Interview with Sherry Shine

Karen Musgrave (KM): This is Karen Musgrave and I'm doing a Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories interview with Sherry Shine. Sherry is in East Orange, New Jersey and I'm in Naperville, Illinois so we are conducting this interview over the telephone. Today's date is January 12, 2009. It is now 4:45 in the afternoon. Sherry, thank you so much for taking time to do this interview with me. Please tell me about your quilt "The 44th."

Sherry Shine (SS): I saw this magnificent speech that Barrack Obama had given back in March and the speech was discussing race and race relations here in this country and he had done a lot of campaigning at this point and I felt as though he thought all of his hard work was in jeopardy because he was getting flack from people who felt like he wasn't discussing race enough so I think he felt the need to talk about it. I remember actually being in my studio and turning on the TV and seeing him at the podium with all of the flags behind him and he was also catching some flack because he didn't have his flag pin on some times on the campaign trail and also because of his name Barrack Hussein Obama. I knew the [John.] McCain campaign played a role in it because of course they were trying to get their numbers up and get back in the running, but I just was so affected by the lines that he said. We are not black America. We are not white America. We are the United States of America and I think those three sentences that he said had a great effect on me.

That is when I really started making quilts in his honor and that is really where I got the idea to create "The 44th" and put him on a stamp. I mean by that point I had seen a lot of quilts with him, a lot of different ideas, a lot of different things but I wanted to take I guess a combination of all different images that I had seen of him and put him on a stamp. The thing about that particular quilt is that it has a lot of symbolism and I do that with a lot of my quilts but the symbolism in my quilts are, how can I say, sort of quiet undertones so he is in black, white, and gray, because if you mix black paint and white paint you get gray and the thread that is actually running through the quilt is a variegated thread that is also of black, white, and gray so I didn't want to use any particular skin tones because it was based upon the speech that he gave about not being black or white but just being American. The stripe of red surrounding the quilt stands for a piece of the flag and on the back of the quilt I used this fabric that I had bought many, many years ago and it is a newspaper print and it actually talks about other presidents like Nixon and Kennedy. So I thought it would be pretty interesting to put that on the back, again that is also in black and white. Usually when I quilt that is what I do, I use a lot of quiet symbols in my quilts. I wanted to use the simplest things that I could get my hands on to make the quilt which was just pencil and some textile paint because I feel as though times are changing and we as people have to get back to the basics and I think Obama believes that too. Not everything has to be so luxurious and so I tried to really listen to his speech I even went online and read it again and then I started working on a couple of quilts and "The 44th" is really what came out of that particular speech. I was just very, very moved at that point to do something.

KM: What are your plans for this quilt?

SS: It is going to hang in Silver Springs, Maryland in a show [the exhibition, "President Obama: A Celebration in Art Quilts," will be from February 9 to March 5, 2009 in the main gallery (King Street Gallery) of the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center, Silver Spring, Maryland.] in celebration of him becoming the president during the month of February and March and so I'm very excited about that. Hopefully it will be in a catalogue that is supposed to be put together. I don't know after that. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it or if I'm going to sell it. I have to see what happens. At this point, it is kind of up in the air what my plans are going to be for it.

KM: You shared three quilts with me. Three Obama quilts. Have you made more?

SS: I have made more. I've made more--oh my goodness, I would say in total I've made one, two, three. I would say I've made about seven and out of the seven I've sold three of them. One of them sight unseen, just describing it to someone on the phone and they really wanted it so they just bought it sight unseen.

KM: Why has Obama inspired you to make so many quilts?

SS: I think it has a lot to do with us as a people, I know a lot of people talk about his message, but for me it is more about his vision. I sort of relate that to my art work because I feel like that is how I am, I kind of envision something and then I try to do some type of sketch or write some type of notes and then try to figure out what I'm going to use to carry out that vision. I think that is what he is doing. I think that he has a vision and he is going about it in a grassroots way to carry it out. I know a lot of people are asking the question now, can he fix everything that is happening in this country and believe it or not, I think he can. I think that he already has the answers, I think that he has already done a lot of behind the scenes work, far more than people may know and I think that is very inspiring and he knows exactly what, he needs to do because he has the vision already. I feel like that sometimes, like I have an idea or vision and I know exactly what I need to do to carry it out. I start the process and I think that is what he is doing right now, he is starting the process.

KM: Is it typical of you to do a series on an idea?

SS: This will be my second series, believe it or not. I used to just do different versions of quilts with no particular series in mind just an idea and that is so funny because me and my husband were just talking about that today. I had done a series of women called "The Ebony Queen Quilts." I did seventeen of them and I have four left and I know that I have those four left because they are hanging in a show right now. This will be my second series and it is probably something that I will continue in the future. Sometimes it is hard for me to do that, which is why it is something that I never did before but I can see how successful it is when you work in a series and if you are at a show and you hang a series together, whether your are vending or you have a solo show, it makes much more sense to the consumer or the general public if they see your work in a series and so it is something that I'm going to try to continue to do.

KM: Tell me about the similarities and the differences in your Obama series.

SS: I have an abstract piece that I've done that I haven't really shown to anyone. It is different than anything I have ever done but I thought it would be a challenging and interesting to do something different. Most of the pieces that I have created in the series consist of using the simplest things that you could use, pencil, some textile paint, and I would have to say the one theme that goes through all of them is not so much color, I didn't put a lot of color into any of them because I don't think that is the way he sees things either. I don't think he sees things in a lot of color. I think he sees things and people for what they are and at face value so I tried to run that theme through the series based on him.

KM: Is that typical of your work?

SS: No that is quite the opposite. [laughs.] I actually love color and I have a tendency to use a lot of bright paints if I'm painting or if I'm painting and appliquing, I also have a tendency to use a lot of bright fabrics so this was something new for me. It is extremely difficult to work with just pencil and much easier for me to paint. It takes a long time to finish a piece when you are just using a pencil or some pen and ink. It takes a while to finish it so it definitely is a challenge.

KM: Tell me about your creative process.

SS: I will get an idea and I will try to do a small sketch. I carry abook with me where ever I go it is in my pocketbook where ever I'm at I try to do a small sketch or I will try to write down the idea and come home and do a small sketch. Then I will figure out what size I want it to be and once I land on the size then I figure out what I want to do with it. What look and feel do I want it to have in terms of colors, if I'm going to be using any fabrics in it or if I'm just going to paint the whole piece or if I'm just going to do a pencil or a combination. Then I will kind of figure out from there what I'm going to do and then I start. I only work on one piece at a time because I like to give each individual piece its own separate attention and I don't have any UFOs, which is like a code word for quilters, "unfinished objects" lying around my studio. I don't. Once I start something I finish it. I go from beginning to end and I work on one piece at a time.

KM: Are you real tidy?

SS: I don't like to be too unorganized. If things in my studio become too out of hand I'll usually stop or at the end of the night I usually try to straighten up so the next day I can come in and know where I left off at. I usually paint or draw every day. I'm very dedicated to what I do. It's very rare that I don't draw or paint something or start drawing or start painting something. I usually work on my craft every day because I feel like that is the only way you can get better at what you do. That's just me personally, everybody doesn't feel that way but that is how I feel.

KM: The next piece is 31 [inches.] by 28 [inches.]. Is that a typical size for you?

SS: It is. It is. It's hard for me to work bigger than that plus I do a lot of art shows, not craft shows but art shows and a lot of collectors already have large pieces so they are usually looking for something in that area or smaller if they are interested in your work. I do have a tendency to stay in that range.

KM: Tell me about your interest in quiltmaking.

SS: No one in my family that I know of is a quilter. I had an aunt who--she used to knit. I remember that she tried to show me on several occasions and I was horrible at it and one day I went to a lecture with a friend and there was a woman there who used Procion dyes to create realistic looking quilts and I was fascinated by her work and I thought in my mind, 'Wow, I could draw and paint,' and it was something that I hadn't done in years. I can't tell you how many years. It was such a long time. I went to a local art store and I asked the gentleman there if he knew of anything that I could use to paint or draw on fabric with and he said there are so many things now, you know technology and he showed me this wonderful aisle that was really dedicated to fiber artists and I just started from there and just never looked back, just have always tried to build upon what I do, figure out a new method or add something different, try to challenge myself.

KM: Do you belong to any art or quilt groups?

SS: I do. I belong to the Nubian Heritage Quilters. I am the vice president for the guild. It's a guild that is in Montclair, New Jersey and they met once a month, the second Saturday of every month. I'm also a member of SAQA, the Studio Art Quilt Associates and I'm a member of FFG also. Fiber Focus Group [FFG.] that is online. That is exactly what it is called the Fiber Focus Group.

KM: Why is belong to these groups important to you?

SS: It is a way to communicate with other artists because not all of the artists, especially in the Fiber Focus Group are quilters. They do so many other different things with fiber so it is important to me to do, see what other artists are doing and appreciate their work as well and just learn about, try to learn about new techniques and new methods, to be able to create different things on clothe. I tried canvass before and it was just not the same for me as creating a piece and then the quilting being added to it. It just adds another dimension to it. I'm just attracted to that so I like being around people who are interested in fiber too.

KM: Do you think of yourself more as an artist or a quiltmaker or do you even make the distinction?

SS: I struggle with that all the time. [laughs.] That is a tough question. Some days I think of myself as an artist and other days I think of myself as a quilter so it is a debate, it is an internal debate that is constant in me and it is always going back and forth, always back and forth. I use the term fiber artist but I use it very loosely. I don't necessarily know right now what else to call myself so I just call myself that but it is something that I struggle with.

KM: Tell me about the quilting of your quilts.

SS: It is loaded onto a long arm machine. A long arm machine is like a pretty large quilting machine and sometimes there is detail quilting and other times there's overall what they call a pantograph pattern that you follow that's just added on to the cloth, so there are so many different ideas and ways and methods and threads, so many different things now that you can also do with the quilting. You don't even necessarily have to stand there over the machine to do it any more, they even have machines that can add the quilting on its own once you load the quilt on. Technology I think has taking quilting to a whole other level. I don't really feel like it is a craft. I really feel like it is definitely a special art form.

KM: Describe your studio.

SS: My studio is in my basement. I have two very large cutting tables, sewing machine, ironing board, I lay all of my work flat. I have two very large tables in a different area. I lay all of my work flat and I usually keep all of my work in acid free bags. I have bins on wheels and they hold all of my fabric and I have two pretty tall bookcases with lots of books on color, how to draw, quilting. I just love books on any kind of- the history of art. I have tons of books on all different kinds of things. I use them as references. I refer to them a lot and then I have all of my paints. Some on shelves and the shelves are on wheels so I can roll it around and then I have some of them in bins so I can look at the colors and see exactly what colors I want to get my hands on and that's about it. I have rods. I have a basket that has a lot of rods because I will figure out if I'm doing a show how I want to display my work, what rod I want a particular piece to hang on. All of those things are in my studio.

KM: What does your family think of your quiltmaking?

SS: I would say they think it is great. My husband, Marcus, he has been a great support system. I couldn't do it without him. I think that sometimes they come with me to shows and it can be quite overwhelming for them, especially if people are not so much familiar with what an art quilt is sometimes my work can draw a pretty big crowd and so my kids and family members are like wow. I think they think that it is tough getting the word out. I think there is a particular group of collectors or a particular group of people in the art world that know about quilts and art quilts and then I think there is the whole separate group of people that know nothing about them and I think that you get a lot of those people at shows. I think it is fun trying to educate people and I've gotten several of my family members to that level where they can educate people about what I do and why I do it. That part of it is good and I really, really couldn't do any of it without their support because they totally support me.

KM: Whose works are you drawn to and why?

SS: Well believe it or not when I was younger, I was a big Georgia O'Keefe fan because of the colors. I was a big Picasso fan, mostly his Blue Period because I was fascinated by the fact that he just kind of had this period where he did everything in blue. Now today I respect and admire their work but I am drawn to a lot of African American artists' work. Such as Elizabeth Catlett, I love her work.

KM: Why do you love her work?

SS: Just her style. It is really her style, the way that she kind of does her etchings and then she adds color and just the stories. I think that it is really about the stories that her work tells and then there are some more modern artists that I love also I love Leroy Campbell's work. I think that he is a great artist. Of there are so many of them, I love Annie Lee. I think that she is another great artist and they tell stories too but they tell stories in their own way. There is also Woodrow Nash who happens to sculpt his stories. His statues are just amazing. I think there are a lot of great artists out there and I am attracted to there work and the stories they tell. Alice Gatewood Waddell is another amazing artist there are a lot of great artists out there now to choose from.

KM: What advice would you offer someone starting out?

SS: I would tell them to find their own vision and to find their own rhythm and to find their own style. That is not easy to do. It's difficult to do but it can be done. I hear a lot at my guild meeting, people sort of searching for that, but I don't think that it is something that just happens in a day, I think you have to try a lot of different things. To be honest with you I really started out doing just traditional piecing and traditional quilts. I have a few traditional quilts that I did and I knew that I loved quilting but I wasn't so sure that I necessarily loved just cutting up pieces and putting them back together. I respect that totally but that wasn't for me and so I had to find my own voice. I think that as a quilter you have to try a lot of different things until you can find your own voice.

KM: What do you think is the biggest challenge confronting quiltmakers today?

SS: Getting people to understand that it is not a craft. If you are interested in introducing your work to the public, if you are interested in introducing your work to collectors, if you are interested in your work being in galleries and museums and things of that nature. I think the uphill battle is getting people to look at it differently and to have them see it as an art form and not a craft.

KM: How do you want to be remembered?

SS: You know, Karen, I think about that all the time. I would have to say that I would like to be remembered as the type of artist that produced good work and that I tried to help people. That I tried to help anyone who has questions about how to take their quilting to the next level if they wanted to or I've done some classes where I've done some quilt blocks with kids. I love doing that. I like to be remembered as someone who tried to help other people, but also as someone who produced some interesting work.

KM: Tell me about working with kids.

SS: A friend of mine is a director of a Y here, the YMCA [Young Men's Christian Association.] here in East Orange, and she just wanted to do something different with the kids and so she asked me if I would be interested in doing something with them. I went in and talked about quilting first and after I talked about quilting we talked about maybe doing some kind of class. It was so successful. We had no idea that so many kids were going to show up or that their parents were going to let them stay after the after care program and they did and it was just, it was just a lot of fun working with them and working with paints and them creating their quilt blocks and what they wanted them to say. We just had a great time and I would love to be able to do more of that. I'm always looking for some kind of venue or something where I can volunteer my time, especially to teach kids about quilting and talking about the history of quilting. It was an awesome experience.

KM: What do you think makes a great quilt?

SS: I think color. I think the story that the quilt tells and for me it's the little details within the quilt. So someone for example could add a bead or do some type of embroidery work or just maybe something that makes it a little bit different. I definitely think it is detail. I think it is color, and I think it is the story that the quilt tells. Sometimes the color itself is the story, that's it. You look at it and you are like wow and it's the color itself is already telling you a story.

KM: Which quiltmakers do you like?

SS: I hope I say her name right. I think its Kate Pasquini--

KM: Katie Pasquini Masopust.

SS: Yes. Hollis Chatelain. Lori Lupe Pelish, Carolyn Crump, Diana Bracey and Marion Coleman. I love there work.

KM: That is okay, you can fill it in later. I couldn't remember Marion's last name but I looked it up.

SS: I will put it in. Oh and I bought a piece of Lisa Call's work.

KM: Why do you love her work?

SS: She dyes her own stuff. I bought a very small piece of hers maybe like two or three weeks ago and just the fine lines and the colors that she uses. I think she puts those things together very well so I like her work a lot too.

KM: Do you buy other people's art?

SS: I do, I do, I do and if I could buy more I would. [KM laughs.] We buy as much as we can. I want to buy more quilters work than what I have right now but some of these other artists that I mention to you we own some of their pieces so me and my husband are what I call beginning collectors but we love the work that we have and we never get tired of looking at it, as we walk around the house and look at it, we talk about it several times. We just never get tired of looking at the work we bought and that is what art work is supposed to do, just move you every time. You just never get tired of looking at the piece that you have. I always try to tell customers that art is meant to do more than match your furniture. It should speak to you.

KM: Oh heavens yes, please. [laughs.]

SS: If I go into a friend's home and I see no art on the wall I immediately tell them your walls have no soul. You've got to give your walls some soul. Whatever it is. Whatever you are attracted to you've got to put it on your wall. I mean, I can look at another artist work and it just motivates me. I could be having a crummy day and walk by and look at a piece of work and it actually can change the way that I feel, or look at it. I always wonder about what was that artist thinking or how did they think of that or those colors are just magnificent. I think that I'm open to all forms of art. I think it is a pretty special thing that we are privy to as people.

KM: Let's just touch briefly again on the exhibit. Have you seen many of the quilts that are going to be in the exhibit?

SS: I've only seen a few quilts and I've seen them on your website. But I know some of the artists that are going to be in there and I know their work so I just know that I'm going to be overwhelmed when I walk into the room.

KM: Are you going to be at the opening?

SS: Yes, I'm going to be at the opening and I'm very, very excited because I think that it is going to be one of the better quilt shows that is going to take place in 2009. Not only because it is a celebration about Obama's, but because there are just so many magnificent artists participating in the show. Some I'm sure I don't know their work and I can't wait to be introduced to it and then others I know their works and I can't wait to see what they have done. I think it is going to be a terrific show.

KM: Are you surprised at how much of his image is being used?

SS: You know I'm not. When McCain put out that ad about him being like a rock star, I mean he put it out in the wrong way but I don't think that he was too far off base. He has a certain mystic.

KM: He is a handsome man.

SS: He is tall. He is striking. He is well spoken and I believe that he has a great vision. I think that his vision is clearly defined in what he wants to do for the American people. I think that is what is so amazing. He wants to do it for the American people. He knows that. We kind of need help here first. I know there are a lot of other things that he has to focus on and he will. I'm sure he will focus on those things but I think he knows that his attention is needed right here right now in the United States.

KM: Before we close, is there anything that you would like to share that we haven't touched upon?

SS: Just that as an artist I want to hopefully continue to be successful. I feel like that none of the things that I've done could have happened without my family, my husband Marcus and without Jesus Christ being in my life. I think those elements are important when you are an artist. Sometimes when I'm creating something I am like are you creating this for you, I question myself. Are you creating this for the public? Who? Why are you making this? Why are you creating this? So sometimes I know the answer and sometimes I don't but I continue to work through the challenge until I find out. I hope that as quilters out there we just continue to quilt, continue to make history, and that we continue the work that we are doing because I think it is very important for people to know our stories because they are unique compared to other artists. I think everyone has a story but I think a quilter's story is a little bit different.

KM: Thank you very much for taking time out of your day to do this interview with me.

SS: Thank you, it was a pleasure and an honor and it is just so exciting.

KM: You were wonderful.

SS: I am just so glad that I could be a part of this project. What are you going next with everything?

KM: Hold on and we will end. We are going to conclude our interview at 5:25.