By Colleen Cullison
Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services
A new exhibit titled, “Stitched Lines,” by local artist and quilter Colleen Kole, opens at the Leep Art Gallery on April 4 at the Postma Center on the Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services campus in Grand Rapids.
Kole, a physical therapist for 20 years, used her hands constantly and her observational skills as well. She now uses the same hands and observational skills as a fiber artist whose medium is quiltmaking. She dyes her own fabrics and cuts freehand into the fabric using a rotary cutter. She then uses a design wall to compose her quilt. The final step is adding machine stitching to three layers which adds another level of texture and design to the piece.
“With this exhibit, ‘A Stich In Time,’ over the past few years, I have become fascinated with lines. A line can be divisive separating one thing from another. A line can make a shape. It can connect one point to another. It can be subtle or distinct. Changing the color of the line can make it strong or weak.
“In the works chosen for this exhibit, the line becomes an abstract representation of many things we hold close to our hearts. In the series Time Fragments, it represents memory and memory loss; Rooflines, the home and Transitions a sharp demarcation in the different transitions we encounter as we age. Finally, Do the Dance is representative of the perseverance we need in the midst of crisis. Quite simply I love a line. And all it may represents in our lives. May it not divide but connect.”
Kole is a member of the West Michigan Quilt Guild and the American Quilter’s Society, has many won awards and been in numerous exhibits. She also has been featured in several quilting magazines.
The Pine Rest Leep Art Gallery exhibit will be on display at the Postma Center located at 300 68th Street, SE, Grand Rapids, Mich., from April 3 to June 28, 2019. The Leep Art Gallery is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. and is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 616.222.4530 or go to www.pinerest.org/leep-art-gallery .
