PAQA South

I'm exhausted and energized, all at the same time!

Friday was the opening reception for ArtQuilts:transitions and day one of the PAQA South Spring Conference, held at the Durham Arts Council in Durham, NC. The day began with a visit to the Somerhill Gallery which has, among other fine things, an exquisite offering of art glass. From there we went to the Golden Belt art studios, which is part of a green renovation of old textile mill buildings that have been converted into live/work spaces. Way cool...makes me want to move to Durham! These are some of the studio spaces...

After lunch we all headed over to the DAC for the first workshop by Doug Kenyon on copyright law. This has been a hot topic on the QuiltArt list for some time now and in the wider art community as well. In addition to practicing intellectual property law Doug also teaches at NC State University School of Design.

Next was Elizabeth A. Taylor, CPA on record keeping, business management tips, and IRS compliance information for artists. Elizabeth has 30 years of experience in this and presented a lot of good information. Then is was time for the opening of the exhibit!

This was a big weekend in Durham for art...Friday night was Third Friday and Saturday and Sunday were the days for Art Walk, a city wide art event. Attendance at the DAC was tremendous...close to 300 on Friday night alone! Our own Deborah Langsam was interviewed for a TV appearance...

I was honored to have my piece hanging beside Nancy Cook's three pieces from her Seed Play series...they are amazing! It was great to spend time with the artists who were there and also to see in person some pieces that I had seen previously on the web. This is one of the best art quilt exhibits I've seen and these photos are just a snippet of what's there. If you are anywhere within a reasonable, or even unreasonable, travel distance, it will be worth your while to go! Good crowd, press coverage, beautiful gallery space...it was a terrific event. The day finished with dinner at Taverna Nikos....YUM!!

Here are Karen Lee Carter, Lyric Kinard, and Janine LeBlanc strolling through the plaza on the way to dinner. There were lots of people out and about, and even though I felt completely 'touristy' I couldn't help but snap this photo...the Brightleaf Square plaza space was full of great energy...an inviting space to hang out and enjoy the evening! Durham is definitely a city worth spending time in.

Saturday morning started with a casual show and tell time. There is such a diversity of inspiring work in this group! Everything from painterly realistic to interpretive to abstract...and one of the most unusual recycled materials used in a great piece by Ann Flaherty (hop over to her site and ask her about it!)

There were two more presentations, the first by juror Susan Brandeis on 'Tools for Creativity'...I was busy taking notes and sketching out ideas for an upcoming project, as things she said sparked new ideas. The second talk was by Janine LeBlanc on 'Digitizing Imagery' where I realized I have many things that need to be corrected in the way I store and upload my images! A timely lecture too, as my camera flash has died and it is time to start looking for a replacement.

All in all a tremendously fun weekend!

As I neared home I couldn't help but notice this unusual cloud formation...like a giant eye in the sky watching over my safe return. Inspiration for a new quilt? I think so!