Here is the link to the Burlington Carousel Quilt Guild’s Website: https://burlingtoncarouselquilters.org/
August 2019: Journey of an art quilter
Posted on August 14, 2019 by B. Taylor
What happened to my ruler?
For our August meeting, we welcomed Christine Hager-Braun, an art quilter who was born in Germany and moved to Durham, NC with her husband to continue their careers as research scientists. Twenty years later, she is still here and has transitioned to being a professional fiber artist.
The title of Christine’s presentation was “What happened to my ruler?” – she shared how soon after making a traditional quilt for her grandmother, she decided to abandon straight lines and tried piecing by hand and then raw edge appliqué to incorporate curves into her designs. Unlike with a traditional quilt where we find a pattern and use it, as an artist, Christine creates original designs for her quilts, and each design is only used once. She takes her inspiration from many places including science, landscapes, and human healing/balance/inner peace.
Christine shared quilts from many of her original designs with us, and a few photos are included below, but the best way to view high-quality images of her work and understand the context for each piece is to visit her website, Soular Power Fabric Art and check out her many galleries including:
- Nebulae – based on images of nebulae
- More Than Just the Sum – photos of quilts inspired by microscopic images of slices of wood
- Fluid Sculptors – ARTQUILTSrivers was a joint project between PAQA-South and the Taiwan Art Quilt Society (TAQS) in which 12 quilters – 6 from each country created a panel with the goal of a flowing river.
- Recent abstract landscapes
- Symbols of Longevity – pieces commissioned by the Mayo Clinic
- “Roter Faden“ is a German expression literally translated as “Red Thread”; however, its meaning is “Common Thread”. All the pieces in the series have a sliver of red fabric and red thread included.
Christine closed by reminding us that change is inevitable and may be due to changes in the environment/space, changes in our health (eyesight, arthritis), changes in style/patterns/complexity, and/or changes in artistic focus.
She encouraged us to find others who support us, and if changes prevent us from doing well what we’ve done in the past, to team up with others who may have strengths we lack. She suggested we set goals, reach them, and set higher goals and to be patient and passionate and follow our dream. She also invited us to her upcoming solo exhibition, Alchemy of Resilience, September 6-27 in Southern Pines.
You may find additional inspiration and inner peace by reading or subscribing to Christine’s Monday Mantra blog posts.
(Thank you B.T. for your nice summary!)
