Meeting Minutes 12/3/16

Another fabulous meeting! We had 25 members and three guests for our regional meeting at the NEST Arts Factory in Bridgeport on Saturday December 3, 2016. It should be noted that our guests had quite the international flair: Selma Kenter came to us from Istanbul, Turkey, while Hiroko Matsuda and Masako Matsusaki were visiting from Japan. All three guests came to us through Sisters in Cloth.

Before I get into the meeting brief, a few calendar notes:
— Members of SAQA-CT (and NJ) are invited to the SAQA-NY regional meeting next Saturday, December 10, from 10-11:45am (RSVP to lisa@threadplay.com to confirm space availability). 335 West 38th Street, 8th floor #8.
— Sisters in Cloth will be having an Artists’ Reception on Saturday, December 10, from 2-5pm for their current exhibition at the Guilford Free Library. The exhibit will be up through the month of December and includes work by some of our SAQA members, as well as our recent guest, Hiroko Matsuda.
— The second half of the Local Color: Connecticut Stories exhibition will be up at Connecticut Hospice through January 7, 2017.
— We hope to have our next regional meeting sometime in February, but we’re still in need of a venue. Please email me or Christina if you have a (no-cost) meeting space for 45ish people on a Saturday from 10am-2pm…

Now back to our meeting! Christina briefed us on some helpful things found on the main SAQA website. First was the SAQA Seminar, a new project launched by the SAQA Education Committee, chock full of multi-media content - this series is all about "Stitching”. Christina also noted the fantastic index of back issues of the SAQA Journal. You can search or sort by topic, date, title or author to find what you need. So handy!

Our regional Trunk Show, “You’re Doing What?!" made a spectacular appearance at our meeting. It has visited three different guilds/quilt groups so far (email Hope Barton or Betty Warner to schedule the trunk with your venue!). It was a delight to see the variety of ideas and work amongst our regional membership, and the results of the hardwork of our Trunk Show committee. Those who were present and had pieces in the show spoke briefly about how their piece fit in the theme…or how it didn’t necessarily but represented their work or interests.

On to Show and Tell: many of those present had beautiful work to show off and exciting things to share. Some useful tidbits:
— Dot Bergen was enthusiastic about the use of encaustic wax to layer and college fabric. Highly recommended was the workshops of Leslie Giuliani.
— Paula Klingerman brought a great piece to show off the process of silk fusion, layering silk roving in cross-directional layers and melding it together using dish soap and textile medium.
— Carol Capozzoli reiterated her success working with a mentor, and inquired about critique or tips for using tulle to create depth or shadow.
— Norma Jean Brevik (who was also a hero in assisting with the abundance of door prizes for this meeting) introduced some of us to the wonders of silicone oven liners. Inexpensive and easily found, they can be used in place of a Supreme Slider  - just be sure to put some double-sided tape on the back. Others noted they are great for fusing assistance.
— The New Britain Museum of American Art has a enormous quilt reproduction fabricated in a manner reminiscent of sand mandalas, on exhibit in their New/Now section through January 23, 2017.

We then split into two groups and snuck into the exhibitions for Surface Design Association and the Celebration of Karen Loprete a little bit early, before adjourning.

The Healing Art of Pathology

Mary Lachman's work has just been published in "The Healing Art of Pathology", with two different works inside and with her piece, "Mermaid's Tale" featured on its coveted cover! The book focuses on the discipline of pathology as seen through the lens of art.

An IQA winner!

Hearty congratulations to Barb McKie for securing Third Place in the 2016 International Quilt Association "Quilts: A World of Beauty" show in the Art: Miniature category. Her piece, "Lifetime Partners" is a beauty, and we're so pleased that it has received the recognition it deserves.

Next regional meeting: October 8th!

Hello dearest CT regional membership! We are SO sorry for short notice on this, but we will be having our next regional meeting on October 8th. We will be meeting at the Unitarian Society of Hartford, 50 Bloomfield Ave, Hartford, CT from 10am-2pm.

We have an exciting agenda planned, but we need your help! We would love to have a discussion about workshops and teaching gigs - perhaps 3 or 4 panelists, speaking from your experience on how you started teaching, what you’ve learned from teaching and about teaching, favorite tips or what you would do differently if you could do it all over again. After that, we’ll have an open mic time of what the best workshop we’ve ever taken was or what a teacher may have done that really inspired or wow-ed us. Please email Kelly (art@kellyissuperneato.com) ASAP if you would be willing to share your expertise.

As always, we will have a lunch option - email Christina (christina.onebobbin@gmail.com) to be added to the list for $10 (sandwich, chips, beverage, cookies).

And Show and Tell!!!! I can’t wait to see and hear what amazing things you are all working on and doing out there! Plus, don’t forget your door prize donations.

Thanks for your abundant patience, and I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Reflections by Clara Nartey

Clara Nartey has a beautiful solo show, "Reflections: Stitched Drawings" at Atticus Bookstore and Cafe, 1082 Chapel Street, in New Haven. The exhibit will be on view through October 23, and on October 22, Clara will be on hand for a meet and greet from 3:00 to 4:00pm.

There’s more info at http://claranartey.com/atticus-bookstore-cafe/ and http://claranartey.com/art-show-at-atticus-is-open/.

Dawn Allen's Secret Garden

A solo exhibit highlighting Dawn's fabric art from the past two years, will be at the Rinnova Gallery (105 Elm Street Westfield, MA - only 10 minutes from the CT border!) September through October with the artist's reception on October 7th from 6-8pm. Most of the artwork from the "Larger Than Life Flowers" series will be there as well as several new and not yet exhibited pieces.

The “Larger Than Life Flowers” series is inspired by the moment in the Wizard of Oz when the movie turns to color and the camera pans across giant colorful flowers. This series is fun, exciting, and happy. These original art pieces hang on the wall and bring cheer to your space.

All of the pieces are made from fabric using modern art quilting techniques and her own method of transforming the usually flat quilt medium into three dimensional art.

Escape New Haven

Have you heard about the newest craze of escape rooms? Kind of the next step up from murder mystery theater, you [in a group] are locked in a room with some sort of themed premise and need to find and puzzle through different clues to figure out how to get out. A popular New Haven-based version recently renovated their Gallery scenario and are looking to showcase a local artist or two. This could be a really unique opportunity for your work.  https://escapenewhaven.com/blog/artwork