Noelle Evans
The Blackline
43.75” x 33.75”
Techniques: Raw-edge appliquéd, painted, machine quilted.
Materials: Commercial fabric, paper, cotton and polyester thread, acrylic paint.
Artist Statement:
It really is a miracle how life, despite what appears to be so devastating, continues and fights to carry on. Wildfire burned 1000 acres on our mountain in 2020, which included 10 of our 40 acres. I was traumatized to see the burn scar. Everything was black. Even so, our big Douglas fir trees survived the scorching. Despite my fear that it would take years for the forest to recover, within weeks sword ferns were putting up new fronds and thimbleberries were leafing in the charred ground, even though it was October and not springtime. Nature is resilient and it gives me strength.
Clarity
28” x36”
Techniques: Raw-edge fused applique, machine quilted
Materials: Solid cotton commercial fabric to promote the simple nature of the artwork, tulle
Artist Statement:
My breathing slows and senses expand in the shadows of the forest. She and I know each other well, yet I walk within her borders with childlike wonder exploring her mysteries. The chatter in my head fades away like fog in the morning sun. In the quiet, my creative spirit emerges and I can nurture it and let it grow. She has gifted me clarity. In this piece I chose to show her in her most basic and simplest form to honor the peace, harmony and clarity she offers to me.
Clarity - Detail
Lifeline
22 x 34
Techniques: Machine appliqued and quilted
Materials: Hand-dye and commercial fabric, tulle, ribbon
Artist Statement:
Currents, the rivers in the ocean that bring plankton and other essential foods to sea life, depend on the temperature differences from the frigid polar icecaps to the tropical equatorial regions. Melting ice packs and warming ocean temperatures threaten the global conveyor belt of currents and present an existential threat to all sea life and to us. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are inexorably linked to the ocean and its currents.
Scorched
22 x 34
Techniques: Pieced, appliqued, and machine quilted
Materials: Commercial fabrics
Artist Statement:
Wheat fields growing, thriving, full of life are juxtaposed against acres of scorched, barren, lifeless land. The Substation fire in the summer of 2018 was the inspiration for this piece, but there were so many fires across Oregon that year. Fires burned hotter than ever before and smoke wafted hundreds of miles away, causing air quality alert after alert. It seemed like our health, livelihoods, homes and all that we love about Oregon was going up in smoke.
Du Fu
20 x 20
Techniques: Machine appliqued and quilted
Materials: Commercial fabrics
Artist Statement:
The river’s blue, the bird a perfect white,
The mountain green with flowers about to blaze.
I’ve watched the spring pass away again.
When will I be able to return?
- Du Fu, 8th century Chinese poet
Blue Fern
48 x 48
Techniques: Pieced, appliqued, reverse appliqued, machine and hand quilted
Materials: Commercial and hand-dyed cotton fabrics