Joli Ayn Woods

On Saturday, February 4, The Jacksonville Center for the Arts will host a reception from 2 to 4pm highlighting artist Joli Ayn Wood. The exhibit will run from February through March in the Breezeway Gallery.

Joli Ayn Wood is an artist that lives in Floyd County and while known for her paintings, she has incorporated drawings and photography into this exhibit.  The exhibit “Inspirations in Multi-Media” is the first time that these two mediums are used. “The photos I include are not subjects I would likely paint, at least not in the way they are captured on film.” Joli explains “They are finite in their vision and say all that I want to say about my subject.  I bring these mediums to you to show my point of inspiration in the people, places, and things that I love most, or that I am intrigued with the most.”

Joli devotes her free time to painting both in the studio and outdoor locations.  Her favorite subjects include the mountains and rural landscapes of Southwestern Virginia, often painting, “en plein air”, as well as the rugged coastline of Massachusetts.  While painting on location, her passion is to capture the rolling shapes of the mountains, and the clear, colorful skies quickly, most times within a couple hours.  She finds inspiration in the works of Fitz Henry Lane, Georgia O’Keefe and Ed Hopper.

Joli graduated from Westhampton College, University of Richmond with a BAdegree in Art History, with concentrations in Studio Art, Ancient Art, and Archaeology. During her time at Westhampton, she was fortunate to study under New York artist Ephraim Rubenstein, who emphasized the painting methods of the late Charles Hawthorne and the Cape Cod School.

Joli is a member of The Arts Council of the Blue Ridge, Giles Arts Council, and her studio is a noted stop on the Round the Mountain Artisan Trail in Southwest VA. She has participated in various Virginia regional art festivals, such as Roanoke’s Sidewalk Art Show, Salem’s Art in the Alley, Wine Down the Music Trail Festival in Floyd, and Art on the Lawn in Giles County, VA, a show that she helped found in 2006.

Aside from art shows, Joli has recently been concentrating on private commissions, art instruction, and greeting patrons in her open studio in Floyd County, Virginia. Highlighted in the February 2008 issue of New River Valley Magazine, her works are included in many private collections around the region and abroad. Joli’s painting studio in Floyd is open to the public by appointment or chance. The winter hours at The Jacksonville Center  are Monday through 10am-4pm and Saturday from 11am-4pm.

For more information or to book an appointment email jolisart@yahoo.com, call 540-449-9078 or visit www.jolisart.blogspot.com.

Gunther’s discussion will introduce the audience to the plight of the honeybee and some of the way…s in which Spikenard Farms Honeybee Sanctuary is addressing their needs. It is also a free introduction to 4 workshops scheduled over the course of the year, which will teach hopeful honeybee farmers the hows of the business.

Digital Craft Photography Workshop
Sunday February 5, 2012
One day, hands on class on basic craft photography.
Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
$85.00 (includes digital photographs of 2 pieces and a delicious lunch).
Joy Tanner and John Britt will conduct a one day, hands on class on how to
take digital photographs of your three dimensional ceramics/crafts using a
simple, low tech approach for the beginner.
Space is limited to 8 people.

Basic Social Media for Artists Workshop
Saturday February 11, 2012
One day, hands on class on how to use social media to promote your work.
Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
$100.00 (includes a delicious lunch).
John Britt will conduct a one day how to use social media to promote your
art work for beginners. We will discuss Facebook, blogging, Youtube and Etsy as a way to get you more visibility and sales. Bring your laptop.
Space is limited to 10 people.

Glazing Techniques
February 20 – 24, 2012
Learn glazing techniques including, pouring, brushing, spraying, dipping,
stencils, overlapping, latex, wax resist, multi-firing, decals, china
paints, sandblasting, etc.
Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
$450.00 includes glaze notebook (PLUS $50.00 FIRING AND MATERIALS FEE)
$500.00
Total Space limited to 8 people

Basic Glaze Chemistry and Raw Materials
March 5 – 9, 2012
Learn basic glaze chemistry of clay bodies and glazes Covering low, medium
and high-fire glazes Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
$450.00 includes glaze notebook (PLUS $50.00 FIRING AND MATERIALS FEE)

Reduction Firing Workshop
March 23 – 24, 2012
Understanding Firing and cone 10 Reduction Weekend Firing of Shino, Celadon and Copper Red Glazes Friday March 23 – 6:00p.m. – 9:00p.m. Glazing Saturday
March 24 – 9:00p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sunday March 25 10:00 – 3:00 p.m.
$220.00 includes recipe handout (PLUS $30.00 FIRING AND MATERIALS FEE) Total
$250.00

John Britt Pottery
154 Sparks Road
Bakersville, NC 28705
828-467-5020/ 828-688-6615

http://johnbrittpottery.com/workshops/

johnbrittpottery@gmail.com

For more information contact:
John Britt at johnbrittpottery@gmail.com or call 828-467-5020 Check the
website for most current schedule.

http://johnbrittpottery.com/workshops/

Workshop suggestions welcome!

The evening will include a mini-exhibition of the work done by students in classes including puppet making (pictured), painting, drawing, ceramics, collage, and duct taping. Refreshments will be served.

For more information please call 540-745-2784.

We paint landscapes, nudes and abstracts. We draw with pencil, charcoal and pastels. We photograph what we see and what we dream. We make music and dance; we throw pots and turn wood; we forge metal and bake delicacies.

We create.

FloCoIMo (Floyd County Imagination Month) is all about capturing the creative spirit in Floyd and pushing it to new places as a community. It’s about turning off the voices in our heads that create barriers and embracing our muses.

Beginning January 1, people around and beyond Floyd County will set out on creative goals of their own choosing. During our first FloCoIMo in November of 2010, goals included writing a different form of poetry each day, creating a new sketch each day, discovering a new drum beat each day.

It doesn’t have to be daily, though. Other goals included filming and editing a video, working on a second draft of a novel that had lingered as a rough draft, and writing 20 personal essays.

Now is the time to identify goals and start getting mentally prepared (and gathering materials if the goal requires them) for the start date on January 1. Goals, progress, thoughts and inspiration can be shared on the FloCoIMo Facebook page.

Whatever your goal, keep this one reminder at the forefront: internal editors are not invited to FloCoIMo. These goals do not include perfection or finality or even quality of work. Rather, these goals are about first steps, new horizons and a charge of creative energy at the start of 2012.

Begin your new year by embracing creativity of whatever medium, and by sharing that creativity with your community, be it through Facebook or at our wrap-up sharing session, to be held at the Jax on February 11.

–Written by: Nary Ordinary Business Services

A Meet-the-Artist reception will be held on January 14 from 1-3pm.  Members of the community are encouraged to attend to show support and honor these young artists.

Sunset Silouette by Stephen Bordeaux

The runner up with 15 votes is Vikki King for Two Strays, color pencil
painting over marker.

Aquamar Bridal Gown and Vest

Two Strays

From January 20 to April 3, 2012, The National Quilt Museum (NQM) in Paducah, Kentucky will feature Quilts of the Appalachian East Regional Show.  To submit an entry to the juried show, quilters from a five-state area were required to be a quilt guild members from Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, or West Virginia.  According to Judy Schwender, Curator of Collections/ Registrar, only eleven quilts made it through the juried process and will be featured in this show.

Ms. Schwender says, “Some of the things we look for in these regional guild exhibits is certainly workmanship and artistry.  We also look for how important a guild is in the quiltmaker’s life and reflections of the region where the quiltmaker lives …We truly want to show the work of quiltmakers who are the mainstream of quiltmaking today.”
Five of the eleven breath-taking quilts, created with intricate design, elaborate detail, laced with piecing and appliqué were created by Southwest Virginia women who live in our area that abounds with quilting traditions.

Talented quilters from the New River Valley and Roanoke areas will have their work featured in the Quilts of the Appalachian East Regional Show.  They include: Lorraine Durrill of Blacksburg fabricated Oh My Stars; Karin Tauber of Blacksburg created A Sampler of French Provence; Pamela Mann of Elliston stitched Rachel’s Wings; Camelia Elliott of Pilot finally finished forging her 13 Year President’s Quilt; Midnight Dream a group quilt that will be raffled at the Jacksonville Center for the Arts was created by the Old Church Gallery Quilt Guild members and will be on display.  Cathy Maycock of Roanoke served as chairman of the project with committee members Gisela Mittman and Vicky Barden, both of Blacksburg.
Knowing how prestigious it is to be juried into this exhibit, the quilters used words such as “elated,” “ecstatic,” “thrilled beyond words,” “excited,” “overjoyed,” “absolutely happy,” and “you’ve got to be kidding!” to describe their feelings when they heard the good news.
Pamela Mann said “This journey to NQM started with a visit to their website, where I saw they were asking for quilters from the five-state Appalachian Region for this special exhibit.  It was free to submit and I already had my photos ready from my submission to the NQA Quilt Show in Paducah, so I quickly put together my application and submitted in May.  I saw this as a great opportunity for everyone in the area and made it my goal to get as many people from this area as possible to submit.  Knowing how difficult it is to get a good photo of a full size quilt, I organized a photo shoot and opened it to anyone wanting to submit a quilt.  The photo shoot was a success, my goal was to get at least one quilt from this area into the exhibit.  I never dreamed we would be sending five quilts.”
The National Quilt Museum attracts approximately 40,000 visitors annually from nearly every state and 50 countries.  Ground was broken for the $2.2 million facility during the summer of 1990.  Initially named the Museum of the American Quilter’s Society, in 2008, Congress designated it as The National Quilt Museum of the United States.  Their mission is to educate the local, national and international public about the art, history and heritage of quiltmaking.  They offer educational opportunities with some of the world’s top quilters.

The museum is home to three exceptional galleries showcasing over 150 amazing works of fiber art in frequently changing exhibits.  Their mission includes stewardship of some of the finest examples of contemporary quilts in the world.  NQM has the largest gallery space in the US and is the only quilt museum dedicated to today’s quilter.
Karin Täuber of Blacksburg has served as president of Old Church Gallery Quilt Guild for over five years.  She is also a member of the following groups: Old Church Gallery Quilt Guild in Floyd, Loosely Woven Quilt Guild in Newport, The Quilting Party in Blacksburg, Textile Artist of Virginia, Virginia Consortium of Quilters, Patchwork Gilde, Germany and Fabric Guild, Great Britain.

As founder and organizer of the biennial Blue Ridge Quilt Festival in Blacksburg, she finds her greatest joy designing and making her quilts.  She has shared what she has learned with students in four countries on two continents.

Täuber’s quilt, A Sampler of French Provence will be included in Quilts of the Appalachian East Regional Show.  Lay out and piecing of the quilt was completed by Täuber and long-arm machine quilting by Elaine Myers.  Täuber explains, “I participated in a yearlong ‘block of the month’ project initiated by my guild.  Five blocks from my own workshop ‘Fearless Quilting’ were added.  The Box Quilt Block, in four similar color settings, was placed in the center. The remaining blocks are arranged around the center and are divided by two matching tones of yellow sashing.”

She describes her passion for quilting in this way, “My international background inspires my quilting and helped me create a fascinating array of modern landscape art quilts as well as a large collection of traditional quilts. I have always loved color and fiber.  Painting with thread and making art quilts bring together these passions in exciting and satisfying ways.  I have found that every time I try something different it just sends me off on a new adventure and broadens my abilities. My quilts are an expression of that journey, sometimes carefully planned, organized, colorful, and complicated, and other times they are just happy accidents.  I start most art quilts by using traditional quilting techniques such as traditional blocks, exact seam allowances, mitered borders and hand appliqué, and combine them with the more free form ‘art’ techniques of raw edge machine appliqué, extensive machine embroidery and thread-work, as well as overlays of tulle and organza for shading and depth. Each art quilt is completed using free-motion machine quilting to enhance the design and beading to add sparkle and increase the dimension in the work. I get so caught up in the creative process that I sometimes wake up during the night with ideas about quilts or solutions to new techniques I’m currently exploring.”  She ends on this note, “In the quilting world, there are ‘traditional quilters’ and free-form ‘art quilters’.  I like to describe myself as a ‘traditional art quilter’.”
Pamela Mann of Elliston is a guild member of The Quilting Party of Blacksburg.  She started quilting in her teens and has not put down the needle for twenty-five years.
When asked about her winning submission, she replied, “In my years of quilting I had never made an appliqué quilt.  This was a ‘dream’ quilt for me.  It was issued as a challenge to the guild the year I was president. The challenge—‘make your dream quilt,’ the one you have always wanted to make but for some reason hadn’t.  This was mine.  I did not complete the quilt in the two years given in the challenge—but here it is after five years.  The title is Rachel’s Wings.  While basting the quilt I found out that my cousin’s only daughter Rachel had been killed by a drunk driver.  Every time I worked on the quilt my thoughts were of my cousin and the tremendous loss our family and the world had experienced.”
Mann talks about the colors of her quilt and processes she used, “The colors chosen for this quilt are part of ‘my dream.’  I have always admired the wonderful antique red and green quilts, so this is my attempt to recreate a period quilt.  This quilt is hand appliquéd and hand quilted.  The only machine work is the long seams to piece the four blocks together, adding the borders and the binding.”
She used a traditional pattern Tulip and Princess Feathers then added her own tulip and swag border inspired by other antique appliquéd quilts.
Mann says, “I heard about others acceptance and rejections before I heard anything at all about my own quilt.  But word of others’ acceptance made me so happy.  Finally after hours of no word from NQM I could not stand it any longer and emailed them to find out why I had not received word.  I found out that they had sent my acceptance to a mistyped email address, so it didn’t get to me.  Judy Schwender from NQM forwarded me the original email and I was elated so of course, I emailed all my fellow quilters to let them know.”

She adds, “This has been quite a year for Rachel’s Wings.  The quilt took third place at Old Church Gallery Quilt Guild Quilt Show in Floyd, third place at Star Quilter’s Guild Show in Roanoke, was accepted into the AQS Quilt Show in Paducah, won an honorable mention at the NQA Quilt Show in Columbus, Ohio, and was accepted into Quilt Odyssey in Pennsylvania.  Now to top it all off, it will be displayed in Paducah, Kentucky.  I can’t ask for much more than that!”

Lorraine C. Durrill of Blacksburg, Virginia is a member of The Quilting Party.  She has been quilting for about thirty years.  Durrill has a tendency to choose quilt patterns requiring techniques that she needs to perfect or try for the first time.  She used a block of the month pattern, Stars for a New Day by Sue Garmin.  She really liked how the different patterns in this quilt fit together plus she could make it in a logical order which also allowed time for her other “addictions” of machine embroidery and knitting.

She has always been attracted to combinations of blues and greens and other colors that complement them.  The flying geese pattern was created with paper-piecing—a skill she’s always had trouble with.  But when making this quilt, she discovered how precise this method made the blocks.  Durrill comments, “I also learned how to mathematically determine how to make borders fit into a quilt.”

When she read the news about her quilt being juried into the exhibit, Durrill exclaimed, “I couldn’t believe what was written in the email.  I thought for sure there was a mix-up with someone else in our guild, but I am deeply honored.”

Durrill ends with, “I am very proud of the way the quilt turned out, and for the beautiful work that Elaine Myers did with the long-arm quilting.”

Camelia Elliott started quilting in 1995.  She is a member of Old Church Gallery Quilting Guild, ’Round the Mountain, and DAR.  In 1997 and 1998, she served as president and vice president of the Golden Spread Quilters Guild in Canyon, Texas.  At the end of her service, each member made a quilt block for her.  Elliott added the center medallion with pioneer ladies around a quilt frame.  She wanted the quilters to be in a home atmosphere, so she took a photo of an Oriental rug, and then printed it onto fabric.  The armoire contains her favorite things, including: A little red lantern from her father, a photo of her children kissing at ages one and three, a vintage radio, sewing notions in an egg basket, her favorite books including her book, Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, award-winning canned goods with a blue ribbon from the Amarillo Texas Tri-State Fair (canned by Camelia and her aunt, Lois McNeil Basham), McNeil Family Cookbook, and one of her published quilt pattern designs, Operation Support Our Troops.  There are two blocks with Camellia flowers in this quilt.  The middle block of the first row is an oriental Camellia and the first block on the second row is a Camellia.  Elliott created 9-patch cornerstones with three strips of sashing as finishing touches.

Amarillo, Texas Senior Citizens hand-quilted 13 Year President’s Quilt.  Two of the hand quilters were in Camelia’s quilt guild and stitched blocks for the front of the quilt.  Some machine quilting was added by Elaine Myers and Kathy Slusher in places that were too thick for hand quilters to stitch through.  This quilt is sentimental to Elliott since it represents quality time spent with quilting friends.  Three of Elliott’s quilting friends who made blocks for the quilt have passed away.

In 2010, 13 Year President’s Quilt was juried into the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton Roads, Virginia and received a blue ribbon. This quilt festival is one of the largest and most anticipated quilt gatherings on the eastern seaboard. It draws some 10,000 attendees and awards over $14,000 in awards and prizes. Quilts are sent from all over the world.
Elliott recalls, “My husband phoned me at work to ask if I was expecting a call from NQM.”  I replied, “Yes!” while thinking, go on, talk faster, what did they say?  “When he told me that my quilt had been accepted into the Quilts of the Appalachian East Quilt Show, my comment was, ‘You’ve got to be kidding’!”

She submitted two quilts and NQM accepted one of them.  When she heard four other quilts from the New River Valley and Roanoke were accepted, she could not get over it.  Elliott says, “Five of the eleven quilts accepted came from our area.  There is a tremendous amount of talent in Blacksburg’s largest quilting guild, The Quilting Party, and Old Church Gallery Quilting Guild in Floyd.  Ladies attend Old Church Gallery Quilting Guild from various counties as well as North Carolina and West Virginia.  Some of the members founded quilt shows, serve as quilt show chairman, and organize quilt shows.  One member is a national quilt show judge and another teaches online classes across the US for Quilt University.  It’s such a humbling honor and privilege for five quilts created in our area to be juried into NQM show.”

Midnight Dream, stitched by the Old Church Gallery Quilting Guild, will be raffled at The Jacksonville Center of the Arts in Floyd. The committee consisted of: Cathy Maycock, chairman, designer, sewer, and label maker; Gisela Mittman, block selection, designer, and sewer; Vicky Barden, donated a book for block placement and did part of the binding.  The outstanding job of long arm quilting was stitched by Elaine Myers.  Members of the guild who participated in sewing the large stars were: Judy Madigan, Barbara Kyle, Nancy Moore, Dee Ann West, Gwen Goepel, Bobbie Trail, Elaine Boyd, Glenna Jones, Gwen Gearhart, Carol Haskell, Judy Anderson, Loni Kula, Karin Täuber, Sharon Everette, Cathy Maycock, Vicky Barden, Juanita McCumbers, and Daisy Hylton.  Cathy Maycock and Gisela Mittman created all the small stars.

Maycock says, “Pam Mann submitted the entry forms and encouraged us all to enter the quilt in the exhibit.  Karin Täuber helped in many ways with advice, hand sewing part of the binding, the organizational part with insurance and shipping the quilt to the NQM exhibit in Paducah, Kentucky.”

The quilter’s used Peggy Martin’s book, Quick Step Paper Piecing, to make the star blocks. The ladies were attracted by the random arrangement of the stars that Judy Martin used in her book, Knockout Blocks and Sampler Quilts.  The blocks from the two books were different sizes so they drafted the blocks to make them fit.  The group wanted the quilt to appear like the starry sky during a walk at night.  The midnight blue background allows the red, yellow, and green stars to sparkle.  The quilters from Old Church Gallery Quilting Guild who participated in this project are pleased to be part of the exhibit.

Cathy Maycock from Roanoke is a member of the Old Church Gallery Quilt Guild and Lake Quilters Guild at Smith Mountain Lake.  She has been quilting for about twelve years.  She worked on the Midnight Dream quilt project.  “I learned to draft blocks for the raffle quilt.  We used two different books with different sized blocks.  The blocks went together easily and the stars were paper pieced.  I have paper pieced before but these stars were more involved.  Gisela taught me some new tricks when piecing blocks.  I was very surprised when our quilt got into the exhibit and I think it is great.  This should sell more tickets when we raffle off the quilt.”
Committee member Vicky Barden says, “I was proud and happy to have been part of the guild quilt that was selected.”

Gisela Mittmann from Blacksburg is a member of The Quilting Party in Blacksburg, Old Church Quilt Guild in Floyd, and The Saturday Quilt Group in Newport.  She served on the Old Church Gallery Quilter Guild’s committee to organize Midnight Dream.  Mittmann has been quilting for many years.  Her friend Lorraine called to announce that her quilt, Oh My Stars, had been accepted.  Gisela immediately checked her email and was thrilled to discover a letter of acceptance for the group-quilt Midnight Dream.  The phone lines were busy with quilters catching up on the latest news.  After Gisela hung up with Lorraine, she called her friend Karin who had entered her quilt into the contest as well.

Mittmann says, “This is a large quilt and I put all my pride and knowledge into its creation.  I wish it would be mine to keep!  It is good to know that the profit of the raffle ticket sales will help a wonderful place like the Jacksonville Center of the Arts where my guild meets twice a month.”

John McEnhill, Executive Director of Jacksonville Center for the Arts adds “It speaks to the abundance of talent in the Old Church Gallery Quilter’s Guild that five quilts from [local] members received the significant honor of being included in this national exhibit, including the quilt made by several members of the guild to be raffled as a fundraiser for the Jacksonville Center for the Arts.  We are privileged to offer space for the quilter’s guild to hold their regular meetings and display the members’ quilts in our community room.  I know that others share in community pride about this accomplishment.  We look forward to displaying the raffle quilt at the Jacksonville Center for the Arts.”
Other winners whose quilts will be featured in Quilts of the Appalachian East Regional Show at NQM in Paducah, Kentucky, include: Leona Bean Unkle from Leonardtown, MD with My Baltimore Album; Patty Prodonovich from Hagerstown, MD with Bits & Pieces;  Fran Kordek from Elkins, WV with Wedding Rings for Mavis and CJ; Mary Abbott Williams from Pinehurst, NC with Savannah 1832; Bonnie Ouellette from Seneca, SC with Dolphin Joy;  and a group quilt from Emerald Isle, NC with Flocks of Geese by Laurie Mayo with Rose Bonilla, Mary Vann Eslinger, Gwen Goepel, Gerri Hiasawa, Peggy Jones, Lillian Lawrence, Georgia Lenins, Caitlin Mayo, Pudge McCutcheon, Tabbie Nance, Gretchen Monroe, Dianna Vaccarella, and Pinky Porter.

Slideshow of Accepted Quilts