Bill Stearman, Quilt Maker

Words Found On The Back of a Painting by a Non-Binary, Trans Artist Artist Statement: These words are written on the back of a painting that I purchased from a young artist, Spencer Hatch. They created Their piece using acrylic paint and crayons. The paining is as gentle and quiet as Spencer if Theirself. I think that we have all known that  feeling of not fitting in ... on a superficial level. Certainly there are time when I feel like I don't fit in. But I'm not Trans, and I don't identify as non-binary, in a binary world.  I can't even imagine what this 'wish' must be like for this young artist. When I look at these words pencilled on the back of Their painting as a sort of secret message ... I weep.

Many thanks to Karen Bell for such a fabulous interview.   I just love how easy she made the process!

  Photo taken by my husband, Larry Tayler. Oh how I wish that I had taken the time to shave!   I never think to do that since no one can tell when I’m wearing my mask.   Still ... I do like the photo. And if you are looking for promotional text ... The Short Version for my BackPack Show (and my personal favourite) I Will be Silent No More Bill struggled with storytelling as a way to make sense of his life for many years. And then discovered his voice in quilt making.  Fabrics and carefully placed stitches express joy, anguish, hope, gratitude, and love, providing glimpses into deep and important stories; stories that matter on personal and social levels.  His quilts make bold statements and provoke thoughtful consideration of a variety of issues.  “With the help of about 20 of my quilts, I’ll tell their stories... my stories. I doubt that these quilts, and their stories, will remind you of your Grandmother’s quilts." 

I wasn’t going to post this just yet.  I’m waiting for professional photographs that haven’t arrived yet, but I could be silent no longer. Posts were removed today from at the Quilting In Canada Facebook page because they were ‘too political’. They dealt with racism. So I’m posting this with just a poor quality photo taken by me. This is a very Canadian quilt that speaks to racism in Canada. It was finished yesterday. (Quilting by Deanna Gaudaur, Quintestudios.com) The first QR Code leads you to Desmond Cole’s Blog entry ... ‘Remembering 27 Black, Indigenous, and Racialized People Killed By Canadian Police’. The second one leads to a Canadian documentary made by Charles Officer and Desmond Cole ... ‘The Skin We’re In’. These present facts, folks. Let’s be the change! Thirty Dead … and Counting: Systemic Racism In Canada I will never again accept ‘tsk tsk’ from Canadians responding to racism in the US.  Racism is alive and well in our own country, and we need to talk about it! ...

That Time Before When I started to work on this quilt, I wanted it to speak to that time before this Covid thing … that time before when there was order, predictability, routine, and calm  … that time before when we could touch, hug, and be physically close, without fear … that time before when we knew what to expect, and how to act. But when I was finished this quilt, my notion had changed to include that time before  … when I thought that I wasn’t racist ... when I thought that I was a better person than I am ... before I knew how much I had to learn, and grow and change. At the start, I wanted to remember that time before with the hope that we’d someday return to that norm. Now, I know that, that time before is gone  … as it should be … and that’s not a bad thing Quilted by Deanna Gaudaur, quintestudios.com

‘BLACK LIVES MATTER!’ ‘BIPOC LIVES MATTER!’ These statements are so easy to say ... but I don’t say them often enough! They need to become so commonplace that we all just believe them and begin to make change happen. Like when we all shouted ... ‘Flatten the curve! We said it. People did it. There was change. I need to do something, but I’m not sure what just yet. I have much to think about.   I need to listen.  And I need to learn.  I need to grow and get better. And I need to become the person who I thought I was. I also know that to say and do nothing is to support the status quo. And that is NOT acceptable! More to follow!

This is my entry into the Wind and Water writing contest.  I was totally honoured to be one of six shortlisted for the Fiction/Non Fiction Category At Peace … a memory I watched him sleeping as a slit of sunlight played in the room.  His breathing was short and irregular.  The cancer had spread to his lungs and every time he reverted to his normal rhythm of deep breaths, he grimaced with pain.  Other than that, he seemed comfortable.   I smiled as I flattened a lock of his hair and walked over to the window.  Outside, the world sang with the re-birth of May.  I opened the blinds a little more, to add warmth to the room.  I didn't open them all the way. He needed sleep. His sisters were coming later.  He wanted to be rested when they arrived.  He wanted to have energy for a joyful goodbye.  The lilacs outside the window were beginning to bloom.  Lilac season was his favourite time of year.  Somehow, it seemed ...

Wow! I made the short list in a writing competition! Feeling blessed. Blessed. Blessed! Who knew! We have been swept into memories of water, mystery, and delight with the submissions to the 2nd annual Wind and Water Writing Contest! This year's theme of memory made for such lovely reading that our judges, Kelly Thompson and Dorian Widling, had a difficult task of picking those that they felt best handled the theme, while also using the skills a writer has available to them. After copious amounts of delightful reading, and careful consideration by our judges, we're pleased to announce the writers who made our shortlist in each category. Poetry: "Dunes by the Lake" by Andrew Binks "What I Must Remember" by Julie Turgeon Newman "Water Lovers" by Karole Marois "Some Thoughts About Our Past" by Arlene Vandersloot "Morning Swims" by Shauna Haugen "The Music in Their Words" by Brian L. Flack Fiction:...

During the last week of July, I was scheduled to teach a class on using words in quilts at Halliburton School of Art and Design. I was also contracted to give the Wednesday evening lecture that same week. But the College cancelled the summer program. That, combined with being in social isolation, and many days of cloud, sent me into a major negative spin for a while. I’ve snapped out of it and decided that there is still life during quarantine, as long as I keep a positive focus. The theme for my word quilt project for the class, was ‘Reclaiming Pride’. The idea was to celebrate and own the many names that I’ve been called growing up gay; to take words that were thrown at me as slurs and put downs, and present them as something beautiful. The most hurtful of the words, I am choosing to present in Braille or Morse Code.  My focus is on creating beauty from the hate. Here’s the first one … ‘RECLAIMING PRIDE: A Bed Spread’ I left out the spaces between dots and das...

I have three quilts juried into the National Juried Show at Quilt Canada 2020. I am both humbled and grateful. I can't give more info until after the judging in June.

https://www.mqxshow.com/home/ This quilt was juried into the Men at Work - and Play Exhibit at MQX in April. I am thrilled!  This quilt is incredibly important to me! On November 28, 2017, in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered an apology to LGBTQ2 Canadians. It was an amazing speech. I wept as I listened to his words and I wept again as I read and reread them repeatedly in the making of this quilt. With technical assistance from Carbon Art and Design, I had the text of that speech printed on fabric in a few different sizes and colours. I then sewed the fabric (the speech) into this quilt using a double disappearing 9 patch variation. The words appliqued onto the quilt are the last three sentences of the speech. The faded letters in the last sentence are intentional, to represent the tears of our PM as he ended the speech. This speech is a defining moment for Canada, and a defining moment for me. After decades of feel...

Surviving January has been selected as a finalist in MQX, New England. I am beyond excited about this! MQX Quilt Festivals - New England Resolutions. Plans. But I’m stuck. Starting. Starting again. And again. Until I can’t. Fighting to stay happy; to see the Light; to know that I’m OK. Always trying. Using words to convince myself. ‘Life is good. Life is good!’ Until I believe that it is. And I survive another January. January is my worst month.  I live with depression. Churchill referred to his depression as a ‘Black Dog’.  I like that analogy. A dog can be controlled and mine usually is, but in January, when the sun hides, I struggle. In January I search for a quilt to make that requires no thought and that will lift me from depression with the joy that it creates. Last year, it was colourful charm packs that inspired me.  How simple – half square and quarter square triangles of colour combined with black. ...

My Right Brain This is my latest major finish!  It is part of a larger installation and about seven feet by eight feet. I'll post pictures of all five quilts once they are installed in late February. This is mostly freehand cut and hand dyed fabric.