Story Quilts

Visit My Web Site

2012-01-07T16:42:00.000-08:00

I have a new web site: www.nancyluenn.com. Visit my web site to see news, examples of my artwork, information about my books and biographical notes.

Deep Spaces Exhibit

2011-08-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

I will have an art quilt, Buckskin Gulch, in the Deep Spaces textile and mixed media exhibit, curated by Larkin Jean Van Horn.

The first phase of this exhibit opens at the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center in Tillamook, Oregon. 28 textile artworks and 8 three-dimensional pieces will be shown at this venue from Sept. 5 to Nov. 6.

Opening reception at the Latimer: Sunday, Sept. 11, 12:00 - 4:00 pm. My quilt will be on display and I plan to attend. If you live in the area, it would be great to see you at the opening.

22 textile art pieces will be shown at the Edmonds Conference Center from Oct. 20 to Nov. 30. ArtsCrush opening: Oct. 20, 5:00 - 8:00 pm. Art Walk opening: Nov. 17, 5:00 - 8:00 pm.

Due to the limits of space at these venues, Buckskin Gulch will be exhibited at the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center in Oregon, but not at the Edmonds Conference Center.

In 2012, the exhibit travels to Sam Houston University Museum in Huntsville, Texas. 50 textile art pieces will be on display from Jan. 10 - March 12. Opening reception: Jan. 19, 5:30 - 7:30 pm.

In March 2012, the Deep Spaces exhibit returns to Washington state. 50 textile artworks will be on display at the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum from March 28 - June 24. My art quilt will be included. Opening reception: March 31, 2:00 - 4:00 pm. I'll post more information closer to the opening.

Blue Horse Gallery show in Bellingham

2011-05-04T19:46:00.001-07:00

I will have an art quilt in a group show at the Blue Horse Gallery in Bellingham May 5 - 28. The artists' reception is Thursday, May 5 from 6:00 - 9:00 pm. The show opens on Friday, May 6. This is the day of the First Friday Art Walk in Bellingham.

Blue Horse Gallery is located at 301 W Holly St, Suite 101 in Bellingham, WA. Telephone number: 360-671-2305.

Sanctuary

2011-02-07T15:35:00.000-08:00

This quilt is a visual image of the concept of one's home as a refuge. The wall provides a separation between the world outside and one's personal sanctuary. The garden inside the wall is full of trees, flowers and the everyday lives of birds.

17" high x 21 1/2" wide
Completed 2010
Available

Art show at Open Door Gallery: July 9 - 11

2010-06-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

I will have art quilts in a group exhibit and sale of art by the Whidbey Island Surface Design Association, Friday, July 9 – Sunday, July 11 at the Open Door Gallery at Bayview Corner.

There will be work by 16 surface design artists: hand-dyed scarves, wearable art, art quilts, mixed media pieces and more. You can see examples of our artwork on our blog: http://whidbeyislandsda.wordpress.com. I will have a new quilt on display along with quilts that were shown at Penn Cove Pottery and La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum earlier this year.

Artists’ reception: Friday, July 9 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm.

I will be working at the show all day Saturday, July 10 from 10:00 – 6:00 pm. If you can come to the exhibit that day, it would be great to see you.

– Nancy Luenn

Show at La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum

2010-01-01T13:14:00.000-08:00

I will have three art quilts in a group show at La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum in La Conner. Museum hours are Wednesday – Sunday from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. For more information: http://www.laconnerquilts.com or 360-466-4288.

The show opens on January 13 and runs through March 28, 2010. The artists' reception is Saturday, January 16 from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. There will be beautiful fiber art pieces on display, created by members of Whidbey Island Surface Design Association. I hope you can come and see the show!

Blue Kittens

2010-01-01T11:34:00.000-08:00

The subtitle for this quilt could be "Franz Marc meets Georgia O'Keeffe." It was inspired by the "Large Blue Horses" painted by Franz Marc and by the landscapes of the American Southwest that appear in many of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings.

The scene that three of the kittens are watching is a rock formation called "The Wave" located in the Coyote Buttes Wilderness Area on the Arizona-Utah border. Since I first saw a photo of "The Wave" last summer, I've seen it on book jackets, in ads and in a photographer's booth at the Coupeville Arts Festival.

Size: 16" high x 20" wide

Completed: 2009

Group Show at Penn Cove Pottery

2009-11-22T17:30:00.000-08:00

I will have an art quilt (Isfahan) in a group show of the Whidbey Island Surface Design Association at Penn Cove Pottery near Coupeville. The show opens on December 4 and runs through January 27. There will be an artists' reception on Saturday, December 5 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. There will be beautiful fiber art pieces on display. I hope you can come and see the show!

Wings

2009-08-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

Wings is a fabric painting rather than a quilt. After stitching layers of fabric to a foundation by hand and machine, and adding details with markers, color pencils and acrylic paints, I mounted the finished painting on stretcher boards.

Larkin Van Horn, teacher of the "Stretching Exercises" class series I have been immersed in for the last three years, had asked us to think about "things that fly". Her title for the assignment was "If I Had Wings."

I should explain that Larkin's stretching exercises have to do with stretching one's imagination. Her assignments are inspiring and I recommend her "Stretching Exercises" class. She currently teaches this 6-month series in Seattle, Bellingham and on Whidbey Island. For more information about Larkin's artwork and classes, visit her web site: http://www.larkinart.com/

Back to the story of this quilt. One memory that quickly came to mind was Peter, Paul and Mary's song: "If I Had Wings." Another was the image of The Fool from the Rider Tarot deck. The tarot card shows a young man on a journey. He is walking blithely toward the edge of a cliff while a small white dog cavorts at his heels. The third and strongest influence was a painting by Maxfield Parrish of a young woman standing on a precipice. The title of that piece is "Ecstasy."

These three influences combined to form the image of a winged woman who is ready to take flight. This example of various sources coming together to create something new is a good example of my creative process.

Quilt size: 17" high x 14" wide
Completed: July 2009
Available

Isfahan

2009-08-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

This quilt was inspired by the architecture of the Islamic Renaissance. In the centuries following 476 A.D. when Europe had fallen into the Dark Ages, countries in the Middle East, North Africa and central Asia were centers of culture, learning and religious tolerance.

Our current knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, medicine and other sciences owes much to the Islamic rulers who encouraged study in these areas. They also commissioned architectural wonders: mosques, palaces and mausoleums such as the Taj Mahal.

The motifs for this quilt are drawn from the mosaics that decorate the great mosque in Isfahan (now in Iran) and the courtyards of the Alhambra in Spain.

Quilt size: 17" high x 14" high

Completed: 2009
Available

Sacred Space

2009-07-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

When I first encountered beech trees in England, their magnificent silver grey trunks reminded me of the stone columns in Gothic cathedrals. For much of my life, whenever I felt a need for spiritual renewal, I have found it in forests, mountains, deserts, on rivers and beside the ocean.

This quilt expresses my experience of sacred space in the natural world. The archway opens into infinite light. Quakers call this "the inner light". I visualize it as an ocean of creative energy.

Quilt size: 17" high x 24 1/2" wide
Completed: 2008
Available

Magpies Ascending

2009-07-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

34 " high x 31" wide

This quilt began with a watercolor painting of a magpie in flight that I made years ago. The quilt began to take shape while I was living in Yakima. Magpies are common in central Washington. I delighted in watching their bold behavior and the iridescent gleam of their feathers.

In Europe, magpies are birds of folklore: "One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a wedding and four for a boy." As a teenager I listened to Donovan's song: "The magpie is a most illustrious bird..."

This quilt was eventually completed in 2007. It reminds me of the progression from darkness to dawn.

Snow for Christmas

2008-12-27T20:28:00.000-08:00

For the past week or so, we have had a foot of snow or more on Whidbey Island. The roads have been a mess. One day when the sun came out, I skied to the park for a great view of the harbor. It's rare to have enough snow to ski on without scraping through to the grass.

The photo was taken in my front yard on Christmas Eve.

Two Cranes

2008-12-27T19:53:00.000-08:00

Size: 16 x 18 inches

In Japanese tradition, red-crowned cranes symbolize long life, a happy marriage, good fortune and love. These cranes are loyal partners. The elegant dance of the male and female crane strengthens the life-long bond between them.

Pieta for Planet Earth

2008-10-24T16:52:00.000-07:00

Size: 14" high x 14" wide

This quilt was made for Earth Day 2008. It expresses my grief for the damage humans have done to our planet and my sense that we need to see ourselves in close relationship to the earth: a connection as strong as that between mother and child.

We often speak of our planet as "Mother Earth." I wanted to turn that image around and show Earth as a child needing our care and attention.

Exploring Green Islands

2008-10-24T15:32:00.000-07:00

Size: 27" high x 16" wide

All of the islands depicted in this quilt are in Puget Sound. The north-south orientation and scale are accurate. The geographic placement is my own -- to serve the design of the quilt.

The sailboats are based on a wooden boat built by my cousin Garth. His boat Goldberry is a Ness Yawl designed by Iain Oughtred, a renowned Scottish boat designer. To see Garth's boat, click on: http://www.slaughterhousegallery.com/Ness%20Yawl/NYHome.htm

Tokoyo and the Sea Serpent

2008-10-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

Quilt size: 34" high x 22" wide

This quilt is based on a Japanese legend about a samurai's daughter. Tokoyo goes in search of her father, who has been banished to the Oki Islands.

One night she meets a priest and a young maiden. The maiden is about to be thrown into the sea to appease a sea serpent. This sea serpent, Yofune Nushi, demands an annual sacrifice. If the sacrifice is not made, he destroys the local fishing boats.

Tokoyo offers to take the maiden's place. She swims to the sea serpent's cave and faces him armed with a dagger.

The courageous Tokoyo kills Yofune Nushi. As a reward, her father is pardoned and they return home together.

The complete tale, "A Story of Oki Islands", was collected by Richard Gordon Smith in the early 1900s and included in Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan. The book was first published in 1918 by A & C Black (London) and reissued in 1986 by Bracken Books (London).

Snow in April

2008-04-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

It snowed last night on Whidbey Island. This morning I woke up to find about an inch of snow on the ground. There have been snow showers on and off all morning. The cats have shown no interest in going outside. I went for a walk in the garden with a cup of tea and my camera. It seemed important to record visual evidence of snow in western Washington on April 19. I understand that sets a new record for the latest snowfall in spring.

More photos of garden in snow: http://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltartist/2425062797/

Flickr photostream

2008-04-18T11:48:00.000-07:00

To see additional photos of my quilts and my garden, you can visit my photostream at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltartist/

Pruning in the Snow

2008-04-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

About a week ago I went out to prune deadwood from a Ceanothus bush in my yard. I was dressed for rain as it had been raining off and on. While I was deep in the heart of the bush, it started to snow. "Oh well," I thought, "I may as well keep pruning." After a while the snow stopped and the sun came out. Just another normal spring day in western Washington!

Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemurdillo/421295437/

California is the Garden of Eden

2008-03-22T15:29:00.000-07:00

Just back from visiting family in southern California. It is definitely the garden of Eden (so called by Woody Guthrie) this time of year, especially after a wet winter. There are plants from all over the world, flowers blooming regardless of season, and a wide variety of birds (including flocks of wild parrots). We celebrated the first day of spring at Descanso Gardens: a former private estate turned public garden known for its camellias. In the California native plant section of the garden we saw and heard a California thrasher singing like a mockingbird.

On Wednesday afternoon it was warm enough to sit in the sun in sandals, jeans and a T-shirt.

Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwolf/
The original image has much better resolution than this reproduction.

"Winter on Whidbey" quilt

2008-03-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

Detail from "Winter on Whidbey Island"

The quilt shown in the header is a work-in-progress from a class assignment. For me, winter on Whidbey Island is wind, rain and snow (especially wind) with the glory of surrounding mountains and visiting water birds to compensate for the weather.

The mountains shown are Mt. Baker, the Olympics and Mt. Rainier. The water birds shown are buffleheads, surf scoters and a loon in winter plumage.

Unfinished size: 21" high x 42" wide

First hummingbird

2008-03-10T14:21:00.001-07:00

March 8, 2008: The first rufous hummingbird returned today. Soon he will rule the garden with his tiny, imperious presence. It's time for my "tea in the garden" walks again. It's warm enough now to stroll the path through the shrubbery and contemplate signs of new growth.