Aunt Annie’s Quilt Shop Owner Curates
Quilt and Textile Show
on Sunday, September 12, 2010
Lucy Senstad, curator, artist and owner of Aunt Annie’s Quilts and Silks, brings together work from a pool of talented women quilters and textile artists from around the region. In addition to Senstad’s own work, the show will feature pieces by Mary Follett, specializing in fabric creations and dolls; Jamie Kalvestran, creator of quilting fabric and personal accessories; Caron Lage, fiber artist and quilter whose work employs unique colors and textures. All artists’ work will be on display at the Whitby Gift Shop and Gallery at Saint Benedict’s Monastery starting on Sunday, September 12, 2010, with a reception at 2 p.m.
Each artist’s work is distinctive. Senstad’s fabric prints are made by applying ink or paint to a gelatin slab and adding objects such as leaves or flowers to create a design. This mixture is then pressed onto cloth, creating a one-of-a-kind image. The prints can be used in quilt designs or matted and framed. Senstad’s fabric and quilt shop, Aunt Annie’s Quilts and Silks, is located in Avon, Minn., and features exclusive fabrics from around the world.
Mary Follett hails from Thief River Falls, Minn. Follett creates non-traditional dolls using found objects and innovative design. She is inspired by both the natural beauty of the northern Minnesota landscape and the vivid colors of Mexican folk design.
Jamie Kalvestran, artist from Elk River, Minn., is a graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, holding a degree in product design. She has won several awards for toy design from the Tonka and Manhattan Toy companies and has worked as costume designer at The Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis. She is CEO of Kalvestran, Inc., marketing the Scrap-bags label of original patterns sold through independent retail quilt and fabric shops. Kalvestran’s innovative fabric and pattern designs are inspired by nature and especially her love of animals.
Caron Lage, of St. Cloud, Minn., began quilting early in her sewing career. However, it was only after joining the Quilters’ Guild of North Dakota that she began exploring more interesting and complex color and texture in her quilts. This exploration continues today, as her pieces push the limits of traditional quiltmaking. Her work includes recently organizing the “And Still Counting” Iraq War Memorial Project, honoring soldiers killed in the conflict.
See recent works by the artists featured in “Quilting and Textile Art” at Art and Heritage Place’s Whitby Gallery. An opening reception will be held on Sunday, September 12, 2010, at 2 p.m. The exhibit runs through October 24. Hours for the gallery on the campus of Saint Benedict’s Monastery are Tuesday – Friday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., and Saturday – Sunday, 1–3:30 p.m. The gallery is closed Mondays.