Hudson Artists virtual gallery

Floral #1, Michele Meredith, mixed media, 12" x 9"

Thanks to the inspired and diligent work of certain executive members, my local artists' group has launched a new initiative.

Colors on Winooski, John Vazalinskas, oil on canvas, 15" x 30"

The AHA (Artistes Hudson Artists) has opened a virtual showcase of members' work. It can be accessed here.

Just a Little Circle, Jane Wright, fused glass, 11" x 11"

This year's annual spring show was cancelled, and our monthly meetings have been discontinued, but seeing the recent work of members in our on-line gallery offers some consolation.

So pleased...

Two of my Cityscapes were chosen in SAQA's
recent promotional campaign.
This is a full page ad in the most recent issue of SAQA Journal.

... to have my work featured in the latest fund-raising campaign by SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates).

SAQA has given me many opportunities since I joined them some ten years ago. Right now one of my works is being shown at the Grants Pass Museum of Art in Oregon, having been accepted into an international show, Tranquility, staged by SAQA. It has already traveled to five major Australian cities, and three American venues.

Just a day or two ago I received this envelope in the mail:

accompanied by this letter:

The graphic designer responsible for the campaign has done a fine job of using my compositions to enhance SAQA's communications, don't you think? And I appreciated the tagging of each image with my name and the title of the work (in very small print.) 

As well, 

Thank you to Joanna Olson, the talented graphic designer of
this promotional poster.

... another of my works has been the inspiration for a different promotional campaign. The local "Museum of Living History", Greenwood, is focusing on their textile collection this summer, and chose one of my pieces as their promotional image. Originally made as a 40 x 30 textile work to be used for a Town of Hudson banner project, Greenwood: Layers in Time is now on display year-round at the museum. 

I just may have to have more greeting cards printed up, featuring some of my Cityscape images....

Art for Sale, March 30

And now for an item of strictly local interest.

In my little town of Hudson, Quebec (pop. 5000, little changed for the last 40 years) we have many valuable assets. We are situated on a lake, and our connections to nature include an extensive network of walking trails and parks, a bird sanctuary, a yacht club and three golf courses. There's a lively cultural scene, including multiple artist and craft groups, music and gardening clubs, choirs, two history museums, a literary festival, a summertime flea market, an art gallery or two, and even a theatre.

Much of this activity is sustained by our biggest asset, a vibrant volunteer base. The library, Meals on Wheels, a palliative care centre and so many more initiatives are dependent on volunteers.

But one of the real gems of our little town is the Bunker. Located in the basement of the library, its staff accepts donations of clothing, furniture, kitchenware and bric-à-brac, selling it all at bargain prices and then using the revenue to fund not only the library but many other worthy causes. As the Bunker is only open on Saturday mornings, it has become a community "thing" to pop down and see what treasures await the discerning eye.

On March 30, the Bunker is staging a rare and special event.

Profiled! in Art Quilting Studio magazine

Getting my name on the cover of a magazine? Pretty special! I am thrilled to have been profiled in the American magazine, Art Quilting Studio, Winter 2017 edition. The eight-page spread includes 8 photos of my work, and the quality of the reproduction is spot-on.

The article itself is beautifully written by Ricë Freeman-Zachery. I have scanned the article, below, so you can see for yourself what all the fuss is about. Just keep scrolling down until you come to the enlarged text.

In Print! x 3

Just delighted to have my work featured in three magazines this season.

An art quilt that I made specifically for SAQA's "Tranquility" call for entry was accepted to the show and also chosen as part of a two-page spread in the SAQA Journal, Volume 26 No. 3. I was pleased to be accepted as it was the first time I had entered an all-member SAQA show. I participated in a regional show a few years ago, "Synthesis 2".

Page 2 of 2-page spread on "Tranquility" show, SAQA Journal, Vol. 26 No. 3

SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) is an American-based international group that promotes the medium and supports artists who work with fibre. Among their many initiatives, they regularly organize thematic exhibitions that travel worldwide to be shown in museums and at quilt shows. "Tranquility" will open at the upcoming International Quilt Festival in Houston, the IQF in Chicago (April 2017) and will likely be shown at other venues over the next couple of years.

The current October/November issue of Quilting Arts magazine also features an 8-page sampling from the "Tranquility" show, devoting a full page to my "Come Sit with Me, Patrick Caulfield". My artist statement reads,

"Patrick Caulfield (1936 - 2005) was a British artist known for his paintings of interiors, with their strong black lines and flat colours. This is my invitation to him, to join me in my cozy reading corner and have a cup of tea."

Page 4 of an 8-page spread in Quilting Arts magazine (Oct-Nov 2016) is given over to my work!

Even more exciting is the upcoming edition of Stampington's Art Quilting Studio, which will showcase ten of my cityscapes and include a beautifully-written article by Ricë Freeman-Zachary, based on her interview with me in August. I will post more details as they become available.

SAQA's Art Quilt Collector

I was thrilled to be chosen as an Artist to Watch for the new journal, "Art Quilt Collector", published by SAQA.  Issue 2, just released, includes a four-page spread on my work, and similar coverage of two artists whose work I very much enjoy: Natalya Aikens and K. Velis Turan.

The issue focuses on urban landscape, and includes an article on documenting your collection, another on storage, and an in-depth look at the recent work of Michael James, as well as other features. For information about subscribing to "Art Quilt Collector", please click here.

With SAQA's permission, I have included my profile below:

400 posts!

Please celebrate with me this 400th post to my blog, which I started in March 2012. Since the beginning, I have tried to post regularly, twice a week, mostly covering art exhibitions at home and away, and my own work in cloth and other media.

Views to this blog are closing in on the 100,000 mark, and it's satisfying to think that both friends and strangers find something of worth here.

What is the value for me? I hesitated to get into this "blogging thing", because I thought it would take time away from my own production. Instead, I have found that by being disciplined about posting, I have sustained my engagement with art, not only my own but also with the work of others. My blogging has become a form of journal-keeping for me.

And please remember, comments are always welcome!

Thank you, Kris Sazaki!

In the recent SAQA Journal, Summer 2015 issue, President Kris Sazaki gave me some wonderful coverage in her "Thoughts from the President" column. I found her insights to be thoughtful and perceptive and, with her permission, I have reprinted the text here:

"Last year, I wrote about why I donate to the SAQA Benefit Auction. This year, I want to tell you how important the auction is for promoting our artists to the public. This event is how I become acquainted with many of our members’ work, and there is so much interesting work being produced today. Just one example of what I am talking about is artist Heather Dubreuil, whose work can be seen at www.heatherdubreuil.com. 

During the 2014 SAQA Benefit Auction, I was scrolling through the images of the artwork for sale. I recognized many artists and their stellar work, but at some point my eyes happened upon the piece donated by Heather. I was not familiar with her work, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the cityscape: the color, the line, the haunting quality of the empty yet somehow populated scene. I kept coming back to this piece. 

Connectivity: Port Clyde

Cut to the de Young Museum in San Francisco, California. In its permanent collection there is an oil painting by Charles Demuth called From the Garden of the Château (1921-1925). Every time I go to the museum, I try to take a few minutes to visit “my” Demuth. I love this painting so much that I keep a framed postcard of it in my office. The line, the color, the haunting quality of the empty scene. It didn’t take me long to realize that what drew me to Dubreuil were the same qualities that drew me to Demuth. 

Charles Demuth, American, 1883–1935
From the Garden of the Château 1921 (reworked 1925)
Oil on canvas, 25 x 20 inches
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
museum purchase, Roscoe and Margaret Oakes Income Fund, Ednah Root,
and the Walter H. and Phyllis J. Shorenstein Foundation Fund, 1990.4 

Demuth’s From the Garden of the Château is a prime example of his Precisionist paintings. Focusing on industrialization and modernization of the American landscape, Demuth and his fellow Precisionist artists often worked with rectilinear forms, the visual element I find so intriguing in Dubreuil’s work. (For more on Demuth, see Barbara Haskell’s Charles Demuth, Whitney Museum of Art, 1987.) 

While I draw a line historically from Demuth to Dubreuil, her work touches me in a different way than Demuth’s does. Trying to suss out why, I keep coming back to her art medium. I’ve now seen a couple of Dubreuil’s works in person, so I know how the lines are composed of machine stitching while the colors are created with her own hand-dyed cotton. Dubreuil says, “I see my work in cloth and stitch as a contemporary expression of the culture of women’s needlework.” 

Perhaps it’s this culture of women’s needlework that populates Dubreuil’s work so evocatively. Demuth’s cityscapes remain impersonal in a way, capturing what was in his time a new industrial reality. Dubreuil, on the other hand, infuses her cityscapes with line and textured color that deliberately slow down the pace, luring you into the individual stories that sit just behind the facades. The stitching lines in Connectivity: Port Clyde suggest stories pulsating through the telephone wires, while the strong color blocks individualize each building. 

I know our donating artists will gain more recognition as the Benefit Auction gets a broader audience. I hope you’ll help me spread the word about the SAQA Benefit Auction Sept. 18–Oct. 10 through your social media connections. I’ll 'see' you then!"

Textile and Fiber Art List

In January I often sit down to review my commitments for the coming year, and make a big To Do list. Do I want to submit a piece to a particular call for entry? Will joining this group help with the marketing of my work? Should I apply to that facility for a solo show?

As busy as I was with various shows in 2014, there were still a few items on last year's To Do list that never Got Done. Some of them will be carried over to this year's list.

And 2015 has begun with a Bang for me: I have joined TAFA, the Textile and Fibre Art List, a juried group of over 500 members, representing 44 countries. This site promotes all kinds of fibre-related businesses, and offers support to members in the marketing of their work.  A blog is offered to the membership to share information about shows, workshops, and opportunities. TAFA may be just what I need to finally push me into using Facebook! To see my TAFA profile, please click here.

ArtsHudson Journal: Featured Artist

We are so fortunate in our little town of Hudson, Quebec (pop. about 5000) to have a vibrant cultural life, organized largely by enthusiastic volunteers. We have an annual literary festival, an annual music festival, a library, two historical museums, a small theatre with a year-round program, a film club, an opera society, an annual studio tour, two fine art groups, a drama group, a musical group, an annual series of classical concerts.... It goes on and on.

We are also blessed with a quarterly journal, ArtsHudson, now in its third year, that informs us of all the cultural happenings, local and regional. It is available in a print edition and also on line, thanks to the expertise of editor Bert Markgraf, a keen observer of the local scene.

I was honoured to be chosen as the "Featured Artist" for the Summer 2014 edition, which may be viewed at artshudson.org.

Solo show opens mid-June, Arbor Gallery

So excited to announce that my solo show, "Cityscapes: Collages in Cloth and Stitch" will open soon at the Arbor Gallery in Vankleek Hill, ON. For two months, more than two dozen of my urban landscapes will be on display, including some of my most recent work.

For more information, and for a sneak preview of the show, please visit the gallery website at www.arborgallery.org.

And the winner is...

On February 26, I posted an item about the second anniversary celebration for my blog, which is two years old today. I'm happy to have published 221 posts and had more than 40,000 views. I've tracked my own work and observations, as well as art events in Hudson, Montreal and beyond. It's been fun for me and, I hope, useful for others.

I decided to give away a small Cityscape to a reader who commented on the blog, to give me some feedback about what kind of posts they found to be the most interesting.

Congratulations to Maggi from the U.K., who was chosen at random from those who responded. Maggi, I will be in touch to get your mailing address so I can pop Water Tower #5 into the mail.

Thank you to all who took the time to enter, and thank you for your kind words of encouragement.

Xanadu Gallery: on-line help

Recently, I stumbled onto the on-line showcase, Xanadu Gallery, based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Though I don't know anything about them in terms of their on-line sales, I was interested in three aspects of their website.

First, their blog has lots of information about marketing art, aimed at individual artists. Topics discussed include defining your success as an artist, the importance of productivity, and difficulties in finding local representation.

As well, their website features video downloads on helpful topics like shipping your work, creating a powerful portfolio, and making the most of your website. Thirdly, podcasts are available on topics like the benefits of blogging for artists and how to write a slammin' blog post.

Studies have shown that "successful" artists often spend half their working hours, or more, on business-related tasks. The information on this site may help you to optimize that effort. Consider subscribing to updates.

Anniversary give-away

Water Tower #5, 7" x 5"

March 14 marks the second anniversary of my blog! Two years, 216 posts, and almost 40,000 views.

To celebrate, I would like to give away a small art quilt made just for this occasion. Made of hand-dyed and commercial cotton, "Water Tower #5" measures 7" x 5" and illustrates a scene from New York City. The winner will be chosen at random from everyone who comments on this post. Just let me know one of your favourite posts on my blog, and why. You can identify it by date or by topic.

I know some of you run into trouble when trying to post a comment. Apparently this is because you need to enable third-party cookies on your computer. The technicalities are beyond my (tiny) field of competence.

And sometimes the home page scrolls up and hides the bottom of the post you're trying to read. I find that "reloading" solves this problem. Or, you can choose the "Classic" presentation by clicking that option, upper left. The default presentation is "Mosaic" which is sometimes glitchy.

If you would like to enter this contest and find that you are unable to publish a comment to this post, just click here. You will be taken to the contact page of my website, and you can post your comment there instead.

Deadline for entry is midnight, March 13, and the winner of the give-away will be announced on March 14. Fingers crossed!

Profiled!

I feel like I have achieved rock star status in the art quilt world, with a profile on TextileArtist.org.

This British-based site, produced by Sam and Joseph Pitcher, has a serious, international following.

Not only do they feature in-depth profiles of artists working in the full spectrum of textile art, but they also offer very helpful articles on subjects like choosing venues for your work, photographing your work, and selecting attractive templates for your website.

You can check me out at:
http://www.textileartist.org/heather-dubreuil-interview-contemporary-art-quilts/

This is a real career highlight for me. I'm afraid it may be all downhill from here.

Hudson and Region Studio Tour

I am delighted to participate again this year in the Hudson & Region Studio Tour, September 28 - 29.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the tour, a blog is now up and running. The idea is that each of the fourteen artists will post about their current work, their inspiration, their events, their materials, photos of their studios, etc.

During its first week, four of the artists have submitted tantalizing previews of their work. Please consider "following" the blog to keep informed about this special event.

Artist in residence, OVQG

What a great gig! Imagine being paid to talk about your work for a whole day!

Seriously, thank you to the organizers of the  Ottawa Valley Quilt Guild show for inviting me to be artist in residence on Friday, May 10. It was fun meeting new people and reconnecting with friends. I ran out of business cards by 1 p.m.

The downside? I didn't have any time to view the show or even sweep through the vendors. The many happy visitors to the show kept me on task till closing time.

Piste cyclable en oeuvre

Villaggio Toscano, 12" x 24"

Will you be one of the 100,000 visitors to the Soulanges canal bike path this summer? If so, I hope you will keep an eye out for the banners overhead, each celebrating the work of a regional artist or artisan.

I am happy to have been chosen as one of 54 artist-participants in the second edition of the Piste cyclable en oeuvres  project. The piece I have made for the project is shown at right. It's based on one of my photos of Tuscany, and has been translated into hand-dyed and commercial cloth and stitch.

The bike path runs about 27 km between Pointe-des-Cascades and St.-Zotique. Each kilometre will be marked by a lamp post with two six-foot-tall banners, back-to-back. These vinyl banners will have been printed with photos of original works of art by artists of the region. The banners are expected to be on display for the next four years.

The actual works will be shown this summer at Galerie Autour de nous, 4B rue principale, Coteau-du-Lac., beginning with a vernissage on Friday, May 3,  All the pieces will be for sale, and they will all have banner-like proportions, twice as tall as they are wide. The show ends August 28.

A creative way of promoting the work of local artists, this imaginative project adds another dimension to the experience of biking the canal path. Thank you to all the organizers and sponsors.

Getting it out there

Dollard Gallery

If you're an artist who wants to sell your work, I figure there are at least three components to success.

First, you have to produce the work, preferably quality work. This can include doing the groundwork, like reading, taking workshops, sourcing or preparing your materials, but mostly just getting down to it and being productive.

Second, you have to find venues to show your work. This might mean you join an organization because if offers an opportunity to exhibit. It might mean that you donate a piece to a charity fundraiser, to enhance your visibility in the community. It might mean submitting images to a newspaper or magazine. It might mean answering a call for entry or joining a studio tour.

Third, you have to get people out to see your event. This is where posters, newspapers, social media and word of mouth come into play.

Maison de la Culture, Côte-des-Neiges

I have spent this past week marketing my own work and a group show that includes my work.  As well as doing all the things in Step Two above, I have submitted portfolios to a number of galleries, urban, suburban and rural, and what I have learned is that every gallery has different requirements. You might be asked to send in hard copies by mail, or send in images on a CD, or submit low-res images with an e-mail. They might ask for a maximum of ten jpg's or a minimum of twenty. The whole submission process might be done entirely through the organization's website.

L'Entrepôt, Lachine

I would bet most artists would much prefer to be in the studio generating new work rather than grinding through the exercise of finding venues. But I must admit that it has been fun to discover galleries I've never visited before. Questions to ask include "Is there an admission charge for visitors?" "Is there a fee to rent the space, or a commission charged on sales?" "How secure is the work hanging in the gallery?" "What are the hours?" 'Is there adequate parking?" "Will I get the right audience for my work?"

So now I will wait and see if any of these efforts bear fruit. Another twist to this initiative might be to collaborate with one or two other artists whose work would complement mine and propose a group show. I should also probably look into Etsy. I'm just a newbie when it comes to marketing, so if you have any brilliant insights on the subject, I'd love to hear them! But mostly I'd like to be back in my studio....

Published!

I'm excited to have had my website chosen as the featured site for the summer issue of the artshudson journal. This is a new magazine, published quarterly, to promote cultural activities in the Hudson area. To read the journal on-line, please visit http://artshudson.org There you will find news about our theatre, music festival, artists, and other cultural organizations and events.