"People and Portraits": The "I Can't Remember a Thing" Blog Give-away

 

While being holed up at home recovering from a cold, the postman brightened my day by delivering my copy of Martha Sielman's new book Art Quilt Portfolio: People and Portraits. You may recall that her first book in this series was "Art Quilt Portfolio: The Natural World", which I was a featured artist in.

Well OK, to be quite frank, the postman actually brought me TWO copies of People and Portraits. Why? Because I pre-ordered a copy at two different times and forgot that I had done so. Therefore, today I'm having a "I Can't Remember a Thing" blog give-away!!  Everyone who leaves a message before midnight EST on Thursday, March 28 will be entered in a draw to win this book. Some of my favorite artists are featured. Here is just a small sampling of what you will find in the book. It truly is a beautiful and inspiring book!

Jenny Bowker is an Australian artist, who has lived for periods of time in various locations in the Middle East. Her portraiture captures the personalities of honest and hard-working muslim men at work, chipping away at often biased westerm understanding of them. She shoots thousands of photographs in her travels for inspiration for her work. Her blog is filled with amazing stories of her adventures in the Middle East, and she has been instrumental in bringing attention to the works of the Tentmakers of Cairo. You will find many videos here featuring the Tentmakers. Jenny also teaches around the world.

"Abu Ali and the Gilded Chairs" by Jenny Bowker

Margot Lovinger is an artist from Eugene, Oregon, who does amazing figurative work using layers of sheers. While she graduated from art school in 1994, it was only after her father died of AIDS that she started working with textiles when she made a panel in his honour for the AIDS Memorial Quilt. I have been a huge fan of Margot's work for a long time. As many of you know I've been trying to come up with ways of using my hand-dyed organza in my work, and find it a challenge. I am in awe of her use of sheer materials, and of course love the highlights and shadows. Margot photographs all her models herself, and recounts in the book how she sometimes meets someone in a social situation that she finds facinating to look at and will invite them to model for her.

"Night" by Margot Lovinger

Margot and fellow members of the group Material Artistry also happened to be the jurors for the 2012 Fiber Art Show at Infinity Art Gallery. When my entry won Second Place, Margot was the one to write the beautiful tribute to my piece In the Act.

Joan Sowada is an artist from Wyoming, who I have featured on my blog on a previous occasion. Her compositions are masterful and full of movement, showing people engaged in life, and including just enough detail of faces without making them overdone.

"Busy" by Joan Sowada, 2012

Just as in The Natural World, there are 21 artists featured in People and Portraits. There are more amazing ones that I didn't even know existed until reading this book. 

Good luck in the blog give-away. The good news is that you can purchase a copy of People and Portraits for less than $20 at amazon.ca.