Hiatus: Plus and Minuses

Many artists are certainly more diligent than I with posting updates about studio activity. Fleet-footed time swirls around me causing me to lose track of the days. Frequently, it seems like I wake up Monday morning bright eyed and all that, and go to bed Friday night wondering what happened to Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

This is not so unusual, I suppose, when I think that the early months of the year were consumed with preparations for my two-month show, “Hanging Threads”, at the Leslie Powell Art Gallery, see July 22, 2010. I had 30 textile wall hangings in that show. It all was very exciting and gratifying because I sold many pieces, saw many old friends I hadn’t seen in a long time, and was told “Hanging Threads” attracted the most traffic that the gallery had ever experienced, all of which made me very humble, and happy, too.

During the lead up to this show, I also had to finish my entry to the International Quilt Association competition at the annual World of Quilts Show in Houston. I don’t want to miss the opportunity to submit an entry for consideration. This is a juried show and I feel quite blessed and lucky to have been juried into this show 14 years in a row. I hope I haven’t just jinxed my future entries.

This year is was: Scouts 37” × 37”,

Also I was invited to participate in the 3^rd “Heart and Soul of the Great Plains” invitational art show hosted by Lawton’s Leslie Powell Art Gallery, Museum of the Great Plains, and Comanche National Museum, which runs until December 31, 2010. Badlands (see below) hangs in the Museum of the Great Plains for this exhibition.

In the moments when not working in my studio, I do have a wonderful home life to which I pay attention. My husband and I like to travel. We take daily field trips with our hunting dog. I am always planning, stewing over and thinking of my next big work of textile magic. I read historical journals and review other resources to help inspire and refine the images that are continuously developing in my mind. My imagination is always on high alert turning over ideas and examining potential subjects. I also make a point to work in my studio every day. It is hard to find the spare moments needed to write this journal. I hope my blog followers will understand and not give up on me. As my friend, Ricky says, “I’m bizzy”. And I offer that in the most polite way.

Badlands, 46" w × 36" l

© 2008, Carol Ann Sinnreich

Hanging Threads

At the beginning of the month, I had the thrill of opening a new show of my work, "Hanging Threads" at the Leslie Powell Art Gallery in Lawton, Oklahoma. The number of guests attending the opening night reception overwhelmed me because it was the Fourth of July weekend. The gallery was packed with people who also bought 13 pieces of my wall art. I am grateful as well as terrifically pleased.

It is a grand personal experience to see one’s work hanging as a collection, a body of work, in a gallery setting. The carefully arranged lighting further enhanced the appearance and "glamour" of each piece. There is no equivalent emotion that I can think of at this moment, which can relate my feelings of accomplishment and yes, pride.

Although I was excited and happy with each piece I carefully chose to hang in this show, I really, really liked my Garden Series. Each was a small window into the secrets of a garden and mounted for presentation in such a way that apparently appealed to others. Six of the "views" sold.

I was equally thrilled with "Lakota Shield" (left), it looked fabulous under the lights, as did "White Feathers" (right).

The show will continue until September 1, 2010 in the Leslie Powell Gallery, 620 D Ave., Lawton Ok, M-F Noon-4pm. During this show only, appointments can be made to visit the gallery on a Saturday by calling (580) 357-9526.

Magazine Feature

It is thrilling for me to share the news that I will be the featured artist for the May 2010 issue of Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine. I was asked to prepare an article, which discusses how I became interested in textile arts, what inspires my work, and the secrets behind a number of my award-winning wall hangings. The article is titled, "A Passion for Fabric" which is an understatement describing my love affair with textiles, my vast collection of yardage I use in my pictorials, and my approach to keeping my creative motivation fresh.

The issue also features my work, Firestorm, on the cover, as well as numerous photos of other pieces I showcase in the article. It was a wonderful challenge to meet the criteria and expectations of this fine magazine. I discovered that it is easier for me to write about my textile work and the related world of quilted art than it was to write about me, my background and current lifestyle as an artist. I cannot wait for the hard copy of the May issue to reach my mailbox.

Trumpets of Spring

This image shows the return of the ever-faithful jonquils, the very same ones I used as inspiration for the ones in the Garden Series (see October 2009).

Spring Time Studio

Late January produced a horrific ice storm that was unlike anything I had ever witnessed living in upstate New York, Europe or anywhere else for that matter. It was catastrophic to the landscape surrounding my home. Icy sleet layered an inch, or more, of ice over every thing to include blades of grass in the yard.

Power lines swung ever so low until the poles snapped leaving many communities without electricity for weeks. I could hear the ‘shot gun’ blasts as the limbs on my trees snapped falling to the ground or just fell hanging over one another. It was very so sad to see that most trees within 60 miles were reduced to skeletons, stark reminders of nature’s wrath. This type of wintry event occurred all over the world and not just here in Oklahoma. Fortunately, we did not lose our electricity and I could continue working in my studio.

Even though things were bleak, the yellow crocus didn’t falter and neither have the jonquils, which are in bloom in my garden this day.

Wild Rabbits

Wild rabbits abound in the woods and fields nearby and it is always exciting to flush one or two. I imagine how hard their hearts flutter from the fear. It is not unusual to stumble upon a pair of rabbits that huddle close together, holding absolutely still, trusting the tall grass to hide them.

And then, they bolt and are gone in a flash!


Wild Rabbits, 24" × 18¾"