Blue

2nd and Spring, Little Rock,

PHE, Little Rock

Coulter Fussell Quilts

Check out these new quilts from Coulter Fussell. Her latest show, The Raw Materials of Escape, will open next week at the Halsey Institute at the College of Charleston.

Conventional quilts are anchored by their wholeness, most often achieved through geometric pattern. Fussell’s work breaks with this traditional fabrication to instead produce quilts that are painterly in composition while retaining the conceptual wholeness of a quilt. Fussell follows no patterns and does not sketch before she begins composing her work. She paints in textiles, positioning small squares of silk and bolts of antique fabrics on the floor of her studio, moving and layering pieces until she is satisfied with their relationship. The result is an object that reverently heeds the quilting process that has been passed down from generation to generation in Fussell’s family and in families across the globe. The result is also an object that confronts this tradition, challenging the viewer to find room for quilts that are paintings and paintings that are quilts.

Read a full profile of Fussell and her work at Burnaway.

Prints

I was out earlier today picking through the trash for fabric for a new quilt. I pulled several pairs of jeans, men’s shirts, and a dress from one curbside box, and in the bottom of the box found an opened envelope stuffed with cards and notes. It was addressed to a prisoner at the notorious Cummins Unit in the Arkansas Delta (subject of Bruce Jackson’s project Cummins Wide) about 10 years ago. In the envelope were two birthday cards with a young child’s signature, notes from someone who only identified herself as “Baby Momma,” a couple of photos, and a copy of the inspirational vignette “Footprints”:

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was only one. … The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

Art21: Stephanie Syjuco

Check out the Churn Dash and Dutchman's Puzzle quilt squares in the background.

Thou Remainest

From a hiking trip to southern Kentucky this spring, one of several roadside signs near Marshes Siding.

Downtown Pine Bluff

We had a great night in Pine Bluff for the opening of the Eviction Quilts series at the Arts & Science Center. Thanks to everyone who showed up and to curatorial staff.

I got to Pine Bluff a little early to photograph the area a bit. Pine Bluff has a fantastic downtown with so much potential. I would love to do an installation or temporary gallery project in one of the old storefronts.

Covered Lions

I feel certain that the new cast aluminum lions at the Fair Park roundabout near the zoo, lovely though they may be, will never be as successful as sculptures as they are right now, covered in black fabric.