How's Your Heart?

 

It's heart month. It's Valentine's month. It's Arts and Health Exhibition month at the Brick City Gallery in Ocala, FL! So of course I wanted to enter this art call with a small quilt expressing hearts as "The Rhythm of Life." That's the title of this piece. The exhibit is sponsored by Marion Cultural Alliance in partnership with HCA Florida Healthcare.

My artist's statement included with the quilt says this: "Our hearts beat continuously, often without us even noticing it. Therefore, caring for our hearts can be easily overlooked. Because heart disease is the leading cause of death, I wanted to underscore that we can be mindful to take steps towards improving our heart health and reducing the risk."

The EKG line is couched rat-tail cord and it ends in a hand-painted puffed heart. I tried something new in designing the entry. I consulted ChatGPT and Canva to find an image of a healthy EKG to base the quilt on. And I asked for some AI help in writing the artist statement above. That was a fun adventure, and eye-opening, too, mainly for the speed of response time.

Quite a few entries had a theme of heart health, perhaps because some of us have experienced heart problems. So that makes the theme ... ahem... "near and dear to our hearts". Pardon the pun. Join me for a look at some of the other entries on display.

"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart", oil painting, is the entry of Ellen Hosafros. She noted that experiencing heart health issues recently prompted her to reflect on personal responsibility for health and wellness.

This striking wood and brass sculpture calls attention to the center heart formed in the wood!

I always enjoy seeing stitching incorporated into media other than textiles. Here it is in wood! This is Brad Martin's entry titled "Mended Hearts". Brad stressed that art is a therapeutic healing process for body, mind, and spirit.

In this ink on paper entry, Joan Elizabeth illustrates her love for hand stitching on felt as a calming and meditative practice. I agree with her- I find it soothing, too. It's entitled "Open Heart."

Lorri Terbilcox relies on Scripture to inspire her art. This acrylic painting is titled "Matthew 5: 14-16" and depicts Jesus saying, "You are the light of the world..." 

The exhibit is up all month long at 23 SW Broadway St., Ocala. It features many more lovely paintings, photographs, and mixed media pieces. I was pleased to learn that my quilt was purchased and will hang in a local health care facility. 

Meet the Party Animals...

This is Helene. She was stitched during the summer hurricane of the same name. And she was stitched in response to a fun little challenge issued by our Fiber Art Bee. She's pretty dolled up and ready for a party. Do you love her bow and fancy twirl skirt?

Helene from the back- every bit as fetching!

Bee member Sheila Hiss crafted Spotsalotte for her challenge project. I believe she began as an empty bottle that got slip-covered. Cork legs, snout and a magnificent hair bow make her quite irresistible.

A damselfly was the creation of member Merri McKenzie. Merri favors soft sculpture projects of the flying kind. I'll share the cute damselfly she gave me at Christmas in a later post. But this one needed to meet certain parameters which you'll see below. 

It all began at a guild meeting at a table of yarn for sale. I knew I didn't need any yarn, but that never stops me from looking. Lo and behold I saw a skein of the spotted chiffon ribbon shown in the photo. I purchased it, thinking that I'd bring it to Fiber Art Bee to see what they might do with it. After showing it to a couple of other members, Merri commented that we could do an animal challenge. It struck Sheila that she had just passed up a length of giraffe print fabric on our "free table". She ran back to get it and our challenge took shape. Members who wanted to participate each got a 10" square of giraffe print and a one-foot length of leopard ribbon. One of our favorite things to do in FAB is to make up rules and then ignore them. So while we titled this the "Animal Challenge", members were encouraged to create anything they wanted as long as it included some of each print provided. They rose to the challenge and there were more than 15 entries. Unfortunately, I had to miss the meeting where they were revealed, so don't have pics of all of them. Suffice it to say, the creativity was over the top and included quilts, quilted bags/totes, wall hangings, a whimsy house, an owl, and even a sleep mask! Such quilty fun with friends.

The Rural Life...

 

Rural life is coming to an end. This gift quilt, titled "Hoof Prints", is one Jack and I recently presented to our friends Carolyn and Ron. It's a thank you for Carolyn's very generous gift of her time and effort in inviting Jack to trail ride with her each week, using her horse Guy. They've enjoyed many rides on the state-land trails near her home. It meant a lot because, as you may know, Jack lost his last Quarter Horse Freckles last summer. And his passing precipitated a huge change for us- that of moving away from our beautiful farm near Ocala and into a smaller home closer to the city. It's been a bit wrenching.

I didn't get a good photo of the quilt before giving it Carolyn, so I asked if she would take one to share on the blog. She and Ron live on their own beautiful farm, and she takes some lovely rural scenes of their place. I knew she'd get a good shot, and this is just what I envisioned- the quilt on a fence with the backdrop of sunlit landscape. So pretty. I pieced and finished the quilt with binding and label, but the longarm quilting was done by Debra Johnston, who does lovely work. Panel quilts are pretty simple to make and work up quickly. And surely the panel design does much of the work! Fabric panels have come a long way and are available in so many lovely prints.

We knew a quilt was just right for Carolyn because I'd seen her colorful barn quilt in pictures before. I think it's a Pieced Lily in a Basket design. Hers is made from metal and was quite a feat of engineering to install. It involved a son-in-law and a bucket truck!

Here's how I'll remember the view from the front porch of our farm. I will both miss it and be grateful for it at the same time.

This was our view coming up the driveway to home and barn. Always a pleasure to come home.

At rest on the farm is the beloved Freckles. I shared more about him and another panel quilt I made in this post, done just about one year ago.

We also left Abby at rest in the grove of trees you see beyond her yard. It was one of her favorite places to play and romp. She passed at the age of 11 in August. Abby was a sweet girl with lots of energy who was another rescue pet. Nobody was more surprised than Abby when someone's pot belly pig came to call! He's actually on the other side of her pen, but she was unclear as to how to treat this uninvited guest. 

And speaking of surprise visitors- this handsome Gopher Tortoise plodded up the sidewalk one fine day. Our area had lots of these endangered animals who tunnel underground in pastures and fields, along with a very uncommon squirrel known as the Fox Squirrel. It's been a wonderful place to live and enjoy nature for nearly a quarter-century. But, as the saying goes, "all good things must come to an end." Our farm was a lot of work and maintenance for us as we age. And with an empty barn, the work was mostly, well, just work... no horses to ride or to enjoy seeing out in the pasture. So the time has come... sadly but providentially. I'll share more about our new place, and the much smaller sewing room in future posts. It's, shall we say, still a work in progress! Happy 2025 to all.