Artist: Aaron Sanders Head
Photo credit: Aaron Sanders Head
FLORENCE-Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts will be showing two textile-based exhibits in the Annex Galleries from November 18th through December 20th. We will feature an installation of multi-media work by artist Aaron Sanders Head as well as entries in the Shoals Piecemakers Quilt Guild’s Annual Challenge. The opening reception will take place on Thursday, November 18th from 5:30pm -7:30 pm.
Aaron Sanders Head lives and works out of his studio in Greensboro, Hale County. His textile installation will include quilted wall hangings,
Artist: Aaron Sanders Head
Photo credit: Aaron Sanders Head
hand stitched artwork and upholstered furniture, all dyed using locally foraged plant materials. Some of the beautiful plant materials that Aaron uses to dye textiles with will be included in the installation.
“The part I enjoy most about dyeing with foraged material is the ability to make work that feels truly endemic; directly rooted in, enhanced by, and in conversation with the place the work was created. These textile works are a testimony to the generous natural beauty of Hale County, and a response to the deep but ever-adaptable roots people have established in the Black Belt for generations.
These textile works contain elements of printmaking, traditional quilt making, assemblage, hand stitching and natural dyeing. The materials used for dyeing —indigo, black walnut, sumac, osage wood, marigolds, among others—were grown in or foraged for around Hale County, where I live and work.”.
The Shoals Piecemakers Quilt Guild: 33rd Annual Quilt Challenge. The guild has new rules for their Quilt Challenge each year and the creative way the rules are followed by each member makes this exhibit an exciting adventure. This year the shape and size of the quilt was decided by each individual quilter and the quilt was required to be completed entirely by each artist within this calendar year of 2021. Quilters were required to choose any shade of purple and any shade or shade of gold or yellow for their fabric choices; a neutral (white, gray, beige, cream) could be added into the color scheme. Techniques to be used were appliqué, piecing or whole cloth quilting. Quilts must be the traditional three-layer top, batting and backing, with quilting and binding.
The Guild members judge their peers work at the initiation of the exhibit, they choose awards for: best machine piecing, best hand appliqué, best hand quilting, best embellishment, best machine appliqué, best machine quilting, “my favorite quilt”, best use of color, best use of theme, and most innovative. The public chooses the People’s Choice Award by voting for their favorite quilt by marking ballots available in the display area.
The Shoals Piecemakers Quilt Guild meets at 7:00 p.m. on the second Monday of each month at Saint Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Florence. New members are welcome. The Guild is made up of quilt makers at all levels of expertise and people who are interested in promoting the collection and preservation of quilts.
Media Release/Nadene Mairesse
Program Coordinator
Kennedy-Douglass Center For the Arts
