Dinner at Eight Artists book

The exhibition catalog/book is available to purchase on Amazon. The exhibit will be shown at Quilt Market and Festival in Houston. We have had a great ride in the past ten years!

link to Amazon

Artist Profile Series: Jamie Fingal

Jamie Fingal

Orange, CA

1. What is sitting on the edges of your work table? a total mess of Mistyfused fabrics ready to be made into something for Quilt Market. Notes for writing patterns, Mistyfuse, scissors, and a pin cushion from high school.

2. If someone looked beneath the surface, what could be revealed that we might not know about you? Total introvert, fear of speaking to an audience and on the plus side, a kooky grandma.

3. What occupies the space between your sewing machine and your cutting table? The concrete floor with piles of scraps that have been discarded. I sweep up when it gets hazardous.  Artist down in aisle 5. 

4. What is the most exquisite moment in your artistic life? Someone recognizing ‘my style’ before I even knew that I had a style.

5. Do you have daily rituals in your studio? Turn on the lights, look around and ask myself what I am going to create today, thankfulness, get a can of water out of the frig, turn on the music and open my truck door. Glance at the positive affirmation that reminds me who I am. Let's rock and roll.

6. Reflecting on the quilts that you have made, which one stands out to you? My Heavy Metal series stands out as my most favorite, but one piece? The apron as personal armor speaks the most to me!

7. What do you have an affinity for in your work? Bright colors and I feel much joy when working with this palette. But then again, the Heavy Metal palette always pushes me to new heights. The yin and yang of me.

8. What kinds of patterns do you use in your work to create interest and texture? I only use commercial cotton prints, so that is a start, and free motion machine quilting adds the other element.

9. What personal iconography is identifiable to you exclusively in your work?  Houses with cups and saucers on the roofs. Traditional patterns that are fused and have zippers on then. 

10. What was your inspiration for the Best of Dinner at Eight? My nightly ritual of hand sewing felt constructions over the years. Zen Stitching is what I call it.

Artist Profile Series: Leslie Tucker Jenison

Leslie Tucker Jenison

San Antonio TX

http://leslietuckerjenison.com

1. What is sitting on the edges of your work table?  A fairly large pile of scraps.

2. If someone looked beneath the surface, what could be revealed that we might not know about you?  I’m a bit of an introvert who has a good game face.

3. What occupies the space between your sewing machine and your cutting table?  A rolling industrial cart stacked with loads of solids, sorted by value.

4. What is the most exquisite moment in your artistic life?  The journey of creating an object that has successful design elements.

5. Do you have daily rituals in your studio?  Yes:  I walk the garden before I enter, then I thank my mother as I walk down the hall into my studio.

6. Reflecting on the quilts that you have made, which one stands out to you?  Always the one I took some risks with and it worked.

7. What do you have an affinity for in your work?  Improvisational work, either in the process of creating cloth or a quilt.

8. What kinds of patterns do you use in your work to create interest and texture?  I love the shape of an arc, nest, and/or bowl.  They make frequent appearances.

9. What personal iconography is identifiable to you exclusively in your work?  I’m not sure any shape is mine exclusively, but I am drawn to both organic and architectural shapes.

10.  What was your inspiration for the Best of Dinner at Eight?  I loved the “Space Between” theme and wanted to consider another idea for that theme.

Artist Profile Series: Susan Brubaker Knapp

Susan Brubaker Knapp
Mooresville, North Carolina

1. What is sitting on the edges of your work table? A new piece based on the marsh at Bald Head Island, which has been a beloved family vacation spot for about 16 years. It was severely flooded by hurricane Florence, and at the time I’m writing this (11 days after the storm hit), power has not yet been restored, and the water is still 3 feet deep in places. I’m working on it as a form of meditation or prayer that this beautiful place has not suffered too much ecological damage. 

2. If someone looked beneath the surface, what could be revealed that we might not know about you? I’m an introvert. I just disguise myself well. 

3. What occupies the space between your sewing machine and your cutting table? A rug, currently covered with scraps of fabric and thread. When work is in progress in my studio, it’s usually a mess. 

4. What is the most exquisite moment in your artistic life? I was thrilled to find out that my small piece, “The Bluest Eye,” was appearing in Quilting Arts magazine in 2007. It was a moment that made me feel validated as an artist, and like I was on the right path. 

5. Do you have daily rituals in your studio? Tea. Classical music. Turning on the heat lamp for the cat.  

6. Reflecting on the quilts that you have made, which one stands out to you? My favorite piece is “I See the Moon,” which I made for the “Rituals” Dinner at Eight exhibition. I think it has a lot of my soul in it. 

7. What do you have an affinity for in your work? Botanical and zoological subjects. 

8. What kinds of patterns do you use in your work to create interest and texture? I actually don’t think that much about pattern. I am very color-driven. 

9. What personal iconography is identifiable to you exclusively in your work? I’m not sure I have any; the subject of my art quilts vary from piece to piece. 

10. What was your inspiration for the Best of Dinner at Eight? I was inspired to create my piece by the discovery of a spectacular Polyphemus Moth. I’ve always thought that moths were unfairly over-shadowed by their Lepidoptera cousins, butterflies. 

Artist Profile Series: Valerie White

Valerie White

1. What is sitting on the edges of your work table? Several new bottles of Pro-silk and fabric paint. Having them occupy prime real estate on my work table encourages me begin creating with this new paint. 

2. If someone looked beneath the surface, what could be revealed that we might not know about you? I would hope they would see my sense of humor. I love making people laugh.  

3. What occupies the space between your sewing machine and your cutting table? A large Rowenta steam iron.  The placement keeps me moving around the studio, in this way I can get in some exercise. 

4. What is the most exquisite moment in your artistic life? Creating a quilt to welcome the Obama family to Washington DC. The exhibit opened on the eve of the inauguration in 2008. The city was electric with excitement. The exhibit was held at the National Historical Museum in Washington DC. I was so proud and humbled by the experience.  

5. Do you have daily rituals in your studio? Usually I start with setting the mood in my space by opening Pandora Radio to the Miles Davis station, I like starting with the song 'Kind of Blue' it gives me a boost of quiet energy while I gather my supplies to begin working. I may change the station but that's where I always start.

  

6. Reflecting on the quilts that you have made, which one stands out to you? It would have to be “Ohio River Blues Man” A quilt that exhibited in many venues across the United States It was my first serious Art quilt. It was the affirmation I needed to continue working.   

7. What do you have an affinity for in your work? Creating compositions using a variety of surface design techniques is pure magic for me. My goal is to choose the most elegant method to express the work. I am drawn to the serendipitous quality of marbling and flour paste resist.  

8. What kinds of patterns do you use in your work to create interest and texture? My favorite pattern /mark is a simple dot. The dots add interest and texture and act as the co- stars of the composition. The marks are produced individually by hand.  

9. What personal iconography is identifiable to you exclusively in your work? I have always loved Adrinkra symbols, the symbols represent concepts and century oldaphorisms originating from the Akan people, the dominant ethnic group of present-day Ghana and the Ivory Coast located in West Africa. I often use a figure that resembles a turtle which is the symbol of adaptability.

 10. What was your inspiration for the Best of Dinner at Eight?  As I continue to explore and create compositions with root systems the “Best Dinner at Eight exhibit was the perfect opportunity to produce a new work that considers roots that are found in ponds and other bodies of water occupied by fish. The implications for additional work is unlimited.Look for more work with Roots that may shelter a fish or two.

Artist Profile Series: Lyric Kinard

Lyric Kinard
Cary, North Carolina

1. What is sitting on the edges of your work table? A folder of images for thermofax screens. Quilts I haven’t put back away after my last trip. And a nerf gun my son is working on painting and modifying.

2. If someone looked beneath the surface, what could be revealed that we might not know about you?  That I sometimes feel like a fraud as an artist, but I am able to shove that devilish voice aside and carry on.

3. What occupies the space between your sewing machine and your cutting table?  They are on opposite sides of the two rooms of my studio. So - a mannequin, a quilting machine, an ironing station, a wall, a closet full of finished artworks and blank canvases and wire baskets full of fabric and notions.

4. What is the most exquisite moment in your artistic life?  That time when I lose track of time, when I am able to forget expectations and let the art and the process take me where it will.

5. Do you have daily rituals in your studio?  I think about daily rituals, I would love to have daily rituals, but haven’t the discipline to do them. I’m usually just rushing from one family or business deadline to the next.

6. Reflecting on the quilts that you have made, which one stands out to you?  Bach Cello Suite was a breakthrough piece for me. I had spent time analyzing all the elements that made my heart sing when I looked at others work, then purposefully created a work using that kind of texture and shape and pattern. It made my own heart sing.

7. What do you have an affinity for in your work?  Subtle but complex layers of texture. Geometry juxtaposed with a little bit of disorder.

8. What kinds of patterns do you use in your work to create interest and texture?  I like subtle patterns, a repeated direction of line, a repeated shape. Background things that add just a little bit of interest on closer inspection.

9. What personal iconography is identifiable to you exclusively in your work?  Hard question as I don’t think I’m the only one exclusively doing my shapes and colors and textures. But - a clean geometry, the jusctoposition of simplicity and complexity.

10. What was your inspiration for the Best of Dinner at Eight?  A long running series that I keep returning to, initially inspired by a stone mill wheel. The series has carried me elsewhere but that sense of movement, time, and the heaviness and simplicity of that circle continues to intrigue me.

Artist Profile: Lauretta Crites

Lauretta Crites

Glendora, California

1. What is sitting on the edges of your work table? I have a large work table so usually quite a lot...multiple works in progress along with bits and pieces of art supplies and found objects waiting to find a home, but no matter how messy there is always a spiral notebook to jot down information about my current project. My mind is usually working ahead of my hands and I have to write down ideas and solutions I'm not ready to act on but don't want to forget.

2. If someone looked beneath the surface, what could be revealed that we might not know about you? My love of music. I sang in choir in school, love contemporary and classical music and If you follow me in the grocery store you'll probably hear me singing to myself or singing along with the store's "muzak". I'm hoping to come back as a singer or musician in my next life.

3. What occupies the space between your sewing machine and your cutting table? Up until last week only my sewing chair, but I recently became mom to a Terrier mix rescue puppy dubbed "Stitch" and now a dog bed occupies that space so I can scratch his ears as I sew.

4. What is the most exquisite moment in your artistic life? That's like asking me to name my favorite child. There have been so many exquisite moments. Mostly its the places my artistic life has taken me. Some standouts... being wished a "Happy Birthday" by the Russian passport control agent as I entered that country for the !st time to do a show, another Birthday spent on a train from Milan to Venice, having the paparazzi's flash bulbs going off as they photographed me leaving the Czars box at the Mariinsky Theater in St Petersburg, the 1st time I held an audience enthralled during my lecture/presentation CREATE!, seeing the SOLD sticker on my 1st Dinner@8 piece. 

5. Do you have daily rituals in your studio? I do not have a daily ritual, the closest I come to a studio ritual is to clean it. About 3 times a year - most often after I finish a large project but sometimes just when the season feels right (or I need to think and sooth) I file and pitch, dust and declutter. Preparing my studio and my spirit for the next creative expression. 

6. Reflecting on the quilts that you have made, which one stands out to you? My quilt for this years exhibit "Cue Orchestra, Curtain Up!" is a standout to me, this is one of the few times a quilt has come to me as a kind of vision and that that vision made it to fabric pretty much exactly as I "saw" it. Most of the time my work starts with an idea, more of a challenge, something I want to accomplish... a sense of light, a technique or material I want to engage with and they evolve as each problem is solved. This one came to me "Whole Cloth" I knew exactly how I wanted it to look down to the quilting, which for me is usually an afterthought. 

7. What do you have an affinity for in your work? I have an affinity for the beginning, for the creative birth. I love developing the idea, researching if necessary, finding the fabrics, choosing the techniques, finding the solutions to creative questions, to me quilting is a creative jigsaw puzzle with many many pieces and I love getting to mix up the combination with each new work. 

8. What kinds of patterns do you use in your work to create interest and texture? I am partial to leafy vines and spirals especially for quilting, but I also use paints and netting to create interest and depth.

9. What personal iconography is identifiable to you exclusively in your work? Not so sure about this one, probably why I had trouble thinking of a quilt for that theme.

10. What was your inspiration for the Best of Dinner at Eight? My piece was inspired by my passion for theater and especially my experiences of seeing the musical "Hamilton". As I waited in my seat at the Pantages to see it live for the 2nd time emotion filled my heart and I thought of all the exquisite moments I have enjoyed in the theater. I was the Assistant Costume Director for the Los Angeles Opera for 10 years and I have been blessed to see many of the very best theatrical productions in theaters all over the world. Remembering that "An Exquisite Moment" was one of the possible themes for this years piece I knew it was my opportunity to celebrate my love of music and theater.