Retired chemist's art quilt featured at Indiana State Museum
KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) - Dr. Keith Woods likes to create things. On the wall of his studio, more than 20 plaques shine with a certification that the U.S. patent office recognizes the originality of the chemicals he's synthesized to fight cancer. There won't be any more plaques to add, though.
Woods makes quilts now.
A self-described fiber artist, Woods prefers to make smaller, artistic quilts instead of the usual bed quilts. One of his artistic works has joined the permanent collection at the Indiana State Museum and is now on display in an exhibit titled 'œCollecting Indiana: Recent Art Acquisitions.'ť
Woods made the art quilt, which is titled 'œIN This Together,'ť during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. It took him roughly a week to make.
'œWhen this pandemic started, then we sort of got reminded that there was a pandemic in 1918 that most of us didn't know anything at all about,'ť Woods said. 'œSo I went and did a lot of research. And I thought, well, I'm going to make this just as a historical reminder.'ť
'œIN This Together'ť is adorned with images depicting life in the early pandemic. Among the images are a mask, hands under a water faucet and two toilet paper rolls - one full with extra fabric hanging off the quilt, and another down to its last square of paper.
Woods originally intended to give the quilt to the Howard County Historical Society. However, the historical society recommended he call the Indiana State Museum instead, where the quilt could be handled and stored by experts.
Woods said he would likely wait for warmer weather to go visit his quilt in the museum.
'œEvery once in a while, when these sorts of things happen, it just seems odd that it happens to you,'ť Woods said. 'œIt seems like somebody else does those sorts of things.'ť
Sitting in his living room, the fiber artist recalled a previous artistic accomplishment.
While studying an arachidonic acid cascade during his career as a chemist for Abbott Laboratories, Woods realized the double bonds he was observing resembled blank sheet music.
'œI thought, '~Oh, if we just put some notes on these things, we could write a piece of music.''ť
With the help of his colleague, Richard McCroskey, Woods added notes and ran it through a biological pathway. The 'œsilly little piece of music'ť had an asthma attack halfway through, then resolved it with a drug treatment.
People started asking for copies, so Woods and McCroskey started composing new songs.
Woods explained that new chemicals are cataloged with a set of numbers. The melodies he and McCroskey produced after their first song translated those numbers to corresponding notes of a musical scale. By 1996, they had a 14-track album titled 'œMolecular Music: Abbott's Greatest Hits.'ť
A copy of the CD is displayed in Woods' living room on the tree-shaped bookshelf he built.
Preparing for a meeting with managers from all over the world, Abbott's CEO purchased 500 copies of the CD to hand out at the conference. Before long, thousands of copies were being sent out internationally.
When the Austrian branch of Abbott Laboratories celebrated its 25th anniversary, Woods and McCroskey were flown out to hear the Vienna Philharmonic perform one of their compositions.
'œEvery once in a while, these crazy things just happen, and it's like, '~When did this become my life?''ť Woods said.
The retired scientist also compares quilting to his work as a chemist.
'œYou take small pieces, and you put them together in very specific ways to make something of more elegance and more utility and function,'ť he said.
Woods said he views the world through the lens of a scientist - methodically breaking projects into smaller pieces and solving problems as he works - but wonders whether he's a scientist by training or by nature.
Most scientists, Woods suspects, are scientists by nature. There's a sense of curiosity that drives their investigations.
'œIn my career, I was an experimentalist,'ť Woods said. 'œSo I'm not afraid to fail; I'm not afraid to try new things. '¦ I just do it.'ť
Woods was first introduced to the quilting hobby 12 years ago. His mother was determined to make quilts for each of her grandchildren and asked for her son's help. After some time reading directions for his mother, Woods asked if she could teach him to use the sewing machine.
It started with a quilt made from scrap material. Then, within six months, he had produced five 'œreal'ť quilts. Woods said he still has the first real quilt he made - it's sitting on his bed.
In total, Woods estimates he's made at least 20 bed quilts, some large enough to fit a king-sized bed. One of the most recent quilts he and his mother made only took a week and a half to put together.
Although Woods knows several other male quilters, he considers the craft to be predominantly female. He doesn't necessarily think more men should start quilting, but if they're interested in the art, he encourages them to give it a shot.
'œThere are these stereotypical male and female roles in life. Right? And I'm not sure exactly why that is, in some cases. Because if I need something done, I just go do it,'ť Woods said. 'œI think most people just aren't adventuresome and willing, most people are afraid to fail.'ť
He added that the hobby is also expensive - a standard bed quilt can cost up to $400 to make.
'œThe thing is that a bed quilt is so big, and how many bed quilts do you need?'ť Woods asked. 'œAnd they're expensive to just give away. And they're expensive to sell when people don't want to spend $500 to $600 on a quilt.'ť
Woods' real passion is art quilting, although it took him a while to consider himself an artist.
He showcased multiple quilts in a show organized by the Kokomo Piecemakers Quilt Guild and won a prize at the Howard County Fair.
With art quilts, Woods is able to experiment more often. For example, he's started to create double-sided quilts, incorporating designs on both sides of a piece instead of leaving one side blank. Additionally, he's found a way to warp familiar images - such as an owl or the Mona Lisa - into new, kaleidoscopic works of art.
As he honed the craft, Woods learned how to replicate patterns without the help of instructions. If he comes across a pattern that requires more precision, he simply redesigns the pattern.
He's started writing his own patterns for pieces he feels are unique and potentially difficult to figure out without instructions.
His first pattern, which Woods wrote a few years ago, instructs readers how to make a Christmas tree that could be hung around the house. He made the first quilted Christmas tree for his mother, who didn't have enough space in her house for a real tree. When more people started asking for their own, he decided that it would be easier to teach them how to make a tree than trying to make and sell the trees himself.
Woods is working on a second pattern now that will teach quilters how to make another tree - this time with a background and extra fabric foliage that hangs off the quilted picture.
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MORE INFORMATION:
'œIN This Together'ť will be displayed at the Indiana State Museum until July 17. Tickets cost $17 for adults, $16 for those 60 and older, $15 for students and $12 for children 3-17 years old.
The Indiana State Museum is located at 650 W. Washington St., Indianapolis.
For more information, visit indianamuseum.org or call 317-232-1637.
You can purchase quilts made by Woods, or detailed instructions for the Christmas tree pattern he wrote, online at www.etsy.com/shop/keithwwoods.
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Source: Kokomo Tribune