As Promised - New Finished Work
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 04:46AM There are three stories and I am going to tell them - bear with me as the quilts are only intended to be the tip of the iceberg, a memento.
Collections
Jenny Bowker
My pieces for Collections started as work based on the things I own, and in these quilts I have featured things from Egypt.
I love my cluttered home, and every object has a story. Each is a starting point- it evokes a memory of people or places, maybe one specific time, or a long period of multiple visits. As I made the work it became important to include some of the people I loved in the city
of Cairo.
Hassan and the Glass
Hassan blows glass in a tiny room in the centre of a square opposite the Qaitbey Mosque in the City of the Dead in Cairo.
The room is overwhelmingly hot, even in Winter, and shelves around the room are packed with bright treasures. Colours are so vivid that they seem to trap the fire inside the glass. I went there often and each time I would buy some small pieces.
I wanted some sense of the ordered ranks of jewel-like glass in its silhouetted shapes, and the incredible heat of the room and that Hassan continually worked with. I worried that the quilt was too rigid as I started the racks of glass, but it seemed to improve as I started free-cutting elements of fire.
I noticed that as he started to work with the molten glass, he focussed and became intent. I wanted that concentration and I wanted his face to be really strong.
Ittayer - The Friday Market in the City of the Dead
Ittayer has a junk stall in the City of the Dead. It is not tidy - it
is grotty and cluttered and he rarely has things I actually wanted to
buy. He has a wonderful welcoming smile. I have a collection of old
keys, and a few locks, and hamzas - the hand-shaped protection against
the Jealous Eye.
I do not actually have an image of his stall - but I am using bits and pieces from many places.
He has a marvelous relaxed smile and a joyous attitude yet he lives in one of the hardest places in Cairo.
He usually sells metals and I have found some treasures over the years.
Abu Ali and the Gilded Chairs
Abu Ali is usually strikingly dressed in black and white in the area
where he carves and sells chairs.
He is guaranteed a living as this is one thing even the most wealthy Egyptians will spend money on. The chairs are gilded and covered in elaborate fabrics, silks and satins and flocked velvets. It is so strange to walk in the tiny overcrowded streets of the furniture areas and see, among the dirt, these chair frames gilded and glowing.
On this day I had arrived to bring him some photographs and found that
he was not well. The escort I gathered in asking for him took me to
his window and I handed up the photos. He was moved and thrilled to
get them, and this is when I took this photograph.
Now you know what I have been doing for the last few months. I have been missing Egypt and have been working my fingers off trying to re-create some elements in my house.
I decided to blog these when I realised that none can really be competitive in the States. All are committed to the Collections for two years of travel. By then they are just too old for Houston and many large shows in the US.
So - you might as well see them.
Reader Comments (34)
While your quilt work is lovely, indeed, I enjoyed this post so much for the stories of the Egyptian artisians and the photos of their shops and work. Well done on all! Just found your blog today and am enjoying it very much, thanks!
Your quilts are absolutely spectacular and the stories that go with them add so much!
Jenny,
I am so happy to see true craftsmanship again. When I have travelled and taught in the Middle East, it made me happy to still see men who made brooms and carved and hammered bowls. Thanks for sharing these pics!
Linda
http://www.lmpoole.blogspot.com
wow!! THOSE are AWESOME! I love your colors, and what realism. You have really captured the emotion on the faces of the old men. Thank you for sharing. I love it!
Jenny - I have just seen these quilts today at the Textile Art Festival in Brisbane. They are so amazing - you're work is truly fabulous. As is the work by all members of tACTile.
We had to keep going back to them to look at every detail - each time we saw something new.
Sharon
Dear Jenny, I have followed your blog for a long time and loved these quilts when I saw them here, but yesterday I saw them in real life at the Textile Art Festival in Brisbane and I just had to tell you that I thought they were the most beautiful quilts I have ever seen. You are a great artist.
I have spent some time in Cairo as an exchange student many years ago and loved it. Your quilts capture the atmosphere very well. We hope to be able to live and work there some day, but if that isn't possible we will at least visit again when our boys are a little older and show them this beautiful country.
Best wishes, Linda Robertus
Outstanding! Your writing, your photos, your quilts! Very inspiring. Gale
What a talent you have!
Jenny I hope these quilts are going to make it to the QuiltWest Show in WA this year. I saw Hashim in the flesh & that was stunning! Would be awesome to see more of your work in the flesh!
Cheryl