Friday, May 24, 2019

Recycled Materials


Recycled Materials Create Intricate Art in Newest Exhibition at STL
Edna Patterson-Petty’s work focuses on upcycling fabric, buttons, and beads.

(May 20, 2019 – St. Louis, MO) Using the materials and fabric from old clothing and other items, East St. Louis artist Edna Patterson-Petty creates art quilts and paintings that bring her imagination to life. Rendered Designs, a new exhibition at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL), delicately engages viewers with their curiosity and their own imaginations.

The intricate detail of Patterson-Petty’s quilts is only apparent through keen observation. Her art quilts tease the mind, with eyes floating from one section of the quilt to the next, as if reading a book. Using upcycled fabric, beads, buttons, and paint, Patterson-Petty’s quilts take on a life of their own. Unconventional shapes, detailed needlework, and fabric texture all play a role in making Rendered Designs unique and eye-catching.

Patterson-Petty a graduate of SIU-Edwardsville. She also holds a BFA of Fine Arts, a MFA in Studio Art, and a MA in Art Therapy. Several of her quilts have been published in books and catalogues and have been selected for book covers. They have also been exhibited nationally and internationally.

“I know that my creative ability is of divine inspiration, because I dream of art, I feel art, I get excited when I am around art and through my creativity I reveal my internal world” said Patterson-Petty. Her work has taken her to Senegal, Canada, Germany, and China.

Rendered Designs is now on display through November 11, 2019 in the Lambert Gallery near the C Concourse exit in Terminal 1 and is part of the Lambert Art & Culture Program’s temporary exhibitions program. The program is supported by the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis.

Edna Patterson-Petty was chosen to exhibit in the Lambert Art & Culture Program through the Airport’s seven-member Airport Art Advisory Committee. Current members are Lisa Cakmak, Associate Curator of Ancient Art at Saint Louis Art Museum; Ellen Gale, Executive Director Clayton Chamber of Commerce; Shelley Hagen; Leslie Markle, Curator of Public Art, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum; Kiku Obata, Founding Principal of Kiku Obata & Co.; Roseann Weiss, consultant with ART+; and design artist and illustrator Carlos Zamora. 

The Lambert Art and Culture Program builds upon the culturally rich legacy of St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Our mission is to elevate the visitor experience and uplift regional pride through the presentation of artwork created by local, national, and international artists. Currently, there are 29 works of art or collections of art (temporary, permanent or on-loan) on view at the Airport. For more information, visit www.artoftravelstl.com.



Sunday, April 7, 2019

Art in the city continues


I started to mosaic the benches in Jones Park, because it was quiet and out of the way. I wanted to create something beautiful, yet I didn't want to be watched while I set about with the creations. But I did hope that the joggers, and the fast pace 'walkers' would enjoy the new scenery. I would get up very early, sometimes during the week and other times on the weekend and go to the park and set up my work station. I have already at various times of the years of working in the park, worked with youth to create the designs for the benches......The idea behind that was so that they could have a vested interest in the benches thereby helping to take care of them and to encourage family and friends to come and see the designs and appreciate the beauty.
I started with a blank 'slate/bench' If all goes well, and the GOOD LORD WILLING, I will finish the last of the bench this year, 2019.












Charmaine Savage also had a vision of altering the look of the city with public art including murals. Before she died I had started working on a site that is downtown East St. Louis. It is a site that she and her husband had gotten approval to alter with art. Hopefully the mural will be done this year as well with Kas King.
Will post images of the planters and the progression as well as the prep for the mural.