MASTERY: NANCY CROW

Mastery: Sustaining Momentum is an exhibition curated by renowned quilter Nancy Crow, launching at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham next month. With a powerhouse of contemporary artists taking part from countries the world over, Mastery will exhibit new, bold and large-scale works by twelve master quilters including Crow herself.

Presented by The Dairy Barn Arts Centre in Ohio, this show will be a rare opportunity for craft enthusiasts in the UK to see so many global masters in one place. In anticipation of the show’s launch, each artist was asked by Crow to create three large-scale works which will come together to form one monumental spectacle for visitors to feast their eyes on. Having originally trained in ceramics and weaving in the US, Crow has been poised as the spearhead of the Art Quilt movement on both sides of the Atlantic since the 1970s, and comes to Birmingham with a wealth of expertise and unique insight into this worldwide craft.

Known for her graphic style of quilting, Crow taught herself to use a rotary cutter without a ruler and soon, she developed this skill in a way that was akin to drawing with a pencil, fluidly cutting her fabric with the greatest of ease. Combined with her intuitive feel for composition, she is also a colourist of the first order. Her weaving background has helped inform her knowledge of dyeing, and she dyes vast quantities of fabric to give her the extensive palette she needs.

Exhibiting new work alongside Crow at the Festival of Quilts will be artists Bonnie Bucknam, Colleen Kole, Heide Stoll-Weber and Kit Vincent to name a few. Celebrating quilting in all its forms with hundreds of exhibitors, workshops, talks and demonstrations, this exhibition looks set to be a highlight of the festival this year.

All Selvedge readers will receive a special discount of £2.50 off by quoting SVG17 at the checkout. For more information on the festival and to avail of your discount, go to 

www.thefestivalofquilts.co.uk