Pamela Allen's Class 2012

Pamela Allen 

 Pamela (B.F.A. Queens University) has taught in the Fine Art department at Queens University both on campus and as an instructor in the Far North through the Aboriginal Teachers Education Program (ATEP). In addition, Pamela has received nine Artists in the Schools Grants from the Ontario Arts Council through which she has gained much experience and inspiration teaching young children. Since 2002, she has been leading workshops for fabric art in the U.S. and Canada and has traveled to South Africa to teach there as well.

Pamela has been a full time artist for several decades and has been working in fabric since 2002. She has exhibited in many national and international quilt art exhibitions and has won numerous awards for her quilts among them awards from IQA Chicago and Houston, major award from Quilt Canada and other venues. She has had her work published in the Quilting Arts Magazine, Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine, and the Canadian Quilters Magazine. Her work has been included in the recently published Masters: Art Quilt (Lark books) and Creating with Fabric (Tweetiejill Publisher). Pamela has made an instructional DVD as well, called THINK LIKE AN ARTIST!

Olivia 

 The prospect of outings to Sulmona, sketchbooks in hand will also enrich the art you will be making. And don’t worry about the drawing part…I will be there to help and as a bonus I am bringing my beloved (fashion designer) stepdaughter, Olivia with me who can draw even better than I can!

 We are really happy and proud to announce Pamela has won Professional Quilter's

'Teacher of the Year' award for 2012.

We congratulate Pamela on this wonderful achievment and consider ourselves privledged

to have her teach here with us in Italy.

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  Pamela Allen's

Italian Fabric Memories

I am just as excited as you are at the prospect of traveling to the Abruzzo region in Italy (pronounced abruttso).  I have a workshop all planned for that venue in particular. I am a veteran quilty traveler by now, and plan to stuff my case with as much fabric and as few clothes as possible. That fabric will be for all of you who join the course so along with what you manage to bring we should have a biggish class stash. Students from my online classes have done cityscapes too, even of their remembered trips to Italy, but imagine what OURS will look like when we are right there living it.

Suzanne 1 

Suzanne 2 

Holly 

 Doesn’t the area and accommodation look smashing? And I can assure you the workshop will be challenging yet lots of fun and a good art learning experience.

I am available by email for any questions in particular about my plans. allen5@sympatico.ca

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  Italian Fabric Memories

The main focus of this workshop is to venture outside the conventional methods of quilt making into an open ended approach to ART MAKING with fabric. Many of the techniques, of course, are familiar to art quilters...quilting, appliqué (in this case raw edged appliqué). But the actual techniques used will be the servant of the imagery and concept, rather than the tyrant dictating what is or is not acceptable. No measuring, no matching points, no bias binding, and no squaring up until the end! We therefore will develop several fabric collages by freehand scissor cutting, layering of different fabrics, mixing unlikely combinations of fabrics, exploring three dimensional effects by means of rolled or stuffed fabric...many and ANY other means to achieve interesting works of art.

We will be visiting a spectacular location for our art week. The subjects of the three smallish quilts we will design will be a sort of diary of our outings to the towns and markets. One will be of a townscape, in this case a town with a beautiful Medieval ambiance with houses and churches and piazzas such as no other country but Italy can offer. Another will be an Italian landscape reflecting our picnics and visit to an olive grove. The third will be people oriented after enjoying the local “passegata” on the piazza as well as having visited the market. During these outings you will be helped to capture the essence of what interests you with a quick informative sketch.

Changes, additions and subtractions can be made to the image at any stage of development so the outcome is always open ended and flexible. There are NO quilt police in this class and anything that can be attached to fabric in any way that is permanent is grist for the mill! In a week long workshop, students will have 3 fully realized compositions assembled with some stitching done.

Materials.

Any fabric suitable for backing a small quilt .A selection of fabric remnants of ll types ( cottons, specialty fabrics) all colours, prints and stripes...don’t forget recycled clothing, a great source for interesting and varied fabrics! You will necessarily need to keep your stash small but relevant to our subjects.

Glue stick at least two ought to be enough.

Selection of embroidery floss...lots of colours! Embroidery sized needles.

Scissors, needles, thimble, other basic sewing regalia

Batting suitable in size for 3 small quilts. These may be around 20-24” size

Machine is not required

Email Pamela if you have any questions:   allen5@sympatico.ca