always always rainbows--day 10

Last night first there was hail. Ugh. I feared for my peas and tender young flowers. I feared for my car and our solar panels. It was bigger than a quarter and made such a racket as it hit the windows. Soon the storm passed and it started to clear. I went outside and looked but no, there was no rainbow. Sigh.

Then sitting inside as the sun came out my DH called me. Yes, finally a rainbow. Beautiful and full across the evening sky. The perfect finish to the day.

This quilt was large. One of the starts of a new technique where I tried to simplify the work by creating color studies. Can you tell that I like the work of Morris Louis?

dreaming of rainbows--quilt--about 96x100 in--Ann Brauer--photo by John Polak

 

 

detail of dreaming of rainbows--quilt--Ann Brauer--photo by John Polak

"Because"

I am so honored to have my quilt "prairie sunrise" in the show "Because" at the Motherbrook Galleries in Dedham, MA. If you are in the Boston area, I do hope you will get a chance to check it out. Thanks Iris.

prairie sunrise--Ann Brauer 2016--image by John Polak

the quilts of Ann Brauer--almost solstice

Yes--I am late. As usual. I have been working hard at the studio. As usual. Trying to finish a few more orders that I promised and then get a start on the new year and the work I need for the Baltimore Craft Show in February. However, as tonight's supper is cooking in the slow cooker (homemade spaghetti sauce--yum) I am sneaking a few minutes to write a quick update. For those who don't know up here the afternoons will start very slowly to get longer. Yeah!!! The solstice itself is later in the month but by some bend in the orbit, afternoons lengthen before the solstice and mornings shorten until early January. Don't ask me to explain but this is a detail of my quilt "sunrise" to celebrate.

detail--sunrise--quilt--Ann Brauer 2015

I will be doing the Holiday Morristown Show in Morristown NJ December 11-13. This is such a fun show. There is work for any last minute stocking stuffers and also some absolutely fabulous artists who will be there. And if you print out this coupon and fill it out you can get Complimentary Admission. You do need one form per person.

COMPLIMENTARY ADMISSION COUPON

And I am the cover girl and featured artist for the Winter 2016 edition of Art Quilting Studio. This is actually a wonderful magazine that I had not known about previously. There are lots of amazing artists and great articles inside. I can't wait to read it cover to cover.

Art Quilting Studio

Finally I am continuing to list items on my Etsy shop. In particular after lots of people requested it, I have begun making a few smart phone cases. They are 3.75 by 6.75 inches exterior dimensions and should work for most phones and also large wrap around sunglasses. Do measure to make sure the size works for you.

smart phone case--quilt--Ann Brauer

Of course I will be in the studio most days except when I am doing the Morristown Show so do drop by if you are in town or e-mail me first if you are coming from out of town.

Here's hoping you all have a great holiday season enjoying the return of light, friendship, peace and others.

road trip--encampment

A hot hazy day in western Massachusetts. Thunderstorms in the forecast. Summer in the Berkshires. Tuesday. My free day.

The previous days I had had several great conversations. What inspires you? How do you get ideas? What do you look at from the corner of your being--not to copy but to observe and learn. These conversations with other artists at the Berkshire Craft Show are part of what makes doing shows so inspiring for me. The conversations had continued at the studio--a young artist who is trying to create her own style of art quilts. A phone interview I had for a feature article (more on that at a later date.) The writer had studied my quilts and asked probing questions.

Time for a road trip to MASS MoCA in North Adams. Now MASS MoCA is a true national treasure. So much art in a reused industrial complex. There is always something new and exciting to see. I go there as often as I can--frequently in winter. But there were new exhibits. Buildings that are not open then. Enough to see that we could wander and gaze until we had had enough.

I loved the photographs of Clifford Ross and especially digital video where he deconstructed the images into colors that danced through space in ways that a quilt maker could only dream about. The blue color washes of Liz Deschenes intrigued me in their simple complexity. Jim Shaw's cartoonish renditions of contemporary American politics were interesting but did not grab me.

So I was not sure what to expect when I entered Francesco Clemente's Encampment exhibit. At first you just see six colorful tents camped out in the large room that you can walk through. I started quickly just scanning the paintings done in collaboration with craftspeople of Rajastan, Do you see all the sketches on the surface. This could be studied for a long time.

Then I started looking more closely at the designs--such wonderful graphics, so many great colors--and I got caught up in seeing more and more possibilities and wonder within the tents.

Wouldn't those be great designs for my new circle quilts. Well not just like that but as a sketch--a starting point?

Don't you just love the colors?

And consider the possibilities here. Yes, this is all painted on canvas with the depth only from the perspective used.

And another wonderful design. What fun that would be to sketch out. Maybe it could be used for another project I am working on. Hmmm.

And even more of a challenge. Great concept though isn't it?

And of course there is this amazing beehive design. All I can say is wow.

And of course the wonderful use of greys and dark browns here. So archetypal. Not a "design" that I would use but so powerful in its own right.

Well I could go one. So many more wonderful paintings up stairs. Such great colors. And I still haven't shown you all of MASS MoCA. Maybe I need to go back myself and study these more. I want to.

Have you seen this show? Are you planning a road trip? What inspires you? How do you look at things differently? The website for the Museum is www.massmoca.org And don't forget--my studio in Shelburne Falls is about 20 miles away--just saying.