Complex Conversations - Joan Paley And Alice Means

June 8 - August 17, 2008

Complex Conversations has always had the objective of putting artists together in an exhibition that will create an artistic dialog. The conversation between the works of book illustrator Joan Paley and quilt artist Alice Means actually began quite a while ago.

Joan (Bujnowski) Paley and Alice (Perko) Means became best friends in grammar school and remained so through high school in Chelmsford Massachusetts, graduating in 1957. After losing track of each other for over forty years, they reunited at a gathering of high school classmates and were surprised to learn of each other's artistic achievements and the similarities between their works. Alice was creating award-winning quilts and Joan was illustrating children's books. Both artists used small cut pieces, fabric or paper to create their work.

From a gift of all Joan's illustrated children's books to Alice, came a quilt made from an illustration in "Little White Duck". It became the connector of their work.

Says Joan, "My interest and love of illustration began very early. Not only can I remember always wanting to add pictures to school papers but also loving the idea of making a book out of them. I grew up in the country where there were lots of animals, trees, a pond and an apple orchard. Now, I live in a town near the sea where there is an abundance of wildlife and birds providing tremendous inspiration."

She explains, "Every time I begin illustrating a new book, I think of myself as an explorer. Each book is an adventure. I wonder where this book will take me and whom I will meet along the way. First, I begin by consulting my own extensive reference shelves. I love doing research and learning about new things, birds with amazing beaks, emperor penguins, insects, animals in winter and the life of a sea otter family."

"I begin my work by making small thumbnail layouts of the entire book. Then those designs are refined and enlarged to become actual page size. The paper for my collages is painted with bright colored washes adding textures with crayon, or colored pencils. Then shapes are cut from the painted papers and combined to create each piece of art."

Alice Means began full time quilting in 1994 and has made more than 200 quilts. She says, " I am a traditional quilter and my strengths are piecing accuracy, needle-turn appliqué, color selection, adaptations of existing patterns, and embellishments such as couching, embroidery and beading."

Her earliest memories are of her mother teaching her how to do needlework and sew. "I would sit on her lap and watch her sew, making all of our clothing on her sewing machine. She taught me the basics of sewing, embroidery, crocheting, knitting, and needlepoint," says Means.

Means' quilts have appeared in national magazines such as "Quiltmaker" and "American Quilter", as well as the 2008 American Quilt Society Quilt Art Engagement calendar. Alice lives with her husband, Terry, and they divide their time between Bolton, Connecticut, and Haines City, Florida.

Joan Paley has illustrated nine children's books including, "What's That Sound Woolly Bear?" "One More River", "Little White Duck" (listed on Oprah Winfrey's web site), and " I Like Stars", written by Margaret Wise Brown. Joan lives with her husband, Norman, in Scituate, Massachusetts.

Museum Hours:Wednesday - Sunday: 1pm - 4pm