Contributed by Holly Knott / Skaneateles Artisans

The story behind Holly’s Quilt that’s being exhibited:

This stunning American Sycamore sits next to Lafayette’s Quarters (Gideon Gilpin’s House), on what is now the Brandywine Battlefield in Chadds Ford, PA. It’s approximately 396 years old as of 2008, which means it witnessed the Revolutionary War battle that took place on its grounds, being well over 150 years old at the time. Legend says that the Marquis de Lafayette rested against this tree while his wounded leg was being tended to during the Battle of Brandywine in 1777. The diameter of this gigantic tree’s trunk is 9′ ! This quilt portrays just one branch.

My husband, parents and I visited this tree a few days after 9/11/01, on a gorgeous, breezy, late summer day with a deep blue, cloudless sky. It was quite moving to be standing on the grounds where a battle was fought for our nation’s independence during those intensely stressful days following 9/11. In this quilt, I tried to capture that sky, the breeze, the light, and the enormity of the tree.

Event Details:
State University of New York at Oswego Announces Exhibition of Contemporary Quilts Tyler Art Gallery will feature work of nineteen upstate artists September 5 through October 19. Tyler Art Gallery, on the SUNY Oswego campus, will display the work of nineteen upstate quilt artists in an upcoming exhibition entitled “A Personal Landscape: Contemporary Art Quilts.” The exhibition opens on September 5th and runs through October 19th. (more…)

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