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Sunday, June 13, 2010
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WAG presents pastel-proficient
Jean Hirons.
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EverythingWestport.com Monday, June 14, 2010 View the
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Ask any quilter. The piecing, appliqué and
hand-stitching move with you through life. A work-in-progress and steady
companion through the joy, love, hardship, sickness, grandchildren and even
the sadness of death. And these
companions often travel in groups. “I have several projects underway right now,
some for my children and many for my grandchildren,” says Westport quilter
Suzanne Alden who had two quilts on display. Left: Raffle Committee
members shown with ‘All Hands Together’ are from the left: Janice Macomber,
Sue Richards, and Bea Dupre. The Shining
Tides Quilt Guild “put on the Ritz” June 4 - 6 as the public was treated
to a dazzling array and display of contemporary, artistic and traditional
bed, lap and wall quilts as their 10th
Bi-Annual Quilt Show got under way at UMass Dartmouth. The 100+ member group puts on a bi-yearly
show and raffle event that draws hundreds of novice and “old-hands” alike. But if you want to walk the walk, you have
to talk the talk: Trapunto, appliqué, patchwork, pieced, embroidery, quilting
machines, and many combinations thereof. “I love picking out the fabric. The colors
and patterns are so exciting,” one quilter said. “Fat quarters work well with
smaller quilts, for ease of color and design coordination,” said another. “The love of fabric and color, and the
creation of something of beauty is the motivating force in making a quilt,”
said new Guild President Sandy Zekan of North Dartmouth. “Each quilt has a
reason for having been made, and each quilt carries a story,” said Lucille
Peloquin of South Dartmouth. These stories are typed up and displayed on
each quilt, providing the viewer with a little insight to the creator’s
purpose.
“Our lives are like quilts – bits and
pieces, joy and sorrow, stitched with love. - Author unknown. However,
hand quilting is another story. Every quilter’s dream today is to own a
quilting machine. Upwards of $10,000 each, these technological marvels can
reduce hand quilting time from months to a handful of days! Some quilters piece their quilt tops by
hand or machine, but then send them out to be machine quilted. “I
have 12 unfinished quilts”, one quilter at the show said. “I have 10 “UFOs”
another chimed in.” Machine made and
machine stitched quilts using technologically sophisticated, long-arm
quilting machines allow today’s quilter to fit in a project or two between a
busy work and home life. The Shining Tides Quilt Guild show had a
lot of colorful stories on exhibit June 4 - 6 at UMass Dartmouth’s Woodland
Commons.
But the unseen efforts of this group run
deep. “We have supported ConKerr
Cancer in the making of over 100 pillow cases for the children at hospitals
in Boston,” said outgoing President Donna Peirce. “We also have taken on the
New Bedford Women’s Center as our charity. We have made numerous quilts,
pillows and little personal gift bags,” she said. “We donated too many other
things to mention.” “All Hands
Together” The
raffle quilt named “All Hands Together”
has its own story too. Chairperson Janice Macomber and volunteer Sue
Richards hoped that everyone in the Guild would participate in the creation
of the quilt. Janice and Sue spent weeks looking for fabrics, and finally
discovered the medley. Now the hunt
started for the coordinating color. They were joined by volunteer Bea Dupre. When
medley and color were determined, packets were cut and placed in individual
bags for the members to sign up and take. The only stipulation was not to use
any other colors except what was in their packets. Janice
worked on the center square, and collected over 72 squares from the
membership. Janice,
Sue and Bea met one day to put the entire quilt together. They found with the
center square and border treatments enough squares to create a small lap
quilt for a second raffle! The
quilt was machine quilted by Creative Threads with an extra elegance of
Swarovski crystals added to the center square. Too
many members to mention contributed to the making of this gorgeous quilt. The
winners of the donation quilts will be drawn and announced June 21 at the
upcoming Quilt Guilds Luncheon at Rachel’s Lakeside in Dartmouth. 10% of the
proceeds will be donated to the New
Bedford Women’s Center. Laurie
Despres of Fairhaven was the originator of the Shining Tides Quilt Guild in
1991. “We had 20 members back then” she said. “We’re now over a hundred!” www.shiningtides.wordpress.com
Eight categories were judged with one
winner selected for each category. One quilt was also picked for Best of
Show. ‘Starry Nights,’ a 12 star block quilt, paper pieced and hand dyed by
Mary Lou Dagnall won Category H, Other/Redwork/Whole Cloth Quilts and Best of
Show. Pictured below are the winners by category
(category G Group Quilt is missing). View the hi-resolution photo album for
crystal clarity and depth of color.
Left: H4 Other, Redwork, Whole cloth Left
Center: Wearable Right Center: B6 Wall Quilts -
Pieced Right: A6 Art/Contemporary
Left: D6 Wall Quilts - Appliqué Center:
C29 Bed/Lap Quilts - Pieced Right: E4 Bed/Lap Quilts - Appliqué View the
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Above: This year’s theme – ‘All Hands on Deck’ - challenged
Guild members to create an interpretation of each playing card in a regular
deck. The cards, as can be seen above, are incredibly creative and very
clever. WAG presents pastel-proficient Jean
Hirons. EverythingWestport.com Monday, June 7, 2010 View the
photo album now 17 photos | Dial-up speed |
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Hirons is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America,
the Maryland Pastel Society, and the Pastel Painters’ Society of Cape Cod Once again the Westport Art Group introduced
a widely recognized and respected artist to stimulate its members with new
ideas and to expand their creative horizons with new knowledge and skills. Jean
Hirons did all that while putting on quite a show. “I’m really excited,” said one noted
Westport artist. “I have dabbled in watercolor wash and pastel, but with what
I saw tonight, with Jean’s concepts and techniques, I can’t wait to get home
and try them.” “Jean used much more watercolor wash then I’ve
tried, and I can now see where I had difficulties with my attempts,” said the
artist. Working from a pencil sketch and a picture
she took of a scene in Spain while on vacation, Hirons created a pastel
painting with a flair and homey style that endeared her to her audience. She was
articulate, fluid and knew her craft. It was a delightful one hour
performance. And she kept interjecting little jewels of knowledge that kept
the audience looking for more. “You can use inexpensive watercolor paints
for the under-painting,” Hirons said. “My standard palette consists of
violet, orange and green.”
“Watercolor wash under-painting eliminates
a lot of white to be covered with pastel,” Hirons added. “Let the
under-painting dry before continuing with pastel.” “One of the drawbacks to pastel painting,”
Hirons said, “is that you have to have a lot of them; you just have to have
all the values. They aren’t cheap, but once you have them, you have them.” The benefits are numerous. “They don’t
fade, you don’t have to blend, and you always know what you’re working with,”
she said. “I started collecting my pastels early on before
retirement because they are expensive, and there are so many!”
Hirons did a marvelous job painting while keeping
up a running conversation with the audience. She was peppered with questions,
and was never at a loss for how she felt about each one. She
focuses on landscape, seeking underlying abstract patterns of value and
color. She is particularly interested in capturing the feel and mood of a
scene, as well as the rhythm of shadow and light. She prefers the softest of
pastels and works on sanded pastel papers and on textured boards that she
prepares herself. “While
I’m working I keep my pastels in a bowl of cornmeal (pictured above, center).
It keeps the pastels clean and free from dust particles,” she said, “and
helps in quick getaways.” Another jewel for the audience’s consideration. “Conservation
Clear® glass is your best bet.” “I have all my work professionally framed,”
Hirons said. I never use non-reflective glass as it makes the painting look
weird from angle viewing. People don’t like that. Pastel paintings are
fragile, but properly framed with a spacer between glass and painting, they
will last forever.” “When I move or travel with unframed
pastels, I use glassine paper between paintings as it is air and
water resistant. Never use wax paper as it melts under
heat.” The pearls of wisdom kept coming. “I don’t use Plexiglas because it promotes
static cling which will pick up pastel particles.” As for protective sprays, “I never use
them. Some people do, but I think they darken the painting and leave spots.” Hirons finished her demonstration. “A pastel
painting sort of develops on its own. You can change colors or fix mistakes
quite easily. And, with few exceptions, the pastel easily covers most shades
of the under-painting whether its watercolor, oil, or acrylic.” “With a sharpened pastel you can obtain
good detail.” Jean
Hirons travels to Mattapoisett twice a year to visit family. In the summer
she paints on site; at Christmas she takes photos for studio work. She has
been painting scenes of Mattapoisett and the South Coast for over twenty
years. After
receiving a BFA from Marietta College Jean studied art at the Corcoran School
of Art and the Art League in Alexandria, VA., and since 2001, has taken
workshops from the leading pastel artists in the U.S. She is an adjunct
professor at Montgomery College in Rockville and teaches privately as well.
She is represented by the Waverly Street Gallery in Bethesda, MD and
Collyer’s Gallery in Mattapoisett. Her
paintings have won many awards. Jean
Hirons also has a master’s degree in library science, beginning her career at
Southeastern Massachusetts University (now UMass Dartmouth) and spending the
last twenty years at the Library of Congress. During her career she won two
of the American Library Association’s highest awards. In June 2003, she took
early retirement in order to devote her time to pastel painting.
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