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Contemporary Art Quilts 
Rachel Brumer's "Peacock Blue" This year's show features Astrid Hilger Bennett, Rachel Brumer, Jeri Riggs, Gail Strout, Carol Taylor and Barbara W. Watler. EOH Gallery Contemporary Art Quilts August 2– August 23, 2008 Artists’ Statements Astrid Hilger Bennett – Iowa City, IA Astrid Hilger Bennet began as a trained printmaker using copper etching plates, but after seeing the exquisite kente cloth from Ghana, she realized she wanted to do her printings on cloth instead. Not only does she design her own prints, but also creates the fabric upon which she prints. In her compositions, she insists on using her own fabrics. Bennett’s enthusiasm for craftsmanship and fiber arts advocacy is quite obvious. She has written several articles for major craft publications such as American Craft, Ceramics Monthly, Fiberarts and Surface. She is also the director of Iowa Artisans Gallery, a twenty-three-year-old contemporary crafts gallery in Iowa City, as well as the Northcentral States Regional Representative for the Surface Design Association, an international organization of artists working in surface design. “I’m happiest with a brush in my hand, and art quilts allow me a large-scale, exuberant canvas. Although visually abstract, my work constantly mines the daily life experiences of family, society and the natural world, with a hefty dose of music to guide the hand.” –C.T. Carol Taylor – Pittsford, NY Carol Taylor is an internationally known, award winning quilt artist who has been quilting since 1993. Her seemingly boundless energy is evident in the intensity by which she approaches her work. She has created over 485 quilts in her short career & is a popular teacher. Her quilts are distinguished by vibrant colors, striking contrasts, and heavy machine quilting/embroidery and her use of value. “I enjoy the challenge and spontaneity of creating a design with fabrics, using all their glorious hues and textures; never knowing quite how it will turn out. I inevitably learn something during the design process and sometimes the results surprise even me. It’s part of the fun! “My quilts are contemporary in style and often abstract in design, emphasizing color, contrast, and value relationships. I piece by machine and free-motion machine quilt them extensively, adding another layer of color and design to each quilt.” –C.T. Gail Strout – Clinton, NY
“In my quilts I explore dynamics, movement, color and intensity. I work with cloth because of the way it feels; the softness and flexibility of the medium, and the availability of color and pattern, whether it is a commercial fabric or one I have dyed. “As an art quilter I concentrate on reflecting in my quilts my personal responses to themes and emotions mostly engendered by words, ideas or colors around me. My impetus may come from a certain shape or design or color, which will then trigger a certain mood that I try to translate into a subtle, exciting piece of work.” –G.S. Jeri Riggs – Dobbs Ferry, NY Jeri Riggs is a quilt artist living in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. with her husband and two children. Her original design art quilts have won numerous awards and have been juried into the International Quilt Festivals in Houston and Chicago, Road 2 California, AQS Quilt Festival in Paducah, Kentucky, Art Quilts at the Sedgwick, Husqvarna Viking Voyage of Self Discovery: Masterpieces of the Machine Age, and Fine Focus. Her quilts are in private collections in the USA, the Netherlands, France, and Japan. She has been making quilts for 18 years, and been a member of the Manhattan Quilters Guild since 2001. Her quilt, “Possible Triangle” was selected for the cover of “Quilt Art Engagement Calendar 2004” published by AQS, and her work has been published in the NY Times. Jeri is Past- President of Village Squares Quilters Guild in Scarsdale, N.Y, and is also a member of SAQA, the Northern Star Quilters Guild, in Somers, NY and Fiber Revolution, a group of 35 artists working in the art quilt medium on the East Coast. Rachel Brumer – Seattle, Washington
Rachel Brumer, born in Oakland, California, was a professional modern dancer and a sign language interpreter before settling down in her career as a professional quilter. Her quilting career has been extraordinarily successful, as she has been featured in numerous publications and has received a multitude of awards. She also boasts an impressive history of installations. Perhaps one of the most remarkable of these is her solo exhibition, “Cover Them,” featured in the Holocaust Museum Houston, the Yeshiva University Museum, and the King County Art Gallery. This exhibition is a tribute to lost children in the Holocaust. At the 2008 EOH Contemporary Art Quilt show, she will be showing two exquisite pieces, “Least Lightness” and “Peacock Blue.” Barbara Watler – Hollywood, FL “Although the Fingerprint Series continues to evolve, my attention is also directed to other images, i.e. a leaf, a cluster of bare trees, wild grasses, a group of rocks. To that goal isolating a small area and expanding it into a very large design is the first step. Transferring the design to fabrics (painted, preprinted, or plain) while maintaining the integrity of the image is an immediate concern. Dyeing and painting the fabrics with previously unexplored color combinations while expanding the size provides diversity. “Personal growth is a primary motivation in my work. A momentary niche or plateau is okay but I do not want to stay in one phase forever. For me, the jumps must always be raised often. Finding ways of accomplishing this growth continues to lure me onward. I do not repeat exact images from my nature photography. In order to express my feelings about a composition, imagination helps me alter the way the light plays off the surface, enlivening and enriching what the camera records. I enjoy creating art that draws the audience in and initiates a response.” –B.W. Links for artists: http://www.astridhilgerbennett.com/ http://www.caroltaylorquilts.com
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