Ruth B. McDowell

Yesterday's post and the comments I received put me in mind of Ruth B. McDowell. If you ever have an opportunity to see her speak, jump on it--she's wonderfully entertaining, besides being a great quilt artist. A few years back, our quilt guild engaged her to speak, and it was one of the most enjoyable presentations I can remember. She's warm and witty and her quilts are marvelous! Even if you're not an "arty" quilter, I'm sure you'd enjoy her presentation and take something away that you can use in your own work.

When she came to lecture our group, Ruth brought real "live" quilts with her as well as a top rate slide show of her works. As she showed each slide, she talked about the piece and how it came into being. Near the end of her presentation, she told us that because she had been labeled an "artist," and many artists produce nude self-portraits, she had embarked on a series of quilts in that artistic vein. "Oh, Lord," I thought, "do I really want to see this?" As she clicked to the next slide, I'm sure that those around me had similar thoughts. Quickly, though, laughter broke out as we all saw that her first nude quilt "portrait" depicted her naked feet!

So, with Ruth's example in mind, you'll see in my sidebar that I've posted the first of MY series of nude self portraits! More will follow at some point, I'm sure!