Metaphor and Moi

trunk show



November 19, 2009
7 pm



Mindemoya Community Centre
Manitoulin Island Canada

Here are some highlights from the article that Jackie White sent to the Expositor to promote Judy's talk.

Why does Judy quilt? "I love to stitch. I love the look and power of old quilts. I love the story telling and the many layers of meaning. I love the connection to the bed and all of life's major and minor rituals and passages. I feel that quilts are a woman artist's most honest medium."

At the national level, two of her quilts won top awards at the Canadian Quilters Association's National Juried quilt show in Saskatoon last May. "Twenty Four Hour Care" won first place in the traditional wall quilt category and "Memory of Wikwemikong" won second place in abstract wall quilt.

If quilting doesn't keep her busy enough, Judy is working on a second BA. She already has an Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts from Lakehead University (1993). And the current degree is an Honours BA in Embroidered Textiles. Middlesex University in the UK gives creditation to the courses that she is studying with the Julia Caprara School of Textile Art. She participates in this study by email and phone tutorials and sends her work in for assessment every four months. She has been doing this for three years and has three more left.

After quilting for four decades, it is amazing she is still motivated to pursue this hobby. What keeps Judy going? "The next one. I just love to do it. I'm passionate about art and about cloth and about communicating with others through visual means."
Judy Martin's new work reflects her current passion for hand stitching. She's used embroidery before in her quilts, but the new work takes it further to a more powerful level. Judy says that she "has become much simpler in the designs I like to use in my work. Circles predominate, and grids of dots are the favourites. I want to affect people at an emotional level."

If you want to meet this remarkable woman and see her outstanding quilts, please come to the Mindemoya Community Centre on November 19th at 7 pm. Guest admission is $3.00.