A comprehensive solo exhibition of Denise's quilts will be held at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (California, USA) this coming June 5 – July 14, 2019. The museum is committed to demonstrating that contemporary art quilts and textiles can indeed be innovative fine art, and is widely regarded as being one of the top (permanent) exhibition venues in the world. This will also be the first time for Denise to exhibit, as a featured artist showing a large retrospective body of her work, where she grew up, and where most of her family – and many old childhood friends – still live. The Opening Reception will be Sunday, June 9, 3:00 to 5:00 pm.
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While exhibiting at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (see above), Denise will also teach – sponsored by the San Francisco Quilting Guild – a one-day Construction Techniques workshop in nearby San Francisco on Saturday, June 8, 2019. She will then – this time sponsored by East Bay Heritage Quilters – travel across the Bay two weeks later to Berkeley to both teach a two-day Fabric Painting workshop on Saturday, June 22 (Day 1) and Monday, June 24 (Day 2), 2019, and to lecture on her art, and her approach to quilting, on Monday evening, June 24, 2019.
Several months later (and again in northern California), she is (tentatively) scheduled to teach her five-day Art Quilt Design Intensive workshop October 16 – 20, 2019 at the Mendocino Art Center, located in a lovely art community (of the same name) nestled along the coast north of San Francisco. She will also teach the workshop – this time on the East Coast – at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshop (NY, USA) August 25 – 31, 2019. Mark your calendar and join Denise at either of these very highly respected, premier US art and quilting retreats.
Further out (2020), Denise will teach five-day workshops at both the annual Quilting by the Lake conference (NY, USA), July 2020 and the annual Grand Forks Quilt Connection fiber art retreat in Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada (September 2020).
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The Walnut Gallery, a fine arts gallery currently relocating to Denver, Colorado's (USA) vibrant new “RiNo” art district – an older neighborhood with a fast growing number of contemporary art galleries, concert venues, restaurants and food halls in revamped industrial buildings – will soon be exhibiting and selling Denise’s art quilts. Few contemporary art galleries, particularly those with a fine art orientation, include fiber art in their offerings, and Denise is delighted to be among the few exceptions. After years of a very successful relationship with the similar Shaw-Cramer Gallery on Martha’s Vineyard, Denise is delighted to again be soon represented by such a top notch organization.
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Denise’s Sunset on Inishmore was recently (October, 2018) juried into the Fourth Annual Excellence in Fibers, a print and online gallery published in the winter edition of Fiber Art Now magazine. The selection and jurying criteria very much focused on "fiber art as fine art". Each juried artist – there were over 700 entries – could only have one piece of work selected. The 2018 catalog will be presented to the curators and directors of 300+ textile-welcoming museums and galleries.
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A feature article on Denise's stone stairwells – Bonamargy Friary, Friary Steps, and Up or Down – will be published in the upcoming Summer, 2019 Issue of Art Quilting Studio Magazine (available June 1st).
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Denise will be a featured exhibiting artist at the 2020 International Biennale of Textile Art (formerly the Quilt Expo in Beaujolais), to be held April 15 to 18, 2020, in Villefranche-sur-Saône, France (near Lyon). This is an exceptional – and quickly growing – international exhibition with more than 1500 works on display from artists from 20+ countries.
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"Bonamargy Friary" (completed September, 2018)
42" wide x 61" high (107 x 155 cm)
Original inspirational ("in-real-life") photo courtesy of goHOWIE.com
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Denise recently returned from again attending the annual Carrefour Européen du Patchwork Exhibition, September 13 through the 16th, 2018, in the Alsace, France. She was a featured (solo) artist in 2016, and in 2017 she taught the week-long Séminar Post Carrefour masterclass workshop (see write-up below). This time she happily rejoined her 2017 students in a combined student-teacher exhibition. This wonderful group continued to stay in touch with one another after the workshop (they created their own Facebook page), continued to work on their individual projects, and coordinated with Carrefour management to set up a dedicated gallery to exhibit their completed workshop-initiated quilts. Fifteen of the workshop’s nineteen participants (all very accomplished, and several independently recognized in their own right) participated! Denise also exhibited three of her own (new) quilts as well – Annaghmore Court Tomb, Cathedral Arch at Glendalough, and a just-completed ascending stone staircase (Bonamargy Friary – see below). The exhibit and gallery was staged in the main village of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines in the Church of La Madeleine. Very exciting! Getting back together and celebrating everyone's hard work (and beautiful quilts) was a delight.
After the week in the Alsace, Denise spent another week in Brittany (with Chantal Guillermet, one of her 2017 students, and a talented quilting instructor and exhibitor, who ably served as her host, driver, friend, guide, and travel companion) – activities included visiting multiple medieval villages, communing with the standing stones at Carnac, and exploring the many calorie-laden variants of Brittany's Kouign-amanns. She then finished up with a three-day visit to Paris, staying on the fabulous Île Saint-Louis, and visited – among many other places – both the Musée d'Orsay and Gustav Klimt's Atelier des Lumières ("Studio of Lights"). She kept a travel and photo blog of the entire trip; to read, click on the "BLOG" image below:
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In June, 2018, Denise returned from a five week quilt exhibition and teaching trip to Europe where she was was a featured (solo) artist at three national events: the 2018 International Quilt Festival of Luxembourg, the 2018 Patchwork Gilde Deutschland Annual Meeting (Germany), and the 2018 Quiltfestival Noord Groningen (The Netherlands). She also taught her four-day Art Quilt Design Intensive workshop (in Luxembourg), and two two-day Fabric Painting workshops (in Amsterdam and Celle, Germany). A wonderful trip – great venues; warm, welcoming, and caring hosts and event organizers; talented fellow quilters; and enthusiastic, appreciative, and knowledgeable crowds. Denise published a daily blog (with lots of photos and quilt commentary), which can be seen by clicking on the "BLOG" image below:
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"Annaghmare Court Tomb" (completed May, 2018)
45" wide x 42" high (114 x 107 cm)
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Denise will be giving a number of "local" (Colorado) lectures and one and two-day instructional workshops (Fabric Painting and/or Construction Techniques) throughout 2018 and 2019. Venues include: Palmer Divide Quiltmakers (Colorado Springs, Colorado); Front Range Contemporary Quilters (Westminster, Colorado); Quaking Aspen Quilt Guild (Boulder, Colorado); Handweavers Guild of Boulder (Boulder, Colorado); Estes Valley Quilt Guild (Estes Park, Colorado); and Rocky Mountain Creative Quilters (Ft. Collins, Colorado). See Workshop and Lecture Schedule for details. Denise will also be the featured artist this coming October 13, 2019, celebrating "Sunday at the Museum" at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum (Golden, Colorado). She will both lecture and show a number of her quilts.
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This recent quilt was a present to Denise's son Essie and daughter-in-law Leslie, who were married in Scotland (in a magical old medieval castle – think Harry Potter) and who then honeymooned up North in the Orkney Islands – where both the Stones of Stenness, and the Aurora Borealis, are to be found.
"Aurora Over the Stones of Stenness" (completed December, 2017)
40" wide x 33" high (102 x 84 cm)
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In September, 2017 Denise travelled to France to teach the annual Carrefour Européen du Patchwork (European Patchwork Meeting) Séminar Post Carrefour (Post-Exhibition Workshop), a four-day workshop that highlighted the fabric painting and construction techniques so central to her quilting – especially how to achieve the fabric and quilt top textures, depth of field, shadowing, and perspective that characterize her work.
French TV produced a great five minute video of the workshop (beginning at 2:01). It's in French, of course, but somehow that makes it all the better!
Denise was honored to teach this most special once-a-year workshop (prior instructors include Noriko Endo, Katie Pasquini Masopust, Sue Benner, Libby Lehman, Nancy Crow, and Ann Johnston). A wonderful work room, located in a small Alsacian town without significant distractions (other than good food). Lots of light, huge windows, and more than enough room to continue painting (the main focus of Days One and Two) even after bringing out the sewing machines (for Days Three and Four). Participants came from seven different countries, and really bonded; everyone was both sharing and caring, with many – including Denise – often working (very) late into the night – just for the fun of it! Their work was remarkable.
As always, the workshop was not about stones per se, or even landscapes, but instead about "best practices" relative to improving quilt dimensionality, texture and color, craftsmanship, and design integrity, regardless of quilt theme or focus.
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After the Séminar Post Carrefour (September, 2017), Denise attended Turin's (Torino, Italy) "Manualmente" Exhibition (Lingotto Fiere), co-sponsored by Quilt Italia, where – as a featured artist – a comprehensive collection of her quilts was on exhibit. She also taught a one-day Construction Techniques workshop which was great fun, and very well attended – outside teachers tend to be somewhat of a rarity, and the attendees were amazingly eager to learn and absorb everything possible. Denise can’t wait to return.
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"Friary Steps" (completed August, 2017)
40" wide x 34" high (102 x 86 cm)
From the quilt's purchaser: "I can't get over the level of detail on the quilt. It's magical the way it changes in the light, and when viewed at a distance additional light actually seems to emanate from the quilt itself. Up close it's easy to get caught up in the detail and when you step away the dimensionality just pops! Love it!"
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Earlier in 2017 Denise attended South Korea’s QFIK 2017 ("Quilt Festival in Korea", April 22 – 24, 2017), sponsored by the CQA (Corea Quilting Association), where as a featured artist she not only exhibited but also taught (a one-day Construction Techniques workshop) and lectured. See photos below. Everyone was so wonderful, welcoming, and friendly; certainly the conference folks, but also – as an example – getting lost after wandering around Seoul and having absolute strangers taking her by-the-hand and getting her to the (correct) subway line. And so many beautiful, small, very thoughtful, hand-made presents and gifts given to Denise by many of the attendees.
The quality of the art was absolutely top notch. It is a well-established, medium sized show – thus very approachable – and all of the selected work (primarily from Korean quilters) was of the highest quality. The CQA was a great and caring host, and ran a very well managed show. Quilting is alive and thriving in South Korea! Thank-you to all involved.
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Flying back from Seoul, before going home (to Colorado) Denise took a detour to Lincoln, Nebraska to attend the 2017 SAQA Annual Conference. Here she is (very jet-lagged) presenting an overview about her approach to quilting and her body of work at the conference’s banquet.
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"Cathedral Arch at Glendalough" (completed April, 2017)
38" wide x 50" high (97 x 127 cm)
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In both 2017 and 2016 Denise was the subject of multiple feature magazine articles. In 2017, Denise and her art were profiled in Quilt Italia (Association Nazionale di Patchwork), the Italian National Quilt Guild's quarterly magazine, and in Art Quilt Collector (Issue #6), a quarterly SAQA publication (she was a previous SAQA Featured Artist back in May, 2012). In 2016, feature articles were similarly published in four major international quilting and fiber art publications – Burda Patchwork and Quilting Magazine (France and Germany), Magic Patch Magazine (France), Art Quilting Studio Magazine (USA), plus the Corea Quilt Associates (CQA, South Korea) semi-annual national newsletter.
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By the way, for a fun and "historical" (2007) perspective of Denise and her work, take a look at The Quilt Show.com on-line video, #106 (subscription required); Denise was one of the very first The Quilt Show guest artists profiled in this now decade-long video series.
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Late in 2016 Denise was a featured artist and instructor at the 2nd Annual 2016 China International Patchwork Invitational Tournament and Patchwork Arts Show, held in Beijing. This is a major new Asian exhibition highlighting both domestic (Chinese) and a select number of international quilt artists. The Chinese love patchwork and quilting (they showed some amazing and innovative quilts, plus some truly astonishing stitch work), and intend to make this show into a major international showcase – they are eager to share their country's fantastic breadth of quilting (the show highlighted work from many of its indigenous regions and peoples), very much want to learn about new techniques and approaches (particularly the innovative use and application of color), wish to meet and interact with other quilters and, in general, want to become mainstream and active members of the growing international quilting and fiber arts family.
In addition to exhibiting and teaching (working with in-country students was one of the highlights of the trip), Denise also joined other invited international attendees – from Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Portugal, and the USA – in jurying the exhibition's multiple quilt competitions.
Befitting its pending importance as a key quilting venue, the exhibition was held at Beijing's International Design Center. Show management were the most cordial and welcoming of hosts, bending over backwards to make the trip truly memorable (as did their wonderful interpreters). Denise was honored to be an early invitee and participant.
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Denise's participation as a featured artist – with ten quilts – at the 22nd European Patchwork Meeting and Exposition (Le Carrefour European du Patchwork), September 14–18, 2016, in Sainte Marie Aux Mines, France, was a fantastic experience and success. This most prestigious of all continental European quilt exhibitions hosts 20,000+ worldwide visitors each year, completely "taking over" three adjacent villages within the Alsace's lovely Val d'Argent. It was both wonderful and overwhelming for Denise to be an invited exhibitor at this most remarkable of fiber art events; the significant positive feedback from the many visitors purposefully seeking out her exhibit was also rather stunning.
