|
I've loved needlework since I was a kid. At Grandma's house I would page through old issues of Workbasket. In 4-H, I designed my first piece for exhibition -- a cross-stitch sampler on blue gingham. In high school I made embroidered peasant tunics and took them to the college bookstore to sell. The manager actually bought them. If that's not a testament to how one act can shape another person's life, what is?
For years, I used image transfer, surface design on fabric, embroidery and beading mostly to make gifts for family and friends. An experience at Sievers broadened my thinking. The other instructor teaching while I was there was Natalie Sewell. In her introduction to the combined classes, Natalie said her life changed when she found out that raw-edge applique is neither illegal nor immoral. Who knew? I've always loved quilts, but piecing never hit me like Cupid's arrow. And somehow I got the idea that you can't be a quilter if you don't piece the tops.
I love creating the texture that comes when fabric is layered and stitched together. If I can incorporate image transfers, do some surface design on the fabric, and add embroidery and beading, better yet. My small works are nothing like the quilts my grandmother made, which I treasure. But they help me tell stories I think it's important to share. And most important, I enjoy making them. That's the thread that runs through all of my work -- looping, coiling, fusion vessels, jewelry. I enjoy making.
This world can be a complicated, wonderful, exhausting, exciting, messy place. I understand why folk traditions use embroidery, imagery and surface design to appease the powerful forces of the natural world. I can't change the world, but I can pick up a needle for a little while and change the way I see the world. Amidst the chaos, there are beautiful patterns.
Imagery, Embroidery and Surface Design Workshops
More Imagery, Embroidery and Surface Design Workshops
|
|
