The Pixeladies Turn 15!

Has it really been fifteen years since we paddled around Deb’s pool, dreaming up a way to start a business? It seems like yesterday when we decided to call ourselves the Pixeladies, but now that we’ve taken stock of what we’ve done these past fifteen years, it really has been a long time. You can read about our first ten years here. Here’s an update on our last five years:

The Art

We are not prolific artists. We spend a lot of time working out a theme for each quilt and then making the paper collage. However, this process has allowed us to work on a variety of subjects, telling a story along the way. And while we haven’t produced a lot of work, we are happy to note that we’ve sold some pieces. We have the support of galleries and organizations that are willing to exhibit fiber art to thank for that. Here is some of the work we’ve sold:

One artistic highlight was the alphabet we created for a client in 2014. The Reader’s Alphabet contains 26 individual 5″ x 7″ pieces that represent the letters of the alphabet. The client gave us free range not only to choose the objects for each letter but also to choose the theme behind the letter. For example, the D is for Donkey, and the words and phrases are all about politics. The O is for Oxfords (yes, the shoes), a nod to the client’s shoe collection, and V is for Volkswagen! That’s our little inside joke because when we (Deb & Kris) met each other, oh, so many years ago, we were both driving Volkswagen Beetles. Being invited to exhibit the entire alphabet at the 2016 exhibition, The California Art Quilt Revolution: From the Summer of Love to the New Millennium, at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles was icing on the cake!

Another artistic highlight was our first solo show at Bay Quilts in Richmond, CA in the summer of 2017. Sally Davey, the proprietor, has made a point of showcasing a different artist every month of the year. That is the type of support fiber artists need. If you are ever in the Bay Area (Richmond is just east of San Francisco), drop on by. You’ll never know what great art will be on display!

The Publications

We had written a book in 2012 called Furoshiki Fabric Wraps (now out of print). After that amazing experience, we thought we should definitely do that again, but time escaped us. We did, however, find ourselves in print several times, but now in articles about us as artists. It has been very gratifying being recognized as artists. We love the fact that we’re in foreign-language publications, too: Magic Patch (French) and Patchwork Professional (German). And, boy, were we blown away when Politico Magazine featured our Obama quilt in its special The Obama Issue in 2016. Does that mean we will go down in history with the first African-American president in US history? We sure hope so!

And as far as TV goes, we can report that we just returned from filming three segments for Quilting Arts TV. You can read about our adventure here. We don’t know when the segments will be aired, but the estimate is January 2019. Each PBS station airs the segments according to its own schedule, so you can view the segments through 2021 in some locations. That seems so far into the future!

The Teaching

Around five years ago we realized that despite the fact that we love to teach, there was a disconnect between what we we were teaching at quilt guilds and what we were creating as art. This disconnect cost us a lot of time and energy, so we decided to teach what we love to do, play and create on Photoshop. In our experience, the best way to teach Photoshop was online. We had taught online earlier, with our good friend Carla Barrett hosting our classes on her website. In the interim, Carla decided to sail the seas with her husband and grandson, so she encouraged us to host the classes ourselves. It was good advice!

We’ve taught several series of our beginning Photoshop classes and the Photoshop photo organizer class. We are especially happy that we have helped many students start designing with Photoshop in our Digital Designing class. The best part of teaching online? Having students from all over the world, from Sweden to Israel and from Australia to Greece, not to mention our neighbors to the north in Canada. The worst part? Not teaching live. There’s a lot to be said for face-to-face human contact.

The Traveling

When we started the Pixeladies, we knew that we would not get rich quick. One thing we did decide: if we made enough money to travel or could integrate travel into our schedule, then we could call ourselves successful. Oh, have we been successful! From Portland, Oregon to San Antonio Texas, Lincoln, Nebraska and beyond, we’ve gone to the last several SAQA conferences. They serve to reinvigorate our creative juices. And since the conferences take place in different cities, we also take advantage of the different locations to explore the area and what it has to offer in terms of art and culture.

Teaching has allowed us to travel to the big island of Hawaiʻi and New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Talk about two great coastal areas. In 2015 we taught at the European Patchwork Festival. We not only had an amazing experience in this incredible Alsatian town, meeting new friends and viewing incredible art, we also took the opportunity to travel through Germany, looking at more art and visiting old friends.

The Pixeladies in 5 Years

So what will we be doing in 2023? Who knows! We certainly could not have predicted how our journey the past five years has gone. One thing we know for sure: Kris will be 65 in 2023 with Deb just one year behind. We’re talking prime Medicare years. Will it be time to retire? Many of you may balk at the thought because 65 is NOT old, but you have to remember that we run a business, a general partnership to be exact, and that requires a lot of work to maintain.

No matter what we decide, one thing is pretty certain. We’ll still be traveling. Our friendship (not just the business) has always revolved around the great trips we’ve taken together. And we’ll still be crafty. That, along with German Club, is what brought us together in the first place. We hope you keep reading about our journey together and stay in touch. We’ve treasured all the friendships we’ve made as the Pixeladies and look forward to making more.