Joan Sowada quilt from TCQC 09-13-09

"Pink Purses in Rome" Joan Sowada 12" x 12"

This quilt was a purchase at the 2007 SAQA online auction. Since the 2009 auction is now in progress it seemed an appropriate quilt to show here. When I started collecting I wasn't interested in a lot of small quilts, even though my first purchase (also at an auction) was a small quilt, I wanted quilts with a presence. But in the last decade the quilts on the market seem to be getting smaller and smaller. I even have a collection of fiber art postcards that I continue to add to. I have found that these twelve-inch square quilts display very well if a number of them are space across a wall - either horizontally or vertically. I have a lot of respect for SAQA and their growth during the past ten years - I want to support them all that I can. Even though my acquisitions budget has taken a hit in the last year, I have set aside something so I can bid at the SAQA auction. Since so many people are in the same fix, this might be the year that you could start a small collection of small quilts - there will be bargains, I'm sure.

I have been interested in Joan Sowada's work since her quilt, the amazing "Cosmic Bicycle" was in Visions 2006 where it won the Cathy Rasmussen Emerging Artist Memorial Award. I don't know how 'emerging' she was at the time, but I had not heard of her. She doesn't have a website of her own, but you can see her work at http://www.avacenter.org/usergallery.php?ID=10

AVA Center is a group gallery in Gillette, Wyoming, where Joan lives. On the site she states, "The process of building image from fabrics, paint, oil pastel, embroidery floss and thread, creates multiple layers of visual interest and meaning."

I hope I will see more of her pieces in the future.