Mesmerized By Chihuly

 I've never been one who

has wanted to run away to the circus.

But, if ever I was tempted to drop everything

and join a group of artisans

it would be 

Chihuly

 We were invited by our friends

The Hollands

for a delightful evening

at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix

to view the 

Chihuly Exhibit

 Mesmerized is the only word to explain my experience.

Winding paths of Desert Flora

that included 

bursts of color

in the most unexpected places.

Dale Chihuly 

known for his large scale glass sculptures

is credited with revolutionizing the

Studio Glass movement.

Original

Brilliant

I find his life to be as interesting as his creations.

 Chihuly's Exhibits 

can be quite massive in size.

A very prolific artist with

permanent collections through out the world.

 We arrived at the Botanical Gardens right before the sun went down

and were able to walk the desert paths

while still bathed in natural light.

 Citron and Yellow Fiori

Taking pictures of Chihuly's work is somewhat like

trying to capture the Grand Canyon.

The  camera just cannot embrace

the scale and scope of this experience.

 Absence of color

gives an eerie image of ghosts in the forest.

Some Chihuly creations

are taller than the tallest Saguaros

 While others are as simple

as Red Reeds

 You can even see interwoven sparks of color

surrounding the Garden Restaurants.

 The Desert Botanical Gardens

are impressive in and of themselves.

I learned that there are over 2,000 species of cacti

all of which are native to the America's.

 As the sun dropped closer to the horizon

the glass began to light

bringing crisper perception

to the hillsides and trails.

 Chihuly Reeds in the forefront.

Camelback Mountain in the distance.

 Glass gives images of fireballs

 Or underwater sea creatures

Chihuly In The Garden

runs through May 18th.

If you live in the area 

or will be nearby in the next few weeks

I highly recommend

placing this on your must do list.

You will never be the same.

Text Prints and Low Volume Fabrics

 Have you noticed from time to time

even though you might be a seasoned quilter

 there is new

Quilt Slang

being spoken?

I belong to the Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild

and our board asked if we would like to

participating in either a

 Text Print

or 

Low Volume

 Fabric Swap

Half the room went

"HUH?"

Because our guild is probably the norm

I thought it might be nice to clarify

some of the latest

Modern quilt jargon.

Text Prints 

have greatly increased in popularity

especially in the Modern Quilt movement

and

usually contain 

words

symbols

 or phrases

**

Low Volume 

seems to be a new word for an old term.

We used to call them 

Neutrals

or Lights

Our grandmother's called the same look

Shirting's

 *Sun Print collection by Alison Glass for Andover Fabrics

 The fabric is often used

as a back ground 

in place of a solid.

We normally think of Modern Quilts

as bright geometric shapes 

mixed with

 large open spaces of 

solid color.

The trend now seems to be leaning 

towards a more scrappy background mix 

often in black and whites

to provide a 

softer

calming

effect next to those brights.

 If you have more questions

my friend Sherri McConnell

has written an excellent article on 

Text Prints and Low Volume

for Moda Cutting Table

HERE

that explains these 

latest

newfangled

terms in even further detail.

Simply Santa Fe Quilt

Living in the

Southwest region of the United States

I'm often drawn to quilts

that represent our culture.

 Simply Santa Fe

by Cindy Seitz-Krug of Bakersfield, California

shown at IQF Long Beach

is a stunning representation

of of the rich colors and designs

of our area.

 All within this one quilt,

Cindy used many of the techniques available to quilters:

Machine pieced, hand appliqued,

trapuntoed by machine,

and 

machine quilted. 

 Design Source:

Lone Star, LeMoyne Stars,

Sawtooth Borders, Ribbon Borders.

She wrote:

"This quilt was made entirely from Cherrywood 

Hand-Dyed fabrics.  

I love to use them because of their rich beauty and 

the fact that my quilting shows up 

so well on them.

  This pattern is my original design, 

as are my quilting motifs.

However, I learned many of the background 

quilting techniques from

Diane Gaudynski and Sharon Schamber."

 I loved her scrappy 

and yet simple

Half Square Triangles 

that trim the border

and allow the eye to travel inward

for the main focus.

Cindy even stenciled motifs on the back!

wow

Do You Have Synesthesia?

As AMAZING as it was to view

Sharon Schamber's quilts during 

the trunk show/ lecture last Saturday,

I was equally intrigued to listen to her

speak about aspects of her life.

 As quilts were being held up for display, Sharon  began the lecture

by telling us about her

"4 conditions"

that have provided many personal challenges.

Yesterday I told you about  her

Hyper Focus

 Another occurrence that has had great impact upon Sharon's life

is a neurological condition called

Synesthesia

 Synesthesia is a condition in which "the stimulus of one sensory

leads to an automatic or involuntary experience 

in a second sensory."

For many people a number is just a number on a page.

But for people with synesthesia, they might automatically

experience a number also as a color, smell or sound.

 A common form is called Color Synesthesia

where letters or numbers are perceived as

inherently colored.

 This was a new concept to me!

But, as Sharon explained her condition,

immediately the woman sitting across from me

stated in a matter of fact way

 "Oh yes.  The number 5 is green."

 As with all conditions, there are many spectrums,

and Sharon felt most quilters experience

Synesthesia even if only on a small scale. 

 She asked 

"Do you have a certain color that you just love? Or

do you have a color that you just don't like at all?"

 All colors have vibrations

and often influence our emotions.

 So I ask you,

do you have 

Synesthesia?

 I came home and talked to Mr. Cactus about what I had learned.

 We looked up the definition in Wikipedia 

HERE

 There is a number form of Synesthesia

where numbers, months of the years, or days of the week

have a location in space

or a 3-Dementional view.

For example, the date 1980 might look

"farther away" than 1990.

 As we read the definitions, Mr. Cactus looked at me and said

"Of course.  A calendar year is a circle that goes counter clockwise

with higher points like January 1st. And then as you zoom in on a number

the patterns zig zag and have angles."

 I looked at him stunned.

We have been married for quite a long time,

and I knew he was very good with numbers.

But, I did not realize that we "saw" them differently.

For me a number looks just like a flat black one dimensional 3 or 4 on a page.

As an artist, Sharon Schamber's Synesthesia greatly 

contributes in her creative ability when making quilts.

Many great artists talk of their Synesthesia.

See Wikipedia list HERE

Did you know that when John Mayer

 hears music he sees colors?