I’ll be at Bomb Door 3346 Texas Ave, St. Louis, MO 63118 for the Cherokee Print Bazaar this Saturday! I have about 13 new prints, and a whole lot of watercolors for sale. I’ll even have a bargain bin with lots of old favorites for dirt cheap- $5! Hope to see a lot of friendly faces. I’ll have cookies!
Images of Cempasúchiles
I am so happy I got to see photos of my quilt at the Arizona History Museum! My cousin visited and sent me these. I don’t love the method of display, but I’m honored my work is included in their Dia De Los Muertos display. Seeing my name in a museum label with an acquisition number next to it just blows my mind.
Woodsy!
I just realized I never added a photo of my most recent quilt, “Woodsy”. This was a commissioned couch size quilt for a former coworker who’s sister moved to New Hampshire. She wanted to give her a housewarming gift that represents the lifestyle her sister was chasing when she made her big move, so this was a perfect fit for me. I had a blast making this and going through the design process with my client.
Cempasúchiles
I am honored to announce my work has been accepted into a second public collection, The Arizona History Museum in Tucson. Every year, a memory quilt is made to honor the immigrants who died crossing the border in the Tucson Sector. Clothing is collected from the desert, washed, and given to a quilter. The names of the identified are embroidered on the front, but those are are not identified are given the label “Desconocido”. This project weighed heavy on my heart. It was important to honor them with something beautiful and unique, that would bring comfort to their families if it is ever seen by them. More info can be found here.
“Cempasúchiles”
Melissa Bauer
Clothing, cotton fabric, and dye
75 inches by 64 inches
2023
My artwork is a reflection of my interest in historical research and the American landscape. The landscape addressed by this quilt is the Tucson Border Patrol sector, which covers 262 border miles in southern Arizona, separating Mexico from the United States. The work honors the lives of the people who died crossing this border in the 2022 fiscal year. These people were lost to hyperthermia, blunt force trauma, sharp force injuries, heat exposure, traumatic asphyxia, and multiple gunshot wounds. Their violent and unnecessary deaths must not define their lives, each name on this quilt was a beloved family member who is deeply missed by their community. This work calls viewers together to mark, mourn, and remember the tragic and unnecessary loss of life that occurs year after year along this man-made border.
“Cempasúchiles” is a three layer textile work, referencing the three deaths of Mexican custom. The first layer is the dark blue traditional quilt, constructed in a traditional manner from a historic quilt block pattern called “The Road to California”, which was first published around 1890. Sewn with clothing left by migrants as they crossed the Tucson sector, it depicts the “first death”: when the body ceases to function. The second layer, representing “the second death”: when the body is buried, references a popular applique pattern of flowers and leaves from the 1850s. The cempasúchil (the Aztec Marigold) flowers depicted in this layer are traditionally used to celebrate life and lead souls from their burial places back to their family homes. The third layer of the quilt is the embroidered names of the people who lost their lives crossing the border between October 2021 and September 2022, with “Desconocido” standing in for the 106 people who remain unidentified. This final layer subverts the “third death”: the moment when a person is remembered for the last time. Each leaf ensures these brave people will never be forgetten.
The shoe covers displayed with this quilt were also found in the Tucson sector desert. Their ingenious design speaks to how loved the wearer was. A soft carpet sole dampens footprints and the sound of footsteps. The Velcro fasteners on the back allowed the wearer to quickly slip them over their own shoes. The tie on the top ensures they stay on, aiding the wearer in their mission to start a new life. Displaying the shoe covers next to the quilt is meant to evoke the familiar, homey scene of slippers next to a bed: something that you might see every day without thought that nevertheless conveys warmth and comfort. They too have the cempasúchilflower imagery to help bring the wearer’s soul home to their loved ones.
Quilts in the Wild
My favorite way to photograph quilts is in wilderness spaces. My quilts are a reflection of the sense of comfort and healing we experience in nature. I just got back from a trip to utah, and of course I brought some recent commissions along. This one is Bear Paws, photographed along The Watchman Trail in Zion National Park. Quilts are perfect for lounging on in front of any great view!
So many new quilts!
I’ve been really busy with quilt making in 2021! Here’s what I’ve finished this year so far! I didn’t realize I had made so many in these 3.5 months until I started pulling photos for this blog! Hopefully the rest of my 2021 is so productive.
Some new prints
I’m one of the millions of Americans who found comfort in nature during the pandemic. Researching new trails and feeding the songbirds in my yard broke up the monotony of working from home and injected a bit of joy into a year that was full of loss, fear, and frustration. These Black Capped Chickadees and dogwood flowers (both Missouri natives, although widespread throughout the US) are mementos of the endurance we didn’t know we had.
I’m having a lot of fun exploring relief printmaking for the first time. I have many more coming through my brain!
Covid update!
Hello friends!
2020 has not been kind to us. I’ve been making a lot of quilts to keep my mind steady.
Some good news: I have also been the recipient of a 2020 Artist Support Grant, which will help to fund a project I am working on with my husband, artist Jose Garza. More updates later, but the purpose of our project is to draw attention to an abandoned building here in St. Louis. In 1904, anarchist Ricardo Flores Magon fled Mexico to St. Louis and published a Spanish language newspaper at this location, which was then shipped to Mexico, hence sparking the Mexican Revolution. Eventually, the Revolution overthrew a dictator and ushered in Democracy in Mexico. We believe that spaces are key to understanding history. More to come!
Click here to learn more about the Artist Support Grant Program with the Regional Arts Commission.
Originals for sale!
This year at the Print Bazaar I will be selling the original drawings that become the prints I eventually hand color. These are all on watercolor paper in pen and ink, and are priced at $75. Of course, you can message me if you want me to reserve one for you before the show! Here are some snakes which will be for sale.
Rattlesnake (Prairie Massassauga)
Garter Snake
Red Milk Snake
Copperhead
Black Rat Snake
Flower Originals!
These will be for sale on Saturday, 12/7 at the Cherokee Print Bazaar. They are all Missouri natives and done in pen and ink of heavy acid free watercolor paper.
Prickly Pear
Black Eyed Susan
Coneflowers
Asters
Iris
Peonies- ok not native but still beautiful.
Available plein air landscapes!
I’ll have this small handful of plein air watercolor landscapes for sale along with the selection of prints this Saturday. Come see me at the Cherokee Print Bazaar, I’ll be at Flood Plain Gallery.
Saguaro National Park
Saguaro National Park
Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site
Somewhere off the coast of Maui
Bird originals for sale!
More originals for sale on Saturday at the Cherokee Street Print Bazaar. They will be $75 each, but I’ll have print of them for sale for $12! Come see me at Flood Plain Gallery!
This guy already sold! Eastern Bluebird
Blue Jay
Robin
Starling
Bluejay
Eastern Bluebird
House finches
Print Bazaar!
I’ll see everyone on Saturday at Flood Plain Gallery! This is my second year at the Print Bazaar. This year there are 110 artists participating, so you will be sure to find a unique, handmade gift for everyone on your list! And a few for yourself.
Saguaro in oil
Earlier this year I finished a few 9x12 landscapes in oil which will be available at the Cherokee League Print sale on Dec 7th! Here’s one of them, from my trip to Saguaro National Park in January 2019.
Cherokee Print Bazaar- Dec 7!
Patches
Snakes
Clearly I am terrible at keeping a blog, but I am not terrible about producing art. I’m getting ready for the Cherokee Print League sale on December 7, 2020 in St. Louis. I’ll have a variety of new hand colored prints of snakes and flowers. Hope you can make it.
Lone Elk Park
This was painted in my car in the Spring of 2019 in Lone Elk County Park, in St. Louis. You aren’t allowed to get out of the car but the woods looked so beautiful with the blooming trees that I couldn’t resist.
So many pet portraits!
The holiday season is always the busiest time for pet portraits! As soon as I turned in my final paper for the semester I got to work. 5 down, 4 to go!
2018 Cherokee Street Print Bazaar
Thanks to everyone who came out to the Cherokee Street Print Bazaar on Saturday! I sold out of almost everything! It was a whirlwind experience and I cannot wait to do it again next year!
