Nancy Crow
- 2006 INDIES Winner
- Silver, Art (Adult Nonfiction)
Colorful Creator.While some may see a beautifully sewn quilt as an invitation for a cozy nap, for others it is a painstaking art form that combines the traditional with the contemporary.
The eponymous Nancy Crow Breckling Press, 10 x 12, color photographs, 302 pages, hardcover, $65.00, 1-933308-03-6) is the fifth book by the artist and teacher. Combining photographs of hundreds of Crow’s quilts and her surroundings with notes from her sketchbooks and travel journals, Nancy Crow takes the reader through her career from her transitional quilts of the 1980s to her latest “Constructions” series.
Crow takes her inspiration from objects all around her. Photographs show how the crooked beams of a demolished building became the painstakingly pieced “Construction #18,” with its irregular squares and leaning strips of brown.
“The purpose of my quilts is to make something beautiful but, at the same time,” she writes, “my quilts are a means of expression, representing my deepest feelings and my life experiences.”
Statements from Crow accompany many of the sections, explaining how she felt during the creation of the quilts and what she wanted to accomplish. About the construction of her colorful and abstract “Bow Tie” quilts she writes, “I was aware of a new sense of freedom … and an accompanying sense of awkwardness, exhilaration, and anxiety combined.”
An awe-inspiring collection from one of the most influential quilters of modern times.
Reviewed by
Whitney Hallberg
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
