You're Invited - see With One Voice at the 212 Arts Center!

The 2008 Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit is currently on exhibit at the 212 Arts Center in Saline, Michigan for the month of July.

From 212's website:

The mission of Two Twelve Arts Center is to provide a creative hub offering visual and performing artists the opportunity and working space to come together to work, create, and teach.

The Center also contributes to the cultural life of the residents of Saline by supporting a full schedule of classes, programs, performances and exhibits. We look forward to providing a framework for a vibrant and supportive arts community with varied opportunities for artists, students and audiences.

Breaking Traditions is very honored to exhibit in this stellar center. The exhibit hangs on both levels of the center and is accompanied by additional artwork from local Michigan artists that participated in the 2008 exhibit.

You can also see work from Jacqueline Lams, Sidney Savage Inch, Leann Meixner, Deb Kolar, Jean Canavan, Joan Potter Thomas, Kat Campau and Lynn Krawczyk.

There will be an opening reception on Friday July 17 from 7pm-9pm.

We hope to see you there!

New Beginnings Sunday

Cathy Neri's tale of the kitty cast that fills her home with excitement and love:

Sir Edmund Hillary

Just before Christmas 2002, my husband and I were "owned" by a pair of brother-sister kitties. Hillary is a tuxedo cat with extra toes, named for Sir Edmund Hillary (we originally thought SHE was a HE). Tipper was a gray tabby without extra toes but with an exceptionally large personality (he ran to answer the doorbell and loved our UPS guy). He was officially named for Tip O'Neill, the late Speaker of the House (my DH once caddied for Tip).

Anyway, during the summer of 2002, a family in our NY neighborhood was losing their home to foreclosure and they abandoned their house and their thirteen cats under cover of darkness. A few days later, animal rescue people were called, and they came in and scooped up twelve of the kitties. One, an orange longhair, eluded them and roamed our neighborhood for months. Many of us fed him. We called him the Mayor. Eventually he came to be known as Julius (after “Orange Julius”). He certainly knew how to cozy up to people, but he didn't want to be adopted, at least not just yet.

Then, winter came. It was a late seasonal arrival in our corner of NY, and most of the local humans were keeping an eye out for Julius. He hadn't been around for a few days and we were all worried.

Maybe he got himself trapped in someone's garage or shed, but Julius started making his rounds again just before Christmas. In fact on 12/22 he walked up *our* front stairs to *my* studio window and knocked. Yes, he knocked. (He couldn't reach the doorbell.) By now Hillary and Julius were almost officially senior citizen kitties, and we were all coping with the onset of an autoimmune disease in Tipper. So while we were thrilled to see Julius, we couldn't just throw open the door and put out a plate of salmon.

Fast forward: we caught Julius. We brought him to our vet and he was given a clean bill of health (remarkable, actually, since he had been on the street for months). Gradually he won our hearts as well as Tipper's companionship (we think Hillary has always secretly wanted to be an only cat). He recognized that even though he weighs in at sixteen pounds, he was the junior member of our feline contingent. Julius was an excellent addition to our family.

Julius

Then, in 2004, we moved to NE Pennsylvania, and not long after, Tipper lost his battle with IBD. We were all heartbroken but Julius really missed his pal. Fortunately our home overlooks some wild open spaces, so Julius occupied himself watching the deer and the bunnies and the bears which roam our property. But he was lonely.

Thus, I segue into my second rescue story. In the years Julius has lived with us, he has been an indoor cat. (He doesn't ever want to be an outdoor cat again.) So last summer, when he accidentally got out onto the back deck and was mesmerized by some activity along the rock wall twenty feet below, I paid attention.

It was a mama cat and her litter. How Mama saw the neon sign (visible only to itty bitty kitties) indicating that this home was a Cat House, I'll never know. Mama bore a strong resemblance to Hillary. It was such a strong resemblance that Julius came running inside, went upstairs to make sure Hillary was snoozing in her usual afternoon sun puddle, then ran back down to watch Mama and her kittens. It was a routine which was repeated many many times over the coming weeks.

Naturally, we started feeding Mama (who was apparently ready to wean The Kits). Mama was never ever going to be domesticated, but I held out hope for The (three) Kits. I spent many happy hours watching the little cat family cavort in our weeds and get more comfortable with human interaction.

Soon I was able to capture Mama and have her spayed (I wasn't planning to run a kitty commune, after all). By now The Kits were weaned and were almost friendly. By the time I was packing to go to Houston for Quilt Festival in October, The Kits were indoor Kits and had been spayed (all were girls) and Julius officially had His Hairem. In the meantime, Mama took off for parts unknown.

Oreo, Lil Bit & Moo

So, now, our Cat Census is officially four. (One of the Kits, Lil Bit, succumbed to a respiratory ailment in December. But at least she experienced the joys and comfort of living as a kept kitty for a chunk of her little life.) Now Julius struts around with Moo (like her Mama, she's another tuxie with bovine-like spots) and Oreo (mostly black with a strategic white stripe—my DH works for Kraft Foods, which makes Oreo cookies?) and Hillary watches all of their craziness from atop her seven-foot cat tower.

It's almost a feline version of West Side Story, I'm not kidding.




New Beginnings Sunday is a weekly series featuring the story of a rescued pet and the ways in which the life of the animal and person has changed. This series will run through the end of 2009 in conjunction with Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit’s fundraising efforts for Bernie Berlin’s animal shelter, “A Place to Bark.”

**If you have a story that you would like to share, please email it along with a picture or two of your pet to BreakingTraditions@earthlink.net

New Beginnings Sunday

Toni Mitt's tale of the cocker spaniels who taught her about the joys of having dogs in her life:

Gracie

My husband and I got our first dog from a shelter in Illinois called Orphans of the Storm. We went down there on a Sunday, and found this poor little scared cocker spaniel that had been found wandering in a neighboring forest preserve. She was a beautiful buff color, and was cowering in the pen that she shared with a very gregarious beagle. We took her out into the yard, and were surprised at how proudly she walked on a leash. We think she was being groomed as a show dog, but for some reason was just dumped in the woods. Since she had just been found a few days before, we had to wait until the following Wednesday to adopt her. What torture!

Wednesday came, and I drove down with my daughter, Erika, who was in high school at the time. The gate was closed, as we had gotten there a few minutes early, and I spotted another car with several kids in it, also waiting for the place to open. I got a funny feeling in my gut, and I knew they were there for the same dog. When they opened the gate, I literally shoved Erika out of the car and told her to RUN to the door and tell them we want the cocker spaniel. I was right—one of the kids from the other car got to the door a second after Erika, and they, indeed, also wanted the spaniel. *Whew*

We named our new dog Gracie, after Gracie Allen, to honor her husband, George Burns, who had died just a few weeks before. Gracie was around 18 months old when we got her. She had a few health problems and went blind in about her 9th year, but she taught me a lot about second chances. She was a great dog and was loved and spoiled until she was 13.

Because of her, we bought another cocker spaniel from a puppy store when Gracie was around 5 years old. Beau, a stocky, playful sport spaniel, took over as the top dog in the house. He was a great help to Gracie when she went blind, leading her around the house and down the stairs to get out the door. I learned all about dogs from Gracie. I had never had one before, and I was surprised at their diverse personalities. Just like children!

Gracie had been gone a couple years, and Beau, who had a case of doggie glaucoma in both eyes, is now the old blind dog of the household. So, last September, we decided to get another rescue dog. We found our second buff cocker spaniel from Canine Rescues in Illinois. He had just gotten to his foster house on a Friday, and we picked him up on Saturday afternoon. He was about 11 weeks old, and just a little pistol.

Georgie

We named him Georgie, again to honor George Burns, and he is now 8 months old. We've started puppy school this week, and he, of course, is the problem child of the class. But I love him to death and he'll have a long and happy life with our family.





New Beginnings Sunday is a weekly series featuring the story of a rescued pet and the ways in which the life of the animal and person has changed. This series will run through the end of 2009 in conjunction with Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit’s fundraising efforts for Bernie Berlin’s animal shelter, “A Place to Bark.”

**If you have a story that you would like to share, please email it along with a picture or two of your pet to BreakingTraditions@earthlink.net

New Beginnings Sunday

Wendy Starn's tale of the many kitties in her life that inspire not only her heart but her artwork as well:


In early 2000, we acquired litter mates Boris and Natasha. While not strays, they were the babies of a stray kitten adopted by friends. Sadly, Natasha died of feline cancer in 2006.






Meanwhile, in 2005, a stray mama cat and her just-weaned kitten showed up on our back porch. We sat outside and talked to him as he gradually got closer and eventually let us touch him. Once mama found Moose a good home, she disappeared. Outdoors, he pretends to be feral, but when he comes inside, he's a teddy bear.






In August of 2008, my son found a tiny kitten under the hood of the car, covered in grease and fleas. He cleaned her up and she won his heart, as well as the scorn of our other two cats. Boris the black cat is determined to be Alpha male, and is also proud of his prowess at catching (catnip) mice, while Moose the orange cat is the mighty hunter of lizards and bugs (and a few real mice) who’s afraid of everything. Oslo the kitten sleeps in the dirty laundry, dreaming, no doubt, of how best to annoy her big brothers.



And here they are in my quilt, Cornered! (2009). All are based on my photos, and constructed of fused fabric with threadpainted fur.

Boris the black cat

Moose the orange cat

Oslo the kitten

You can see the full view of Cornered! here.







New Beginnings Sunday is a weekly series featuring the story of a rescued pet and the ways in which the life of the animal and person has changed. This series will run through the end of 2009 in conjunction with Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit’s fundraising efforts for Bernie Berlin’s animal shelter, “A Place to Bark.”

**If you have a story that you would like to share, please email it along with a picture or two of your pet to BreakingTraditions@earthlink.net

2009 Participation Prize Showcase

For those who are new to the exhibit, a Participation Prize is just that - something you have a chance to win simply by participating in the exhibit.

Prizes are donated and everyone's name goes into a hat and the winners are randomly drawn. This is one of the things that makes this exhibit such a joy to organize and be a part of. It feels as if we have all become one big happy family.


The photo above shows the wonderful Fabric and Embellishment kits that were put together with the generous donations from Carol Ann Waugh, Edna J. Patterson-Petty and Peggy Trickler.

There are five opportunities to win one of these fabulous packs!

There are many more prizes being offered this year. They will continue to be showcased on the blog in the upcoming weeks so stay tuned! (Also, all the prizes shown on the blog can be found in a link list on the right hand sidebar under the title Check Out the Prize Opportunities for 2009!)