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Woman's Work: Making Quilts - Creating Art

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Of the twenty million Americans who quilt, six hundred thousand make art quilts--quilts meant to hang on the wall instead of to cover a bed. In the documentary "Woman's Work: Making Quilts-Creating Art," award-winning filmmaker Charlotte Grossman explores the process and effect of creating art quilts, focusing on ten Northern California women who speak of the personal nature of their art: how it intersects, enriches, complicates, and extends their lives as mothers, scientists, architects, musicians, filmmakers, paralegals, careerwomen, and academy-trained artists. Some work full-time at their art; others tuck it into the spaces between jobs and family. All are conscious of their connections to and differences from previous generations of traditional quilters, women who had to "Make it new, make it over, make it do, or do without."

Like a quilt itself, the documentary is multilayered. There are poignant moments in the film, as when one participant reveals that after her mother's death she began quilting because she had heard other women talk about embracing creativity after loss, and she thought, "Oh my god, I'm not even grieving my mother properly!" There's humor, as when another participant waxes poetic over her industrial iron. Above all, there's thoughtful, articulate, down-to-earth reflection on a wide range of variously intriguing and inspiring topics. As the women critique each others' quilts, work alone on their art, or speak directly to the camera, they reflect on the tools they use, where their ideas come from, how lifestyle affects their art, how they sell (or don't sell) their quilts, how they deal with failure and creative blocks, how making art is vital to their sense of self, what it means to them that quilting is viewed as women's work, and how they find great joy and pleasure in the creative process of making a quilt. For many of these women, it is the process, not the final product, that is fulfilling--even therapeutic. Because the process matters most to them, they discuss but ultimately set aside theoretical issues such as the exact definition of the word "quilt", whether quilting is an art or a craft, and whether perfect, tiny stitches matter more than the work's overall impact.

As I watched the film, I was struck by the variety of life experiences, working conditions, and chosen methods these women bring to their art. Some of their work spaces are tiny 7x10-foot rooms, some are large well-lit studios, some are cold and drafty warehouses. Some women work with commercial fabrics, some work with textiles that they've hand-dyed or painted or printed, some add paper or other objects to their quilts. Some plan their quilts meticulously, while others let intuition guide them as they work. But despite this variety, each of these women feels the attraction to fabric that any quilter and many other women know so well: the tactile, personal, sensuous nature of its color, texture, and form.

Quiltmakers, friends and family of quilters, creative women, and artists in general will be intrigued and enlightened by "Woman's Work: Making Quilts-Creating Art."

As an artist and a quilter, I found this documentary resonant, inspiring, and fascinating. Not only does it weave together the experiences artists and craftswomen share, it clarifies some of the ways that artists and craftswomen differ in their goals and their way of looking at the work they do. It's well paced and edited, with meaningful discussions of process mixed in with small revelations of technique, stimulating glimpses of works in progress, and satisfying views of finished quilts. I have seen some of these quilts in person at various local art shows (I also live in the SF Bay Area) and it's fascinating to hear what thoughts and feelings lie behind quilts I've already seen and, in some cases, touched.

I watched this at my house while my Mom, also an artist, watched it at her place with our speaker phones both on so that we could share our reactions to the documentary real-time. It is a wonderful film for people to share with each other as well as to savor in the privacy of one's own mind.

Charlotte Grossman has created a very personal look at the art of quilting as an independent art form. She makes the distinction between art and craft seem irrelevant. This glimpse into the lives, works, and creative process of the ten women quilt artists exhibits a seriousness and genuineness that is consistently fascinating. In this documentary the artists are captured through interviews and direct observation. The process and excitement of making art is compellingly revealed. "Woman's Work: Making Quilts ~ Creating Art" should not to be missed.

Dear Charlotte and the Faultline Quilters,

I cannot possibly say how much this video has meant to me. I've watched it 4 times. Each time I get something new out of it. It's wonderful to see a group of artists so dedicated to producing fiber art. As a result, I'm taking over an unused portion of the dining room for a work area, went out and bought flannel for a movable design wall and finally quit a job I've hated since the first week I joined the company.

I am a member of PAQA, which is an acronym for the Professional Art Quilters Alliance; an art quilt group that meets each month in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Every month we share work, laughter, inspiration, supplies, plans for upcoming group exhibits and other information helpful to us as serious or want to be serious quilt artists. Our PAQA Post exhibit was at the Pacific International Quilt Festival (2002 I think) and one of our Small Works exhibits was at International Quilt Festival in Houston in the fall of 2003 and will be at IQF in Chicago at the end of March, 2004. I never publically exhibited any of my work before joining PAQA. My group also has meant the world to me.

For 9 months, I was the curator at the Bloomingdale Park District Museum. The first exhibit I hung was a section of Quilt National 2001. Marcia Stein's "All Dressed Up With No Place to Go" was one of our favorite pieces. We hung it in a place of honor. It was the first quilt you saw as you walked into the gallery. In the 2nd gallery we had an exhibit of work by Caryl Bryer Fallert, Pat Kroth and Jane Sassaman. How small the quilt world is sometimes. All these connections.

I love the video because it highlights how different each artist is both in their approach to fiber art and in the end results. That is also true of PAQA. Our uniqueness is encouraged. I truly hope Charlotte Grossman will do other videos of other groups of fiber artists. I haven't felt so moved since I bought the book Oxymorons, Absurdly Logical Quilts from Laura Wasilowski. It also focused on the process each artist goes through in creating their work.

Please know that this film has touched others in the Midwest and will continue to reach out to other artists wherever it is made available. I lent it to my best friend; a Chicago mixed media artist. She loved it. Thanks to Charlotte for a beautiful and unique piece of work.

Sidney Jostes

Diferent women quilters share their process of creating and talk about what inspire them, the materials, the time they spend working in their projects, and what it is important for them when engaged on it.
I loved to see them in their work space and how different each one has organiced its own.

I love watching any creative process but specially in patchwork.
I am not an artist but it doesn't really matter because through these women I have seen that the way I approach my own projects is very similar to them: Basically in art there isn't instructions (once you manage the basics) you just follow your intuition & feel the joy of it.

I'm spaniard and patchwork is something very new here so we do not have spanish magazines, books or dvds on patchwork, so to see these women working on their projects in their homes as I do has been touching.
I feel moved each time I see it by the solitude, the joy, the sense of discovery that always involve the proces of creatig doesn't matter if you are an artist, a hobbist ...or a child.

That's why watching this film was so fascinating for me and also for my ten years old daughter.

If you are for other country see that is All Regions so you'll not have problems with encoding. It has english subtitles only.
The author has website: (..)

Women are elevated in this story. Each of these 10 artists displayed an amazing depth of thinking, purpose, and resolve to do something unique.

Creativity is central to problem solving and this is shown by each woman's description of their approach and the hurdles they surmount toget to the finish line. Other ideas about mothers, family, textiles, their careers, and art make it real. While I was watching, I thought about design and imagined the colors, textures, and meaning. The emphasis on art automatically transforms the viewer to the process of creativity.

This video has just enough to think about, just enough to laugh about, and just enough to visualize creating a quilt on one's own. I enjoyed it. These are wise women sharing their knowledge with the viewer.

Go ahead and make your art. This DVD offers insight and inspiration if that's what you need. It offers interesting art to look at if that's what you want. It's well produced, cohesive and interesting. There isn't a lot of variety out there for this type of DVD, so get it.