To set the record straight, barn quilts are not padded comforters of the kind grandmothers weave and place at the foot of beds. Those wouldn't stand a chance tacked to the side of a barn in the summer Virginia sun. Instead, the quilt refers to a unique pattern on the given medium. Dillard's artistry employs lightweight aluminum composite plates that run from 2-by-2 feet to 8-by-8 feet. A longtime painter, she's not an art snob, but has definite opinions about others in the field who use plywood as their canvas. " Having painted on a lot of different surfaces, I knew I did not want to paint on plywood, which is what many of the painters in the country are using for these things. It doesn't hold up well. You have to prime it front, back and sideways and put braces on it, and it's very heavy, " she says. (continued on page 10) co-opliving.com May 2020 | Cooperative Living | 9http://www.co-opliving.com