Karen Ponischil

Charlotte, NC

Blue Skies

Located on the Blue Ridge Parkway in southwest Virginia, Peaks of Otter Lodge is a peaceful and picturesque getaway. The lodge overlooks Abbott Lake, with the Peaks of Otter in the background. An evening walk around the lake resulted in a photo of a heron posing at the water’s edge. That photo was blended with another of the mountain as the basis for this “Blue Ridge Heron” quilt. The juxtaposition of the mountain and the heron reflect the geographic variety that makes up the beautiful state of Virginia.

Fusible appliqué; machine quilting. Materials include: 100% cotton fabrics; organza; hand-dyed shibori cotton; cotton and polyester threads.

Susan L. Price: I have been a “maker” since childhood and love playing with colors and textures. I use fabrics that are commercially produced as well as those I’ve created using various surface-design techniques. Inspiration can come from many places: a word or phrase, photos I’ve taken, elements of nature, and family memories. I work intuitively on a design wall, taking pictures as I work to evaluate progress. Many of my quilts reflect the natural world. I have had pieces published in Quilting Arts magazine (“Readers Challenges”) and in Jane Dunnewold’s Improvisational Screen Printing. I have exhibited quilts in “Sacred Threads,” Donna DeSoto’s “Inspired By” series, “Fly Me to the Moon” and “OurStory” exhibitions, and various SAQA regional shows. I continue to explore and create, which brings great satisfaction .

pgfiber2art.blogspot.com

Susan L. Price

Springfield, VA

Blue Ridge Heron

While walking the boardwalk in Duck, NC, I encountered this solitary tree, a true survivor of the storms that the Outer Banks encounters seasonally. It had a sense of solitude even as it was amongst a highly trafficked tourist venue. Poet May Sarton wrote, “Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is richness of self.” With the Currituck Sound as its background and facing the onslaught of tourists along the boardwalk, this tree indeed had a richness of self about it. It was lonely in that it stood alone, but its branches reached out in defiance to the elements it had survived, and basked in the sunlight of this perfect day, casting its careful reflection towards the shoreline. What a great way to celebrate the Outer Banks of North Carolina! I took the photograph with this challenge in mind.

Artist’s photograph; stitching to enhance the reflections and solitary emphasis. Materials include: cotton; silk and cotton threads .

Mary A. Ritter: Underlying all my work is a passion for travel going places, meeting people and recording the people and sites along the way. The photographs by my husband, Norm, and I provide an unending source of inspiration. My work has been exhibited at Emerald Art Center, Springfield, OR; Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL; The Arts Council, Fayetteville, NC; Page-Walker Gallery and History Center, Cary, NC; “Sacred Threads” in Wake Medical Center Reflection Gallery, The Mayton Inn, Cape Fear Studios, and Spartanburg Art Museum, SC. My work has been published in the SAQA Journal, Fresh Fish, A Better World, Backyard Escape, Sacred Threads (2019–22), and Imagining the View (all at Amazon.com). Solo shows have been exhibited at Cary Art Center and Chef’s Palette in Cary, NC .

https://maryritter.com