This week will be the second week of SAQA’s annual artwork auction.

SAQA – Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. – is an organization I am a member of and that I support. There are a LOT of textile artists who enjoy supporting SAQA – this year there are over 400 donated quilts! Each quilt is 12” x 12”.

At the bottom of this post I have put in the links to the auction which will take you to the site with artwork and bidding instructions.

For now, inspired by looking at the incredible variety of works donated, I’m thinking about communicating ideas in a small space. I don’t generally create small works. I like to work as large as I can handle. But the demands of small spaces are good learning experiences

“Outside Looking In” was my donation in 2019. Paring things down is a good idea for a small work. Have one big idea and develop it. In this one, the idea is the bird looking through the window. Just about all the space is dedicated to that, and the very restrained palette keeps from distracting from this central idea.

“Outside-Inside” was my 2020 donation. The idea of this one is a lot like the bird-and-window work from 2019. There is a character on the outside, and things hidden within the windows. Because the picture plane has more things going on (a character, a shadow, a sidewalk and two windows) I used very strong contrasts to keep it from being overwhelming. This divided the picture space into distinct parts. I worked to find just the right shape for the little girl. I think – even as a simple silhouette – she is expressive.

“Welcome Home” was my 2021 donation.  I think I did some things right: The shadows on the building wall work well. The leaves on the left establish a strong foreground and depth. The diagonal orange in the foreground adds some energy. For me, however, I did not feel like it captured the emotion I had hoped for. This is based on a photo of a house I have visited many times belonging to a friend in Maine. It has very strong emotional connotations for me. But the piece I created did not match the emotion I attach to that place.  For the work to reflect my memories, I’d need more space and the ability to develop more distance and add some softer shadows.

“Completing the Circle” is my donation for this current auction. I especially like this photo of ripples in water. (I have incorporated it into several of my larger works.) I was pleased with the way the photo blends into the non-photo portions of the composition. And I was also pleased with the sense of depth and layers – not so much of physical space, but the suggestion of time/space and a story.

If this blog post has whet your appetite to do some shopping, please visit saqa.com/auction. Section 1 quilts were auctioned last week. Section 2 quilts will be available starting tomorrow, September 19. Purchases on day 1 are for $750, and the price per quilt goes down each day. (So the shopping is a fun adventure. Do you splurge on day 1 to get the one you want most, or hold out hoping it’s not snatched up and available for a bargain day 2 or 3?)

My quilt “Completing the Circle” is in group two. I will enjoy watching to see if it finds a buyer. I’d be honored to have this work make a good contribution to SAQA.

Find the auction here https://www.saqa.com/auction

Finally, an update on the piece I wrote about last week.

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

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