Deborah’s Basilica

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I’ll
never
forget an
exhibit we
hosted at the
Prairie Arts Center
here in Princeton, IL
.
We’re a local
community center
with a small theater
and gallery space
.
I
was
serving
on the board
when the idea of a
‘Quilting Exhibit’
was proposed
.
It was a
great idea, but I
didn’t know much
about them, except
for remembering
the cloth squares
like
Grandma
used to make
.
I was amazed
as the quilts started
arriving for the exhibit,
because most of them
weren’t made with
squares
!
It was
more like
Fabric Art
.
All
different
shapes and
sizes and types;
intricate & brightly
color-coordinated
patterns,
.
Gorgeous
!!!
.
That exhibit
opened my eyes
to something I had
never seen before
.

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After having this
wonderful experience,
and learning more about
what my neighbors do
in their spare time
(quilting!)
,
my attention was
drawn to the
one shown
below
.
It’s
featured
in the book,
“Faith + Vision:
Twenty-Five Years
of Christians in the
Visual Arts”
:

I went
to the internet
to learn more, but
couldn’t find it
anywhere
.
The one
shown above
is from the book,
so I want to give
proper credit
:

Reference:
Deborah Melton-Anderson,
“Basilica Arden-Odzen” (1989).
Fabric Quilt 41.5″ x 38″,
Photograph by
Michael
Houghton,
Printed in
“Faith and Vision:
Twenty-Five Years of
Christians in the Visual Arts”
Square Halo Books
2005

Deborah
says:

This quilt
was inspired
by a photograph
of a sixth-to-seventh
century church
in Armenia
.
One’s eyes
are naturally drawn
to the major source of
light in the structure,
the dome, as if to
communicate
with God
.
I have
renewed the
color of the basilica
with Marimekko cottons
(Finland) using applique’
and reverse-applique’
techniques.

Deborah Melton-Anderson,
“Faith+Vision”, p. 188

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Although
I couldn’t find the
image shown above
on the internet, I was
able to find several
Liturgical Banners
that she created
for the church
.
Deborah
was a member of
The Liturgical Art Guild
of Ohio, which helped many
congregations find artists
to create religious pieces
.
I’ll try showing
a few of her
banners
using
a new
WordPress
“slideshow block”
I just learned about
:

Here’s a photo
showing the
relative
size
:

Beautiful Work,
Deborah!

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TRIVIA:

I learned something else
while researching this artwork.
Deborah said she was inspired
by a church in Armenia
.
Armenia’s King Trdat III
adopted Christianity as
the state religion
in 301 AD,
making
Armenia the
first Christian
nation in the world
.