Support Your Local Artist

Those of us who create stuff know the feeling when someone else likes what we have made.  And if someone buys one of our works, that's a great feeling--knowing the art we made touched another person enough that they wanted to own and enjoy it.

I have an old friend, from kindergarten as best we can remember, who is a quilt artist with several awards to her credits, several large commissions in public spaces, and terrific small quilts for sale at Tidewater Gallery in Swansboro, NC.  Her name is Eileen Williams and you can see her work here.

As someone who loves the beach and ocean and rarely gets there, I wanted a piece of Eileen's art to admire and remind me of the sea so I bought this piece:

Reach for the Stars
9" x 12"
 

Eileen is featured in the current issue of Quilting Arts magazine, June/July 2013--a terrific article about her and her work. 

We have a few interesting things in common:  we grew up just a couple blocks from each other and went to the same elementary, junior and high schools in Philadelphia.  After college, she went in the Navy and I joined the Marine Corps.  We both married Marine Lieutenants from Alabama, and raised sons--she has 3, I have 2.  And we both found our artistic outlet in quiltmaking--though our styles are very different, our passion is the same. 

Now I have to find the perfect spot in my home for this beauty--somewhere I can see it every day, smell the salt air and hear the waves. 

If you get the opportunity to support a local artist, do it!  It's good for the soul--of both of you.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara