Art Adventure: Aloha Boricua--The Art of Pablo Marcano Garcia

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to head uptown to see Aloha Boricua  (a story about the migration of Puerto Ricans to the Hawaiian islands) at the Pregones Theater in NYC.  The musical was wonderful, and I got the chance to support one of the talented cast members, Omar Perez.  An extra treat was the artwork adorning the walls.  The medium is acrylic paint, but the way Pablo Marcano Garcia paints, you have the illusion of stained glass.  To see the other photos I took that evening, click here.  For info on Aloha Boricua, click here.  To see more of Pablo Marcano Garcia's art, click here.

Empire Quilters April Meeting: Betty Pillsbury

I love it when I go to a guild meeting, thinking my mind is made up about the speaker, or the topic they are presenting, and I wind up being surprised.  I try to keep an open mind, because it is a rare quilt gathering where I don't learn something useful.  I just have to remind myself of that whenever that little judgmental gremlin rears her ugly head.

Crazy quilts have always had a limited appeal for me.   I can appreciate the work and creativity that goes into them, but I have never had the desire to create one. Not in the least.  Then I saw Betty Pillsbury's work at her lecture last Saturday.  Betty brings a sense of whimsy, or what she would call crazy to her crazy quilts.  They often feature fairies, or secret messages, quotes and lovely ephemera

Her quilts varied in size, and she showed no fear putting anything on her quilt, her constant refrain:  I'm not washing them!  I loved her use of whatever pleased her, a creative free spirit.  Go Betty!  I may make a crazy quilt before long, after all.  To see some photos from the lecture, click here .

The moral of the story: creativity, like minds, works best when open.