29.12.2010

Lot - don't look back! 2011

Often in our life, we have to choose: Looking back and grieving, - and becoming like a salt stone, or looking foreward, and let Sodom and Gomorrha in our back go to hell - and burn...
Now, at the beginning of 2011, I will do that again: Give my life and the unknown year in God's hand, and do not look back - as Lot and his 2 daughters did:



I wish you a new future in a new year 2011!
(I just read the book of Jasher - chapter 22-, which describes also the corruption in Sodom and Gomorrha. It's there in the internet, everybody can download it. It reminds me a lot to my time in egypt, and to a lot of time I had spent in court rooms: No justice at all! It's written there, that 2 girls of Lot and his wife, remained in Sodom, of course - a mother looked back!)

24.12.2010

Merry Christmas!

I wish for everybody a merry christmas and a happy new year. May the smile of God be upon you!

A modern Christmastree as Advents-Calendar - with 24 sacks of material.

20.12.2010

Isa al Messiah

I wish to everybody a peaceful christmas feast. As muslim and christian accept, that Isa=Jesus=Yahoshua is born from the virgin Mari(jam).

As the wise men from the east has seen that star, they saddled their camels and came to see the newborn king of the jews. In Jerusalem they told them, it must be the Messiah, which supposes to be born in Bethlehem, which was prophecied so 450 and 700 years before that.


The king Herod wanted to kill the baby Jesus, and an angel appeared to the wise, NOT to go back to Jerusalem. And the angel told Joseph to escape to egypt with Mari(yam) and the baby Jesus - just with their donkey:
 Gnostic people made out of Mari(yam) a queen of heaven - something like Isis - and the catholic church, mentioned in Qu'ran as the wrong followers, still does so:


So - it is much better - to study the holy books ourselves - each in his language, to find out, who Mari(yam) and Jesus had been in reality!

15.12.2010

Quilt: Ibrahim - Abraham

 One day, a pastor of a protestant church called me, they need 4 quilts about Abraham. He told me the sizes, and I had to give them the idea. Condition was, that the tent had to look like their church, which was built in Rudolph Steiner Style. We agreed, and it's also published in internet, when we had the church-meeting where I had to tell them, how often I have been in the desert, and slept in a tent like the one from Abraham. They have even muslim kids in that church, when they help them for their school-works, that's why they wanted that theme: Abraham.

I wish, that 2011 I will get more orders from churches!

10.12.2010

Quilt Prayer

The quilt was  travelling quiet a lot. Exhibited in Netherland, USA and Canada, and - of course - in germany, is he stored right now in egypt.
Here he is "active" with my brother as dirigent over a classical orchestra.
His last place --- in Luxor.

Quilt Prayer

 
 
 It was in the late 90ties when my brother called, and said, he's going to need a huge quilt "prayer". Immediatly I had in mind a quilt, which I've seen in Lyon, the technique is called Barghello. Internet was not, like it is today, but already we made friends with our action round the globus to make YEAR 2K quilts. So I found a friend there, which explained me in a 1 week action, how to make that thechnique and special the one I had in mind! Finally I understood, what she tried hard to make me understand, and I could work.
 The wolrd is made from painted materials - and the hands I painted in acryl and appliqueed them. I remember the day, when it was too much ice on the streets, so we were not able to drive to the church. My 3 kids and me were sitting in the room and I asked them to lift up their hands, so I could draw them, as they pray. Also the 3 years old youngest son. Every time he saw that quilt he explained everybody: Those are my hands!




07.12.2010

Hands of God

That's not traditional patchwork: I glued leftovers, materials, whatever I had left from the last work on a wooden plate. Then I painted just colours on it. I glued black wool, and added black paint:
The world, kid's hand and Gods Hand:
I sold it in ebay.

Linolschnitt "Charly"

Just playing around with a picture - even you don't see the original anymore, I like it!

05.12.2010

Playing around with Gimp

I just plaid around with gimp, choosed coloures, copied them, and when I thought, it's enough, I finished that picture. I think, A. would be proud of it, if he'ld find it in the net!

Painted silk and painted cotton

White Flower

I searched for a flower, and looked out of the window: in the 2nd floor! There was a tree, and I just took that flower in front of my window: hand quilted:


Tulips

 Pieced techniques. I sold it for a netherland lady in Hurghada. She brought Nile-earth from Qna to Hurghada, just to grow her tulips and herbs in the desert!

Just Flowers

The taylor in the street gave me all his left-overs from his galabiyas, that's the egyptian dress, all light colours. I arranged the background. And the Flowers I had in my vase, they were appliquée worked ...
A nice memory for my time in egypt:
For the frame I used scarfs with pailettes - you find a lot of coulours in egypt...

02.12.2010

Playing with Layers

Just playing around with colour layers...How can I do that with Photo-Impress? Finally I found a way, easy to handle for me: The foto I made in front of my home in Luxor, egypt. Our neighbour brings home his richess: His buffalo cow.

29.11.2010

My atelier desk is waiting for me!


 The wake up: Snow in the dark ... Should be a fantastic time for quilting!

 The pictures for Quilt "Boje" are waiting.
 The drawings and Photo-Impact ideas are prepared for another quilt.
And the flower quilts are ready for sale:



27.11.2010

Quilt: Joy, Miriam's Dance

Joy
When I exhibited this quilt in the year 2000 in the world General Conference of my church in Toronto in the women’s hall, a lady came to me, asking me to publish the stories behind my quilts. Since 10 years now, I carry this demand with me, and – sorry lady, I am late – now I will give you those stories, step by step: Stories of my life experience:
When my brother called me – and asked for a quilt, which will express Joy – my mind started running like a machine. Dr. Guenter Preuss is a Director for a classical orchestra with choir in our church in the south of Germany, and he intended to hang some quilts expressing the songs and the music. One of the big themes he had chosen was joy. Joy? Me? I just went through hell in my family life! Abuse in my family, divorce because of dependency… as a mother I was asked to give more than I was able to give and often I asked God to take some burdens from me. I experienced the slavery of a life in a family, where dependency took over all parts of the life. Everybody who had been in such a situation he/she knows, what I was suffering and where we went through – me, the bigger family, as my relatives, and the church family, too. Yes, I had a strong God, waking me up by thunder-voice in the middle in the night. This voice was like thunder and hall: “Brigitte, stand up and go out!” First I refused and was angry at this voice, which woke me up, when I desperately needed sleep, but then I followed the order, I saw the whole truth … I woke up from a terrible blindness, and God showed me the whole disaster, which forced me to act according to the terrible reality: protect my kids, - divorce, … don’t ask me for more details.
And now I got the order for that quilt: Joy! Which person in the bible could be able to understand me? Only Miriam came into my mind. She is a woman. She lost her little beloved brother, she had to give him to the daughter of the pharaoh, which I know now, must have been Amenophis II. His daughter, Hatschepsut, was younger, than Miriam at that time, when they met beside the river Nile, that’s why they could communicate in such a nice way together. Sure: Miriam, as a 12 years old girl, saved her brother’s life – yes – but which price she had to pay? Her brother rose together with Hatschepsut … far from her home. She learned in early life to pray, to pray and to pray. That’s how she became a prophet!
 
Who did better express joy in the bible, than Miriam? My inner eye began to see her: Dancing at the Red Sea side. At the East side! Just shortly before, they had been in deepest depression, so that her brother screamed to God! “Save us!” The mountains in their back, the Red Sea in front of them, and the only way out – there was the hating “brother” of Moses: Thutmoses III, with his army. This king just came back from a battle in South Turkey (Land of the Hittites), when his son and Co-Regent Amenophis III told him, they had to let go Moses and his folks. If Thutmoses III would have been at home in his palace, Moses would rather die in the desert, than to meet him! That’s why he refused God’s order to be His prophet in front of the king of Egypt, and said, he wouldn’t go, that he couldn’t speak, he has a heavy tongue … short: he was afraid to death! He knew better than any Egyptologist today, how much Thutmoses III admired his aunt Hatschepsut, and how much he hated Moses – who had the most beautiful love-story in the world with her! (I saw the picture of Moses and his brother Aaron in his tomb: His name was Senenmut in Egypt!). I love that story, that Senenmut had a brother, who was Priest; that Senenmut never used his tomb. That Moses did run away and meet the fat Queen in Ethiopia is also mentioned in Jewish historical books, the Talmud. Anyhow:  Moses and Aaron only went to meet the Co-Regent Amenophis III (called Pharao in that text in the bible, while his father Thutmoses III is mentioned shortly as the King). When Thutmoses III heard that message that his son let run away Moses and his folks away, while he was absent in a war, let’s get that king in range. Thutmoses III turned his army and just met Moses and the Isaelites (probably in the area of nowadays Nuweiba – the only place that fit that description in the bible) beside the Red Sea.
When Moses yelled at God, God smiled and asked Moses: “Why do you shout so loud?” Sometimes God is really humorous! Moses enemy to death is behind God’s cloud and they wants to kill them, first of all Moses/Senenmut! Ok, we admit, there was the cloud in between. But – anyhow, imagine! And God asks him that question??? Not only that one, there was also a Sabbath, which supposed to be held now! What? Mountains, Water (nobody had Scuba-Diving stuff to see the corals), in the face of the death, they should keep quiet, don’t shout and scream to God, and hold Sabbath??? O Moses, o Miriam! (When I was tour-leader in Egypt, I often told the travelers that story in front of Hatshepsut Temple, and some of them had seen Senenmuts tomb. Always at the end of the story I asked them: “Would you love to keep Sabbath quietly in that situation?” It was really funny to see their reactions: “O no! Never! How?” (Most of them were Sunday-keeper or unbelievers.)
We know the exactly date of the death of Thutmoses III: It was a Sunday. But the reason for his death is never mentioned in his tomb at the far end of the Valley of the Kings in Thebes/West, Luxor, Egypt. Why? Because it was a shame! How often I was there and meditated about that miracle of God!
And how often I was sitting in Nuweiba at the seaside, and listened to God’s miracle, that this was the place of the exodus … Exciting – just when you know the end. But how would I feel, if I was myself in Moses and Miriam’s skin??? No – thank you. I would prefer to keep my own problems. I don’t want to be in their situation there!
Everybody knows the story, how God divided the Red Sea. There was a Hippie, and he was sitting in Brussels at a corner and screamed: “Praise the Lord, who let go 2 million Israelites through the red Sea!” There was a pastor coming along, and explained him, this was not a miracle from God, it was just knee deep water, so they could easily go through the water there … Very satisfied with himself, how he “converted” this stupid young man, this pastor left. When he turned at the corner, he listened the same voice, rejoicing loud: “Praise the Lord, who killed the whole egyptian army in a knee deep water!”
So now I had this order from my brother: JOY! It must be Miriam – after crossing the Red Sea and being safe in the area of nowadays Saudi Arab or Jordan.
What a joy! What a storm of praise! What a thunder of emotions among the people! 
Those who oppressed them for over 425 years, are dead now and the former slaves are saved!
Unbelievable!
How could I express this joy in a quilt? The style I found very quick: Crazy.
The color: Red for love and joy, and yellow for the light – coming from God- the fire of God, the fire column at night, in which was Jesus himself, as written in the bible.
But how I paint Miriam, when she was dancing? By luck I found a picture from the Hippie-time mentioned above: A lady sitting on a motorcycle, in the days, when police didn’t prove, if you wear a helm.
She was so happy, so much enjoying her windy experience, and was laughing, holding her head back, her hairs flying in the wind, as much as the silk-scarf did. And so I had found, what I was looking for: The expression of unexpressionable joy in a dance in front of God: Miriams dance!
Later I sent this quilt to a Quilt show, I think it was in Houston. Those people sent him back, because my frame was not perfect enough. Oh – sorry Ladies, I was sooo busy with the expression of my feelings, that I forgot to be perfect (which is not my favorite character…)

25.11.2010

Double quilt:"Boje"

A wonderful warm day in November - walking aside the river, people are cleaning their sailing boats ---
2 fotos - playing around in Photo-Impact - and the run of ideas: Appliquée? Yes!


And now: just drawing the lines, cutting the material and using 2000 (or more?) needles ...