meet the masters

Today's mail held an awesome surprise. I received a copy of Masters: Art Quilts by Martha Sielman. I opened it up, started reading it and quickly had to shut it again. I had plans to get some serious organizing done today and there was no way I was going to get to it if I sat down with this.

After the day's work, I came back to it. I can't tell you how drawn I am to it. I was really happy to see some of my all time favorite quilt artists in it like Pamela Allen, Linda Colsh and Hollis Chatelain. (That's not to say that I don't drool over the other artists in the book but these three in particular have always been in my top ten favorite quilt artists.)

But what I liked best about this book is that it introduced me to some artists I've not had a chance to study closely up until now. I'm particularly taken with the work from Cher Cartwright, Deidre Scherer, Charlotte Yde and Jeanette Gilks.

I'm not one for mushy reviews that pine away telling people how a book will change someone's life. But I have to tell you, this one is making me realize that I've come no where near close to finding my voice yet. The level of artistry here is unbelievable.

The book features forty artists, all deserving of the title of 'master.' Each one made me stop and stare, all wide eyed and gawky. Its got my wheels turning on different ways to twist up my own work into something new.

In fact, I think I'm going to go put some ideas down on paper before they go out of my head. Tomorrow is a studio day for sure.

Check out the book if you have the opportunity, its worth every penny.