1: When did you start making art quilts?
In 1998 I walked into my local quilt shop and signed up for beginning quilt making. I had limited experience sewing and did everything by hand. I made placemats and a twin-sized quilt for my daughter all pieced and quilted by hand. Soon after I joined my local quilt guild, Quilters By the Sea. They were starting special interest groups and I joined the Art Quilt group. It was a small group with talented art quilters. I learned a lot from them.
2: What type of work do you do - abstract/realist/representatio
I love experimenting with new materials and techniques. The past two months I have been monotype printing (Gelli plates and plexiglass plates) using acrylic paints (some fabric paints, some not) on fabric. I also dye and paint my own fabric. This week I have been rust dyeing. It is so exciting to play with something new!
3: How did you learn the techniques you use? (Did you study with a mentor, self-taught, etc?)
I have to say that the small art quilt groups, like my regional SAQA group and my SAQA Pod, Rhode Island Threads, are inspirational and instructive for me. I have taken a few workshops at ProChem in Fall River. The most recent was in 2017 with Carol Anne Grotrian. She is such an empowering teacher I went home and started dyeing at home and organized a Shibori Indigo Dyeing get-together outdoors the following June. Such fun!
4: Do you have a favorite color palette?
I love color but I am giving a lot of thought to the color green. There are so many subtleties and it is so abundant in nature.
5: Are you working on a particular theme or series now? Tell us more about it.
I have been doing a lot of flowers and plants. I started with some purple cone flowers and one thing just led to another, daffodils, violets, sunflowers, vegetable seedlings.
6: How do you work? Give us some insight into your design process?
I also love watercolor on paper. So I go back and forth between fabric and paper. Sometimes I do a watercolor and think this would make a great art quilt. Other times my goal is an art quilt and I make a quick sketch and/or watercolor to work on design, value, and color.
7: Do you work on a single project at a time or do you work on multiple pieces at once?
I always have multiple projects going at one time. If I cannot progress on one, for whatever reason, I work on another. Sometimes I have to do something else to let my mind work on a problem in the background.
8: What are your sources of inspiration? Nature and my local SAQA groups
10: What are your goals or aspirations for your art?
This is an interesting question, goals and aspirations. Generally I follow a path without thinking too far ahead. So for now I want to continue playing with new materials, painting and dyeing fabric. I think I would like to expand my use of untraditional objects on my quilts. I think I should push myself a bit to get my quilts into public view. I have avoided calls for entry and exhibitions. This is where I find my local SAQA members very helpful!
11: How are you making the most of your SAQA membership? Which aspects of the organization are you enjoying?
Besides meeting with my local SAQA members, I really look forward to reading the SAQA Journal. I like the connection with other quilt artists even if they live far away from me.
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