Atlanta Quilt Festival

This past weekend sweet hubby and I took a lovely drive down to Georgia for the 2012 Atlanta Quilt Festival, sponsored by the Clara Ford Foundation. They invited me down to teach a workshop and to speak as part of their festival.

What a treat! As soon as we entered the building, we were greeted by a multitude of bright, vibrant quilts. It was really a great exhibit. I only realized afterwards that I was so focused on mentally preparing for teaching the workshop that I completely forgot to take pictures of the exhibit! I invite you to visit their website where they have the winning quilts posted.

I spent most of the day teaching how to shade faces, first by using a dry medium and then a wet medium. This is always a challenging class. Of the 21 ladies, only three had done portraits before. I was thrilled that all the ladies were really enthusiastic. I spoke several times about putting fears aside, relaxing, experimenting, and just enjoying it.

Here are the results of the morning session where they were using crayons, colored pencils, pastels, or some other dry medium. I always start with those because people are typically more comfortable with them. I also had them choose just one non-skin color so they could focus just on learning to shade the face so it looks more three-dimensional.

Here are the results of the afternoon session where they were using fabric paints, inks, watercolor pencils, or some other wet medium. These things are much more challenging because you have to control the liquid medium so it doesn’t spread too much. You are also faced with the challenge of trying to make smooth gradations. I think we had great results, especially since this was completely new to so many of them.

After the workshop, I had the opportunity to show a PowerPoint presentation of a wide variety of quilted portraits made by many different quilters, and then I showed a trunk show of my own quilts. It was great fun because everyone was so eager to see the details and ask questions.

Both sweet hubby and I felt very welcomed the entire day. Thank you all, ladies! You made our visit really wonderful.


Comments

4 responses to “Atlanta Quilt Festival”

  1. Rosalind Rubens Newell Avatar
    Rosalind Rubens Newell

    Maria’s workshop was so much fun while being instructive at the same time. As a non-painter she made the process understandable and a joy. Maria really encouraged you to put your fears aside and to enjoy the process of learning how to shade faces and features. Her husband, Dave, was a steady and helpful presence, offering encouragement to us throughout the day. Maria’s trunk show at the end of the day was the icing on the cake to a spectacular experience. Thank you and God Bless. Roz

    1. Thanks, Ros! We had a great time with your group.

  2. Charlotte Avatar
    Charlotte

    Maria, I really, really enjoyed the workshop. Didn’t think I could
    function well outside of my traditional quilting world.

    Thanks,
    charlotte

    1. I think you did very well, Charlotte! Don’t be afraid to experiment more 🙂