Archive for the ‘San Diego’ Category

Yes! One of my favorite art quilters actually does exist beyond a blog!!! Kathy NIda (long i, as I have been pronouncing it wrong all these many years) is an artist I have been following for well over a decade, and it’s not just because she uses our marbled fabrics in her art quilts. She is one seriously cool lady – and amazing teacher to boot. We finally were able to get together on our last trip to San Diego, as she was also on school break. What a fun two hours! Laughing, lamenting, giggling, telling stories, talking shop – a fabulous time was had by all. Even better, I got to see one of her works at Visions Art Museum, and by far the best in the exhibit, which I didn’t really care for, especially after having seen the exhibit of fiber at the Mingei (yes, Kathy, everyone is right – you MUST go see this show!). But it was so cool to see the actual art quilt up close and personal, as I am in awe of her technique. Here are a couple of photos shamelessly borrowed from her blog (kathynida.com).

Here’s the quilt being dried after a washing (something about pet hair….) – our fabric is the pavement. Second one is a closeup. I so loved seeing an actual quilt of hers, because her process is so intricate, and seeing in person how it all came together is fabulous.

Now, about the exhibit at the Mingei at Balboa Park in San Diego – one of my favorite museums – the emphasis is on “every day objects,” and this time the exhibit was two brothers, William and Steven Ladd, who work with beads, fabric and boxes in developing labor intensive, meticulous and abstract work that expresses their shared memories of family life in Missouri. )from the website) While some of the work I didn’t “get,” I was in awe of their use of unusual materials. This is from their website, explaining their “towers.”

   “Visions” is a major quilt art exhibit usually held in Oceanside, CA, every two years. It’s like the Holy Grail for art quilters. The Visions Art Museum has now opened in San Diego, at the old Naval Training Center, and will now host its own show. Just to be able to finally get to the museum this last trip to San Diego was a delight. The docents were wonderful and took their time showing us quilts, as well as asking us about our work. It is SO NICE to be with other artists who GET your work! One of the disadvantages to being an artist in the Southwest is unless you’re a painter or sculptor who “does” the southwest, no one is really interested in your work.

The major exhibit was Urban Landscapes and Soft City, with a special collection by Marilyn Henrion. Pictures were allowed in the outer area and in the gift Gallery. You can view a gallery of work by Marilyn here.

Here’s one of the really intriguing quilts from Urban Landscapes by K. Vellis Turan:

I purposely left this large so you could see details.

The challenge had some really interesting small quilts – 12 by 12 inches, which is a size I have just started to work with. These are all by members of the Visions Museum. Sorry I don’t have names….

Here is an example of Marilyn’s work. Her Photoshop skills are superb.

There were a couple of quilts by members in the gift Gallery – really superb work – and again, sorry for no names.

An interesting take on the “log cabin” traditional pattern, with lots of details.

Love this one. Those are definitely my colors!

We bacame members, and I am looking forward to our November trip to see the new exhibit on “Interpretations.” LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing fiber!!

This trip to San Deigo has been postponed twice, so we were REALLY glad to finally get there and see water again. Anything with water was our main destination. That and the fact that I am fascinated with texture. I’m thinking that is probably because I have no depth perception, and the vision just keep getting worse. So when I see texture I am absolutely fascinated by it.

As in this picture of water lilies in the reflecting pool at Balboa Park. I have never seen the pads with such striations to them. They were really gorgeous, and the only lily pads in the whole pond that had the multi-colored leaves. This would make a great quilt….

Water was the most important element to this trip, and we had a motel right across from one of the MANY marinas. Plus, as soon as we checked in, we headed to the point of land where Cabrillo landed, Point Loma.

I did not adjust any of these photos – my camera really captured the wonderful colors and weather. This is looking southeast from Point Loma, with the naval base on Coronado in the foreground and the skyline of San Diego barely visible. That water had some of the best shades of blue I’ve seen since floating back from Lanai in 1996.

Love the different colors of all the various flora and fauna.

The wonderful beaches of Coronado.

Look at these trees! This is at Embarcadero Park, at the base of the aircraft carrier Midway.

The memorial to the work of Bob Hope and all his USO tours – quite moving, especially at sunset and in this setting.

At the park at Seaport Village, looking south towards the Coronado Bridge, just at sunset.

Looking west to Coronado as the sun starts down below the persistent cloud bank.

I waited two years to get these pictures of these palms at the Prado Restaurant in Balboa Park – the first time we were there – no camera with us! The only touch-up in this photo was removing the security camera – the detail is just too gorgeous – this is part of the facade for the San Diego Museum of art.

Which leaves us ready for…

The Mingei and Visions Museums……

We were down on the Embarcadero, where the ship used in Master and Commander was anchored. Walked all over it, and I was left with the thought that making those voyages across the seas was quite fearsome and heroic.

Two cruise ships were in, both unloading at the same time. The traffic was pretty intense – seems like you may want to go first class, but you are still left with facing the crowds getting on and off the ship.

Walked the top only of the Soviet sub – now that’s a serious case of claustrophobia!


Loads of African Aloe – looks like it’s ready to eat the next passerby. This stuff really is amazing. We used to have some in our yard, and it was great to break off a piece and use the liquid to sooth a sunburn.

Lots more texture –






I just want to draw faces on all those gnarly knots!

We headed for San Diego a week ago Sunday and had a fabulous 4 days. We stay near Old Town, and we had just unpacked the car, after a great trip over, and headed a block away to see what was new. The trip over had us singing along to the CDs, stopping to get pictures of unusual bark, and just generally enjoying each other’s company. Once we get to Old town, we stopped in our first gallery – Beacon Artworks – loaded with water colors of San Diego. As is our practice, we struck up a conversation with the artist and learned loads of info – he licenses his images and does pretty well, we shared websites for printing, and had a great chat. The painting to the left is of the Baby Del, one of the familiar sites on Coronado. Check out Randy’s site – a great site for inspiration for marketing.

When we stopped at a rest area in California (three border stops, two of them quite long – heightened terror alert the notice said…), I grabbed the camera and started the first of many photos of texture in plants, particularly bark.

I have found that since I started focusing in on texture, I easily find it all around me. Along with the bark were some wonderful succulents I hadn’t seen before – or hadn’t seen in such healthy form!

We ended the day with a great meal of Mexican food and enjoyed all the Christmas lights as we headed back. We were in time to see the fireworks announcing the beginning of the parade of boats, but we were too far away to actually see the boats all lit up – maybe next year!