July: Blazing Zinnias, , with detail below

Artquilt by Astrid Hilger Bennett

Summer Garden

Artquilt by Astrid Hilger Bennett

Music Stand by Nancy Romalov

lower portion carved from a

single piece of juniper

Astrid Hilger Bennett: Artquilts

Woodworkers' Show their Stuff

October 5 - November 11 , 2007

Iowa Artisans displays work by fiber artist Astrid Hilger Bennett, area woodworkers through November 11.

Viewers often see Bennett’s pieces as abstract paintings and are surprised to find they are art quilts using fabrics hand painted and monoprinted by the artist. Bennett currently has work in both the Quilt National ’07 and Surface Design Association touring exhibitions, the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND and will participate in the 9th Quilt Japan Exhibition in Tokyo. She is a fiber arts advocate who serves as the Northcentral Regional Representative for the International Surface Design Association. She has written for major craft publications (Ceramics Monthly, American Craft, Fiberarts) and taught at the college level before becoming manager of Iowa Artisans Gallery in Iowa City.

Woodworkers is a collaborative woodworking shop operated by several local furniture makers, including Russell Karkowski, David Naso, Nancy Romalov and Eric Wortman. The group specializes in custom furniture for clients in the area. Russell Karkowski recently completed an altar for the Dalai Lama; his contribution to this show is one of his customary glass-topped coffee table. David Naso created an upholstered tiger-striped maple armchair with wenge wood inlay. Both artists have more than 50 years of woodworking expertise between them.

Nancy Romalov’s whimsical hand carved music stands were made while summering on an island in the middle of a large Montana lake.  Lacking electricity, Romalov uses only hand tools such as spoke shaves and hand planes on a shaving horse, for her summer projects. Back with the Woodworkers for the rest of the year, she uses conventional tools, always choosing native, local and recycled woods whenever possible. Romalov is currently also a college professor in American Studies. “Having spent the greater part of my adult life exercising the left side of my brain–I received a PhD in American Studies at the University of Iowa and have taught at various colleges for the past 20 years–I decided several years ago it was time to strike a balance. I began to pursue a long-time interest in woodworking and have since been laboring toward a total career shift. With any luck, I’ll have achieved that shift before I reach retirement age. “

Two Trees

Artquilt by Astrid Hilger Bennett