Laurel Izard
Angry Eagle, 2024
Vintage baby blanket, cotton thread, fabric paint, and batting 32" x 26"
From a series of quilts made with Mid-century baby blanket, contrasting the sweet with the angry wild.
Laurel Izard
Baby, 2024
Vintage baby blanket, cotton thread, fabric paint, and batting 29" x 28"
From a series of quilts made with Mid-century baby blanket, contrasting the sweet with the angry wild.
Laurel Izard
Vexed Vulture, 2024
Vintage baby blanket, cotton thread, fabric paint, and batting 43" x 26"
From a series of quilts made with Mid-century baby blanket, contrasting the sweet with the angry wild.
Laurel Izard
My Soul to Keep, 2024
Vintage embroidery, cotton fabric, thread and batting. 41" x 29"
While this is from a photo of bombs over Rafah, this can be the prayer for any child faced with destruction
Laurel Izard
Now I Lay, 2024
Vintage baby blanket, cotton thread, fabric paint, and batting 41" x 30"
While this is from a photo of bombs over Rafah, this can be the prayer for any child faced with destruction
Laurel Izard
Mad Wolf, 2024
Vintage baby blanket, cotton thread, fabric paint, and batting 38" x 29"
From a series of quilts made with Mid-century baby blanket, contrasting the sweet with the angry wild.
Laurel Izard
Nanuq and the 3 Bears, 2023
Vintage baby blanket, cotton thread, fabric paint, and batting 33" x 24"
all start with Mid Century baby blankets. This quilt is embroidered with a real polar bear contrasting it with the cartoonish papa, momma, and baby bear from a child’s story. Polar bears are often used as a symbol for endangered animals. I feel that contrasting a dangerous polar bear with cute story book bears allows us a different glimpse of the dangers and contradictions faced by the wildlife the world over. My hope is that this message helps us look at the wild world in new and more supportive ways.
Laurel Izard
Tanks and Teddy Bears, 2024
Vintage baby blanket, cotton thread, fabric paint, and batting 40" x28"
American Childhood is the term I use for this series of quilts which start with Mid Century baby blankets collected on the internet. I’m looking at several things here and one is the huge contrast between the cute and sweet images we insulate infants with and the violent reality we are surrounded with as adults. Many show a cute and fuzzy world of baby animals that can insulate us from the from the harsher realities of the wild. Some tourists have learned the hard way that those are not teddy bears out there. Other baby blankets show babies and children engaged in idealized, sex role appropriate activities in an idealized picture of childhood that was completely unattainable for many.
Laurel Izard
Tanks and Puppies, 2024
Vintage baby blanket, cotton thread, and batting 40" x 29"
American Childhood is the term I use for this series of quilts which start with Mid Century baby blankets collected on the internet. I’m looking at several things here and one is the huge contrast between the cute and sweet images we insulate infants with and the violent reality we are surrounded with as adults. Many show a cute and fuzzy world of baby animals that can insulate us from the from the harsher realities of the wild. Some tourists have learned the hard way that those are not teddy bears out there. Other baby blankets show babies and children engaged in idealized, sex role appropriate activities in an idealized picture of childhood that was completely unattainable for many.
Laurel Izard
Mad Bear, 2023
Vintage baby blanket, cotton thread, fabric paint, and batting 32" x 24"
The message in Mad Bear, and my quilts in general, depends on contrast, such as this play between a sweet quilt with embroidered angels and flowers with a screaming eagle. While eagles have barely gotten off the endangered list, I feel that an angry eagle is an excellent symbol for the dangers faced by the wildlife the world over especially when contrasted with the loving care given to our human babies. My hope is this message helps us look at the wild world in new and more supportive ways.
