TEXTILE ART
BOLD, IMAGINATIVE, VIBRANT
Vivid colors, textures, striking design and throwing things together that shouldn’t go together have always been loves of mine. I have an MFA in scenic design for theatre, television and film. I worked as a designer and a scenic artist before turning to textiles. As a scenic artist we worked large and bold because the set is usually about ten to thirty feet away from it’s first audience member. Small strokes don’t have much of a place in that world. When I turned to textiles, I carried a lot of those same techniques into my work even thought it was on a smaller scale. My art expresses the love for that strong, colorful, bold aesthetic through textile collages used to create the main design, and free-motion quilting to add all the finer details. Occasionally I use some hand embellishment through embroidery and beading. Traditionally, quilting hasn't really been accepted into the fine art world, but I feel there is a place for it there and have worked to elevate it to a point where my quilted pieces absolutely belong next to the finest paintings in any gallery. Quilting (and sewing in general) was once seen as women's work and therefore not valued in the fine art world that was largely male dominated for centuries. I use many of these quilting techniques to create dramatic works of fine art, full of detail and subtlety that give depth and make the viewer want to stop and spend time searching out all of the many nuances of the piece. I draw on inspiration from my own life experiences and observations and also from nature, with an emphasis on the amazing native plants and animals in Texas.
You’ve Been Waiting for this Day” Batiks, free motion quilting 44” x 48” There isn’t a creature more inspiring to me than the monarch butterfly. In the Spring it takes 3-4 generations to migrate from Mexico to Canada. But, in the Fall, only ONE generation makes the return trip. ONE butterfly travels the whole 3000 miles back. ONE little four-inch butterfly flies 3000 miles home! By the time they arrive, they are tired and hungry, tattered and worn. Imagine what they have seen along the way, what they have endured and the persistance it took to continue. But they do it. This piece depicts a new generation of monarchs heading into the sun for the first time; fresh, strong, vibrant, determined and ready to face the long journey home.
23”x17”
This is my homage to the fierce Texas weather. Tornadoes have always been an intense fascination of mine. They are equally terrifying and mesmerizing. There is something about how they come out of thin air, which weighs almost nothing. And yet it can gather up dust and leaves and pieces of your home and swirl itself into existence. It can just as easily make a piece of straw stab through a thick tree trunk as it can quickly sever a telephone pole in half. They are complete chaos, but with a set path and a mission that only it seems to know. And as quickly as it formed, it can be gone back into thin air, but not forgotten.