About Bonnie
Artist’s Statement I LOVE fabric. I have been sewing for over 50 years and still haven’t tired of it. I have been dyeing my own fabrics for about 12 years, which adds another dimension to the pleasure of creating with fiber.
Although I may start out with a sketch of the desired results, much of my designing is done on the wall during the sewing process. Most of my fabrics are free-cut without using a straight edge. During the process of laying one shape of fabric next to another, I consider the impact of the color of one piece on the pieces surrounding it and on the work as a whole, the possibilities of pattern moving across the surface, and the relative significance of shapes as they become part of families or isolated instances. For me, this spontaneous designing is the most engaging part of the quilting process.
I enjoy both machine and hand stitching. I have a longarm quilting machine, and really enjoy dense machine quilting. I also like large, embroidery-type hand stitching that really stands out. For the past few years I have been experimenting with using both machine and hand stitching on my pieces.
Artist Biography Bonnie Bucknam has been sewing since early childhood. In high school she launched a successful mail order business manufacturing fabric purses. Since then she has always made art to enjoy and market. Bonnie grew up in Long Beach, California and graduated from California State University Long Beach with a degree in Anthropology and Geology. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Alaska. She worked as an archaeologist and warehouseman building the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. She remained in Alaska for 31 years, spending most of those working as a legal assistant at the Alaska Attorney General’s Office in Anchorage. She always used every “spare” minute to create fiber art. In 1997 she started a business, Handwerk, to market her quilts and hand-dyed fabrics. In 2006, Bonnie retired from legal work and relocated to Vancouver, Washington, where she now makes art full-time.
Bonnie's abstract compositions are inspired by the colors and shapes of the natural world. Bonnie’s quilt “Crater” won Best of Show at Quilt National 2011. She has also exhibited in Visions San Diego, Quilts=Art=Quilts at the Schweinfurth, and numerous times in the biennial Earth, Fire, and Fibre exhibit at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. Bonnie was part of the solo artist series at the Anchorage Museum in 1995, in Quilts: Stitching a New Tradition. Internationally, Bonnie’s work has appeared in the Haus der Wirtschaft in Stuttgart, Germany, the Museum of Modern Art in Verona, Italy, and other venues in Germany, France, Japan, England, Ireland, Brazil, and the Netherlands. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Tuch + Technik Textile Museum in Neumunster, Germany, the Patchwork Design Collection in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the State of Alaska Art Bank.
Geology will open September 1, 2018 with opening reception September 7th from 5:00-9:00 pm.
Selected Exhibitions
2018
Geology: Bonnie Bucknam Art Quilts, The 610 Arts Collective, Ridgway, Colorado.
Contemporaneo: International Exhibition of Contemporary Textile Art, Featured Artist, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Of a Feather: Birds in Art, Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center, Dowell, Maryland.
Abstract Sanctuary 5, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, Oregon.
Northwest Vision, Lynnwood Convention Center, Lynnwood, Washington.
Eleventh Annual Collective Visions Gallery Show 2018, Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, Washington. (Honorable Mention)
2017
Quilt National 2017, Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, Ohio.
2017 Collective Visions Gallery Show, Bremerton, Washington.
2016
The Cutting Edge: Art Quilts in Washington, Contemporary QuiltArt Association group exhibit, Washington State History Museum, Tacoma, Washington.
Familiar Terrain: Mixed Media Paintings by Bonnie Bucknam, City of Auburn Community Center, Auburn, Washington.
Breakout: Quilt Visions 2016, Visions Art Museum, San Diego, California.
Artist as Quiltmaker: FAVA’s 17th Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Quilts, The Firelands Association for the Visual Arts, Oberlin, Ohio.
Fiber Fusion: Work from the Surface Design Association, Washington: VALA Art Center, Redmond, Washington; Northwind Arts Center, Port Townsend, Washington; Schack Art Center, Everett, Washington
Form, Not Function: Art Quilts at the Carnegie, Carnegie Center for Art and History, New Albany, Indiana.
2016 Collective Visions Gallery Show, Bremerton, Washington (all media exhibit). Red Lightning, 1st place, 2D art category.
Winter Juried Exhibit, Gallery 114, Portland, Oregon (all media exhibit).
My Corner of the World (International Exhibit), Studio Art Quilts Associates traveling exhibit premiering at the Stratford Perth Museum, Stratford, Ontario, Canada.
Art Quilt Elements, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, Pennsylvania.
Mastery: Sustaining Momentum (invitational curated by Nancy Crow), Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, Ohio.
2015
Quilts = Art = Quilts, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, New York.
Finding Our Place: The Geography of Art, Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center, Dowell, Maryland (all media exhibit). Juror’s Choice Award.
Bonnie Bucknam and Linda McLaughlin: Contemporary Art Quilts, Corvallis Arts Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Water Effect, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, New York (mixed media paintings, all media exhibit).
Familiar Terrain: Mixed Media Paintings by Bonnie Bucknam, Second Story Gallery, Camas, Washington.
Caverns by Bonnie Bucknam, Solo Exhibition, Portland International Airport Concourse D, Portland, Oregon.
Form, Not Function: Art Quilts at the Carnegie, Carnegie Center for Art and History, New Albany, Indiana.
2014
Form, Not Function: Art Quilts at the Carnegie, Carnegie Center for Art and History, New Albany, Indiana. Best of Show award.
Quilts=Art=Quilts, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, New York. Second Place award.
New Legacies Contemporary Art Quilts, The Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, Colorado. Honorable Mention.
2012
Color Improvisations (invitational curated by Nancy Crow): Quiltfestival Noord, Groningen, Netherlands; Openluchtmuseum Het Hoogeland, Warffum, Netherlands; European Patentamt, Munich, Germany; The Knitting and Stitching Show ,Alexandra Palace, London, England; Royal Dublin Society, The Knitting and Stitching Show, Victorian Hall, Dublin, Ireland; Tuch + Technik, Textilmuseum, Neumunster, Germany.
The Next 50, Contemporary QuiltArt Association group exhibit, Seattle Center 50th Anniversary Celebration, Seattle, Washington.
Journeys, Contemporary QuiltArt Association group exhibit, SeaTac Airport, Seattle, Washington.
2011 • Quilt National, Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, Ohio, Best of Show award • Rio Patchwork Design, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil • Color Improvisations, Museum of Modern Art, Verona, Italy • Chance Encounters, Lynnwood Convention Center, Lynnwood, Washington • Oregon: State of Diversity, Heritage Station Museum, Pendelton, Oregon