Art Maui Opening

"Unconscious Convenience"

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures from the Art Maui 2008 opening. Without going into a lot of detail, suffice it to say that last week was no bowl of cherries around here. Thankfully, this week is looking a lot better!

Many of you are probably looking at the quilt and saying, "What the ????" Well, this quilt has been on the drawing board for a little over 2 years now. I am a big proponent for the reusable bag cause, brought on by the distressing way our island is suffocating under a layer of this useless tool of convenience. You can see the real life version of this quilt if you are on Maui and drive up (or down) Pulehu Road in front of the dump. The quilt is stitched to a background frame of pipe and chicken wire to imitate a plastic bag blown up against a chain link fence.

It's quite outside the usual box for me. It's not pretty, but it's not supposed to be. It's something I feel very strongly about and wanted to translate into a quilt. There's no denying that my work is inspired by my environment; this is just a different perspective.

Two other quilt/fiber friends are also in the show. At left is Kathy Kastles' "Young Leaves" quilt. It has a commanding presence in one corner of the gallery. I don't have a close up, but the center medallion features beautifully painted Geishas - many translucent layers give it incredible depth and richness. The outside background is artfully machine quilted with bamboo and palm leaves.


Nancy Meyer's quilt, "It Could Happen to You" tells the story of the many "faces" Nancy wore during her bout with breast cancer. During the opening there were three little girls, probably ranging in age from 9 to 12 or so, who were standing in front of Nancy's quilt arm in arm as they looked at it. I tried to get a picture of them but they hurried off too quickly and I missed the moment.


We finished the evening off with dinner at Mama's Fish House and were treated to this spectacular sunset view: