I have been an artist as long as I can remember: from my first crayon drawings on old window shades to years painting in watercolors and oils, through the 6 years that I sewed traditional patchwork.
In 1988, I set out to make a quilt with the intent that it would be art. Returning to my studio art background, I decided to alter commercial printed fabrics with dye, thiox and bleach. Realizing immediately the joy of working again in processes to create original fabrics that are uniquely my own, I learned the term for what I was doing: surface design.
I enthusiastically picked up the pens, brushes and mark-making tools I formerly used on paper and canvas, and added vat processes like dye and discharge to my battery of techniques. Soon, commercial fabrics were banished to quilt backs and storage cases.
I rediscovered the silkscreen process I had learned at university but abandoned as too toxic. Screenprinting with acrylic paints eliminated the solvents and other chemicals that had previously put me off.
Informed by the figurative and narrative goals I set for my artwork, I consciously set out to make decisions about processes that work to achieve the statements I want to make and how I wish to comment on what I see. This gallery collects some older works that I consider highlights of my career and presents what I believe is an overview of my most significant fiber art works.
