Apron Strings

Apron Strings 3 will be on view in Form Not Function at the Carnegie Center for the Arts in New Albany, Indiana. The Exhibit runs from May 19 through June 16, 2022. Only 19 works were selected this year and I am greatly honored to be included. Shipping this dimensional piece was tricky and a little out of my skill set. Fortunately, it was traveling in-state.

Here is the artist statement:

“Apron Strings is a body of artwork that explores the complex relationships we have with our children.  These pieces are meditations on motherhood—marking moments of passage until we are able to set our sons and daughters loose into the world.”

One of my Women’s PPE Breastplates is on view here in my hometown at the South Bend Museum of Art’s exhibition Around the Bend. This exhibit includes 220 artists from the region.

Anxiety Shield: Vigil was selected for the SAQA International traveling exhibit Haven. Details to follow.

Reading Report:

Here are a few titles I have recently enjoyed: The Liar’s Dictionary, by Eley Williams; The Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah; How High We Go in the Dark, by Sequoia Nagamatsu; Honor, by Thrity Umrigar; Still Life, by Sarah Winman; and My Sister the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite.

I am off to plant some lettuce and peas this afternoon. Spring is slowly taking hold, a wren has been spotted and all those bulbs I furiously planted last fall are surprising and glorious.

Experimental Hand Stitching

Winter does not want to let go here in Northern Indiana, so it is nice to think about a warm week in July, stitching with fellow needle people at Quilting by the Lake, in Auburn, NY. The workshop I am teaching is called Experimental Hand Stitching and we will explore the possibilities and potential of hand stitching in textile artwork.

Standing Amazed: Shape Garden (detail)

For me, these past two years have revealed the restorative nature of stitching by hand—and I will share some of that journey in stitches at QBL. Find out more at https://schweinfurthartcenter.org/qbl-2022-classes/

This detail is from my series Standing Amazed, created with imagery from my previous life as a elementary art teacher in the South Bend public school district. My youngest students were learning to cut paper with scissors and navigate the challenges of working together. My shapes are all in wool, and covered with stitches using perle cotton.

I rarely buy thread in the usual way. Instead, I look for mixed lots on Ebay from estate sales and the stashes of unknown embroiderers. Having a pot-luck of colors and weights in tidy little balls is such a pleasure and challenges me to try less obvious choices sometimes. I recently bid on a large lot from Minnesota and it came with twelve new balls of bright red DMC #8. My latest work is featuring a lot of red stitching, and I love it. I have not solved the thread storage piece yet—I keep the balls in plastic zip bags by weight (so I can see colors at a glance), and have a number of bags stuffed into a lovely basket from Ghana under my work table. I like the idea of thread connecting me to other, unknown makers and finding new purpose in the things I am making. Another recent lot came with a few little “keeper clips” (shown at the bottom of the photo on a ball of blue thread) that I had never seen before. Someone had a great idea on those.

Years ago, a friend gave me a bag of candlewicking thread that she had found in the estate of a neighbor. This four-stranded cotton is not glossy and I have found it very useful for many stitching situations. I don’t know if it is even available new anymore, but I have been able to source a good bit of vintage on Ebay.

And then there is my collection of wool thread—a story for another time!

Here are a few good titles from my recent reading:

Five Tuesdays in Winter (Stories) by Lily King; All the Winters After, by Sere Prince Halverson; Women Talking, by Miriam Toews (five star recommendation); Chemistry, by Weike Wang, These Silent Woods, by Kimi Cunningham Grant, and Trashlands by Alison Stine. An eclectic mix for sure.

More Bundles

Early March rarely brings spring in northern Indiana, but it is nice to know that February will soon be behind us. Today is sunny and cold and my thoughts are with the people of Ukraine.

Amulet Bundles for Teenage Drivers

These are three amulet bundles I made for the mothers of teenage drivers. Some years ago, my sixteen- year-old totaled the family mini-van. The airbags deployed and no one was injured, but the car was a complete loss. Somehow, in the confusion of daily life, two sets of keys to that vehicle remained in the “key bowl” at the back of the junk drawer. The keys, some “protective eye” beads, charms and other small objects were wrapped and tied into these protective bundles. I remember the driving years as being an especially stressful period of parenthood.

My exploration of the complexities of our relationships to our children continues.

Here a few of the books I have enjoyed recently:

This Tender Land, by William Kent Kruger; The Cold Millions, by Jess Walter; When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky, by Margaret Verble; A Town Called Solace, by Mary Lawson.

Readers Note: Mary Lawson wrote one of my favorite books, Crow Lake. Check it out, and her other two books if you can.

Bundles of Protection

I have spent the last few weeks of winter making mothers’ amulet bundles.

Amulet Bundles for Childhood

These bundles are loosely constructed with found doll or infant clothing and small objects and charms. I have about a dozen so far, and I think I will present them in small groups. The bundles have been formed around board books that I get for fifty cents each at the library sale. These are meditations on motherhood.

I have enjoyed working at a smaller scale, and drawing from the detritus of scraps and found things in my studio.

QUILTING BY THE LAKE July 18-22, 2022

I have been honored with an invitation to teach at the Quilting by the Lake conference this year. My class is called Experimental Hand Stitching. Registration begins February 1, click here for more information!

Rediscover the pleasure of pulling a threaded needle through layers of cloth. Hand stitching can be used to make marks, define texture and create a rich and visually interesting surface design in fiber artwork. We’ll use materials we already have—the textile “keepings” of everyday life, to explore the possibilities of sewing mindfully by hand. The goal of this experimental journey is to develop a vocabulary of stitches and make personal connections to the process of creating. And by slowing down and working by hand, we may find a new path to well-being along the way.

Reading List

Here are a few titles I have enjoyed this month: Creatures of Passage, by Morowa Yejide; The Joy and Light Bus Company, by Alexander McCall Smith; Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doehr, Five Tuesdays in Winter, by Lily King; Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen; Wish You Were Here, by Jodi Picoult

A Year in Stitches

2021—what a year. I found myself stitching my way through a lot of anxiety and circular thinking. Mike and I also welcomed a new granddaughter and a new son-in-law. Two of our offspring bought their first houses, and we are looking forward to the arrival of another grandson in a few weeks. Given these blessings, it is hard not to be optimistic about the world —even if we worry about the future we are leaving to the people we love. Here is a gallery of details from artwork I have stitched in 2021:

Five Star Review

Today I finished The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich. This is a great story, well told—and embedded in the text are dozens of other noteworthy book suggestions! I listened to the audio version, read by the author, and at the end is a website to go to for an annotated list of those books. I’m on it.

Video Encore

Davana Robedee, from the Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn, NY, interviewed me for the exhibit Quilts=Arts=Quilts. Follow this link to the video, and other interviews with Q=A=Q artists. The Schweinfurth is a fiber-forward organization and this annual exhibit features 80+ wonderful contemporary quilts. A gallery tour is also available on the website. Oh, and don’t miss the Quilts and Poetry Project on their Instagram Page and website!

Work on View

One of the interesting consequences of the COVID pandemic has been the exponential increase of online exhibition opportunities. SAQA Virtual Galleries exhibit Legacies is all online and was curated by an artist I greatly admire, Barbara Schneider. Follow this link to see the exhibit, and my piece, Recollected 5.

Three of my Women’s PPE Breastplates will be exhibited in the next months. Exoskeleton 2 at the Artlink Gallery Midwest Regional in Fort Wayne, IN: Exoskeleton in Fiber Art Now: Excellence in Quilts, print and at the Virginia Museum of Quilts; and Padded Brigandine in OHIO + 5, at the Dairy Barn, Athens, OH.

Best Wishes for a happy and peaceful 2022.

Wise Women, Wise Words

In this season of gratitude, one of the things I am most thankful for are the women in my life who have offered me their practical wisdom. This has been true at every stage of my life, but especially as an artist, as a teacher, as a mother, and as a person getting older. I gave a Zoom talk for the Indiana Women’s Caucus for Art this month, and shared how much I have valued being part of a community of women artists that has offered support, encouragement, advice and friendship. The work I am doing now is not the work of a younger artist; instead, it is work informed, shaped and influenced by my lifetime of experiences.

Wisdom Cloak: The Oracle

This Wisdom Cloak is called The Oracle. Some of the Wisdom Cloaks draw on references from the ancient world. An oracle is someone, often a woman, with insight and great wisdom; called upon for advice and prophesy. A person telling uncomfortable truths.

This piece is made from wool and found charms and amulets. The center is constructed from a felted wool experiment from many years ago, thrown in an acid dye pot and reused in a new context. I just finished the hanging sleeves and photography for this piece. The shapes and lines made by the appliqued and couched felt pieces reminded me of language—maybe wise words coming out of the mouth of a cave.

So, to all the women who have given me good advice and wise counsel—thank you.

Reading List:

More good books: Oh William, by Elizabeth Strout; Pslam for the Wild Built, by Becky Chambers; Burntcoat, by Sara Hall; Velvet was the Night, by Silvia Moreno Garcia; and Shiner, by Amy Jo Burns.

Wisdom Cloak: The Oracle (detail)

Wool, found objects

Snippets of an Idea

Winter is coming…and I have been experimenting with some “stream-of-consciousness stitching” in long strips. I am calling them Apron Strings. I have wanted to explore ideas of mothering— not an easy subject for many women artists, yet often a defining part of our lives. Here are some of the beginnings of an idea, not yet fully formed, but emerging.

Reading List

Lots of good reads. Here are a few at the top of my list: Harlem Shuffle, by Coleson Whitehead; The Madness of Crowds, by Louis Penney; The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles; Bewilderment, by Richard Powers; The Seed Keeper, by Diane Wilson.

Anxiety Shields on Exhibit

All three of the Anxiety Shields will be on exhibit this fall. Night Watch is in Interpretations at the Visions Museum in San Diego from October 16 through January 2, 2022. Force Field and Vigil will be exhibited at the Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn NY in Quilts=Art+Quilts from October 23 through January 9, 2022.

Anxiety Shield: Vigil, 48 x 34”, cotton, wool, buttons, hand embroidered and stitched

I have written about the Anxiety Shields in previous posts but I would like to add that I am so honored to have these very personal pieces selected and exhibited for Interpretations and Q=A=Q . I am scheduled for some zoom and YouTube artist talks associated with these pieces and will include more information next month.

Reading List:

I have read some really great books lately:

The Sweetness of Water, by Nathan Harris; The Aviary, by Diedre McNamer; Kindred, by Octavia Butler (an oldie but goodie); and Wayward, by Diana Spiotta. On the non-fiction side, I am giving a five star rating to two wonderful books: All That She Carried, by Tiya Miles ( a fascinating and moving investigation and account of a textile artifact from the antebellum south) and Neither Wolf Nor Dog, by Kent Nerbern (when I was at the Quilt National closing, I enjoyed meeting Jean Jurgenson, who told me this was a “must read”—and she was right). I did both of these on audio and the readers were amazing.

The fall garden is calling, the weather has been lovely, and I am experimenting with a new idea called “Apron Strings”—meditations on mothering. More on that later. You can see in-progress photos on my Instagram feed at @hgeglio.

Mender of Rifts

This coming Labor Day weekend marks the end of Quilt National 21 at the Dairy Barn in Athens, Ohio. I plan to make the trip for the closing and I am looking forward to meeting artists I don’t know, and others I do. You can see a virtual tour of the exhibit by clicking the link. You can also hear me talk a little about my entry, Wisdom Cloak: Mender of Rifts, at an artist panel discussion, moderated by Holly Ittel. You can see many other videos of artist talks and artist panels at the Dairy Barn You Tube channel. Holly has pulled together so many new ways to connect the quilts to new audiences. Thanks Holly!

Wisdom Cloak: Mender of Rifts, (2020) 52 x 60”, photo by Kay Westhues

Mender of Rifts was given the SAQA award, and I am so very honored about that. I made the Wisdom Cloak series as a celebration of the collective wisdom of older women— garments of power and resilience. One of the ideas that shaped this series into being was an article that a friend sent me from Artnet News. The headline: Experts in Pompeii Have Discovered a Female Sorcerer’s Mysterious Arsenal of Charms, led to the inclusion and embedding of many small objects into the surface of each quilted cloak. The symbolic use of amulets and charms, designed and wielded for protection or to gain a deepest desire, resonated for me. These cloaks appear ancient, made of warmest wool, mended and heavily sewn by hand with a vocabulary of stitches. In November of 2022, a collection of the cloaks, titled Cloaked in Wisdom, will be exhibited at Visions Museum in San Diego, CA. Mender of Rifts will travel along with The QN21 collection to other venues. And I’m not done yet…I just dyed some felted wool in the most beautiful deep rusty orange for another cloak.

Entwined

August 5, an exhibit of fiber art opens in the community building at South Bend’s Howard Park. This is the first show in a new Arts Series and I am honored to be included. The works I will be showing are two Anxiety Shield quilts and five of my Women’s PPE breastplates. Howard Park is a beautifully redesigned city park near where I live in downtown South Bend. An amazing playground, skate ribbon and beautiful walkway, lined with native plants along the St. Joseph Riverfront, are just a few of the features that draw people from all over the city to this wonderful space.

“During this past year, a lot of my friends were sewing masks, I was making armor.”

Next month I will be writing about the Wisdom Cloak that is in Quilt National 21. I will be part of a four-artist QN online talk on Friday, August 20 at 11:00AM, EDT. To see earlier Friday talks go to the Dairy Barn Video Page. To register for the last four Friday talks go here. You can see a “talking head” video I made, telling about my QN quilt here (it‘s short!) And lastly, a video about another Wisdom Cloak in the SAQA Primal Forces: Earth Global Exhibit is available now online here. That is a lot of video…and I am not a natural!

I am a natural reader! Here is what I have recently read:

The Dictionary of Lost Words, by Pip Williams; The Betrayals, by Bridget Collins; The Less Dead, by Denise Mina; Hour of the Witch, by Chris Bohjalian; Hot Stew, by Fiona Mozley; Songs in Ursa Major, by Emma Brodie, and The Trespasser, by Tana French.

Enjoy the last weeks of summer! My garden is glorious, the tomatoes have started and the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds are flying all over.