WANT TO GO?
WHAT: “Island Colors — Art Quilts by Pam Geisel”
WHERE: Village Artisans Gallery, 100 Corry St., Yellow Springs
WHEN: October 1 - Nov. 6
HOURS: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Friday-Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday
RECEPTION: 6 - 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14
MORE INFO: 937-767-1209 | villageartisans.blogspot.com
Pam Geisel of Yellow Springs is an excellent art quilter, and she’s also an Island Batik Ambassador. These two elements combined to form 12 small wall hangings and 3 table runners that are in her new show, “Island Colors,” currently at the Village Artisans Gallery. She used fabric created exclusively by Island Batik, a California company that manufactures, imports and distributes cotton batik fabrics from Indonesia.
“Every month we are given a theme, and have to create a quilt that fits the theme, and then blog about our piece,” Geisel said. “Sometimes we are required to use fabrics from certain collections; other times we can use any of the fabrics. When the challenge theme is posted, I usually look at the fabrics and try to listen to what they want to say, and let them guide the design of the quilt.”
Her piece, “Flight,” used a total of 30 different colored fabrics and 15 different cream colors. Just as she looks at the fabrics, she also looks at fabric scraps left over from other projects.
“All but 2 were entirely planned out. ‘Window Web’ and ‘In Search of the Yellow Submarine’ were improvisational because when I made ‘Depth’ I used a technique that resulted in several oddly shaped cutoff pieces with different fabrics sewn together,” said Geisel. “So I sewed those pieces together randomly and let them dictate how the finished piece would look.”
Her art quilts are a delight to look at, at times whimsical and playful, with embellishments like buttons and exotic trim.
“Most of the colors are very vivid. Without planning it, there’s a lot of shades of purple; 13 of the 15 have purple in them,” Geisel said. “They are mostly abstract but there’s a pumpkin, one with a daisy, and one with a yellow submarine.”
When she was younger, she didn’t want anything to do with sewing. She took shop class in junior high to get out of sewing class. When she later became interested in creating art quilts she had to teach herself to sew. Her formal education and background are in graphic design. These skills often translate into her quilts, which have strong design elements.
Before transitioning to quilt making, Geisel dabbled in watercolor painting. Her painting may explain why she enjoys quilting—for the warmth of the colors in the fabrics, “especially batiks.”
“The colors in the fabric are just gorgeous and they have an intensity to them that seems to glow,” Geisel said.
The award-winning artist is active with local and regional art quilt groups and Village Artisans. She has shown her works at The Winds Café, The Yellow Springs Artist Studio Tour, The Dayton Art Institute, Dayton Visual Arts Center, Gallery 510 in Dayton, Rosewood Gallery in Kettering, Springfield (OH) Museum of Art, Ohio Designer Craftsmen in Columbus, and many others. To see some of Geisel's art, visit www.ForQuiltsSake.com.
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