Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Fl

I've often heard about the Atlantic Center for the Arts and so I was very happy to be invited there by the Florida branch of SAQA to give a workshop this last week.
It's a super place!!!  If ever you have a chance to take a workshop there....do!
The center is a collection of arts and music and dance buildings  nestled in the native palmetto forest of Florida - it's so good to see there is a bit of the real Florida left!
There are boardwalks between the buildings, so you feel like you are floating along!
it was a great class - on design.  I threw the participants in at the deep end and they all swam like fish to the finish line!  Here are some of their designs and their blocked out quilts:

 above the sketches, below the quilt.....

on the left, the design...


below...one happy campanologist!!

on the right, the moth design in fabric....and below and potential design (in 3 different value ways) of a detail of the moth...

the moth design above has a real Japanese feel to it....I love abstract work like this.

 Above  a design derived from  a photo of dock pilings and their reflections and below the quilt...
great colors....and so unusual!

 Above are several designs based on a painting...and below the quilt in progress... beautiful movement...and looks a bit like Miro!! though that was not the original inspiration at all.....

One student had the most beautifully printed fabrics - images of spires... it was very difficult to arrange them all in the same orientation, the same light direction and in an interesting way...however the final result was quite stunning!!!  

 This one came out beautifully ...but it was taken down before I could get it photographed!!!  so you'll just have to trust me...it was a photo of the shadows of trees on other tree trunks and was really amazing...
and the sketches look like little Clyfford Stills....

now I wonder if his inspiration was a similar phenomenon?

 a very elegant rendition in 3 values of the photograph....there are so many possibilities for this idea....I love it just as it is though.

And look at all the designs this student got from one photograph!!! and there were even more...
here are a couple of them worked out in fabric:

the one on the left isn't complete of course, the one on the right looks like a Klimt!!

 On the right the original photograph and then the sketch....it's important to simplify...bring shapes together and repeat both shapes and lines...and NOT worry about details!!


























Ellen organized this whole workshop and it was beautifully done...so smooth...and yet very low key...but very efficient..we were all so comfortable and accomplished an enormous amount in just 3 days....

somehow I didn't get a picture of Ellen's quilt...
but I'm sure she'll be putting one up on her blog site


it was a gorgeous mix of red-orange and blue-green....one of the most beautiful complementary pairs.
a big thank you to Ellen for setting up this workshop!






















I really liked the series that this lady proposed...of people having problems with the wind...in the windy city!!  The city will be the back drop for all the various windy events...here is the first character!!

 Above another design...people losing their umbrellas...this is going to be a wonderful series....and she amazed me by carefully cutting out all those swirls of wind, one by one!!

 sometimes the simplest designs are the most elegant...above on the right is the design...and on the bottom left, it's beginning to be transformed into fabric....

 all from one photo!!!  don't they look wonderful?   

  I really like the ense of something going on in those left hand windows...adding a little mystery is very important to good design...and, nice perspective!!!

Another beautiful simple design...this lady has a whole series like this...and they're going to be really amazing hanging in a long line...
you really do not need a lot of fussy detail to make a great quilt.

What a lovely calm little scene...two inspiration images added together to make something new and fresh.....

 this piece is inspired by the boardwalks and forest of the ACA...I love the play of light and shade...and the boardwalk heading off into the mysterious unknown...

and there were several more!! but some people had  them whipped off the wall before I could get to them...!!!  What was really nice was the range of work, and the personal references within all those pieces.....how dreary it is when you see a row of people all holding up identical quilts that they've made!!!  Every one of these quilts tells a story for the particular person who made it.....
thank you ladies!! you were great!    

and now, phew, I need a nice cuppa tea....I hope you've enjoyed the quilt show!
If you have been, thanks for reading!   Elizabeth