Hardware

There were few rules, just the way people with creative minds like it. Each art quilt would be 15" high and the exhibit would be installed in a continuous horizontal stripe around the gallery wall. The materials used were left up to the imagination of the individual artist. The theme was open to wide interpretation.

It was in this spirit of creative freedome that HARDWARE, a term with many meanings, was born. In their attempt to capture the different meanings of HARDWARE, the artists have used varied techniques. Some members hand dyed fabrics; some used commercial materials. One used screening and machine embroidery, another recycled plastic bread tags. Others chose to incorporate commercial cogs, nails, thead drawings, polymer clay, and worn clothing (making hardware into "hard wear".)

The images of the artwork on this page are available as a postcard catalog that includes all 12 of the pieces shown here along with statements from each artist. The postcards are packaged in black customed design package embossed with the word Hardware. Purchase price is $12 plus $3 shipping and handling. Wholesale inquiries are welcome. Please contact New Image for further information.

hardware-adams

B.J. Adams
TIRELESS TOOLS

Triptych: 15" x 63"; Detail 15" x 24"
Images for this triptych are items sold in hardware stores. Although this piece utilizing window screening, emphasizes tools, screws, nails, etc., true TIRELESS TOOLS are displayed in the center sections Hardworking hands are the original tools.
hardware-bellah

Mary Beth Bellah
THE HOUSE THAT DON BUILT

15" x 54" (detail)
Building the dream house involves a heck of a lot more than tools, time, and money This particular one started with Don.
hardware-benson

Jeanne Benson
TOTE WITH NAME TAG AND BLUE RIBBON

What event doesn't have its own tote? This one, constructed of hardware cloth, wire, and the very durable, very yellow strap holds lots of good stuff. Embellishment with name tag and blue ribbon counterbalances all that yellow.
hardware-brown

Sara Brown
UNLOCKED

15" X 27" (detail)
Antique keys are used as a metaphor for understanding complex relationships.
hardware-davis

Ardyth Davis
OUT OF GEAR

15" x 28"
In my recent work I have been shaping painted and pleated silk into disc forms. After finding these ring terminals in the local hardware store, it seemed logical to turn my discs into gears using the terminals as cogs on the pleated muslin gears - partial gears floating in space.
hardware-ford

N. Amanda Ford
WELL WORN - HARD WEAR

15" x 9.25", 15" x 20", 15" x 9.25", 15" x 11"
Well Worn - Hard Wear, a series of four individual pieces, uses quilted, hand dyed, elegant velvet and well-worn old clothing to play with the "hardware" theme.
hardware-greenberg

Lesly-Claire Greenberg
THREADED: THE TURN OF THE SCREW

15" x 25" (5 separate quilts)
Metal threads fasten wood to complete a building project just as cotton threads join the three layers of a quilt.
hardware-kleeman

Catherine Kleeman
TOOLCHEST: LEFT POCKET (shown)
TOOLCHEST: TOP DRAWER
TOLLCHEST: RIGHT POCKET

15" x 57.5"
I can spend hours strolling the aisles of big box home improvements stores. So much inspiration! So many resources! "It's for an art project" I tell the helpful clerks.
hardware-nash

Dominie Nash
STILL LIFE WITH HARDWARE

Triptych: 15" x 45"
The tools of our trade are a constant presence which we take for granted. It's interesting to take a fresh look at their forms and their interactions with each other; they become something of interest apart from their function.
hardware-pierce

Sue Pierce
CLOSED CIRCUIT

15" x 24" (detail)
Layers of translucent synthetic cloth are machine stitched with a grid that traps rows of plastic bread tags. Hand embroidery adds color and forms connections between the isolated shapes. It is all about connections and closure, both literal and virtual.
hardware-vernon

Michele Vernon
DESIGNED FOR HARD WEAR

15" 24"
The exposure to unusual materials at work as an interior designer made me manipulate the "Hardware" theme somewhat in order to employ some of the hard WEARing finishes from our materials library. All of these finishes are extremely durable if installed correctly. Needless to say, none of the manufacturers recommends its product for quilt making.
hardwarewoock

Sandra LH Woock
HARDWARE: NAILS: PATINA

15" x 26"
Inspired by half-finished products, nails spilling, and of course, bent nails, results in abstract imagery of line and geometric shapes and the challenge of combining as one visual unit two materials that are opposite.