Artist reveals 2020 Quilt Show poster

Local artist Dan Rickards knows there’s something magical about Sisters. This year’s poster, “My Kind of Town,” created by Rickards for the 45th Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS) captures the essence of this charming town.

“There are quite a few elements that need to come through in every poster,” Rickards told The Nugget. “The Sisters mountains, a quilt, and the theme involved that needs to be threaded in.”

Rickards painted the majestic Three Sisters Mountains under a bright sun as the backdrop, included the town of Sisters, along with one anonymous woman wearing a sun bonnet.

“At first, I wasn’t sure if I should have someone in the painting. But I realized it’s the people in the town during the quilt show that are such a huge part of the show, not just the quilts going up,” Rickards said. “It’s the way the town transforms with all the people here. All the reunions that happen, the families, mothers, daughters and grandparents, the sisters, and friends that get together once a year.

“I have filtered through one person in a way that represents all the people. I almost painted a town of people, but that element remains for a future poster.”

Rickards said that the town elements in the poster are more generic and that it’s very representational.

He added, “I wanted to be looking through the person’s eyes, through the town into the mountains. It’s more of the way that we feel when we are here, not the way the town literally looks.”

Dawn Boyd, SOQS executive director, said, “The board unanimously thought of Dan as this year’s poster artist, as he embodies so much of the quilt show — which is always about celebrating creativity and community. And with our theme of ‘My Kind of Town,’ it seemed so appropriate. Dan and his wife have not only made Sisters their own hometown, they are a vital part of it.

“We are so excited to have Dan as our poster artist celebrating our 45th anniversary!”

In 2017 Rickards designed the SOQS poster, which featured an oversized open storybook of colorful quilts resting on a table with Sisters’ stunning scenery in the background.

Storyteller Book has since morphed into a special exhibit each year at SOQS. The book is a larger-than-life storybook filled with quilted pages, each telling a unique story. The quilts are created with imagination and skill by several Central Oregon fiber artists who donate their work to benefit the SOQS. The quilts are for sale, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to support the SOQS.

The 2020 poster may be ordered online from Stitchin’ Post at Stitchin Post.