All about the people!

WOW!   What a powerful show and such powerful artists!  So very worthy, words can't do it justice. 

having fun!

in person is always best - come see Tarnish thru June 1 at VisArts Gallery Rockville, Maryland

http://www.visartsatrockville.org/gallery/tarnish-studio-art-quilt-associates-saqa

March 29th Parlor Meeting

Hope to see you at our next SAQA parlor meeting! March 29 (please note the 3rd Sat in April is Easter weekend so for 2014 this is our Spring meeting) 10am-12noon (welcome to come to lunch after, a great restaurant in the shopping center)  Prints Charming Quilt Shop (in the back room meeting space) 11711 East Market Place Fulton, Maryland 20759 At our last meeting we talked about focusing meetings on themes - this one has a money focus and there is a SAQA call earlier in the week also on money... So show me the Money!!! (the good, the bad and the ugly of working at art with the intention of making some money along the way) Sharing Experiences - Cathy Kleeman will share from her personal experience on the topic of selling of art - those who attend the webinar on March 25 - share aha ideas or "nuggets" of wisdom from webinar - general discussion on the topic of Selling Art Quilts Sharing Art - share pieces selected for SAQA exhibits (including Tarnish - Lesley and Christine encourage that we share in person, and wait to share photos till the exhibit opens) - show art that you have for sale or are donating to something like the SAQA Auction - email photos of art that you have sold to funfromatoz@gmail.com and we will be able to have a slide show of our art that is now the property of others Regional Exhibit - updates on Tarnish Exhibit - gallery sitting needed - working with the gallery director on a sitting schedule - contact Lesley Riley & Christine Adams to sign up - Susan Callahan generously offered to have her to have her culinary class present an reception for the Tarnish Exhibit - likely May 9th - more details coming SAQA Website - hands on demo How to leverage the SAQA website from a making money perspective SAQA Mentorship Webinar: Selling Art Quilts Tuesday, March 25 at 1 pm ET Register: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/766841335 Join Wen Redmond, Roxane Lessa and Frieda Anderson as they share their experiences and ideas about selling art quilts. Attendees will be able to listen to the panelists and watch digital slide shows on their screens during the webinar. There will be a short Q&A following the presentations. Registration is limited to 100 attendees. If you can not attend the live webinar, you will able to watch and listen to the entire program - to be posted here, after the event. Looking forward to seeing you all March 29th! Amalia Morusiewicz and Misty Cole co-reps Maryland, DC & West Virginia

Happy New Year - lots of exciting stuff is in store for us in 2014!
First off, hope to see you Jan 18 at 10am!  Our regional SAQA meeting is right around the corner next week AND right around the corner from where we've met in the past...

PLEASE NOTE LOCATION CHANGE -
Prints Charming Quilt Shop

11711 East Market Place

Fulton, Maryland 20759

see map in attached file
There are a lot of exciting opportunities for us this year, can't wait to share them with you - here are just a few of these awesome opportunites (you can find this on the SAQA website, included below because the deadlines are approaching!)
1) Regional Exhibit TARNISH registration is now open!!!  For the full Prospectus and details click here Registration is open thru February 3, 2014  at 11:59 pm EST, so there is a little time if you still need to polish off your entry!
2) 2014 SAQA Anniversary Trunkshow quilts due no later Jan. 31 - Quilts are to be sent directly to the 2014 SAQA Trunk Show Coordinator: Eileen Doughty
3) 2014 SAQA Conference Registration is open!  Click here!
SAQA is celebrating 25 years in 2014!  Mark your calendars now for the Capitolizing on Fiber conference to be held May 1st-May 4th, 2014. in Alexandria, Virginia, just across the river from Washington, DC.
4) SPRING is coming early (doesn't that sound fabulous right now?) - well, the Regional spring meeting will happen earlier than previously scheduled  - since the 3rd Saturday in April lands on Easter weekend and is only 2 weeks from the SAQA conference.  Finalizing a date for our Spring meeting to be announced at the Winter meeting.
Feel free to bring your business cards, brochures, flyers etc and if you have a nametag, please wear it.
Looking forward to a great meeting, hope to see you January 18, 10am!

Best Regards,
Amalia Parra Morusiewicz and Misty Cole

PS Check out Misty Cole on the SAQA meet your representatives page!

Note : sign into to the Members Only area of SAQA to access all the links in this post

Critique Resources

At last Saturday’s SAQA Parlor meeting, Linda Strowbridge did a great job talking about different methods of conducting critiques of art quilts. As promised, she has provided us with some resources for anyone who would like to read a little more on the topic.

We discussed a common, art school approach to conducting critiques. Known by the acronym DAIJ, the critique involves four steps: Description, Analysis, Interpretation and Judgement.

You can learn more about how to conduct at DAIJ critique in Lyric Kinard’s book, “Art + Quilt: Design Principles and Creativity Exercises.” She devotes an entire chapter to “The Art of Evaluation and Critique,” offering lots of questions to ask at each stage of the critique and guidance on how to tailor the critique to art quilts.

For a little more information on DAIJ critiques, check out this quick slideshow or this blog post entitled, “How to critique artwork like a pro.”

Of course, there are assorted other ways to critique an art quilt.

Kit Vincent outlines a critique method used by many quilt groups in this article on the SAQA website.

The SAQA website contains several other interesting resources about critique. They include a “Self Assessment Sheet” by Christine Zoller and an “Artwork Critique Form.”

Finally, Elizabeth Barton - a quilt artist, instructor and author in Georgia - offers her insights in a 2010 blog post entitled “On the Art of Critique.” She discusses the challenges of getting quilt artists to actually engage in critique, some practices from the design classes she teaches, and a different approach to critiquing works in progress.

April Parlor Meeting Review

We had a wonderful meeting on Saturday. There were 21 people in attendance.

We began with our usual review of upcoming events and calls for entry, plus other SAQA business.

SAQA Calls for Entry can be found here. (You'll have to log in to the SAQA website. This info is for members only. If you have trouble logging in, feel free to contact your reps for help. Emails on the sidebar.)

SAQA has released info about the 2014 conference. It will be May 1 to 4, 2014 and the theme will be "Capitolizing on Fiber." It will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Alexandria

Ideas were generated for a summer regional event. Mid July - regional SAQA gathering at Artscape in Baltimore  - detailed info on exact date and exact meeting location to be sent later (for info on Artscape   http://www.artscape.org)  Thanks to Diane Getty who volunteered to coordinate this day out in Baltimore!

What other fun stuff would you like to do?  You are welcome to coordinate a gathering - all that is needed is pick a date, time and place (could be a museum or park to meet for a sketching day, or an art exhibit) email Amalia and Diane and let us know, or post it directly to the yahoo group - send a reminder email and that is it, easy peasey, lemon squeezey!  

Susan Callahan presented an excellent program about using paint on quilts. She shared her "What If? What Else? and What Now?" process.

Linda Strowbridge presented an excellent program about various methods of critiquing for art quilts. Look for a separate blog post with an overview and resources from Linda.

We had mini trunk shows from Floris Flam, Deborah Boschert and Amalia Morusiewicz.

We concluded with lots of chatting, catching up, and lots of ooohing and aahing over art quilts.

Upcoming April Parlor Meeting

We've got tons of great stuff on tap for our upcoming parlor meeting. I'm looking forward to seeing you!


Saturday, April 20 from 10 am to noon
Sack lunch and socializing following the meeting, if you wish
Debra Gabel’s Studio
13681 Meadow Glenn
Clarksville, MD

Mini-Program on Artistic Development: 

Using Various Paints on Art Quilts presented by Susan Callahan

Mini-Program on Professional Development:

Methods and Ideas for Critiquing Art Quilts presented by Linda Strowbridge

We will also have mini-trunk shows presented by Floris Flam, Amalia Morusiewicz and Deborah Boschert.

If you've had an art quilt juried into a SAQA show in the past couple of months, please bring it along to share and celebrate!

Great January Parlor Meeting

Thanks to all who attended our Parlor Meeting. We had 32 members in attendance! A huge crowd!

We had the "This is a Quilt! SAQA Trunk Show" and enjoyed looking at each of the 35 small art quilts included. Discussion was lively as we compared quilts, discussed strengths and weaknesses and considered our favorites. We had trunk E. All of the quilts from this trunk are pictured on the SAQA website if you'd like to take another look. See them here.

Thanks to Nancy Sharp and Kristin LaFlamme for sharing their work as part of the "feedback" portion of our meeting.

Our next Parlor Meeting will be Saturday, April 20 from 10 to noon.