animal art quilts

I have always had a deep concern for the planet and all the people, animals and plants living on it, yet it is only recently that I have begun to address the mass extinction of animals by portraying them in my art quilts. As I do the research for each artwork I learn quite a bit about the factors underlying the perilous edge many of these animals exist on. It is my hope to evoke these “edges” as I portray endangered animals in my art quilts.

I have chosen to use vintage quilt tops because I find the old fabrics and patterns in them endlessly varied and beautiful. On an emotional level I appreciate the abandoned nature of these quilts, for someone had spent hours hand-piecing hundreds of bits of fabric and yet never finished their project. Most quilts have spent decades in storage and are now given new life off the bed and hung on the wall as endangered animal quilts. Symbolically quilts make me think of mothers, grandmothers, home, safety, and protection. I like to think of sending that sentiment out into the world in my pieces. Another aspect of these old quilts, that I reflect on, is that when these women were stitching them, 50 or 60 years ago, the animals were not yet endangered. I look at each sewing session as a kind of prayer offered up for each animal’s survival and for the greater wisdom and stewardship by the humans involved. We can’t go back in time, but we can adopt behaviors that will support world ecosystems and animal survival. I believe that this will take the dramatic changes on a global level, and this is but one small step in that direction.

Clowns and Soldiers, Tip Toeing Through and Dangerous Generation, and Kittens, Mittens, and Ray Guns are part of a series of quilts that start with Mid Century baby blankets. I’m looking at the huge contrast between the cute and sweet images we surround infants with and the violent toys many of us played with. Some of the images depicted in vintage baby quilts show an idealized picture of American childhood that was completely unattainable for many. Clowns and Soldiers shows the disconnect between the humorous and the deadly seriousness of war, while Kittens, Mittens, and Ray Guns contrasts cute kitties and vintage space weapons. Most of us growing up in the last century have clear memories about instructions to duck and cover in case of nuclear bombing.