Interview with Linda MacDonald, February 19, 2008

Partial Transcript: Okay, this is Le Rowell, and today's date is February 19th, 2008. It is 11:30 a.m., and I'm conducting an interview with Linda MacDonald, for the Quilter's S.O.S. - Save Our Stories project, and we are in San Francisco, California. Linda, tell me about the quilt that you selected for today.

Segment Synopsis: The touchstone quilt, "Trespasser," is one of a series of three quilts called "Chainsaw vs. the Spotted Owl." MacDonald explains that trying to get the spotted owl declared an endangered species was a big local issue when she made the quilt in 1992. The quilt series was MacDonald's final thesis for her MFA at San Francisco State University. Prior to that series, she had not "used political imagery" in her work. MacDonald studied painting for her undergraduate degree at San Francisco State University in the 1960s. Later, she and her husband moved to Mendocino County, California, where they lived in a rural area.

Keywords: "Trespasser"; Art education; California; Quilt purpose - activism/awarenss; Spotted owl

Subjects: Art quilts

Partial Transcript: So I joined this group of, um, women, who were then breaking up into smaller groups, and one group was going to be making quilts, and I thought, "Oh, that's so quaint," you know, to make quilts.

Segment Synopsis: MacDonald started to participate in a women's group, which was going to focus on quilting. MacDonald initially thought that quilting seemed "quaint." MacDonald's maternal relatives in Ohio were quilters, so there were quilts in her house while she was growing up. She described seeing these relatives using an assembly line approach to quilting, whereby one person did the cutting, the next the basting, and then the stitching. MacDonald joined the quilting group, but she did not think it was something she might want to do by herself. The quilting relatives and her mother had a background in sewing, and MacDonald herself learned to sew and do related crafts growing up. As an undergraduate art major, she also took one weaving class.

Keywords: Crazy quilts; Family; Ohio Star - quilt pattern; Quilt groups; Quilt memory; Rose of Sharon - quilt pattern

Subjects: Sewing

Partial Transcript: And in my paintings, I was doing very geometric paintings, so I would put grids on canvases, and it just seemed as so similar to weaving, you know, because you would figure out every little thread, and it was sort of, you know, pre-computer time, but computers were in the air, you know, and the whole digital world.

Segment Synopsis: MacDonald was doing "very geometric paintings" involving grids, and she thought that was a very similar process to weaving, MacDonald tried weaving, but she found it to be tedious. She also really wanted to work with images, but did not want to do tapestry weaving. Based on the crazy quilts she had done with the quilt group, MacDonald thought that she could "cut up fabric and sew it together" to create imagery. She eventually wanted to learn more about quiltmaking and did some library research. After making her interest in quilting known to family members, she received some quilt tops and the collection of family quilts.

Keywords: Family; Michael James; Painting; Quilt purpose - Heirloom; Romance of the Patchwork Quilt - book

Partial Transcript: So, through the Seventies, I made some, you know, always my own design in pretty much solid colors, because I was coming from the painters' background, and I didn't like, uh, anything that somebody else had made, which was printed cloth, so I wanted to make my own printed cloth, but, you know, I wasn't painting on fabrics, but I was buying the solids.

Segment Synopsis: The quilts MacDonald made in the 1970s were in solid colors, and she designed them herself. In roughly the early 1980s, she started to dye cloth and create large quilts that incorporated "three dimensional space." She describes the techniques she used at this phase in some detail. In the late 1980s, MacDonald returned to painting on cloth. She earned a teaching certificate, and taught art and other classes at a high school. She included quilting and dyeing in her classes. Since the school had an air brush, MacDonald started experimenting with that and eventually also started hand painting.

Keywords: Fabric dyeing; Jan Meyer; Teaching quiltmaking; Techniques

Partial Transcript: And then I decided to, uh, you know, get my Master's, which I always wanted to, at San Francisco State, which is one of the few places that has a textile department in the art department and not, in home ec or in agriculture, which is what some other places do in California.

Segment Synopsis: MacDonald returned to school to get her Master's degree. While she had enjoyed doing three-dimensional landscape quilts, she felt done with them at that point. MacDonald discusses the issues surrounding the spotted owl and old growth lumber at length. She draws her discussion together at the end by pointing out that there are people on the extremes of both sides of the issue, but another set of people who want to compromise. MacDonald's aim was to depict "all the different sides." She incorporated humor into all three pieces in the series. She notes that there is some ambiguity in her "Trespasser" quilt about the identity of the trespasser, who could be either the owl, the loggers, or more generally, people. Responses varied and MacDonald observes that the response you get to political art is different from the response you get to other art.

Keywords: Art education; John Gutmann; Judy Bari; Old growth lumber; Spotted owl

Subjects: Quilt purpose - activism/awareness

Partial Transcript: Um, technique-wise, I'd already been doing this technique, see, with air brush and hand painting, and hand-stitching, you know, and dyeing this fabric.

Segment Synopsis: MacDonald discusses the techniques she worked with for "Trespasser," which included using a freezer paper template, air brush painting, and hand painting. MacDonald notes that the owl pictured in the quilt is cartoonish and discusses her background in graphics, including the need to have an appropriate balance of black and white to create contrast and catch people's attention. She adds that in a world full of images, it is important to have a way to draw attention to your own work. Her way involves both contrast and symmetry of her "central image."

Keywords: Air brush painting; Design process; Fabric dyeing; Freezer paper template; Hand painting; Hand quilting; Painting; Quilt design; Techniques

Partial Transcript: So this was the beginning of, that kind of work, that kind of political message, and so since then, '92 to today, I've been doing narrative work, so I'm telling stories with my work, and, uh, usually it's what is interesting me, which is living in California, working with all the many issues that we have here, you know, because I don't just do things on the spotted owl.

Segment Synopsis: The spotted owl series was the first of MacDonald's artwork on environmental issues. The focus of her art is to tell stories based on issues she observes in California. MacDonald describes how the spotted owl issue resolved itself. She discusses her current focus of looking at "urban areas" and "wild areas" and what goes on at the boundaries between those places, as well as watersheds, global warming, and the impact of vineyards on the wild. She wants to depict those issues and open up conversations. In the meantime, her artistic focus has shifted. Not only have her quilts become more like paintings, but she has also largely transitioned back to working on paper or canvas. Her current approach is to figure out which medium best fits what she is trying to depict. She now wants to show her work solely in environmental or narrative shows, rather than shows specifically focused on quilts.

Keywords: Environmental issues; Narrative art; Quilt purpose - Activism/awareness

Partial Transcript: What are your plans for this quilt?

Segment Synopsis: MacDonald does not have any current plans for the touchstone quilt. She displayed it and the rest of the quilt series at the Mendocino County Museum, in approximately 1998. She credits that museum and curator Sandra Metzler-Smith with getting her more interested in quilt history. Returning to the topic of the set of quilts the touchstone quilt is part of, MacDonald says she sometimes creates digital pictures of her work. For the show in which this series was displayed, she sold t-shirts with spotted owls and t-shirts with chainsaws. She donated the modest proceeds to the Environmental Center in Willits and the Roots of Motive Power, a group MacDonald describes as being interested in old logging equipment, and having many "eco logger" members. MacDonald adds that she would love for her spotted owl quilt series to be acquired by an institution that can have them as "a part of California history."

Keywords: American Quilt Study Group; California; Mendocino County Musuem; Quilt Purpose - Exhibition; Quilt history; Quilt purpose - Activism/Awareness; Roots of Motive Power; Sandra Metzler-Smith

Partial Transcript: Uh, what do you think makes a great quilt?

Segment Synopsis: According to MacDonald, a great quilt is one that conveys the idea that the quiltmaker was aiming for. Technique is of lesser importance. MacDonald reframed the question about what makes a great quiltmaker as what makes a good artist. To her mind that is, "following your path, and completing your pieces, and working on your pieces until you feel that you've done everything you possibly can to make that a good piece of art." When asked about preserving quilts, MacDonald first gives her understanding of best conservation practices. She also advocates both good documentation and giving researchers access.

Keywords: Aesthetics; Quilt documentation; Quilt preservation

Partial Transcript: Um, what do you think is the biggest challenge confronting quiltmakers today?

Segment Synopsis: MacDonald points out that the word "quiltmaker" covers a lot of ground, including children who are quilting in schools, historic quiltmakers, and art quiltmakers. Saying "quilt" confuses listeners. MacDonald considers herself primarily an "image maker" and an artist. She points out that when making a case to gatekeepers for exhibiting in "a top notch gallery," she needs to avoid using the word "quilt." Instead, MacDonald uses terms like "mixed media" or "textile." She gives examples from her own experience and other peoples'. In her opinion, the word "quilt" usually reminds people of the handcrafts of older relatives, which is not a helpful association for someone interested in attracting an audience for their work.

Keywords: Fine arts; Perceptions of quilting

Subjects: Art and craft debate; Arts and crafts

Partial Transcript: Um, I know you've won a number of awards, um, you've had pieces, uh, at Quilt National. Do you have something there now?

Segment Synopsis: As of the time of the interview, MacDonald had a piece, "So Many People," in Quilt National, which was a traveling exhibition. She describes the process of making the quilt. MacDonald also won a Quilt Japan Award. She was able to travel to Japan, teach in Tokyo and Osaka, and do some sight-seeing. When asked if there was anything else she wanted to say, MacDonald advised people working "in this field" to "follow their own path and their own heart," and also to figure out what message they want to communicate, and what approach would most effectively communicate it.

Keywords: "So Many People"; Japan; Quilt Japan Award; Quilt National; Quilt Purpose - Exhibition; Quilt shows/exhibitions; Teaching quiltmaking