‘Two Buds and a Blossom’ – 2024.03.18

Posted on March 18, 2024 by TerryAske

I was so pleased with ‘Witch Hazel Magic‘ (previous post), that I decided to do something similar for my entry to the annual textile art exhibit Cherry Blossoms: A Textile Translation which will be on display in April at the Silk Purse Arts Centre in West Vancouver.

I reviewed my photos of cherry blossoms taken last Spring, and found this close-up of a blossom and buds with a nicely blurred background. I enhanced the image with a computer program to boost the colors and add an artistic effect. The photo on the right is the result.

Edited in Prisma app with Bamboo

I cropped it to a square and added a black border (left). I printed the enhanced image on prepared fabric at about 13″ x 13″. I layered it on felt and then quilted it with a variety of 50 wt threads. The background is echo quilted with light green 80 wt.

I turned under the black border leaving just a sliver of black showing. Then I mounted it on a black 12″ x 12″ wrapped canvas. I titled it ‘Two Buds and a Blossom‘.

Here is a detail view and a view to show the canvas.

I was thrilled that it was selected for the exhibit, and also featured on the event poster.

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I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

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‘Witch Hazel Magic’ – 2024.03.17

Posted on March 17, 2024 by TerryAske

I created this piece in February in response to a SAQA call for entry titled Renewal. This is a regional juried exhibition for Canadian SAQA members. I was thrilled to receive a notification a few days ago that it has been accepted.

Edited to add: The Renewal exhibit will be travelling to various Canadian venues during the next 3 years – click here for details.

One of the prompts was “the cycles of nature: spring growth, forest regeneration, a new moon”. I focused on the concept of spring regrowth and renewal. I wasn’t inspired by cherry blossoms, snowdrops or crocuses – they all seemed too predictable. Then I remembered the witch hazel plants that grow in my neighbourhood. When I see the witch hazel blooming in December or January, it always brings me hope that spring is on the way.

Witch hazel flowers are very small (1-2 inches in diameter) but a close-up look reveals the intricately tangled, ribbon-like petals in a variety of colors.  What these fragrant little flowers lack in size, they make up for in quantity and timing.  They bloom in late winter well before other plants begin leafing out and poking green shoots out of the ground.

Here is one of many recent photos taken in January. I really liked the blurry background in this one (more luck than skill on my part). I enhanced the image with a computer program to boost the colors. The photo on the right is the result.

I printed the enhanced image on prepared fabric. I layered it on felt and then quilted it. The petals are outlined with black 50 wt thread, and the branches with gray. I quilted the background with wavy diagonal lines using lilac 80 wt thread.

I called it ‘Witch Hazel Magic‘. It is 14 x 16 inches.

Here is a close-up view of the quilting.

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I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

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‘Trimmings’ – 2024.02.18

Posted on February 18, 2024 by TerryAske

This mini quilt is my entry to the annual SAQA Spotlight Auction. The auction will be an online event taking place during the 2024 SAQA Virtual Conference (April 12- 20, 2024). It is an opportunity for all SAQA members to have their work showcased to a world-wide audience. All pieces will be 6 x 8 inches (portrait or landscape orientation). They will be displayed in mats with a 4.5″ x 6.5”opening and placed in clear cellophane sleeves. The edges of the piece (.75″) will be hidden from view in the final presentation.

Here’s how I found inspiration for this little piece.

When I was working in ‘Zesty, Bright and Spicy‘ in December, the trimmings from the circular shapes were piled on my white work table. I decided they were too pretty to be relegated to the recycle bin, so I took a photo and posted it on Instagram. Then I set the trimmings aside.

A week ago I was looking for inspiration for my spotlight entry, and I remembered the trimmings and decided they would make a lovely little mini quilt. I fused the trimmings to black felt, then quilted an overall tilted grid with black thread. Ta-dah! I called it ‘Trimmings‘.

‘Trimmings’ – full size – 6″ x 8″

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Thanks for reading. I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

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‘Zesty, Bright and Spicy’ – 2024.02.17

Posted on February 17, 2024 by TerryAske

The next Fibre Art Network exhibit is called Narrow Works!

There are more than 40 pieces in the exhibit. Each artwork is 9½” wide x 19½” long, mounted on a 10” x 20” black canvas. There is no specific theme – Artists are encouraged to create “a smaller signature piece, one which highlights WHO you are as an artist, which takes you to your happy creative place . . . using your favourite techniques, colours, designs, and textures!”

Here is my artwork – ‘Zesty, Bright and Spicy‘

I created a design of vaguely circular shapes. The background is a small piece of linen fabric I had been hoarding for a long time, which was the perfect size for this exhibit. I used several of my favourite brightly coloured fabrics for the shapes. I fused them to black acrylic felt, then quilted loose, sketchy lines with black thread, and trimmed the felt closely to leave a narrow black outline. I attached my quilt to the black canvas with carpet tape. (I find it less messy than glue or matte medium.)

Here is a detail shot.

I am very pleased with my piece. I think I have successfully made a “signature piece, using my favourite techniques, colours, designs, and textures!”

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Thanks for reading. I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

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‘Moonlit Reflections’ accepted for Grand National: Delights – 2024.02.16

Posted on February 16, 2024 by TerryAske

In December, I submitted several entries to the Grand National Fibre Exhibition: Delights. The results were announced in January, and I’m happy to say that my diptych ‘Moonlit Reflections‘ was one of the 37 pieces selected by the curatorial team. The exhibit will tour to several venues across Canada during 2024 and 2025.

Each piece is 12 x 24 inches. You can read about my inspiration and design process in these posts – part 1, part 2, and part 3.

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Thanks for reading. I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

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January in Costa Rica – 2024.02.15

Posted on February 15, 2024 by TerryAske

The last time I posted here was January 2 – one and a half months ago! I haven’t abandoned my blog, but I was travelling for almost 3 weeks in January, and when I got home I had several quilting deadlines to meet.

When time is at a premium, it’s so much quicker and easier to post on Instagram and Facebook than writing a blog post. If you follow me on IG or FB, you may have already seen this information, and more. For those of you who only read my blog, here’s a recap of what I’ve been up to.

Early in January, I left the cold weather in the Vancouver BC with 4 friends, and flew to warm and sunny Costa Rica. While there, we stayed at several different places, all wonderful in their own ways.

We spent 8 happy days at Bosque del Cabo Rainforest Lodge – eating, drinking, relaxing, talking and laughing. We spent our days exploring the hiking trails through the rainforest, capturing the flora and fauna with our cameras. Evenings included happy hours snacks and drinks, delicious dinners and good conversations.

Then we drove up the Pacific coast to Pacific Edge Eco Lodge for a couple of days.

Then on to the city of San Jose for 3 days. Highlights included a visit to Peace Lodge and Waterfall Gardens nature park and wildlife sanctuary. We saw birds, butterflies, monkeys, sloths, sleepy cats, and paths to magnificent waterfalls.

We spent one day on a walking tour in San Jose called Central Market Bites and Sights. We toured many fruit and vegetable vendors, some of which have operated in the same location since the early 1900’s. And saw many local landmarks and interesting architecture.

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When I returned to Vancouver, I had a lot of deadlines, thus no blog posts until now. In the next couple of days, I intend to get caught up with posts about my recent quilting activities.

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‘Geometric Expressions’ SAQA virtual gallery – 2024.01.02

Posted on January 2, 2024 by TerryAske

SAQA’s newest virtual gallery ‘Geometric Expressions‘ is now available for viewing on the SAQA website. It’s a pretty amazing collection of artworks, curated by Pat Forster. She selected 43 artworks from 267 submissions.

The Geometric Expressions online gallery (thumbnails below) can be seen here on the SAQA website. You can click on any square image to launch the slideshow. Be sure to click See Details under each image to find out more about each piece, including additional images and artist statements. There is also a Virtual Tour in a gallery setting.

I’m very happy that my piece ‘Dramatically Diagonal’ was selected for inclusion in this exhibit.

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DUET 2 – 2023.12.30

Posted on December 30, 2023 by TerryAske

In 2022, I created an art quilt I called DUET. Read about it here.

DUET by Terry Aske

My friends Kate and Rick fell in love with DUET and said they wanted to purchase it. They intended to display it with two stringed instruments they have collected in their travels. However, it soon became obvious to all of us that the colors I used for Duet (chartreuse and violet – above) did not fit their colour preferences at all. So I offered to make a version just for them.

We looked at some of their favourite treasures and created a whole new palette. Kate and I spent a lot of time shopping for fabrics, and came up with this palette of royal blue, moss green and terracotta. We looked at in black & white to ensure the values would work.

As the project developed, we also decided their art quilt should be 24 x 32 inches (rather than 24 x 24) and should be mounted on a canvas frame.

While we were debating various fabric options, Kate and I had a ‘what if?’ moment when we decided the sound hole of one of the ukuleles should be a diamond shape to reflect the shape of one of their instruments.

Of course, then I felt it necessary to ensure the circle and the diamond shapes each had the same area. I found a tutorial in WikiHow. In fact, I ignored the complicated formulas, and just printed out the diagram below, and traced the two shapes. We are very pleased with this design decision.

Here is the finished piece – DUET 2. Mounted on a 24 x 32 inch stretched canvas.

DUET 2, by Terry Aske

Here it is in Kate and Rick’s home with their treasured musical instruments. I think it looks fantastic!

DUET 2, by Terry Aske

Here is another view.

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A new mini art quilt – 2023.10.28

Posted on October 28, 2023 by TerryAske

Here is a 12 x 12 inch mini quilt I made recently. It was intended for a Quilting Arts magazine invitational challenge, but it wasn’t selected. But I’m sure it will find a place in an exhibit at some point.

I wanted to use bright colors with black lines on a chartreuse background. I experimented with circles and curves and squares, but the overlapping squarish shapes appealed the most.

Terry Aske – My Signature Colors

While composing my artist statement, I searched my blog for some good wording about my love of chartreuse, and rediscovered this post from September 2012 (the third post on my blog!).

It describes my entry to the Quilting Arts “What’s your Signature Color?” reader challenge.  My answer was “My absolute favorite color is chartreuse; you’ll find at least a bit of it in almost every one of my quilts.  It’s a bold and complex color that adds punch to almost any color palette.”

It’s eleven years later, and I still love chartreuse, especially when combined with bright vibrant colors and a touch of black.  I named this piece My Signature Colors.

I used some of my favourite techniques – freezer paper templates and raw edge seams covered with bias tape. I sewed the center pieces together, then inserted them into the background.

The seams are covered with skinny black bias tape. I machine quilted an overall tilted grid with chartreuse thread, and the edges are faced.

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I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

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Tertiary complementary colours – 2023.10.09

Posted on October 9, 2023 by TerryAske

During the month of September, I continued working on the trio of art quilts that I posted about on July 31. Each piece consists of complementary tertiary color pairs (yellow/orange with blue/violet, yellow/green with red/violet, and red/orange with blue/green). The diameters of the nested circles are based on the proportions of the Fibonacci sequence – 1,2,3,5,8,13,21.  The vertical sections use the Fibonacci proportions – 1,2,3,5. 

I finished these at the beginning of October. Here are my 3 pieces as they will be hung in the FYBR 2RT exhibit. Each one is 20 x 20 inches. They are mounted on wrapped canvases.

Initially, I thought I would create 3 different designs – one for each piece. But I liked this design so much, I decided to use it for all of them, and let the colours and values be the differentiating features.

I didn’t realize until I saw them all together how different they each are. You can see from the black & white version below that the placement of the dark and light values makes each piece unique.

This is my artist statement:

One design; three very different looks. Each of my pieces use the same layout of asymmetric nested circles based on the Fibonacci sequence. What makes each piece unique is the variety of colours and the interplay and juxtaposition of dark and light values.  

After writing the statement, I decided on the title – Interplay and Juxtaposition.

Here are the 3 pieces.

Interplay and Juxtaposition 1
Interplay and Juxtaposition 2
Interplay and Juxtaposition 3

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I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

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