Provencal Quilt (Whoops!!! This post is supposed to be in the Musings by Artslice)

Crimson quilt from Quilts of Provence *

A stuffed white wedding quilt from - Quilts of Provence *

Lovely blue quilt from Quilts of Provence *

My Provencal quilt

Detail. (I added the sunflowers as an afterthought... the black squares were like 'black holes', I like the results!)

Here is a quilt I made while living in Portland, OR. going to art school. I needed an outlet to relieve stress (constant critiques -many a bit cruel- can kill a person!!!). Hand sewing and cutting fabric was the answer. Plus, there is always a pleasure in doing something you 'shouldn't be doing' because you have so many other things you have to do. While in art school, I made 4 queen size quilts without a sewing machine or rotary cutter. Good therapy but for the cost of fabric!

This quilt was inspired by a trip to Provence, when we returned these French patterns were wildly popular. I got most of it from a wonderful shop in Lake Oswego, OR - The Pine Needle and some from the Mill End store.

Last summer, my Mom and I made several quilts together and she helped me find a local machine quilter to quilt my unfinished 'art school quilts'. It was so emotional getting those quilts back, seeing them completed.... kind of like a 'full circle moment'. Mushy, huh? :)

**From the book, Quilts of Provence, the Art and Craft of French Quiltmaking by Kathryn Berenson. (1996, Henry Holt)

E.J. Krisor

Detail from Blind, 2001. Oil on Linen, 72 x 72 in.

Philosophy, 1999. Oil on linen, 50 x 53 in.

Detail from Butterfly, 2001. Oil on linen, 78 x 114 in.

Prodigal Father, 1999. Oil on Linn, 72 x 72 in.

Krisor was raised in Denver. He earned a BA from Santa Clara University and moved to Rome in order to reevaluate the direction of his art. After 6 mo. in Italy, he discovered how shockingly new were the paintings by the Old Masters, but also how the significance of their work had been missing from his art education. He returned to the US and studied paintings at the New York Academy of Art, where he studied with Eric Fischl who became a major influence with his narrative use of psychological drama within a painting. Krisor earned his MFA and remained in Manhattan to paint and exhibit. However, once again Krisor felt his art was suffering. In order to hind his own voice he cut all ties with the art world and moved to Ellensburg, WA. to rediscover the methods of the High Baroque period. The results of that concentrated effort are evident in the paintings here. In 2002, E.J. Krisor moved to LA, where he exhibits at the Koplin Gallery. (Paul Brekke, Assistant Curator, Jundt Art Museum, Gonzaga University, Spokane WA.)

The Book Binder

Marie Danforth Page, The Book Binder, 1906. Oil on canvas, 25 x 16 in.

Ms. Page was born in Boston, MA in 1869 - 1940. She primarily painted portraits, children, figures and genre scenes. She attended the Boston Museum School and painted in the 'classical style' working in oil and watercolor. She was quite popular and successful in her time. She painted many portraits of Harvard professors which still reside at the university. Unfortunately, there is not much more information available on Marie Danforth Page, but, I thought the subject matter of this painting very interesting. I'm curious to know more about the machine or device the bookmaker is using in this scene!

Childe Hassam

The Garden in Its Glory, from An Island Garden by Celia Thaxter, Illustrated by Childe Hassam, (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1894), Chromolithograph, private collection.

Title Page, An Island Garden

Front Piece of An Island Garden

The White Kimono, 1915 etching, 7 x 11 in. The Hunington Library, San Marino, California.

An American Impressionist painter, Childe Hassam was born in Boston in 1859. He never graduated high school, instead apprenticed with an engraver. He took drawing classes at MIT and became an illustrator and water colorist. In the summer of 1883 Hassam took a 'painting trip' to Europe to study the masters and do some en plein air painting. In 1886, he went to Paris to study more art, in particular: painting and figure drawing. He eventually settled in New York City in 1889 and painted city life and mostly the upper class. Hassam is most famous for his numerous flag paintings most of them done in the heart of NYC near his gallery. In 1919 he moved to East Hampton and died there in 1935 at the age of 75.

Note: These images appeared in the December 2007 issue of American Art Review Magazine.

Fernand Khnopff

I lock my door upon myself, 1891. Oil on canvas, Bavarian National Art Collections, Neue Pinakothek, Munich.

This painting is based on a line from a poem called, "Who shall deliver me?" by Christina Rossetti. Khnopff's sister was the model for this and most of his paintings. Her name was Marguerite, 'In whom he depicted himself as androgynous.' Look at those eyes, quite haunting!

Here's a small bio:

Fernand Khnopff: 1858-1912. Belgian painter and graphic artist. Having completed his law studies, in 1878, he began a painting course at the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and later became a pupil of Jules Lefebvre in Paris. Khnopff was the principal Belgian representative of Belgian Symbolism. Influenced by the English Pre-Raphaelites and Gustave Moreau, he painted pictures with mystic and allegorical subject matter. His oeuvre includes landscapes, etchings, and book illustrations. (Gabriele Fahr-Becker)

Edgar's Quote

Edgar Degas, The Stock Exchange. 1878-79. Oil on canvas, 39 x 32 in. Musee D'Orsay, Paris.

"Painting is easy when you don't know how, difficult when you do." - Edgar Degas

Pendentive

Interior of the Pazzi Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence. 1433-1461 by Filippo Brunelleschi.

In a domed structure, the four curved triangular segments that provide a transition from the four supporting piers to the drum or to the circular base of the dome. (Hart)