Bank Machine Blues by Kathy Tidswell

 

Kathy Tidswell submitted this piece:

I was very excited when on July 5 2021, I was notified by Martha Sielman that she had chosen one of my pieces  Bank Machine Blues, for her book on birds. It has taken over two years for her to put this book together and have it published by Schiffer publishing but it is a beautiful book entitled Stitched Journeys with Birds.

You were allowed to submit 3 pieces for consideration.

Bank Machine Blues was created for the 2005 Grand National Quilt Exhibition with the theme: Airborne. I painted my background fabric and used free motion embroidery on warm and natural quilt  batt to make the loons.  I attached the loons so that they were 3-d. My inspiration was the $20 bill that was in circulation at the time but I wanted it in colour rather than the drab green that it was. I used my family initials and order of birth for the serial numbers. In my artist statement I said that you go to the bank Machine, take out $20 bills and they become airborne and fly away. The section above the $20 bill represents those that got away.

SAQA Annual Retreat

 SAQA Atlantic Annual Retreat

Members of SAQA Atlantic met at the beautiful Maple Inn in Parrsboro, NS Sep 29 - Oct 1, 2023. Participants came from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador to enjoy the weekend. There were lovely meals, great walks and opportunities to make new friends and catch up with old friends.

Many lively discussions took place on Saturday including how to price your art, targeting your audience and how to participate in teaching opportunities.

On Saturday afternoon Laura Chenoweth presented a session on sustainable fabrics and offered a few of her samples for sale. This led to an interesting discussion by members on their own sustainable studio practices.

Both Friday and Saturday evenings were filled with show and share. Experienced members presented their latest work and one even gave us a sneak peek into an upcoming solo show! New  members presented examples of the overall styles of their art. 

Darcy Hunter

Debbie Vermeulen

Kristi Farrier

Regina Marzlin

Beth McKay

Susan Lilley

Laureen van Lierop

Kathy Tidswell

Gillian Noonan

On Sunday morning the SAQA  Atlantic Regional Update was provided by our co-chairs Lee McLean and Darcy Hunter. The main topics of discussion were the upcoming calls for entry -  the Canada wide "Renewal" and the Atlantic region's "Navigating". Kristi provided some details of the galleries where the Atlantic show will be hung and noted that space is still being looked for, particularly in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. Brigitte Clavette will be the Juror for this exhibit.

Regina was thanked for her organization of this year's retreat and new organizers were agreed for next year. We look forward to next year's version.