Ups and downs

Every so often I wake up with a word list in my mind. It happened a month ago at 3 am. It happened last week at midnight and it happened this morning at 5 am. The list is a series of verbs that contrast each other. I have a note pad at the side of my bed so that I can write down my dreams. Sometimes I have enough consciousness to do that. Other times I lay there and try to memorize the thoughts so that I can write them down when I wake up. It never works. My dreaming mind is a white board with an automatic eraser.

Here’s a list from that 3 am wake up call a month ago:

  • shake up/shake down

  • let up/let down

  • write up/write down

  • bring up/bring down

  • lock up/lock down

  • dress up/dress down

  • play up/play down

  • stand up/stand down

  • step up/step down

The thing I notice about this list is how different the meaning of the primary verb is when using the up modifier as opposed to the down modifier. No surprise there. Up is the opposite of down right? But here’s the thing: both can be negative. For example, shake up can imply agitation and anxiety while shake down implies an illegal act. On the other hand using the word up is often positive as in dress up, let up and stand up while using the word down almost always connotes a negative spin. Obviously, I am no linguist. But it intrigues me that my brain is listing these phrases for contemplation.

Why do I dream these things? I think it is a sorting of synapses to process the negative and positive things in life. My work reflects these dichotomies. I will start an “up” stitching and inevitably the “down” sneaks in. Monsters, snakes and cynical grins sit side by side with Seuss-like trees and decorative leaf patterns. Juggling the positive with the negative is part of my exploration as an artist.

What I really wonder about is: Can I do art that is beautiful and uplifting without adding the spice of the down stroke? Do my doubts, worries and anxieties always have to show up?

On another note

I had a great time at Art Quilt Tahoe this month. The setting was spectacular and my students left me awestruck with their work. Thank you Roxanne, Linda, Ileana, Carol, Gay, Nancy, Sandra, Terry, Jacquie, Diane and Marion for making my job so easy. And, thank you Judy, for inviting me.

Let's get together

BlueChallengeSquare.jpg

2019 will be a busy quilting year for me. I love hanging out with people who have the same passion. Here are some things to consider when planning your new year.

Memphis Festival

Plan a trip to Memphis this Summer! I am heading up a quilt festival in Memphis that debuts on May 10. We are bringing in the Masterworks: Abstract and Geometric show in from SAQA. In addition, we have issued a challenge to quilters, makers and artists within a 200 mile radius of Memphis to make up to three quilts. The quilts will be three layers, stitched, 24” x 24” in BLUE. I have children making quilts, woodworkers making quilts, artists making quilts and quilters making quilts. It should be a glorious blue room full of stitching. We are reaching all the guilds, sewing circles and artist groups in the area to focus on BLUE for a little while.

Are you within a 200 mile radius of Memphis? Enter the show! Click here for a link to the submission form. The show will be housed in the beautiful Crosstown Concourse art galleries. The two shows will hang from May 10-July 28, 2019. Visit Memphis. Good food, good music, the mother of all rivers — You won’t be disappointed. And in May the azaleas are in bloom.

Follow the Thread workshops

I am teaching workshops three times next year. Consider joining me and like-minded explorers in a journey of thread and free-motion quilting.

Let loose! We’ll go off the beaten track at these workshops.

Focus on Fiber, April 4-6, in New Smyrna Beach, FL. What could be better than a week in Florida as the sun warms us to new inspirations? The beach, a retreat center, and hours with creative people. Classes are filled on a first come/first served basis and classes are filling quickly So hurry and register now!

Quilting by the Lake, July 15-19, sponsored by the Schweinfurth Art Center in Syracuse, NY. People from all over the world have enjoyed workshops at QBL. I was supposed to be there two years ago but life got in my way. So I am looking forward to this opportunity to work with some serious stitchers. Join us!

Art Quilt Tahoe, November 3-8, at the Zephyr Point Conference Center, Lake Tahoe, California. Need I say more? The mountains, the lake, the workshops, the talent? What are you waiting for?

Fifteen years quilting, Paula Kovarik

I have a book(let)

Really, it’s just a portfolio of quilts I have made in the past 15 years. There was a slippery slope of doubt and introspection I encountered while creating it.

I learned this in the process:

  • I am an eclectic explorer carrying a thread of anxiety and mystery through each piece.

  • Many pieces are explosive, dark and uncomfortable.

  • My stitching can sometimes reveal humor in the midst of query and strain.

You can order a copy here. There is a digital version that will lead you to links in this journal that might explain some of the process or thoughts that created the works (just click on the titles of the quilts that have underlines). Or, you can order a printed version. The booklet is 48 pages long. 48 pages of explorations in thread and cloth.

I recommend the exercise. Reviewing the work I have done over 15 years clarified some of my underlying themes and pointed to some new directions for exploration.