THE JANICE CHARACH
EPSTEIN GALLERY
MOUNTS ITS
FOURTH ANNUAL
QUILT AND FIBER
EXHIBITION.
Sheila Groman:
"Hexagon Star"
SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News
It
uilts that suggest a sense of fam-
ily spread a recurring, although
not exclusive, theme throughout
this year's quilt and fiber show
at the Janice Charach Epstein
Gallery in the West Bloomfield Jewish
Community Center.
"Tradition With a Twist: Contemporary
Fiber Arts," which runs through Jan. 31,
features the work of many local artists who
honor close relationships through the cre-
ative use of fabric. Other artists display
pieces that communicate more abstract
intentions.
Some family pieces were made from gar-
ments worn by a person being celebrated,
while others hold photographs to recall spe-
cial times and memories.
Muriel Jacobs, a returning exhibitor from
Bloomfield Hills, introduces some very dif-
ferent pieces this time around. In the past,
she has concentrated on "crazy quilts,"
which are made from irregularly shaped
material segments. This time, her focus is
on memorial wall hangings, each one made
for a widow from the neckties of her late
husband.
"They're all hand done, and I feel that I'm
really touching lives with them," Jacobs says.
Michele Gardynik of Farmington Hills
also worked with neckties, but her quilt is
the first she ever made.
"This was a 70th birthday gift for my
mother, Shirley Litinslcy," says Gardynik, a
member of the Ann Arbor Quilt Guild. "It's
made of pictures put on fabric joined
together with silk ties from my father, uncle
and husband. My parents' wedding picture
is in the center with family pictures all
around that. My mother was quite emo-
tional when she first saw it."
Not interested in making functional
quilts, Gardynik has embellished her piece
with beads and pearls and has moved on to
a wall-hanging quilt with a pattern of hous-
es for her young daughter.
Lynn Aleman of Farmington Hills made a
quilt for her son and another for her niece.
The first shows all of his interests from
school to sports, and the second has little
girl dresses, some made with lace from the
bridesmaid gown Aleman wore at the wed-
ding of the girl's parents.
"I started quilting five years ago, and this
is my first show," says Aleman, who spends
every Thursday evening giving her attention
to fiber art with seven women she met
through a sewing shop in Berkley. "I like
the precision."
All of Aleman's quilts are gifts, and she's
working on one for her parents' 50th wed-
ding anniversary.
Helen and Morris Bruck worked together
to complete a quilt that recalls a trip to
New Mexico. While she painted the back-
ground fabric and did the quilting, he made
Indians to go on top.
"I've been sewing for many years and
started quilting within the past 10 years,"
says Helen Bruck, who also applies creative
touches to the clothing she makes and
whose husband additionally does drawing
and woodcarving. "I joined quilting clubs
and started taking classes."
One decorative quilt in her Southfield
home features klezmer musicians, while
quilts made for her granddaughters have
included photographs of family members.
Marilyn Henrion, an internationally exhib-
ited fiber artist who works out of studios in
Pennsylvania, showcases 10 quilts with
imagery that relates to her style as a graphic
designer. She works in series and will be rep-
resented by one piece that communicates her
connection to the Jewish family.
"Byzantium XI (Traces) was based on my
memories of the Jewish quarters in
European cities which I have visited and
commemorates the lives of those who per-
ished in the Holocaust," explains Henrion,
a former Fashion Institute of Technology
faculty member whose works are in muse-
urn, corporate and private collections.
"I use a wide variety of materials, and all
my works are hand pieced, hand sewn and
metaphorical."
Although not in the exhibit, one Henrion
quilt was completed to celebrate her 40
years of marriage. An Ever-Fixed Work gets
its title from a Shakespeare sonnet.
Other artists in the show are Barbara
Altwerger, Celia Block, Alice Knoll
Bronston, Marilyn Kaczander Cohen,
Lynne Feldman, Vivian Gottlieb, Sheila
Groman, Jan Jacobs, Gail Rosenbloom
Kaplan, Anna Kocherovsky, Julie
Langensiepen, Danielle Nelson, Ellen
Oppenheimer, Sherri Roberts, Marilyn
Gans Schelberg, Karen Willing, Orna Willis
and Carol Wineman. 0
Opposite page,
clockwise
from top left:
Marilyn Henrion:
"Innerspace II."
Carol Wineman:
"Victorian Sofa."
Karen B. Willing:
"Jerusalem
Torah Cover.
Orna Willis:
"Jerusalem 2000,
City of Silk."
Ellen Oppenheimer:
"T Block # 4, (detail)."
Center:
Morris and
Helen Bruck:
"Rain Dance."
"Tradition With a Twist:
Contemporary Fiber Arts" runs
through Jan. 31 at the Janice Charach
Epstein Gallery in the West Bloomfield
Jewish Community Center. Hours are
11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sundays, 11 a.m.-6
p.m. Mondays-Wednesdays and 11
a.m.-7 p.m. Thursdays. At 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 14, curator Sylvia
Nelson and local artists represented in
the exhibit will speak. In the tradition
of an old-fashioned quilting bee, dessert
will be served. The event is open to the
public free of charge, but call to make a
reservation. (248) 661-7641.
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