I am honored to announce that I will have an invitational exhibit at the Philips Museum of Art, on the campus of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, for the spring semester. The exhibit, The Enduring Beauty of the Susquehanna River, will run from January 21 to April 24, 2025.
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| 52 Ways to Look at the River |
The exhibit will showcase 4 of my large-scale quilts I've made over time as my response to living near the river. From my statement: "A major source of inspiration for my work, bordering on
obsession, is the Susquehanna River. I grew up in a house on a hill overlooking
the river and took its presence for granted. When I moved to Lancaster to
attend Franklin and Marshall I began to explore the river hills in earnest,
hiking the trails and learning about all the best overlooks. My enthusiasm was
deepened during the decades I spent living near the Northeast Lancaster County
River Trail and exploring it on my bike. I’ve enjoyed learning about the
important historical impact of the river on the region. Most of all, I’ve come
to appreciate how incredibly beautiful, and everchanging in its aspects, the
Susquehanna is. It’s been a privilege and a pleasure to spend time interpreting
my impressions using the art quilt medium."
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| 52 Way to Look at the River, detail 1 |
I'll be sharing these quilts here, over four posts, finishing with a new quilt I made specifically for the exhibit. Up first is my tour-de-force, 52 Ways to Look at the River.
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| 52 Way to Look at the River, detail 2 |
Beginning on the 2015 summer solstice and continuing uninterrupted for a year, each week I visited the Susquehanna River somewhere along its course and took pictures. Back in the studio, I chose an image and interpreted it in a 6” x 12” fiber art panel. The panels are on a wool/rayon felt base and are primarily needlefelted with wool and silk fiber, with some added applique, and were machine and hand stitched. I wrote about the process and illustrated it extensively here on my blog, click the "52 Ways" tab above to read more (in reverse chronological order).
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| 52 Way to Look at the River, detail 3 |
It took some schedule juggling, and braving some extreme weather, but I never missed a week. In the beginning my thought was to create a quick, impressionistic panel, but as the project progressed the panels became more and more detailed, and I greatly enjoying creating them.
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| 52 Way to Look at the River, detail 4 |
At the end of the 52 weeks, I began assembly of the panels. I handpainted fabric and quilted it to form a background. Each panel was appliqued onto black felt and then stitched on the quilt. I added hand beadwork with glass beads and semi-precious stones. The finished work measures 72”h x 82”w".
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| 52 Way to Look at the River, detail 5 |
Like a lot of my work, but especially with this one, the level of detail involves really invites a close, in person viewing. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to share 52 Ways to Look at the River with the Lancaster community and visitors to the area.
About the Susquehanna: Archaeology of the Lower Susquehanna River reveals that American Indians had utilized its resources for thousands of years. Around 1550 AD, the people we know as the Susquehannock moved from higher up the river to the Lower Susquehanna Valley. The Susquehannock were Iroquoian speakers and shared many similarities with the Iroquois in New York. Learn more here.
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