My husband, artist Robert H. Ballard, and his daughter, quilter and author Alethea Ballard, have created a unique art exhibit, “Chairs: A Conversation”, that opens Saturday, Oct. 23rd at our gallery, R.H. Ballard located in Little Washington, Va. This father/daughter art exhibit is unique in itself, but the subject is also unique: “Chairs”.

Robert started painting images of chairs while we were on a visit to Paris four years ago. There was a French armchair in our Paris rental apartment that he just sketched one day. It was a comfy, crème-colored chair that faced some pretty French doors. We both loved sitting in it. He came home from that trip and began researching chair design and its history. He did more drawings and more paintings that we in turn sold successfully in our gallery.

A couple of years ago, Robert sent a chair painting as a present to his daughter who lives in California. Being a quilter, she was inspired by it and began creating chair imagery in her quilts. She loved doing it so much she found herself creating more quilts using the “chair” theme. Around Christmas time, Alethea sent Robert a present of an art quilt that was inspired by his chair paintings. It was a small 12 x 12 quilt that was stretched over a wooden frame with a fanciful image of a chair designed with vibrant fabrics. We were both so impressed by it that I encouraged him to have a collaborative show of both of their works the following fall. So, for the past year, he and Alethea have been communicating back and forth, from east coast to west coast, viewing each other’s art work and being further inspired.

C&T Publishing was also impressed with Alethea’s work and wanted to publish her quilt designs in a book form. The result was Dream Chair Quilts, 7 blocks for Whimsical Wall Hangings, a new appliqué pattern pack that will be out December 2010. She is now finishing her second book, Maverick Quilts, Using Large-Scale Prints, Novelty Fabrics & Panels with Panache, and is in process of working on a third. She also hopes one day to create her own line of fabric designs.

Alethea has lived in the East Bay Area of California most of her life. She lives and breathes fabric and quilting. She is a teacher and does instructional workshops on her quilting style. Alethea’s impatience with convention has pushed her towards more spontaneity and joy with her designs, allowing for more unexpected results. Her introduction to art as a child was first looking through artist's books with her father. The many hours spent with her father on trips to galleries and museums are fond memories. She enjoyed watching her father paint as she grew up and always felt influenced by his paintings. She’s delighted to be able to share this love of painting and quilting with her father through this collaborative exhibit.