Ste. Marie-aux-Mines, final report

Just a few more impressions from Ste. Marie-aux-Mines in Alsace.

Here is an installation with lots of Aurifil thread spools at the entry to the Espace Commercial, which I found interesting. What an idea!

Besides the Canadian exhibition «Tradition in Transition» I got to see the results of the contest, of course.

The Jury, after picking "best of show":
Linda Colsh, Libby Lehman, and I (from left)

However, because all the quilts are pictured in the catalogue, I did not take any photos besides the one of the winner of ‘best of show’, “Remembering” by Linda Kemshall.

"Remembering" by Linda Kemshall,
best of show Carrefour Européenne 2012

I also got to see Kumiko Frydl’s stunning show of little pieces, “Perfect piecing”, which left me full of admiration and awe. Kumiko’s quilts are usually not any larger than 40cm/16 inch on each side, yet display the full richness in details as would befit a fully sized King Size quilt. Absolutely fascinating. 

Kumiko Frydl, "Mission: Impossible?", 21 x 21 inch

Kumiko Frydl, "Pineapple Patch", Detail

Kumiko Frydl, "Pineapple Patch", 15 x 15 inch

Kumiko has published a book on her technique (in French), which, unfortunately was sold out by the time I got to see her exhibition.

I also went to the Place des Tisserands for a stop at SAQA's Wide Horizons III and at Libby Lehman’s exhibition. In Libby’s show I found it highly interesting to see the development she has made – there are thirty years between “Red Sky in the Morning” (1982) and “Ribbonplay” (2011).

Libby Lehman, "Red Sky at Morning", 1982

Libby Lehman, "Ribbon Play", 2011

My favorite in Wide Horizons was Margaret Ramsay’s “Weymouth Waves”. 

Margaret Ramsay, "Weymouth Waves", 2012

That’s a degree of ‘pictorial quilt’ that I can really connect to. This time the Wide Horizons is supposed to travel through Europe for the next year. It will be shown in Vicanza in October, and SAQA and Carrefour are still working on finding additional venues. If you get a chance to see it, you should definitely take it!

This is the last report of what quilts I got to see in Ste. Marie-aux-Mines. As I wanted to be present at my own exhibition as much as possible I did not venture into the other villages more than once – and ended before a church closed for mass.

Being there with an exhibition keeps one busy enough that seeing other people’s exhibitions is not on the top priority position for those days. But it was a wonderful and rewarding experience. Thank you very much to Gul LaPorte, who invited me in the first place, and to Sylvie Leroux for her professional management of the artists’s concerns and needs, and to Dinah for her kindness and expertise in managing the contest and the jury!