Creative Inspiration, Studio

Stories My Father Told Me: Quilt #1

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

In my 04/23/16 post Creative Inspiration: Stories My Father Told Me, I shared how I want to translate some of the inspirational stories my father, Raoul Davis, Sr. told me as a child, that inspire who I am as a person, into textile stories.

Two things happened since this post: 1) I was invited to participate in a special exhibit where I could draw from my the inspirational stories and words I listened to from my father as a child; and 2) I watched an excellent presentation on “Working in a Series” through the art quilting organization I belong – Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) that further inspired me to work on this series.

I created my first quilt inspired by stories my father told me, and it is titled “The Lesson & The Equation“. At this time I cannot share details on the show that it will be a part of as the exhibit has not been announced yet. However, I did receive permission from the show’s curator to share a photo of the quilt on my tierneycreates blog.

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The Lesson & The Equation (2016). Designed, pieced and quilted by Tierney Davis Hogan

Below are excerpts from my Artist Statement for this piece to provide some understanding of the inspiration for this piece:

My father grew up in the segregated South in the 1940s and embraced at an early age that change comes from respectful dialogue, not violence. He taught us that regardless of what adversity we faced in life, we must face it with grace; and treat others with respect, dignity, and brotherhood….  (THE LESSON).

In this quilt, a father (modeled after my own father in the 1970s) is teaching his children, on the main blackboard, THE EQUATION to achieving a world in which people are Free and Equal…I am from a family of educators, beginning with my great-grandfather. The blackboards in the quilt honor that legacy.

POSTSCRIPT: The Instagram Experiment

I have decided to experiment with the mysterious social networking app Instagram (yes, it is only mysterious to me). I mentioned in the “POSTSCRIPT” section of the post Back to the Butte how clueless I am about Instagram. Experimenting with it might be the only way to become less clueless!

I have added an Instagram “widget” to my blog page and now you will see my Instagram feed on my Home page. (Of course ow I need to add more than the 4 or so photos I had in Instagram when I first signed up a year or two ago,  got very confused and stopped using it).

We have magnetic erasable board on our refrigerator. I write menu plans and grocery shopping lists on this board. I have a habit of taking a photo of my grocery list on my smartphone to take shopping (I figure that is “greener” than using paper to write it down). I was laughing to myself: wouldn’t that make a terribly dull Instagram feed – just photos of my messily scrawled food shopping lists?!?!

I promise to try to keep the feed a wee bit more interesting than that!

Published by tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Quilter, crafter, obsessive tea drinker and lover of all furry creatures (especially dogs and cats) - join me on my tierneycreates blog as I share stories from "A Crafter's Life".

18 thoughts on “Stories My Father Told Me: Quilt #1”

  1. Hi Tierney! Great job on the quilt. You are VERY talented. Can’t wait to hear more about the show. PS I get what you’re saying about Instagram…I just signed up today and have NO pictures yet, so you’re way ahead of me! 🙂 Have a great day!!

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  2. What an inspiration he must have been to you, and what a wonderful legacy. AND he was VERY handsome, and I think you look a lot like him. Yes? The quilt is beautiful and a wonderful tribute. Congratulations.

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  9. This is *amazing!* The whole piece is beautiful and the portrait is immediately recognizable – wow! This is one quilt you’ll never want to sell 🙂

    Oh about the shopping lists: Instagram is a bit tedious for that, may I recommend something else? Check out “Our Groceries” which I use a lot, even for several different stores: https://www.ourgroceries.com/features

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    1. Thank you so much Torben for your comments on my quilt. And of course you would know of an online resource for my grocery lists – you have always been such an excellent resource on web resources 🙂

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