The exhibition of
75 monoprints by Nancy Crow was by far the biggest gallery at Festival of Quilts. Knowing how addictive
monoprinting is, the large board outside the gallery explaining her methods and process was a fascinating insight into her work. She has been so influential in quiltmaking , I think she was very brave to show her personal explorations in this medium, so different to her pieced works. However while I am full of admiration for the scale of her vision, I didn't love it , the repetitions and subtle changes obviously mean a lot to her but didn't excite me. The most interesting parts for me was zooming in on the details of some of the marks, particularly on the black and white pieces .
In contrast , m
y favourite work at FoQ by far , were 2 pieces by Maria Harryman, ' Ubiquitous 1' in the Art Quilt section (details above) and 'Ubiquitous 3' in the CQ West gallery ( below)
In both pieces I was drawn to their abstract compositions of painterly layers of colour, with the subtle variations in hand stitch and marks providing emphasis in key areas. It's so easy to go too far, I really admire her constraint. Then I discovered her
website which I've spent quite a while reading for her insights into her work. I too am inspired by mussels and
limpets but she's achieved what I've so far failed to do in my own interpretations , producing masterly abstract compositions, successfully scaling up marks, textures and colours, making the leap from observational drawings to large scale textile works. She's inspired me to go back to drawing my
'small treasures' and revisit my sketchbooks and earlier explorations ( below) .
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