article by Laura Fogg

The Corner Gallery is happy to host a new guest artist for the month of May. Art quilter Betty Lacy has been working for months on a new themed project which she has labeled “Dwelling in Uncertainty.” She declares with a smile, “It’s all about ME!”

Elaborating, Betty explains that she has always kept a sketchbook/diary/journal full of writing, ideas and insights… some of which get executed as finished works of art and some of which don’t go anywhere. Creating the journal full of partially formed images that come into her from the world gives tangibility and some permanence to the thoughts as they go through her.

This has been a huge and challenging year for Betty. Her husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which caused an upheaval on all levels. As Betty says it, “Cancer changes you. My life became a flowing dance of dealing with the cancer. I began to dream in three dimensional circles, all released without borders. The image of the traditional square quilts I used to do became free. The frames came off and I started working in a non-linear way.” Hence the borderless circles in this series of quilt mobiles.

Betty continues, “I’ve always been a multi-media artist, even though I’ve belonged to the Mendocino Quilt Artists group for over 30 years. These new pieces are made of so many things. I have always liked taking little bits of fabric and creating a piece of art that sends a message. The materials I used in this series are found objects… candy wrappers, paper, feathers, old threads and plastic, in addition to cut up fabric scraps.”

“An intuitive and inner sense of truth” is how Betty describes what she has found in this new direction in her quilting. “Being a retired physician I’ve had my foot in science as well as art from a very early age,” she says. “This art practice has enabled me to step into the unknown and trust an uneducated part of myself.”

The First Friday opening celebration for this show will be on May 5 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Corner Gallery. Live music will be performed throughout the evening by Michael Oberg (Obie). The Corner Gallery is located at 201 S. State St. in Ukiah.