At the beginning of the month, I had the honor of participating in my first gallery exhibit at One Division Art in Buffalo, MN. The exhibit was titled Contemplations in Cloth.

I enjoyed working with gallery owner Christopher Hoffman, and shared the exhibit space with Carolyn Abbott of Brainerd, MN. Carolyn and I worked together at times back in our fabric-dying days, so it was great fun to connect with her again!

My sister Cindy and her husband flew in from San Francisco. It was great that we could have our family gathering at the time of the exhibit! Cindy took most of the photos below. Thanks, sis!

Before the Show

One Division Art is in a wonderful old building from the tail end of the 1800s. It was originally a bank. Christopher has been renovating the building over time, and it’s a great space for art.

My husband Jack left town earlier than I did for a long-overdue visit with his son. But I was tickled that he got to see my first exhibit before Pat whisked him off “to the lake” in Grand Rapids.

I was ingrigued with Carolyn’s sheer paper laminations. The birch pieces were made up of two layers hung several inches apart, and they literally floated in the breeze set off by the ceiling fans. I had heard about this technique in the past, but it was really neat to see some pieces “in the cloth” rather than in photographs.

The gallery had lots of interesting places to hang pieces. It was a great learning experience to work with the gallerist to place groupings of pieces to provide coherence and to show pieces off to their best advantage.

Let the show begin!

Of course, the whole point of an exhibit is the visitors! The timing (Labor Day weekend) and Covid dampened attendance, but we had a nice opening, and I had the opportunity to visit with a number of friends and family during the first weekend of the show.

I enjoyed meeting the visitors and talking to them about my work. It was rewarding to visit with people who enjoy art in all forms, and who appreciate learning about the process that goes into a peice.

Of course, it was fun to eavesdrop on the conversations in front of my “Dancing in the Night” triptych. I loved hearing peoples reactions and what they saw in the stitched images.

At the end of the night, we posed for a photo in front of one of Carolyn’s quilted pieces. It was a nice way to top off a lovely evening.

I think the thing I enjoyed the most was simply the chance to meet people in person to talk about art, life, and whatever else came up in our conversations. After all the “alone time” associated with our year of Covid, in-person conversations were a welcome change from Zoom!

Thank You!

For every artist, there is a first gallery exhibit. I am blessed to have found a set of tools and techniques that I love to work with. I am equally blessed to have the time to make a coherent body of work. And to have the chance to share my work in an exhibit? What more could I ask for?

Thank you, Christopher Hoffman, for the invitation to exhibit my work at One Division Art. Thank you Carolyn, for sharing the space with me. And thanks to my friends, family and readers for making the trip to Buffalo to share this moment with me.

Finally, thank you for inviting me into your inbox. It is an honor and a privelege to be a part of your creative life.