BACK

Mother’s Day
46”x46”x1”, 2001

During spring of 2001, I was commissioned by Spokane’s Children’s Museum to create a visual-poetry-in-action piece for their participation in HoopFest. They provided me workspace next door to their administrative offices in an unoccupied former bank building.

After the HoopFest project was completed, the Children’s Museum graciously offered to let me continue to use the space for the summer. The building , at the corner of Riverside and Post in the heart of downtown (just a block south of the city’s showpiece, RiverPark Square!), has a gigantic lobby with floor to ceiling windows and several adjacent, empty “work rooms.”

I set up a bench and easel near the windows and each day worked on Mother’s Day. A sign in the window announced “Quilt Under Construction.” It explained to passersby what I was doing and invited them to feel free to come in, say hello, and take a closer look. It also announced my upcoming show at the Lorinda Knight Gallery in September.

Mother’s Day is a traditional “bar” quilt, a type often created by Amish quilters.

The “mother” in this quilt is the “ew” in “Dew” turned upside down to read “MA.” The upside down “w” reads as an “m;” the upside down “e” reads as an “a.” The phrase is “Ma Dew” – mother’s are go-getters. Mother’s “Foster.” (Also they whip up all sorts of goodies in blenders from “Oster.”) Mother’s are “Natural.” We get our sense of what is and isn’t right (natural) from mothers. Mother’s provide our “diet.” Mothers sometimes pit their natural selves against a diet.

The “weave” or “braid” nail pattern on some of the plastic stripes is a copy of just such a design a traditional quilter might follow in the quilting process.

Mother’s Day is a quilt on a clothesline to “air” and is caught up by the breeze.

Table Of Contents:

Mountain Dew soda
Coca-Cola Classic
Foster’s Lager
Western Family Lemon-Lime soda
Two Old Linoleums from my father’s family home
Natural beer
Kokanee beer
Diet Coke (caffeine free)
Diet Dr. Pepper
JuiceMakers
Gray shampoo bottles
Misc. pink plastic
Misc. green plastic
Misc. aquamarine plastic
Misc. purple plastic

If you’re interested in purchasing Mother's Day, or would like to learn more about my community involvement projects, please e-mail me at Rikn@ArtsEnrich.com, phone 509 362-5296, or write to me at P.O. Box 161, Marshall, WA 99020.

ABOUT ACE     COMMUNITY PROJECTS    RIK'S GALLERY    UP & COMING     RIK'S RESUME    HOME
P.O. Box 161, Marshall, WA 99020 / 509 362-5296 / Rikn@ArtsEnrich.com