August Plans

 This summer I am delighted to be returning to the Silver Bay Association in early August to offer a couple of short workshops on landscape quilting.  

To this end, I am working on a new series of small pieces inspired by my time there.  Silver Bay is one of those places that changes people.  Located in the Adirondacks, it is part resort and part YMCA.  As a child, I vacationed there with my family.  As a young adult, I worked there summers.  Now I go back occasionally to vacation, as time permits, but always the Adirondacks have felt like a second home.  The watercolor instructors at Silver Bay have influenced my artistic style.  The vistas are directly responsible for the images in my landscape quilts, and the high peaks still whisper to me decades after hiking there.  Silver Bay is where I had my first kiss, where I learned to drive stick shift, and where I did much of my growing up.  It’s where I had some of my worst and best moments.  It was where I had my first job at 16 and if I’m lucky it will be my last job, after I retire, when I can spend more than a few days there - dipping my toes in the lake and watching the stars come out. 

On Exhibit - Week of July 2, Gullen Lounge, Silver Bay YMCA

 I'm thrilled to be presenting an exhibit and talk at the Silver Bay Association on July 5 at 7 pm. 

Quilting, Art & Solitude:  

A casual conversation with Elizabeth Sylvan

I will be showing small works featuring landscapes, flowers, and pieces from my new series exploring glass and light.  These art quilts are intended to delight the eye and quiet the mind while recalling that moment of solitude when the viewer feels connected to the natural world.

Below are samples from the exhibit that will be hanging in Gullen Lounge the week of July 2.

See more of my work at www.SylvanQuilts.com

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Reflections in the Hirshhorn Fountain

 

Three years after completing the first sample for this piece, it's finished!  This is based on my photo of  reflections in the fountain in the plaza of the Hirshhorn Museum, in Washington, DC, which features modern and contemporary art.  The museum windows encircle the plaza and reflect into the pool in the center, creating a wonderful moving grid of white and blue.  The finished quilt contains roughly 2000 individually fused and stitched pieces of cotton and is 50" x 24".  Those of you who are local probably saw it in the Hands All Around Quilt Show at Hampshire College back in April, where it won best wall quilt.  I think maybe I'll try a green one next.   

Peas!

 Working on adding pea vines... not quite done, 'cause I need to go out for more pink and purple thread, but really close!  

Foliage!

 Spring has come to the branches of the tree!

Bare Branches

 The tree has been machine appliqued in place and is ready for it's foliage! Gonna also stitch some grasses abound the roots and threshold to plant and anchor them.  

Tree choices

 The questions of the evening are...

Thin tree or thicker tree?  And, willow foliage or regular deciduous foliage for it? (The flat brown color is just a place-holder.  The actual bark will be warm mottled brown.) The tree on the right go a little cropped, so see the b&w sketch below for the full shape.

full trees side by side for comparison