Pictures from the "Journey of Hope" Book Opening

Two of my quilts, pictured below, were featured on pages 186 and 188 of the "Journey of Hope" book. All the quilts featured in this book were inspired by President Barack Obama.

To the left: "Inspired Change" quilt. To the right: "Unparalleled Journey" quilt. See more pictures from the event below.

Go to ImageShack® to Create your own Slideshow

You can find this book many mass retail, bookstores like Borders, Barnes & Noble, etc.

You can also find it on Amazon.com from the link below:

Sisters' Network Cincinnati Breast Cancer Quilts

The beginning of this month, I was commissioned by the Sisters Network-Cincinnati to make a quilt for each of their 5 honorees. (Sisters Network is a group that was created by African American breast cancer survivors to promote awareness in the African American community.) Click on any of the pictures to see a larger view.









To learn more about the Sisters Network Cincinnati and what went on this month, please visit their website at www.SistersNetworkCincy.org

My Newest Style: Collage Quilting

I've started expanding my style of quilting and have become addicted to creating what I like to call "collage quilts".












You can find these quilts in Eula boutique right now for purchase.

Global Lead Art Gallery Exhibit

These are some of my quilts that are hanging up in the Global Lead Art Gallery here in Cincinnati for their "Building on Tradition-Contemporary Quiltmaking" exhibition.



They've been up for the past 3 months and came down yesterday but I still wanted to share a few of them with you.

"Seeds of a Dream" Quilt

I was commissioned by Kennedy Heights Arts Center to create a quilt in celebration of their 5 year anniversary. I talked about this back in April when I had first started to draft ideas for it and had given you a sneak peek of my progress.


Here is the finished project:



The symbolism of it....

The founders' names are placed all around the seeds to reflect that they sewed the seeds that took root and formed the foundation of the arts center. The branches of the tree are the collective hands of a community that worked together to create a vision for the art center. Inside of the crystal ball is the Kennedy Heights Arts Center building.


If you're in the Cincinnati area, stop by the center to see the quilt among the other great works of art displayed.

Kennedy Heights Arts Center
6546 Montgomery Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45213
513.631.4278

www.kennedyarts.com

"Honey's Mango Bop" Quilt

On June 23rd, 2009, my "Honey's Mango Bop" quilt was one of the many featured in the "TEXTURAL RHYTHMS: CONSTRUCTING THE JAZZ TRADITION -- CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AMERICAN QUILTS" exhibition opening at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City.

The venue was packed with art, quilt, and jazz lovers all around.



Great works from artists included Carolyn Crump and Carolyn L. Mazloomi, who organized the exhibition.

I couldn't be there so my daughter went to represent for me and even signed a book on my behalf.



The exhibit will be there till October 11th. To learn more about it and museum, Click Here

I'm back

Happy New Year!

I know that it has been forever since I posted. The election is over, Barack Obama won, YEAH!! The holidays have come and the inauguration is just next week! Wow, time really flies.

I was planning on attending the inauguration next week, but instead I had the honor of going to Washington D.C. this past weekend to participate in a quilt show to celebrate the inauguration.

The "Quilts for Obama: An Exhibit Celebrating the Inauguration of our 44th President" exhibit opened on Sunday, January 11, 2009 at the Washington Historical Society. I was one of forty four master quilters that were invited to submit a quilt depicting the journey to historical event of Barack Obama being elected as our 44th President.

I am so blessed to have been accompanied by my husband, daughter, sister, nieces, nephews and close friends. I was especially blessed to have my best friend, Valerie, to travel all the way from Toronto, Canada to surprise me and attend. It was a great experience.

Myself and three of my fellow quilters were featured on the front page of the Cincinnati Enquirer on January 12, 2009. It was great to get public recognition, many thanks go out to my sister-friend Rosalind Thomas for making it happen.


I'll post the article when I figure out how to. In the meantime I have attached a photo of the quilt and artist statement explaining it. Enjoy!


Quilts for Obama: An Exhibit Celebrating the Inauguration of our 44th President
“Unparalleled Journey” by Carole Gary Staples

When I reflect upon the United States of America’s journey to elect an African-American as its 44th president, my heart radiates with joy and astonishment. America’s journey to equality has been an accumulation of many parallel, long arduous voyages, and rites of passage. This piece is representative of the United States’ journey, Black America’s journey and White America’s journey, which together made this historical event possible.

“Unparalleled Journey” commemorates images of many of the symbolic, authentic and significant events encountered along this journey. The three ribbons of color, which flow through the work, represent the three journeys, parallel in time, yet unparalleled in reality. The quilt also depicts events in our history that contributed to America being readied spiritually, physically and mentally for an African-American to be elected to its highest office.

Quotations by Barack Obama and other historic leaders flank the outer border of the quilt. Many of the symbolic images within the piece reflect the meaning and the prophecy of those quotations.


Slavery

The brown print fabric at the bottom of the piece represents the land that this great country is built upon. Footprints dominate the green print that I choose to show those who made the historic middle passage and the blue print represents the water that delivered a people to the shores of this great land. The female images depict the dark days of slavery. The figure clad in the muted hued dress is a slave; the one in the vibrant dress is freed. Also celebrated on the “Journey” are the old Negro hymns and the Emancipation Proclamation, without which this journey could never have been made.

Unity

The experience of seeing the many colors of the rainbow is one that we can all share and The Rev. Jesse Jackson has often spoken about. I’ve included it in my piece to signify that unity is possible among all Americans and is representative of the multitude of ethnicity's that make up this country. Mountains seen in the background reflect the strength required to continue on the “Journey” and reflects the many references to mountains made by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in many of his speeches. Any bill signed into law by the President of the United States requires paperwork and documentation. That is the reason I have included the three blank documents as well. They represent historic legislation such as Brown v. The Board of education, the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. All of which occurred during the continuation of the “Unparalleled Journey”.

Diversity

The autumn scenery in the background represents a figurative change of season in America. Autumn marks a time of transition and is the season of primary harvest. On this journey it is the season in which a greatly hoped for and anticipated transition occurred and the seeds sown during the summer indeed resulted in a season of “primary harvest” for 2008 America. Diversity is represented in the rally of the diverse people seen on the face if the quilt. While we are different in many ways we are all Americans and we have journeyed well together.