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At the opening of my family’s art show Animal, Vegetable, Spiritual: A Family View, I was asked if I had any formal art training. I haven’t. But I have a photographer for a father and a ceramicist for a mother, and I don’t know how many art museums I was dragged through as a kid. My sister has been drawing since the day she first picked up a crayon, went on to attend art school, and has become a glass and fiber artist as an adult. I got interested in quilting in 1996, joined the Tompkins County Quilters Guild, and became friends with many brilliant fiber artists. So the answer is: No, I haven’t had any formal training, but I’ve had plenty exposure to both art and artists. My art has been learned through osmosis.
Two years ago, we were discussing the fact that every member of our family is an artist and wondering how unusual that might be. The idea of having a show as a family came up and we all agreed it would be fun to do. In fact, it turned out to be a lot of work, but it all came together nicely in the end. Last weekend, I went to Maryland to attend the opening reception, which I am happy to say was packed with enthusiastic viewers.
The artists at the reception: Don, Cleo, Jane, and Kit Dunsmore (Photo by Russ Poole)
Here are some pictures of the gallery and the artists with their work to give you a flavor of the show.
My father, Don Dunsmore, with his photo "quilt" Morning Glories
My mother, Jane Dunsmore, with her piece Free Ride II
My sister, Cleo Dunsmore, with her necklace Sea Turtle
And me, Kit Dunsmore, with my Quilt for An Inner Child
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Family View is on display until November 29, 2009 at The Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center in Frederick, Maryland.
When I saw that the theme for Inspire Me Thursday was cupcakes, I was disappointed. I’ve seen candy-colored cupcakes popping up everywhere lately and much as I’d like to love them, I can’t. As someone who used to adore dessert but can no longer eat sugar of any kind, I avoid images of sweet foods, no matter how cute. They no longer have any positive connotations for me. I wasn’t going to do anything for IMT this week, then I decided I really needed to. So here is my take on cupcakes. It won’t be popular and it may offend someone but I gotta be me.
And I admit it: I love the way this turned out.
Inspire Me Thursday did just that this week. The theme is “Positivity” and having it in my head as I looked around the last few days has helped me to see lots of positive changes in my life. So I decided to make a page in my journal in honor of the things I have done/am learning to do. Thanks, IMT.
For the first time ever, Inspire Me Thursday’s theme (owl) sparked an immediate image. I saw owl eyes made out of sunflowers, and I was off. Made of fabric, ribbon, felt, and thread. I had fun with the machine embroidery.
The makeover is taking a while because I keep spending the majority of my time working on projects I’ve uncovered. I finished a needle work project over the weekend and have launched into work on a piece that I’ve been dying to make for almost five years.
I continue to roll fabrics when I can (soothing, mindless, color therapy), and I’ve collected a number of baskets, boxes, and tins, all ready to store things when I decide I need to organize something that isn’t currently organized.
Shelves with more rolled fabric
But mostly, I’ve been messing things back up. My current passion is “The Gift of Sensitivity” which is going to be soft sculpture/mixed media illustration for The Princess and The Pea. Currently, I’m making mattresses. I still have to decide how many total I’ll be doing. I originally intended on making the traditional 40, but I’m not sure I’m going to do that now. I have twelve mattresses so far, some finished, some still being embellished to make them look more mattressy, but that doesn’t seem like enough. I suppose if I’m going to really make a lot more, I’ll need to buy more foam (which is my currently filler of choice). The big breakthrough was finding a simpler way to put the mattresses together. They’re small enough that simple construction is key.
Mattresses for The Gift of Sensitivity
