A Day In Lowell - New England’s Quilt Capital

A Day In Lowell - New England’s Quilt Capital
by Diane Powers Harris
Learning that the New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) was not planning their biennial quilt show, Images, brought huge disappointment to many in the region. However, NEQM didn’t leave us without a replacement destination as they planned and implemented a city wide Summer Celebration of Quilts by providing a series of quilt/textile exhibits and lectures.
In a recent NEQM monthly newsletter, I read that Beatriz Grayson, an art quilter whose work I greatly admire, was presenting a lecture about working in series and creating a body of work through developing a theme. My newfound friend Sarah Daniels and I decided to register and attend. The lecture was wonderfully thought provoking with many suggestions and ideas for artistic development and growth.
Beatriz brought numerous examples of her work showing how easy it is to create a body of work from a simple motif. In this instance she used a heart theme - all quilts presented to her husband over the years on Valentine’s Day.
The second grouping were examples of her student’s work. Beatriz provided her students with a line drawing of two birds sitting on a branch. The only real requirement was a size definition. Other than that, she encouraged her students to interpret the subject however they saw fit. The results were amazingly creative and diverse.
Both sets of examples gave the audience a basis for understanding the developmental process in creating a series of work while exploring a specific subject to promote artistic growth. One hint that was a "lightbulb ah ha" moment for me was Beatriz’ suggestion to create "yardage" from leftovers of the current project. This provides the artist with not only an immediate foundation for a future project, but effectively uses up the scraps and strips.
During a series of emails with Janice Jones, I mentioned that Sarah and I would be in Lowell for Beatriz’ lecture. Janice immediately wrote back telling me about her group, Broad Strokes and their exhibit in the Lowell Telecommunications Center as well as an afternoon lecture/demo at the Brush Art Gallery and Studios. She also invited us to visit her studio in the Brush Art Gallery. Since Lowell is a three hour drive each way for us, we thought to take advantage of the invitation and make a day of it.
After being inspired by Beatriz Grayson’s lecture, we ate our lunch just outside the lecture venue on a tree shaded park bench enjoying the beauty of the day along with the birds, squirrels and chipmunks. Once we finished lunch, we had time to walk over to NEQM to see the Best of Show exhibit. This amazing exhibit featured Best of Show quilts from various shows across New England. Each quilt was a wonderful example of what quiltmakers are creating in our region. I was absolutely blown away with the intricacy, creativity, diversity of techniques and even humor detailed in these masterpieces.
Also on display was a lovely selection of new quilts inspired and recreated from vintage quilts. All were executed beautifully and precisely followed the inspiration quilt.
Next we wandered back over to the Brush Art Gallery where we visited the various artist studios showcasing assorted artistic disciplines. For those of you who have never visited, the setup is delightful. The spaces are reminiscent of an old European avenue of specialty boutiques. Signage announcing each studio and exciting displays by the artists enticed the strollee into the various studios. Also on display through September 12 is the exhibit Book Illustration: Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, a compilation of cover art for these teenage super sleuths. All in all, food for the eye and inspiration for the artistic process!
The lecture/demo was presided over by four of the seven members of Broad Strokes. Each member discussed her area of expertise and how she incorporates her technique(s) into her art. At the conclusion of the lecture, the audience was invited to the Lowell Telecommunications Center, located just across the courtyard, to view their exhibit Broad Strokes - Pushing Quilts to Art which will be on display until August 29, 2015.
As a group, these quilt makers explore artistic techniques and fabric manipulation through original design work. Their exhibit was amazing as it showcased many of the techniques they have discovered together while keeping in touch with their own individual style. Comprised of art pieces that are their interpretation and depiction of a specific expressive word created an extremely unified, cohesive exhibit that showcased each member’s "voice."
Alas, a truly incredible day filled with creativity, inspiration, visual stimulation, and best of all, friendship must eventually come to a close. But wait!, there’s more... Completely apropos to nothing, my icing on the cake was stopping in Tilton, NH to get a new pair of desperately needed sandals. The pair I purchased were not only on sale and in my favorite color of coral, but I had enough punches on my reward card to get an additional $30 off! Quilts, inspiration, friendship and a bargain on shoes, what more could a girl desire?!
In closing, I just want to say this event was extremely well done. It showed a great deal of thought, effort and planning by NEQM to make this such a memorable day. An added benefit was discovering so many new places (many just a short walk from NEQM) to see and visit in future trips to Lowell. It’s not just New England Quilt Museum, it’s a quilter’s dream destination. I sincerely hope the museum has plans to again do something of this nature in the years to come.