2024 Art Quilt Collages — Deborah Boschert

Would you like to see what came out of my studio in 2024?!

I made twenty-two art quilt collages ranging in size from just 4x6” to 37x66.”

I made five exhibition style quilts. three small donation quilts, one installation style work, a gift for my husband, and 12 5x7” small quilts that I sell in my shop and at events.

It was a good year. I really loved making several of these pieces and there are interesting new elements I’m eager to continue exploring.

I’ve included titles, sizes and dates. In some cases I’ve also included the artist statements I’ve written for a piece. I’m hoping to blog more about the creative process of making a new work from start to finish in the new year.

……………………………..

Percolating Artist Statment

I’m looking for a quiet place to sit, rest, and work through ideas. I may have to clear a path to get there. I might uncover something unexpected along the way. Once settled, I am surrounded by possibilities. This art quilt collage is made up of fabrics found on give-away tables, a novelty dishtowel, printmaking samples from workshops and lines of stitching suggesting repeated patterns and personal motifs. It’s a visual representation of generating ideas, meandering thoughts and but also sitting still.

……………………………..

Scattered Thoughts Artist Statement

Even when I have the opportunity to sit quietly and observe everything happening around me, sometimes my thoughts are chaotic and interrupted. Other times they are ordered and predictable. I created this textile collage during a time when I was grasping for order, control and predictability. And yet I made something completely random, irregular and unexpected. For me, the chair symbolizes the importance of stillness. And making space. And the idea that clarity can come from rest.

……………………………..

Upholding #5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, each 7x5” mounted on 8x10” boards - April

Upholding Statement

This series is built around a central column, a stitched ladder, stitched sprouts and an arch at the top. They all include a square of fabric with a leaf motif from a charm pack that a student gifted me. There is a small hill side in each composition that just barely suggests this could be a landscape. The central ladder motif is created with a hand embroidered open chain stitch. I like to think the ladder offers the possibility of rising or descending and that either could lead to contentment. The sprouts framing the design also play into the idea of a landscape. I used the word “Upholding” for the title of the series. I love this word “upholding” but I also love “up” and “holding.”

……………………………..

Upholding #7, 6x4” - May - Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show Fundraiser

……………………………..

Belonging, 4x6” - May - Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show Fundraiser

……………………………..

Understory Artist Statement

I’m exploring layers of natural and emotional landscapes in this art quilt collage. A line of trees is combined with undulating hills, fragmented skies, and textured fields symbolic of the world beneath and around us. A piece of fabric with raindrops could represent a moment of refreshment and renewal. Sweeping lines and birds flying across the composition evoke movement and transition. There is space for contemplation and introspection among the intimate and often unspoken narratives that shape our journeys through different places.

……………………………..

Reverberations, 12x12” - June - Studio Art Quilt Associates Benefit Auction Donation

Reverberations Artist Statement

There’s an energy that flows through people and places. It’s invigorating and creates connections and momentum that spur growth. I suppose it can also be unsettling. The floral printed cloth in the center of this composition came from a huge bag of scraps passed on to me from another artist. I combined it other unexpected fabrics, added some stamped birds, tucked in a bit of handwriting suggesting a personal narrative, embroidered some sprouts and stitched a bunch of lines that look like falling rain. Maybe I’m living in one of those houses. Maybe you live next door? We can harness that energy together.

……………………………..

Gathering #1, 2, 3 and 4, each 7x5” mounted on 8x10” boards - July

……………………………..

Twenty Five Horizons, 43x34” - 25 5x5” individual fabric collages mounted in a grid 2” off the wall - August

Twenty Five Horizons Artist Statement

These small art quilt collages explore the interplay between natural and personal landscapes. They represent both tangible environments and intangible terrains of memory and emotion. Layers of fabric, paint and stitching create a sense of depth, texture and detail. The threads hanging from each piece suggest an interconnectedness of all things, both seen and unseen. They overlap, twist, fray and tangle in ways that can be both unruly and beautiful. As I constructed each piece, the hand embroidered felt rectangles came to represent windows and the importance of looking out and letting the light in.

……………………………..

Multiple Truths Artist Statement

There are many things I love about Texas including enriching opportunities, stunning natural and urban beauty, and interesting people. There are also things that I find troublesome including social divisions, poor public infrastructure and support, and conservative policies and laws. People make many assumptions about Texas, but it’s not one thing. It’s full of individuals living their lives in the best ways they know how. Some are thriving, some are struggling and there are many in between. I’d like to spend more time sitting my neighbors, sharing our ideas about the world and working together for the greater good of all people.

……………………………..

……………………………..

That’s it!