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Stitches and strokes
Quilters, decorative artists team up for exhibit
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FarkArea quilters and decorative artists blend their artistic mediums for a special exhibit this summer at The Journey Museum.
Members of the Black Hills Quilters Guild and the Black Hills Area Decorative Artists will showcase their creations during “Seasons of Stitches and Strokes” through Aug. 10 in the Stanford Adelstein Gallery.
Vicky Gose of Rapid City said the decorative artists first had the idea for their own exhibit at the Journey.
“But we didn’t think we’d have enough from the Black Hills Area Decorative Artists to fill the whole Adelstein room,” Gose said. “So we came up with the idea — wouldn’t it be great if the two groups could get together and do an exhibit? So both groups were approached, and we decided to go ahead with it.”
She said that a number of quilters she is acquainted with have done some decorative painting in the past and that a number of the decorative painters have done some quilting. She said there are basic similar creative processes involved in both skills.
“I’m excited to see it all put together. I think it will be outstanding,” she said.
A committee of decorative artists and quilters, as well as a representative from The Journey Museum, coordinated the exhibit, she said.
Gose is one of a handful of people who belong to both groups. She submitted only painted items for the exhibit, including Christmas tree ornaments, a paper mache box painted for Halloween, a wooden plate with a goose, apples and candle still life, a modern rose mauling design on a wooden plate and several other small items.
JoAnn Hunter, The Journey Museum store manager and coordinator of the exhibit, said the quilts and decorative paintings are coordinated and arranged by the four seasons of the year.
Trying to coordinate colors has been a challenge because there are so many strong colors, Hunter said. She said a setup team of local artists laid out the quilts first. Once the quilts were hung, she said, they coordinated the decorative painted items by seasons.
Painter Earlene Hoops of Rapid City, seminar chairman for the Black Hills Area Decorative Artists, said the two types of art complement each other very well. She said visitors will be surprised by what can be created by either art form.
“You can do many, many things with either,” Hoops said. “They will be pleasantly surprised.”
She said decorative painting was once called tole painting. “Tole” is French for tin, which was once used quite a bit for painting. “Nowadays, they call it decorative painting. Now we paint on most anything.”
Popular choices are furniture, baskets, antique pieces, wooden trays, wooden boxes and glass.
She said decorative artists usually use a pattern, but there are some who do a little freehand.
“You have to prepare your board or your project piece in a certain way,” she said. “It depends on what you are doing and what you are going to paint. We have pattern books, and we usually put the pattern on to tracing paper and then it’s pretty much the outline that goes on to your piece.”
She said decorative artists mostly use acrylic paints these days, but some still use oils.
“There are all kinds of styles of painting. It’s just very interesting. We can also do watercolor and pen and ink.”
She said both quilting and decorative painting are teachable forms of art. “That’s what’s so nice.”
Longtime quilter Roxene Powell of Rapid City said she is self-taught and was fortunate to have joined the Black Hills Quilters Guild.
“I found many, many women there who were willing to share their experiences with me and to teach me. If somebody is interested in this kind of work, the best place to start is in a guild,” she said, adding that even non-sewers will be surprised by the level of work that goes into quilting.
“We have a world-class quilting community here. I think the show will be inspirational to anyone,” Powell said. She said most quilts now are machine-quilted and sewn, but there will examples of hand-sewn quilts on display.
She agrees that both forms of art fit very well together. “Decorative arts and quilting go hand-in-hand. It’s going to be a terrific show.”
Quilter Joyce Crooks of Rapid City, who is a member of both groups, said holding a shared exhibit is a lovely idea.
“They should complement each other very well. I am anxious to see the exhibit. It should be very pretty,” Crooks said. “We are trying to do a little bit of education down there as well.” Both groups will have information on display about the charity service each provides.
One of the guild’s sideline projects is Project Warmth. It is an outreach program originally started to give quilts to those whose homes were destroyed or damaged by fire. It has been expanded to include various other donations including the Rapid City Regional Hospital’s newborn nursery, newborn intensive care unit and the pediatric ward.
“They also donate quilts to the Black Hills Children’s Home, WAVI, Youth & Family Services and Habitat for Humanity. The club also donates a quilt for Meals on Wheels to be raffled. Project Warmth is an important aspect of the club,” she said. The group donates around 300 quilts a year.
Crooks said the decorative artists also have an outreach project called the Memory Box Program. It is part of a nationwide effort to donate hand-painted boxes to hospital grief programs for distribution to those who have lost a child during pregnancy or shortly after birth.
Each group will host watch-and-learn sessions in which the artists and quilters work on new projects. The decorative artists’ watch-and-learn sessions will be from
1 p.m. to 4 p.m. June 18 and July 2, 16 and 30. The Black Hills Quilters Guild sessions will be from 9:30 a.m. to noon June 24 and July 15. Their Project Warmth program will be from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 15.
If you go
Dates of event: Now through Aug. 10
Hours: 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. seven days a week
Where: In the Stanford Adelstein Gallery of The Journey Museum, 222 New York St.
Cost: Admission to the gallery is free.
Flora McBride is a member of the Black Hills Decorative Artists. The group met Wednesday at The Journey Museum to paint memory boxes that will be shipped all over the world to parents who have recently lost a child. (Photo by Kristina Barker, Journal staff)
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