Favorite Abstract Art Quilt Artists

Beth and I signed up for an online class from Academy of Quilting.  Elizabeth Barton (one of my favorite quilt artist) is teaching Abstract Art for Quiltmakers.  Part of our first assignment is to find abstract art quilts and to see if we can identify the type of abstraction in the work.  The seven abstraction styles according to Elizabeth are: Decorative Patterning, Color and Light, Geometry, Emotional or Organic Abstraction, Abstract Expressionism, and Minimalist Abstract Art.

The first is from Jane Dunnewold.  Isn't that lovely cloth!  While there is definitely an organic quality to the design, I think that Minimalist Abstract Art fits best because of the repeating shapes and the focus on texture. If you spend time looking at the red section, you see that it covers the cracks and white circles.  It is not flat!

Eleanor McCain   9 Patch Color Study: Triptych side C   2012   61 x 61 inches

This piece  by Eleanor McCain is in the The New Geometry at the Madi April 4-July 6.  This, I think, would fit into the Geometry division due to the angles, shapes, and lack of depth.  I could be talked into fitting it into the Decorative Patterning division but the repeated shape is very geometric.

Aurora - Terry Jarrard-Dimond

hand dyed, discharged, and stained fabric

Machine Pieced, Appliqued and Machine Stitched

34"h x 84.5"w - 2012

Another of my favorite artists is Terry Jarrard-Dimond.  I would classify this piece as Abstract Expressionism because the "dyed, discharged, and stained" fabric is the important part of this work. In this category, process is important.

 This is a rail fence variation by Kathleen Loomis. She made it as an example for a book that she is writing and I am buying the second it comes out!  I am going to take a leap here with my classification. This could fit in the Decorative Patterning because it is a repeated pattern.  It could fit in the Geometry division primarily because of the white shapes.  I am going to place it in the Color and Light Division.  Although it is definitely not impressionism which is the primary example of Color and Light, and it does not display everyday life or the passage of time as the sun moves across the sky, the success of this piece is the color and the light.  Feel free to disagree with me.

Okay, the post is long enough.  I will follow up with examples of the other three abstract division later.  Feel free to share with me your favorite examples of abstract art quilts.

Color and Light

In my Color and Light class one of the assignments was to take pictures of white paper.  Nothing but white paper was to show in the shot. The paper could be pleated, cut, torn, crinkled, rolled, folded, or tortured in any way the artist chose.  The  purpose of the assignment was to become aware of the color given by the "white" light bulb on the white paper.  And of course the picture was to be artistic. 

Here are a few of my pictures. The same camera and the same type of paper was used each time. The only variant was the source of light.