Ann Johnston’s eight-year project making large quilts about the geology, gold rush, and landscape of the Sierra Nevada in California is described in this 146-page book. The gallery section includes 31 pieces with overall views, close up details, and many of the backs. The inspiration and process sections—over 62 pages—show the sources of her ideas and the processes involved in dyeing the fabric, assembling the pieces and quilting the designs. The text throughout is concise and informative, telling a personal story as well as one of geologic and historic events. The work has been shown, so far, in the Martin Museum of Art, Baylor University, TX; Exposición Nacional de patchwork, Sitges, Spain; University of California Art Gallery and Kolligian Library, Merced, CA; Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, England; Le Carrefour Européen, Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, France; Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA; Johnsville Historical Society, Johnsville, CA; Northeastern Nevada Museum of Art, Elko, NV; Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, CO; and Nevada Museum of Art, Reno NV. Contact Ann for exhibition proposal.
$35 Purchase from Ann Johnston on Amazon
8.5” x 11”, full color, 146 pages, soft cover
©2017 Ann Johnston Publisher, Lake Oswego, Oregon USA
ISBN: 978-0-9656776-6-0
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“This is a beautiful book of beautiful work. Everything I look for in an artist’s catalog is present here. The work is profound and presented so that the entire series is seen. Then there is the inspiration for the work and the artist’s connection to it. In addition to all this, we get a look into the artist’s studio and her processes of dyeing the fabric and drawing with thread, an expression of mind I had not seen before. The quilts reflect not only her love of the Sierra Nevada but also demonstrate a relationship with the forms that the geology of this area presents. This catalog should be in the hands of anyone interested in art and idea, fine craft, working in series, and interested in learning from an authentic voice. Fantastic.”
– Timothy C. Ely, Artist, Colfax, Washington
“The experience of looking through The Contact is akin to seeing these quilts hung in a large gallery and walking among them in person. The contrast in scale between the presentation of the whole quilts and the adjacent full page close-up details is like being able to view the quilts from across the room, then step closer to examine the details of the beautiful stitching and dye work, further enhancing that feeling of immersion in the quilts themselves. The intimate family history linked to the geography allows a connection to the work that gives me a simultaneous grand and almost tactile experience with a landscape unfamiliar to me. Then the “Process” section pulls all this into a practical perspective showing how some of the quilts were made by the author in her studio, which again not only reinforces the scale of the individual quilts but of the magnitude of this whole collection made over the years.”
– Judith Quinn Garnett, Fiber Artist, Portland, Oregon