I am a testament to lifelong learning. In 1993 a friend introduced me to Linda Fowler and Nancy Crow, who founded the Quilt/Surface Design Symposium (QSDS). Growing up around sewing and traditional needle works, quilting was a natural fit for me. While attending workshops at QSDS, I started exploring the quilting process and the techniques of surface design, and I added what I was learning to my past knowledge of sewing. I later attended theColumbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, OH, where I further explored traditional art and design.
My current body of work is represented in three series, the Whole Series, the Fragments Series, and the Bits & Pieces Series, which combine comfortably with my passion for photography, the great outdoors and, of course, my love of fabric. A camera has been an important part of my life from a very young age, and now that I am able to combine it with my fiber work, the camera gives me an excuse to further satisfy my need for long walks and new adventures. Each series looks at nature from a different point of view. In each individual piece, the viewer is invited to look at an image in its entirety or as a fragment or as as even smaller portion of the original whole. This causes the viewer to see the object in a whole new light. For example, if someone is at the zoo, the animals can be observed from the viewpoint of design, line, or space orientation before being viewed as a whole. Or if the object is a flower, the flower’s beauty can seen first as a whole, and then fragmented down to its positive/negative spaces or even down to just one small petal. While working on any of these series, I have enjoyed the research process. Nature holds a complete and unending supply of color, texture, lines and design and allows me and the viewer to observe and take in an experience of never-ending beauty.
