The walls of Artworks gallery at 306 Park Row in Chestertown will be transformed this June with the fascinating, contemporary, original art quilts of twin sisters Joyce Murrin and Jean M. Evans – so alike and yet so uniquely different.
“My greatest joy in quilt-making is the challenge, met head-on and accomplished,” says Joyce Murrin of Worton. “Some 25 years ago when I made my first quilts using traditional quilt patterns, I knew that was not where my focus would stay. I wanted to design pieced quilts using my own designs that would contain many non-traditional shapes. That desire ended up being my most rewarding challenge to this day. I worked diligently to perfect setting in any angle, on any fabric, easily.”
Her sister, Jean Evans of Medina, Ohio, says she takes “an energetic, enthusiastic, ever-evolving approach” to her creations. She first translates her thoughts into sketches, then drawing and paintings, then a full-size drawing. She prefers large shapes, curved lines, and a graphic look and hand quilting, with hand appliqué.
Both have won many national and international awards for their originally-designed quilts and have taught and lectured nationally. They have participated in over 100 juried or invitational shows and have works in many private collections as well as the Permanent Collection of the Museum of the American Quilters’ Society, now known as the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky.
A reception on First Friday, June 3, from 5-8 p.m. opens the event. The exhibit is being shown through June 25.
Regular hours for Artworks’ gift shop, office, and gallery are Wednesday through Friday, 12-3 and Saturday, 9-3. For information on classes, memberships, or shows, call 410-778-6300 or visit www.artworkschestertown.org.
Joanne Ghio says
We saw these quilts at Artworks on First Friday, and they are phenomenal! I am continually amazed at the number of gifted artists in our little community.