Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

,- Th e Couri er -M il 10 May 1983 "WOULD you care to see my etchings?'..: Remember that tired old line? Today, the Brisbane man– about-town could easily replace it with a similarly art-linked in– vitation: "Would you cart to sec myquilt?" (This is not really a sugges– tion to enlarge the male vocab– ulary, but more to indicate that the quilt is emerging from a folk craft into the creative art field) . Which brings me to Glen Cook's quilt. I hasten to add that the curator of decorative arts at Queensland Art Gallery merely issued an invitation for coffee. It was a fellow guest who insisted : "You must sec Glen's quilt." And the quilt, which he com– missioned Lorna May to make, reveals a particularly ima'gina– tive talent at work. Like Ruth Stoneley, Lorna May had a quilt included in the survey of contemporary Aus– tralian Crafts at the Queens– land Art Gallery during Festi– val '82. But unlike Ruth, whose "Queensland Quilt" - com– missioned for Government House - cast a well-deserved focus on her beautiful and orig- inal work, Lorna May i rela– tively unknown. In 1969 Mrs May joined the Embr oid erers' Guild of Queensland to do patchwork, gaining a great deal of pleasure in mastering this traditional craft. !n 1981 she had a quilt shown in Sydney's Opera House. She sa s that she's "not real– ly a mpetitive person" and work more for enJoyment than competitions. But the quilt cho– sen for last year's survey, with ' its bold design and strong colors - black, red and navy blue - was not a conventional patch– work creation. When he saw it, Glen Cook asked her if she would make him "a quilt with an Aboriginal feeling about it." The quilt was to complement Glen's collection of "Aborigi– nalitics" and sent Mrs May researching in libraries to learn more about traditional Aborigi– nal life and art. Glen's collection, housed in a wall-size cedar bookcase, com– prises commercially-produced work by Australian ceramists. There arc boomerang-shaped ashtrays. footprint ashtrays and a vast ra nge of articles depict– ing Aboriginals and their de– signs. Mrs May ha approached her task with se nsitivity, at– temptin ,o give her own inter– pretajion of traditional Aborig– inal~lturc. In October, Mrs May will join Joa n Selnes. f under and president of the Embroiderers· Guild uf Queensland, and Jud) Ea ton . 1n a three-per. on sho11, a1 the rafts Council Gallery. - PHYLLIS WOOLCOCK 1