Art I like - Pauline Burbidge

Pauline Burbidge, "Causeway III"

Yet again the SAQA "Art Quilt News" has provided an image that sparks a blog post. Pauline Burbidge - one of my quilt heroes - has an exhibition at Farfield Mill in Sedburgh, Cumbria, till April 7th, which incorporates her Quiltscape and Quiltline works.

I was bowled over by Pauline's exhibition at Festival of Quilts (and she has a stand there every year), have amassed all her books, and have admired her work since first seeing it in, hmm, 1979? The inventiveness and evolution of her work (not to mention its enviable confidence) are things to strive for, even if you can't emulate them, in this lifetime at least!

"Fish Dance" (1992) is in the 90s Collection of the Quilt Museum

Pauline has "always" been at the forefront of the UK quilting scene and her work has constantly evolved. It's always had a cohesive simplicity and to my eye, now that she's using the stitched line as the telling element, it's opened out into a wonderful serenity. The stitches, lying on and integrated with the fabric background, have delicacy in their own right and strength in their multitudinousness. She's retained the format of changes moving square by square across and along the entire piece, and all in all it makes a most satisfying contemplative experience.

"Horizon", 2003; 205x207cm (image from here), one of the Quiltscapes

Of her recent work, the Stitched Drawings are stitched first and painted afterwards. This is Reeds 6, 48x49cm -

The Quiltline quilts are made the same way, and geared to domestic use -

(image from here)

Many more images of her work can of course be found via a simple internet search.