Artist Exchange

I’ve just returned from an exciting and very inspiring weekend at the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show in Madison. I have so much I want to share about the show, but not enough time to have it ready to post today. So… I’ll save it for next week and instead share the story of a recent adventure.

A few weeks ago I posted about having some of my work in an art exhibit at our local library. The information was at the end of my “Photographing Quilts” post and you can read it by clicking here!

At the conclusion of the exhibit an artist’s reception was held. A number of my quilting friends dropped by, along with my daughter-in-law and the kids. What fun! I enjoyed meeting some of the other artists. There was quite a variety of artistic mediums on display, but the artist whose work I found most intriguing is Ed Kasper. He’s a stone carver, and he even offers classes!

I’ve always been fascinated by carvings of any kind. How does a person take a piece of stone or wood, and know what to cut away to bring out the object hidden inside? I met Ed while he was looking at my Czech Aurora quilt.

He began asking me questions about it, and he was very interested in my inspiration and technique (to read about the making of this quilt please click here). I then began to ask him about his work. It was an wonderful conversation.

Towards the end of the reception I found Ed looking at the quilt again and he asked me if I ever sell my work. Now that’s a question! I was so honored to be asked. Over the years I’ve sold a few pieces, but typically I keep them because they all have stories that are dear to me, and I love to share them with others in my classes and lectures.

Then I got to thinking ~ I have a lot of quilts! Perhaps it would be nice to have one of my quilts enjoyed by someone who would appreciate it too. So I set a price and emailed Ed. He agreed 😊. We scheduled a time to meet, and then my mind started racing.

Back in 2006 a woman from Canada wanted to purchase my Repliqué Quilts book, and I couldn’t figure out how to accept payment since I didn’t do PayPal at that time. We decided to do an exchange and it ended up being a great experience. I blogged about the exchange way back in 2010 and repeated the story in 2020 (if you’d like to read about it click here). In essence I shipped my book to Ann in Canada and she sent me two books from her area. It was a delightful exchange!

So would Ed be willing to trade art? I emailed him and he was pleased with the idea! Since Mike and I live on the Rock River I was especially interested in his fish, and Ed agreed to trade his beautiful prize winning rendition of a bluegill for my button inspired quilt.

I asked him to tell me the story and he told me he caught this fish and decided to use it as a model for a piece of art. So he froze it! He would then take it out of the freezer to trace it onto the stone and guide him to carve the details accurately. Amazing! I remember my friend Wendy telling me that her mom would do this with birds she found for her wonderful sketches and paintings.

After I brought my treasure home Mike was admiring it and asked questions I hadn’t thought of. So I emailed Ed once again and here are the answers in his own words:

“The bluegill is a Brazilian soapstone, the brown is driftwood and the dark base is a harder soapstone, like countertop material or flooring. That stone came from Brazil as well.  I am happy that you like the piece, it is a beautiful stone and my goal is always not to detract from God’s handiwork. I hung your piece in my art room so that it will continue to inspire me and challenge my own creativity.” 

I love that he desires his work to honor God. I was so pleased that he also agreed to pose with me for this post:

I have my latest art acquisition on the buffet in the dining room. What a joy!

Have you ever traded a quilt for something other than cash? If so, I’d love to hear about it.

Now I’m off to begin going through all the photos of this weekend’s adventure. Stay tuned.

PS Ed, if you’re reading this, your quilt did win a ribbon at a national quilt show 😊!