Tangle Acquired for Museum's Permanent Collection

 More good news!  Tangle has been purchased by the Tuch + Technik Textilmuseum in Neumuenster, Germany to be part of their permanent collection.  The Museum was the last stop on the Color Improvisations exhibit itinerary.  That exhibit has now been dismantled and the unsold quilts returned to the artists.  Tangle has found a new, permanent home abroad!

Tangle by Bonnie Bucknam

85" w x 87" h

Photos by Mark Frey

Tangle, detail

Color Improvisations in London

I just returned from London where I attended the opening of Color Improvisations at the Knitting and Stitching Show.  What fun!  The exhibition space for the quilts was a bit cramped, but the quilts still looked gorgeous and attracted alot of attention.  And the show was really something to see.  Vendors covering all aspects of needlearts were there.  You could find fabric, yarn, needlepoint supplies, sewing machines - anything and everything having to do with fiber arts.  I spent two days at the show, and got to autograph my share of catalogs.  There were other exhibitions of stitchery, knitting, and quilts.  And so many young people!  Unlike quilt shows in the US, many, many young students and recent college graduates were in attendance.  It was refreshing!  Here are some of the quilts in Color Improvisations.

Jayne Willoughby Scott and Nancy Crow manning the book sales table.  Nancy Crow's Constructions #101 behind and Uta Lenk's Linienspiel X to the right.

A view of the exhibit space.  Two quilts by Beata Keller-Kerchner, Color Compositions #1 and Color Compositions #4.

A view of the exhibit space.  Two quilts by Leslie Joan Riley, Construction #49 Grey and Brown Weave and Construction #50 Birds.

Left to right: Amphorae III by Barbara Bugliani; Sculpture Garden and Figure in Brown by Terry Jarrard-Dimond.

Organized Chaos by Violet Cavazos and Cheeky Dots by Sylvia Sutherland.

Landmarks #21 by Barb Wills, Limnos/Benthos by Mary Lou Alexander, and Crusade #33 by Suzanne Buchmann.

Crusade #27 by Suzanne Buchmann, Linienspiel VIII by Uta Lenk, and Landmarks #21 by Barb Wills.

Three quilts by Marina Kamenskaya; Tangle, Canopy, and Tumble by Bonnie Bucknam.

Break Away by Janet Steadman, Jewels of the Earth by Cathy Shanahan, Night Drawing #15 by Jayne Willoughby Scott, Gesture #2 by Marina Kamenskaya.

Third Phase by Margaret Boys Wolf, Seeing the Light by Melisse Laing, Giganten 14 by Heike Dressler, and Ode to Mindy by Nancy Cordry.

Earth #27 by Janet Schultz, Drei Quadrate by Randa Stewner.

Destinations and Amphorae II by Barbara Bugliani.

Ode to Mindy by Nancy Cordry, Seeing the Light and Out on a Limb by Melisse Laing.

Ode to Mindy by Nancy Cordry, Shards by Pat Hedwall, and Out on a Limb by Melisse Laing.

Out on a Limb by Melisse Laing, Gesture #2 by Marina Kamenskaya, and Earth #27 by Janet Schultz.

Fields by Janet Steadman, Velvet Falls by Cathy Shanahan, and Crusade #33 by Suzanne Buchmann.

Crusade #27 by Suzanne Buchmann, Linienspiel VIII by Uta Lenk.

Crazed 8: Incarceration and Fault Lines 3 by Kathleen Loomis.

Ovals Lined Up by Pia Welsch, That House by Ursula Konig, and Circles on Blue by Sylvia Sutherland.



Color Improvisations next travels to the Knitting and Stitching Show in Dublin Ireland.

Color Improvisations Traveling to Verona, Italy

Tangle (89" w x 88" h)

Great news!  The Color Improvisations exhibit is traveling to the Museum of Modern Art in Verona, Italy!  The exhibit will be on display March 8th through the 13th, 2011.  If anyone happens to see the show in Verona next month, be sure to let me know! (It could happen.)

Tumble (86" w x 87" h)

Canopy (70" w x 70" h)

(Photos by Mark Frey)

My Color Improvisations Quilts

So, the whole process of making the quilts and submitting for the Color Improvisations show was Top Secret.  But now that the show is open, we have permission to show the quilts.  So, here are my three quilts that are in the show.  All photos are by Mark Frey.

Tangle, 89" x 88"

Tangle, detail

Tumble, 86" x 87"

Tumble, detail

Canopy, 70" x 70"

Canopy, detail

Canopy, detail

I Just Returned from Germany

Color Improvisations at the Haus der Wirtschaft

Stuttgart, Germany

I just returned from Germany where I attended the opening of Color Improvisations.  What a fabulous trip!  Twenty-two of the twenty-six artists in the show came for the opening.  The facility is beautiful and the opening was well-attended.  There are quite a few photos of the event and the quilts on Flickr.  Also Terry Jarrard-Dimond has quite a few photos on her blog.

The show was in this beautiful area one floor above the ground level.

Here are two of my quilts. Tumble is on the left and Canopy on the right.

Here I am with Tumble.

Here is Tangle, my third piece in the show.

A nearby window display advertises the show.

Color Improvisations

In mid-2008, Nancy Crow invited several artists to submit work for consideration for Color Improvisations, an exhibit she was developing with Genie Curtze.  The work was to be based on a 4-plex format, machine pieced, and large - 6 to 8 feet square (yes, square).  I had 8 months to submit three to five quilt tops.  I managed to get three pieces done, and all three made it through the first round of jurying.  Then we were given until July 2009 to quilt and finish the pieces and submit them for a second round of jurying. 

I did finish those three quilts by the deadline - which I thought was quite an accomplishment since during that time I had emergency gallbladder surgery, two hospital stays, and a second procedure to remove leftover stones.  I was not at my best during those 8 months.  I am honored that all three pieces were accepted for the exhibit. 

Color Improvisations will consist of 54 large machine pieced works by 26 artists from the United States, Switzerland, Germany, and Canada.  These artists are dedicated to expressing their individual visions.  The opening venue will be the Haus der Wirtschaft in Stuttgart, Germany.  The exhibit will run from July 11 to August 25, 2010, with the grand opening reception on Sunday, July 11, 2010 at 2 pm.

Additional venues booked thus far are:
Galerie Lac
St. Marie aux Mines, France
September 16-19, 2010  (this is during the European Patchwork convention, check the website for more information)

Kunst und Gewerbe (Museum of Art and Commerce)
Regierungsprasidium Karlsruhe, Germany
May 8 - June 12, 2011

The exhibition will travel throughout 2010-2012. Additional venues in Europe, Japan, and the United States will be announced. A catalog of the exhibit will be available in July 2010.

Shown above is a detail from my work, Tangle, copyright 2010 Bonnie M. Bucknam (photo by Mark Frey).