Good News!!

This is my quilt called "My Friend is Bipolar" which I originally made for SAQA's "I'm Not Crazy!" exhibit. It did not make the cut for that exhibit but it did get accepted into the Sacred threads 2013 exhibit which was in the Washington D.C. area in July 2013. The quilt gets on their promotional postcard and is returned home-end of story-NO! I received an email from the curator of the Sacred Threads Exhibit stating the Mancuso Quilt Festival organizers want a 25 piece special exhibit at two of their quilt shows in 2014 and my quilt above was selected for this exhibit!! WOO HOO!!

The two shows are Quiltfest Destination Savannah (GA) in March 2014 and Denver Quilt Festival in May 2014. The Mancuso website is www.quiltfest.com for the official dates and other info on the two shows.

I am thrilled that my quilt that I put so much emotional energy into is getting recognition and more people from various parts of the country can see it!! This is not a quilt I randomly hang on the wall because the "manic" woman on the left is so frantic ad almost disturbing I can't look at her for a long period of time. I have made two quilts that have a social cause and this quilt proves that art isn't always pretty and it was stir our emotions. I have gratitude that my quilt has been selected for the exhibit and I can share it at these two quilt shows in 2014.

2013 Sacred Threads Quilt Exhibit Acceptance

I entered the 2013 Sacred Threads Quilt Contest which is in July in Virigina. It is an exhibit which has spiritual themes of healing, joy, peace/brotherhood, grief and others. I had a quilt in the exhibit in 2011 (the show is on the odd year) and I entered the maximum 2 quilts. The first is the quilt above titled "My Friend is Bipolar" which was intended for the SAQA Exhibit last year called "I'm Not Crazy!" (not so great of a title in my opinion.) I poured heart and soul into this quilt because people in my life that are very close to me are bipolar. This quilt represented my view of living with people who are Bipolar. I was quite bummed when it did not make the cut. When this exhibit call to entry came around I selected the "grief" category and it was juried into the show!! Their website is www.sacredthreadsquilts.com

The woman on the left represents the "manic" side of the personality disorder-very grandiose, over the edge, frantic, excessive, hyper etc. She is not easy for me to look at because she screams irratic!!

The woman on the right represents the "depressed" side of being bipolar-stressed, low self esteem, gloomy, pessimistic etc. I feel I have captured her pain.

 

The colors I have chosen for each side of the Bipolar Disorder is also representational. The clothing, the hair, the jewelry etc. all reflect this.

My quilt "Victory Rolls" is near and dear to my heart because it is a perfect representation of me- the hairdresser, fashionista and lover of bright colors, flowers and embellishments. Therefore I put it in the "joy" category and it was also accepted into this exhibit!!

I went on a limb and gave my 1940s woman green skin because I love lime and chartruese!!

 

 

SAQA "I'm Not Crazy" Exhibit Entry

Studio Art Quilters Association is having an exhibit titled "I'm Not Crazy" which explores mental health issues. I think the title  is offensive but whatever. It is the perspective or someone with mental illness, a caretaker or friend or family member of someone with mental illness. I have a very close friend who is Bipolar and is medicated to have balance in her life. This quilt is my interpretation of being bipolar-one minute she is happy, hyper bouncing off the wall and the next sad, depressed and angered. I used muted sad, dull colors to represent being depressed and, of course, the frustrated facial expression. I used bright colored fabrics with lots of chaos for the manic side's clothing, make up and jewelry. Her hair is out of control and her facial expression shouts "manic." I used lots of desciptive words on both sides of the personality in a subtle way in the background. I purposely went subtle because in society we don't want to talk about mental health issues and they are subtle and quiet  in our discussions. I found there is a two sided smiley face which symbolizes Bipolar Disorder and I added it to the quilt in the lower center of the quilt.

This photo is a closeup of the depressed personality.

And this is a photo of the manic personality. She's kind of "out there!" Her expression deminds me of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland!!

Cloeup of the Bipolar symbol and a few of the background words.

I embellished the manic side with hand made Sculpey clay beads, a beaded earring, rhinestones for pierced earrings, orange lame' in the hair to symbolize being wired, and some fabric paint. The intent was for excess and chaos in hair, make up, clothing and jewelry. The depressed side has a necklace made to buttons made from leather (pretty cool from a quilt show!), a few beads for the necklace and a rhinestone for the nose piercing. Both have a little fabric paint for details.

The exhibit aplication is online at SAQA's website the month of May and during the summer we find out if we made the cut then the selected quilts will travel for 2 years to the various Mancuso Quilt Shows.

This quilt is not meant to represent beauty but a social issue. I was thinking of entering it in the local community art show at my library which runs through the summer but I'm not sure if the social issue would offend people. I guess art can do that sometimes...