"Paula: 5 of Wooden Spoons (wands) in the Kitchen Tarot."
by Susan Shie Contact me
"Paula: 5 of Wooden Spoons (wands) in the Kitchen Tarot."
©Susan Shie 2022. 59"h x 62"w. inventory #522. Peace Cozy #85.
chose tarot card 4-18-21, began sketches on paper 12-2-21, finished art quilt 2-15-22.
Many large detail images follow the artist's statement below.
I am a social activist painter and fiber artist.
I airbrush whole cloth works which I then sew. My artwork and writing
are all spontaneous first drafts on the cloth.
This piece is about
some very feisty women in our world now. Most of them are famous, and a few are ones you don't know.
Materials:
white kona-like cotton from Test Fabrics, airbrush paint, fabric paint, Posca paint markers, Aurifil cotton machine
thread, Artfabrik variegated hand dyed perle cotton embroidery thread, one
Green Temple Buddha Boy bead. Nature-fil bamboo and organic cotton batting. Cotton fabrics on backing and border.
Techniques:
Whole cloth painting. Black line freehand drawing and color areas painted with
Aztek double action airbrush and airbrush paint. Smaller writing done with Posca
paint markers, because my wrists were both broken over time, and I no longer have the strength to
use my airpen. Mostly machine sewn, with one row of hand stitching of perle
cotton thread (on the border's outside edge.)
My statement about this art quilt:
Susan Shie. Turtle Moon Studios.
2612 Armstrong Drive, Wooster, OH 44691 susanshie@gmail.com 330-317-2167 www.turtlemoon.com
Statement for "Paula: 5 of Wooden Spoons (wands) in the Kitchen Tarot."
©Susan Shie 2022. Made 4-17-2021 to 2-15-2022. 59"h x 62"w.
Inventory #522, Peace Cozy #85. About my friend Paula Chenevey,
who died in 2021, and some other strong women doing good things: Greta
Thunberg, Stacey Abrams, Alice Walker, bell hooks, Kamala Harris, Malala
Yousafzai, and Judy Vierow, an art quilter friend of mine, who died
while I was making this piece.
Materials: white kona-like cotton from Test Fabrics, airbrush paint,
fabric paint, Posca paint markers, Aurifil cotton machine thread, perle
cotton embroidery thread, one Green Temple Buddha Boy bead. Nature-fil
bamboo and organic cotton batting. Cotton prints on backing and border.
Techniques: Whole cloth painting. This time, instead of drawing
with my airbrush and black paint, I drew with children’s markers, then
went over the lines later with Posca Paint Markers. I put in
the color areas and shading with my Aztek double action airbrush and
airbrush paint. I did the smaller writing with Posca paint
markers, because after two broken arms in years past, I no longer have
the strength to clean my airpen. I machine sewed the quilt, adding
one row of hand stitching of perle cotton thread (on the border's
outside edge.)
4-17-21: I pulled the Tarot card, the 5 of Wands for this quilt's
making. In my Kitchen Tarot deck, that suit is Wooden Spoons,
because they are the kitchen objects that most fit the "wand"
image. Wooden spoons remind me of growing up, working in the
kitchen with my mother, who was a great cook! This card is about a
chaotic time, when we're having to struggle, to keep some really bad
energy at bay, and when we don't seem to be getting anywhere. The
women I drew, painted, and wrote about here are all women who are
focused on improving our lives, working for the good of the whole group,
even the whole planet. From super-famous women, to women you
don't (yet) know anything about, I celebrate their feistiness and
commitment to making the world a better place, via politics, the
environment, personal attitude elevating, etc. From artists to
world leaders, they all know or knew that our world is in trouble, and
they each have their own way of working to make it better.
12-2-21: I started making a lot of sketches, starting with Paula
Chenevey, my Wooster friend who died of cancer last Fall. I added
the other women, who are known figures in our world, and who are or were
doing important things to make the world a better place.
So the other women here, besides Paula, are: Kamala Harris and Malala
Yousafzai (holding up the title banner at the top.) Stacey Abrams, as a
mermaid, Greta Thunberg as a centaur, Alice Walker as a buddha, and of
course, Paula as an angel. Two other women died, while I was
making this piece. bell hooks is a feminist writer and professor,
whom I knew nothing about when she died. So I decided to research her
and add her at the bottom right side. Judy Vierow, an artist
friend of mine from Columbus, OH, died this year, and I had room to add
her in, under the title.
I have a big wooden spoon drawn on the quilt for each of the main women
shown, and each spoon tells you stories about one of the women, even her
astrology signs in both western and eastern astrology.
In the bottom left corner, is a drawing of my YaYa friends and me, after
a card I had made for one of them for her birthday. That corner
was actually the very first thing I drew on this quilt, because it was a
card about the 5 of Wands, the same Tarot card this quilt is named
for. You will see an angel floating over us YaYas, and that is
Marsha, who died several years ago. I wanted that YaYa to be with
the rest of us, and I sometimes draw her with us still.us still.us
still.
At the top left corner, where Malala is holding up the "Paula" title banner, I out a haiku, which says:
"Paula- deity.
All here are so powerful.
Young, old, and angels."
I write a haiku on each of my drawings, and I've done that for years
now. So I'm thinking up spontaneous haiku for each of my art
quilts now, too.
I've decided to stop putting so many detail images of my quilts here on
my site. So there are many less here. And my statement is
shorter. I'd rather spend the time making more art now!
Thanks a lot, Susan Shie, 4-30-22, finally getting this quilt on on my site, so I can feel good about starting my next quilt!
I teach a class called "Lucky Drawing" in a private Facebook group
classroom, just for adult women, and it’s all about freehand drawing in
your own natural style. I began teaching month-long classes there
in January, 2015, with 8 classes a year.
I also have taught week-long Turtle Art Camps at my home studio in
Wooster, Ohio, since 1994. That has been curtailed by the
pandemic, but the online classes continue, with my 60th class coming up
there next week.
If you're curious about my teaching or buying my art, please contact me. Thanks a lot!
More pix on my FB page Susan Shie Turtle Moon Studios.
You can see a large album of pix of me making this quilt and some other
finished photos of it, along with captions, on my FB page.
Turtle Moon Studios: Outsider Art
Quilts and Paintings
Susan Shie
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Web site design © Susan Shie and Jan Cabral 1997. All subsequent web site work, ©Susan Shie 1997-2022.
This page updated by Susan Shie, December 10, 2023.