2+ Twelves in New Zealand

Happy New Year!  There's a little Twelve by Twelve action coming up in New Zealand this month.

Both Brenda and Kirsty are teaching at Quilt Symposium Manawatu from 15-21 January 2015.  All their classes, including Kirsty's two day workshop Working to a Theme, are booked out but it's not too late to sign up for the lunchtime lecture on Saturday 17 January 2015  (12.15 – 1.00pm):

See:  Adventures & Inspiration from the Twelve by Twelve International Art Quilt Challenge

In addition, you are invited to the Living Colour! exhibition at:

• Te Manawa, Palmerston North, New Zealand in conjunction with Quilt Symposium Manawatu, 15-21 January 2015; Curator floor talk 12.30-1pm Tuesday, 20 January 2015;and
• Northart Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand: Wednesday 28 January (opening 6pm) – 11 February 2015.  Gallery hours: 10am – 4pm daily (closed Friday 6 February).

Living Colour! is travelling textile art exhibition curated by Brenda Gael Smith comprised of 32 vibrant works celebrating life across the spectrum.  The exhibition features Indigo Garden by Twelve, Deborah Boschert.

Lorikeet at the château

Especially for our princess lorikeet, here's a picture taken this morning a bit before the opening. :-)

We had about 500 visitors today, which is rather good for a Thursday, I think.
Some people knew already about the group and the Colorplay series, and there were a few real Twelve by Twelve fans among them! Most visitors were interested to hear about our story and had lots of interesting questions to ask. I think I talked almost non-stop from 10am to 5pm. Now I need a little rest.
More pictures tomorrow.

La vie de château

Our Colorplay quilts are all set for their final exhibition together!

At the National Show of the Belgian Patchwork Association, 2-5 October, in Enghien.

Report from the European Patchwork Meeting

There was a lot of buzz around the Colourplay exhibition at Carrefour Européen du Patchwork 2014.   Here are extracts from the official program and the Catalogue Prestige 2014: 

And our exhibition formed the backdrop for a news item on Alsace Matin television:

We were fortunate that Colourplay was displayed at Espace des Tisserands, the premier exhibition space in the village of Sainte Marie aux Mines with gallery-style white walls, high ceilings and excellent lighting:  

This is the view from outside.  Doesn't even quilt show have a saucisson stand near by?!
 
And here are some overall shots of the valley:

Inside our exhibit formed a colourful display:

On Thursday and Friday, school groups visited Espace des Tisserands and completed detailed assignments on their favourite quilts.  Several student chose pieces from the Colourplay exhibit:

THANK YOU to the many people who let us know how much they enjoyed our book and how our collaborative project had inspired them to start their own group challenge.  This is a selfie of Brenda with Anita Fors (left) and Gunnel Wright from Göteborg, Sweden who are part of  the Fria Tyglar/ Free Reins challenge group:

If you missed the European Patchwork Meeting and live near Belgium, you can catch the final Colourplay exhibition at Association Belge du Patchwork, Enghien, Belgium: 2-5 October 2014.

Bonjour!

La Cerise Sur Le Gâteau

It is wonderful to be here in France for the Twelve by Twelve Colourplay exhibition and Australia Quilts. However, "la cerise sur le gâteau" is to finally meet Françoise after 8 years of internet exchanges and seven years of collaboration with Twelve by Twelve projects.  Here we are together at a SAQA function.

For me, I have now met all the other Twelves.  And Françoise has met six.  Each time is a complete confirmation of the special bond of being a "Twelve" and I am turely grateful

Colourplay Exhibition: Alsace, France 18-21 September 2014

Come along to the Twelve by Twelve Colourplay exhibition at Carrefour Européen du Patchwork, Espace des Tisserands, Sainte Marie aux Mines, Alsace, France:18-21 September 2014.  Brenda will be there Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.  Françoise will be there Friday and other times.  We look forward to seeing you!

Colourplay at the European Patchwork Meeting 2014

In just two months, the Twelve by Twelve Colourplay exhibition opens at Carrefour Européen du Patchwork, Alsace, France:18-21 September 2014 (sponsored by Aurifil).  This is your opportunity to view all 144 works in this series and to meet Françoise Jamart and Brenda Gael Smith.

Brenda is also teaching two workshops: Stacks of Improvisation is full but there are still some spaces in  .  :Serendipity Circles on Saturday, 20 September.   Come along and we can improvise together!

SAQA Benefit Auction 2014: Dream Collection

The annual benefit auction is the signature fundraising event for Studio Art Quilt Associates. Your purchases help increase the recognition for art quilts and the artists who make them while supporting SAQA’s exhibitions, publications, and education outreach. The 2014 SAQA Benefit Auction is coming up in September and Dream Collections are starting to appear online.  The dream collection set out below is comprised of works donated by six of the Twelves that are up for auction:
    Nightfall: Deborah Boschert             Sky Blue Pink: Gerrie Congdon            Undecided:  Karen Rips                   The Visitor:  Terri Stegmiller                    Eye of the Crow: Terry Grant                   Neptune's Necklace#1:Brenda Smith

Talking of SAQA, congratulations to Helen! Her work Graffiti 1 was juried into the “SAQA exhibition Wide Horizons IV that will premiere at the Carrefour Européen du Patchwork/European Patchwork Meeting  in Alsace, France:18-21 September 2014.  Don't forget, all 144 works from the Colorplay Series will also be on exhibition at this event.

Graffiti 1:  Helen Conway

Many of the Twelves enjoy the educational, networking, mentoring and exhibition opportunities offered by Studio Art Quilt Associates. If you’ve been thinking about joining SAQA, add the discount code “BGS” to the application form and you will receive a 10% discount on the membership fee.

A little Twelve by Twelve at AQC

Congratulations to the Australasian Quilt Convention as it celebrates its 10th anniversary in Melbourne this week.  The Twelves have many special memories from AQC.   The world premiere of the Theme Series was at AQC 2010.  Remember this?!

And works by Terry (Cacao y Canela), Diane (Blowin' in the Wind) and Brenda (Dreamlines #3) made cameo appearances on the program cover:

 

Colourplay was on exhibition at AQC 2013 with works by Helen, Kirsty, Terri and Nikki on the program cover: 

At AQC 2014, you can purchase our book Twelve by Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge from Can Do books:

View Brenda's work The X Factor, a finalist in the AQC 2014 Challenge - Ten:

And see Deborah's work Indigo Garden in the Living Colour! exhibition curated by Brenda:

Brenda is presenting a curator floor talk, daily at 1.30pm at AQC 2014.  All welcome! (And, if you can't make it in person, check out the Living Colour! gallery and Living Colour! Catalogue .)

Living Colour Exhibition

Thank you to everyone that entered the Living Colour!  travelling textile art exhibition.  I (Brenda) received over 170 entries from all around the world - amazing!  The exhibition will premiere at the Australasian Quilt Convention (10-13 April 2014) and continue on tour until October 2015.  In the meantime, every other day, I will be posting a detail shot on the Living Colour blog at A Glimpse of Living Colour.  The detail shots can also be viewed in the Preview Gallery that will be updated weekly. Today's glimpse is a collage work by a Twelve - Deborah Boschert.

Colourplay at Carrefour Européen du Patchwork

Twelve by Twelve is happy to join Carrefour Européen du Patchwork in celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2014. Brenda and Françoise will meet up in Alsace, France and all 144 Colourplay works will be on display in from 18-21 September. In addition, Brenda is curating a special exhibit of Australian quilts and will be teaching two one-day classes - Serendipity Circles and Stacks of Improvisation. We look forward to meeting some of our European readers.

SAQA Benefit Auction 2013 at the International Quilt Festival

The 2013 SAQA Benefit Auction continues with the final tranche open for in-person bidding at the International Quilt Festival, Houston in Houston from 28 October to 3 November (with online bidding available on 28 and 29 October) . This is a great opportunity to purchase quality textile art and support SAQA’s exhibition programs. You can view the quilts in this tranche at page a and  page b of the SAQA website including these works donated by some of the Twelves in their distinctive styles.

Deborah's work Rocks, Rivers and Rooftops incorporates many of her favorite motifs and techniques: the houses, the hand embroidery, handwriting as surface design, a painted stenciled twig and the arch over the top of the suggested landscape.  You can read the surprising back story  to this piece on Deborah's blog and learn some of these techniques yourself in Deborah's new online workshop called Branches, Buds and Blossoms Fabric Collage.

In her work Awareness, Karen stitched a piece of fabric with wool felt underneath to shrink it up for texture.  After bleaching, she overdyed it a very pale blue, which took away the cream color.  Raised circles, created with buttons, adds extra interest.

Terri's Kitty Rides Back features a portait and two kitties in stencilled fabrics made from her very own stencil designs.

If you happen to be attending the International Quilt Festival, Houston in person, be sure to check out the following exhibits that also features works by some of the Twelves:

• An Exquisite Moment  features works by Deborah Boschert, Gerrie Congdon, Diane Perin Hock and Karen Rips.  There is also An Exquisite Moment Catalogue available for sale;
•  Tactile Architecture and What's for Dinner special exhibits feature works by Deborah Boschert..