Our little fellow in the cartoon above seems to have his mind everywhere else than in the set of his usual reflections.

We have it a little like him, being in transition between the everyday activities and the period in the year where we can devote a significant time to the cooperative activities in the creative department.

We have cleaned the plate in the studio and packed notebooks (Yes, the old fashioned with paper) and cameras in the backpacks – our minds are open.

Last week’s blog gave you a hint at what days are like, these days, where we are cleaning the plate and hassling with the logistics which must be sorted out before we go on holidays. This busyness could lead to the image of us sinking down in absolute tranquillity when we eventually arrive at the holiday destination – relaxing with the conscience of an angel knowing that we ticked off all marks before leaving home.

Well, it is not exactly so. Why not? It is not so because we use our holidays for another kind of preparation – the preparation for the works we are going to start after the vacation. It is a very important part of our artistic life – that of going away from home and its everyday circles and obligations – having as only objectives to collect inspiration and discuss approaches for our next projects and quilt related activities.

One of our holiday destinations is especially suited for these activities, the reason for us returning again and again. It also is well suited for small meetings and social get-togethers, the reason why we for some time planned to meet a quilting colleague there during one of our stays. The place is not far from her Danish home town so it would be the ideal place to relax and discuss with her, and we had indeed been looking forward to making it happen.

But something came between us and our plans.

It was resident or Fort Myers, Florida Dr. Joan Frantz with whom we had worked out plans for such a meeting – and that something which came between us was illness. Joan is no longer with us and we will never have that meeting in Denmark. We will also never again have our good long talks after hours in Houston, where we met.

Our first encounter was at the awards ceremony at the 2005 Quilt Festival where she quietly approached us from behind and congratulated us in Danish with “River of Life” – the piece with the swan family. A little surprised we turned around and saw a cheerful ginger with lively eyes, who presented herself as Joan. Through the acquaintance with her we learned that she had great depths of good mood, which seemed to work very well with her determined mind when it came to her professional life as certified optometric physician or her artistic life as a quilter.

Now, it was in her artistic life that we knew Joan. We will not forget the discussions we had with her regarding her continued strive for evolving her ways of artistic expression. We really looked forward to seeing this materialize through her future creations. Unfortunately, this evolution came to a definitive halt, so we have to extrapolate in our minds from those of her works that we have seen.

Coming to think about it, this not bad at all. Why? Well, because amidst the sadness of the loss of a good friend and colleague in the arts, we have this possibility – the possibility to think her artistic production further. It gives a good feeling and reminds us about the special thing about quilters: They leave a legacy for those of us who are still around and for those who are to come.

We feel inclined to conclude these few commemorative by saying: “Æret være Joans Minde!” which in English would read something like: “Honoured be the Memory of Joan!”

There is this about the summer holidays. Although there are other periods of vacation scattered over the calendar year it appears that the summer holidays sing out as a marker, more significant than the other periods. Why that is so I do not know for sure. Perhaps it promises the most relaxed and informal period of the year, often in places away from home which can be very inspiring and beautiful – and that is exactly what we are looking forward to.

So, yes, as last year, these days I’m looking forward to this year’s summer break. It is still some weeks away and you might wonder if I’m following the psychologists’ advice of gearing down slowly as a preparation for the perfect vacation, so that I can really tap into the multitude of inspirational sources I know is out there in the places, where Inge and I will spend it.

The answer is that I’m not gearing down slowly. We’re as busy as ever. And it is not only because the exhibition at the MAQS requires that the works being selected these days need to get prepared and shipped in due time for the opening on August 16 – and it is not only because we also have a couple of other works that need preparation and shipment to their respective exhibitions in the coming days.

It is because we are busy cleaning the plate, if I could put it that way. Procrastination on my part has left a project on the wall for too long, and experience tells us that it is not good to come back from vacation, fully loaded with ideas and inspiration and ready to set off on new artistic adventures – just to be greeted upon return by an unfinished piece of work shouting for attention. It has the effect of a needle in a balloon.

So, our studio is full of activities. Brushes are being washed, colours mixed, and the piece on the wall is gradually getting ready – in other words, the procrastinator is being kept to his obligations.

2 x 1280 grammes of fine art were what we picked up at the post office yesterday.

You are wrong if you now imagine me walking around in our apartment with nails between the lips and a hammer in the hip pocket busy searching for a free space on the walls where I can place two paintings or framed silver gelatine photographs.

What we picked up at the post office were 2 copies of a book recently issued by the US publisher Lark Books. When held in the hands while examining the interestingly designed cover page and reading the title of the book “Masters – Art Quilts” its physical dimensions (72 cubic inches) and weight inevitably add to the expectations that we’re here talking about art of a certain calibre.

This first impression was of course very pleasing for us, since we are amongst the contributing artists, whom the book presents as “Fourty of the leading international artists working today”. However, the title was also somewhat pretentious so it cannot wonder that the thought surfaced as to whether the content of the book would meet the ambitions of Lark Books and the author/curator Martha Sielman.

A look inside was the next logical step, and as I usually do when introducing myself to a new book I thumb-browsed it backwards – and it was interesting what I  saw. The disposition of the space dedicated to presenting the artists’ individual groups of works, citations and associated text by the author made the book as a whole appear very inviting to discover.

Now, whether a book presenting about a dozen works of each of the 40 artists (or couple of artists in our case) is meant to be read serially from the beginning to the end, the author and publisher will know better than me, since their ideas and ambitions have been the driving forces behind this milestone of a book. The answer isn’t important to me, really. What is more interesting is that the selection of artists provides for diversity in ways and means of artistic expression and the layout of the book invites the reader to getting acquainted with the artists in an individual meandering and explorative way.

And this is good. It is good because it allows the individuality of the reader to harmonize with the individuality of the artists at his/her own pace. It is good because with this book it is ok to jump impulsively back and forth, take in a series of artists, jump again to do comparisons or to revisit points that caught interest.

Above I referred to the book as a milestone. It was done in the sense that the book represents a broad view of where the concept of Quilt Art is today and how it got there over the last decade. A mile down the road there will be another stone and the view will be different. But it would be fair to say that the book is very representational of our corner of the art world as I know it today.

It should be a good thing to own, this book. If you do not already have it, then you can purchase it at Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), amazon or in book stores. When you get it, check out the pages 330-339, and see if you agree that here are “major works by leading artists” as the cover states. We are of course flattered by being referred to as such, but as we always say, when a piece of artwork has left our studio, our opinions about it do no longer count – it will be in the hands of the viewers.