blog post about the show with photos I hope will entice you to visit the Museum, but will be an on-line tour if you can’t.
I’m as excited to visit this show as anyone. I’ll be seeing many of these quilts for the first time in decades. I”ˆonly owned quilts like “Twilight” and “Elements” for a very short time before they were sold. I”ˆsent them off into the world as a mother might send off her children. I’d given them the best preparation I could, knowing they were going to good homes, but it still felt premature.
Seeing them again will be like attending a family reunion.
And like a family reunion, you’ll get a sense by looking at the attendees how they’re all related. The progression of my technique, from experiments to its full development, will be on display. Early on I tried some traditional quilting techniques. In my first figurative work I”ˆsometimes used paint or colored pencil to draw in facial features. I”ˆbegan using netting and other translucent fabrics for highlights and shadows (and also for shadow-quilting).
The biggest transition to me was how my color palette changed, from neutral and realistic to bold and decidedly non-realistic.
At shows like this, people sometimes ask which quilts are my favorites. That’s like asking which child you prefer. I”ˆlove them all in different ways. If I was pressed hard enough, I would probably admit that my favorite is usually the one I am working on at the moment–or even more, the one I just finished–whew!
A good many of these quilts live in my home and studio, which will seem very empty for the duration of the show. I’ll feel rather like an “empty-nester” who has just seen her child off to college. But like most children, they will return.
As a preview, here’s a list of quilts that will be at the show, along with links to the ones I have on my website or as a Quilt Stories blog post:
Specimens Quilts
Golden Temple of the Good Girls
Portraits
Peace, Love, Tie-Dye, Save the Whales
Jack Kerouac
Other Quilts
South End
Outstanding in Their Field
Coffee Bean Trio
Denim Crazy Quilt
Congratulations! I would love to see this show. Wish I lived closer. I have admired your work for many years. If you ever come to Washington State….
Susan, I have been following your blog for several years and continue to be in awe and delight when seeing your quilts. They are truly works of art. I get so much joy from seeing them and I hope some day I will be able to take a class from you and see your work in person. I have your book, Serendipity Quilts, and am reading it cover to cover and then plan to start on the book projects. I have made some collage pieces but your process gives so much more depth and life. I am retiring in a couple years and to my husband’s chagrin :-), have been saving every scrape of fabric to have a great stash to work on the photos I have picked out to make. Thank you so much for sharing as I won’t get to New England to see the exhibit but can enjoy from my home in Virginia. Kim