Out & About: Australian Quilts at the EPM

Each year at the European Patchwork Meeting, there are two guest country exhibitors, one from Europe and one from further afield.  This year the two countries were Russia and Australia.  It was the Australian quilts that caught my eye, under the title of ‘Australian Quilts, extraordinary quilts from the great southern land’, particularly due to the variety of quilts on show.  I was very lucky to spend some time chatting to the curator, Brenda Gael Smith, who explained that the variety had been one of her goals as she wanted to showcase the sheer breadth of Australian talent.  There are a lot of talented quilters in Australia as I spent ages examining the pieces.  Looking at my photos though, I didn’t photograph two or three of the ones I liked best.  I can still remember them but unfortunately I can’t share them with you.  However, here are some more of my favourites:

Carolyn Sullivan Roadside Coreopsis

Like artists around the world, nature was an inspiration to a number of artists in this exhibit.  I loved the subtlety of Carolyn Sullivan’s ‘Roadside Coreopsis’ – it is dyed and stitched to give a beautifully textured surface.  

Carolyn Sullivan Roadside Coreopsis (detail)

Susan Mathews Summer: Kangaroo Paws & Billy Buttons

Susan Mathews’ ‘Summer: Kangaroo Paws & Billy Buttons’ was very appealing due to the intensity of the colours used.

Lisa Walton Blue Corridor

I’ve met Lisa Walton a couple of times at SAQA things and I see her posting on facebook lots about her teaching work etc, so it was lovely to finally meet one of her quilts ‘in person’.  I loved that she has used some hexagons.  My hexagon project, which I started three years ago is still progressing, but will probably need another three years to finish.

Judy Hooworth Rainy Day Dora Creek #11

Judy Hooworth’s quilt ‘Rainy Day Dora Creek #11’ was one of the quilts I included in my slideshow of favourites from the EPM which I showed to my C&G students the other weekend.  I think the composition is really strong and I like the contrast between the curving black marks and the nine-patch composition.

Sarah Fielke A Wing and A Prayer

Finally, for something completely different, here is the modern patchwork approach of SarahFielke in ‘A Wing and A Prayer’.  Although her palette is almost diametrically opposite to mine, I found the candy sweet colours surprisingly appealing!