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Crazy Horse: A Tribute To Native American & Victorian Quilt Cultures
When John Flynn of Billings, MT was asked to decorate a life-size
fiberglass horse for his town's "The Horse, of Course!" fundraiser, he
decided to pay homage two American art forms -crazy quilting and
symbols of the Plains Tribes.
John describes himself as a quilt-engineer who spends most of his time
figuring out simpler ways to execute quilting tasks. He is well known
in the quilting industry for his Flynn Multi-Frame System. His books
"Trapunto and Stippling" and "Double Wedding Ring" demonstrate some more
efficient methods for creating traditional quilts. One of his
award-winning quilts, The "Feathered Sun", is an adaptation of
traditional Native American Buffalo Robe Paintings.
When it came time to propose a design for one of the 35 embellished
geldings, John melded his interests in Victorian era quilting and
western themes, and "Crazy Horse" came to life. Several family members
helped John create all of the elaborate embroidery on a Bernina 180.
After using dozens of western theme appropriate stock designs from
Oklahoma Embroidery and Bernina, John's wife Brooke and daughter Kate
digitized and stitched pictograms.
Quilter and hand-beader Jerry (Black Butterfly) Belgarde helped John
select famous Native Americans for the individual panels that form the
crazy quilt fans. Almira Jackson and Bridget Fast Horse are two
talented Sioux quilters honored as well as Sacajewa of the Shoshoni
tribe, Dull Knife and Two Moons of the Northern Cheyenne, and Crazy
Horse (of course) from the Sioux along with his tribesmen Sitting Bull,
Black Elk, and Red Cloud.
Mary Beth Billstein, a quilter and history teacher, provided names of
famous and infamous Montanans. Apparently a group of fellows known as
the Butte Copper Kings are heroes to some and scoundrels to others
depending on whom you ask. Jeremiah Johnson, otherwise known as Liver
Eating Johnson made the list as well as Jeanette Rankin, the first
woman U.S. Senator.
By now you might be wondering, just how John went about making a statue
into a quilt? He enlisted the aid of fiber artist Carol Baker who
created "Kidd" for the project and owns a horse trailer to pick up and
deliver "Crazy Horse". Then his fiberglass expert neighbor Bob Lester
prepared the horse's surface for the fabric glue.
John used freezer paper patterns to create the fans and his sister
Peggy Larsen helped glue them in place. Any excess fabric was trimmed
away a rotary cutter, probably not a company sanctioned method. To fill
the spaces between the embroidered panels, John inserted printed velvet
and beautiful tie silk. By project's end, his team used over 300 colors
embroidery thread and several bottles of Fray-Check.
And since a crazy quilt is not complete unless it's embellished as
well, John's sister Joan created ornaments out of lids of chewing
tobacco cans and his niece Perrin Larsen painted golden details. Jerry
hand-beaded the eyes on soften leather in the traditional Native
American method.
The auction of the decorated horses raised over $400,000 for the
restoration of the Billings, Montana Train Depot. It's fitting that Ms.
Johnnie Thomas from Miles City, that hosts the Annual Bucking Horse
Sale, was the highest bidder for "Crazy Horse". His new stable is the
Miles City Community College Library.
To create the vivid images for "Kidd", Carol Baker of Livingston used
fabric in a different way by photo-transferring old time "dime novel"
covers and vintage postcards with cowboy and cowgirl themes in vibrant
1930-1940 colors. She used the decoupage method to adhere the materials
on to the horse. The blocks of her patchwork style collage ranged from
quite large to very small. Some as tiny as a quarter inch square have
words like "Billy the Kidd" on them.
All 35 embellished horses were on display around Billings from June
through August of 2002, and were auctioned off on September 7, 2002.
"Kidd" was bought by a local business owner for $6,000 and donated to
the YWCA. "Crazy Horse" went for $12,000.
©2002 Carolyn Lee Vehslage
Carolyn Lee Vehslage maintains an onboard studio on her Mariner Yacht
"Fandango". Several of her quilted wall hangings that were created
while cruising, are viewable online at
http://www.clvquilts.com
www.thequiltercommunity.com
John Flynn
Flynn Quilt Frame Company
1000 Shiloh Overpass Road
Billings, Montana 59106
1 (800) 745-3596
FAX 406 656 9920
johnflynn@mcn.net
http://www.flynnquilt.com
More information about the "The Horse Of Course" Project:
When Jane Waggoner Deschner, the Billings volunteer artist-coordinator
for "the HORSE, of course!" project, was asked why this type of public
art fund-raiser has been so successful she replied, "Because the horses
are so accessible. People know they can touch them.
"By taking art from traditional exhibition spaces, I am hoping that
people who have never thought about going into a gallery or museum will
become interested in art, artists, the artistic process. I believe that
each of us has creative potential, but many of us feel insecure about
exercising this ability. Art on horses feels familiar - is fun; maybe
it can be a bridge."
To help raise renovation funds for the 1909 Northern Pacific Railway
Depot, Jane asked each of the 35 local artists to submit five slides of
their artwork and a resume. Other committee members secured
sponsorship for the purchase of the fiberglass geldings and colts and a
small honorarium to cover the artists expenses. Having interviewed
project leaders from other cities, Jane convinced the committee not to
assign specific sponsors to specific horses. She did not want the
artists to feel pressured to incorporate the sponsors logos or colors
into their design.
YWCA of BILLINGS (Where Kidd's Horse presides)
909 WYOMING AVENUE
BILLINGS MT 59101
(406)252-6303 Fax (406) 245-7867
CONTACT: GAYLE TOMPKINS
Phone: 914-946-7474
www.colonialneedle.com
©2003 Hallye Bone
www.thequiltercommunity.com
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