October art at Sisters Library

Sisters Library has a double-barreled art display throughout the library for the entire month of October.

Walking through the entrance door you can't help but notice Mary Smith's magnificent challenge quilt, "Spirits in the Wind" on the wall (see related story, page 5).

As you walk into the foyer you will notice a flip chart near the door to the Community Room that announces artist and teacher Kit Stafford's literary installation, "Baggage Claim."

"I think 'literary installation' fits this display as it really is a literal art form," Stafford said. "It just asks you to participate, and I hope everyone will."

When asked, why suitcases? Stafford said, "I just love collecting suitcases, maybe because I literally lived out of them while I was in England a few years ago; or maybe it's just because I'm a material spiritualist. I know we can't take things with us when we leave this earth; I guess I just want to enjoy them while I'm here - and I'm sorry to say what you see in this display is only the tip of the iceberg, there's about 50 more of them all over my place."

It takes time to enjoy Stafford's literary installation, as there are clipboards placed in among the odds and ends of the suitcases that invite viewers to leave some of the "baggage" for Kit to read.

"If anyone takes the time to comment, I promise that in three days there will be a reply," she said.

Entering the library proper, viewers will be overwhelmed by the diversity of Mary Smith's quilts. You may recognize Clear Lake on one of her quilts, "Sheltered Cove."

"I took a Saturday photo trip to Clear Lake with a friend where we both spent some time photographing a small boat pulled up along the shore between some bushes," Smith said. "When I got home, I knew that on the following Tuesday, I would be leaving for Kalispell, Montana, for a quilt show, and I had nothing to work on during the show. I printed a photo of the little boat and decided it needed to be enlarged, which I did by squaring it off and graphing it three times larger than the photo.

"I just whacked away at various pieces of fabric for the water, boat, rocks, and the other side of the lake, adding some green tulle in places for richer color where it might be shadowed or deep. I stacked and cut several piles of leaves in varying fall colors, and I machine quilted it during the Kalispell show and was almost finished when I arrived home, so, I decided to finish it for the library show. I was a bit of a rush and forgot to tie the boat to the bushes - I hope it hasn't floated out into the lake."