Nothing is more pleasing than to find someone who connects with my work, is moved by it and wants to take it home. Creating is only half of the equation. It must be seen and appreciated to complete the process. My misson is to find ways to connect with a bigger and bigger audience.
Article about Margaret on Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles
Artist's statement: I work in fiber. I have been doing things with fiber of some form for the last 45 or more years. My love of fabric/fiber was nurtured by my Mother who made all our clothes and had at one time aspired to be a designer. The opportunity never came. I think I decided I would try to do what she could not. I first started by making my clothes wearing them a short time and then selling them so I could buy fabric for the next garment. Soon I was sewing for friends. I was given the opportunity to design costumes for a play and ended up spending the next 25 years designing and sewing costumes. I worked alone and loved the experience. It was very hard work but I found I had a natural understanding of design, color, and construction. I had no trouble getting work.
We moved from the area I was working in to a more rural area and I decided I was not a gypsy so I retired. During the years of costuming I had been studying weaving. I had purchased several looms and thought I would spend my time creating new fabrics and designing wearable art. I sadly developed severe allergies to most of the fibers so started looking for other ways to express myself. I have always taken lots of classes in things like color study, embellishment, and of course weaving but one day at a conference I saw a short seminar on Silk Fusion by Karen Selk from Salt Spring Island, BC. I took it and fell in love with the technique of making sheets of silk by bonding them together. I have combined my weaving and embellishments knowledge with the silk fusion to create one of a kind art pieces.
I also love paper and a friend convinced me to join the NorthWest Collage Society and I now also work in collage. As a child I always loved paper but did not know that I could create art with it other than drawing. Imagine how excited I get now when I am working with it. That same friend got me to join the Contemporary QuiltArt Association even though I had only made one small wall quilt for my granddaughter. I have found that they are all much related in the way I approach them. It doesn’t matter if it is fabric or silk fiber or paper. When I am working in one of these three mediums I always think “Oh, this is the one I love most.” But I actually love all three and will continue to explore all of them. I now made four more small art quilts. Quilt making uses all those years at the sewing machine. I think I could sew blindfolded.
Artist's statement: I work in fiber. I have been doing things with fiber of some form for the last 45 or more years. My love of fabric/fiber was nurtured by my Mother who made all our clothes and had at one time aspired to be a designer. The opportunity never came. I think I decided I would try to do what she could not. I first started by making my clothes wearing them a short time and then selling them so I could buy fabric for the next garment. Soon I was sewing for friends. I was given the opportunity to design costumes for a play and ended up spending the next 25 years designing and sewing costumes. I worked alone and loved the experience. It was very hard work but I found I had a natural understanding of design, color, and construction. I had no trouble getting work.
We moved from the area I was working in to a more rural area and I decided I was not a gypsy so I retired. During the years of costuming I had been studying weaving. I had purchased several looms and thought I would spend my time creating new fabrics and designing wearable art. I sadly developed severe allergies to most of the fibers so started looking for other ways to express myself. I have always taken lots of classes in things like color study, embellishment, and of course weaving but one day at a conference I saw a short seminar on Silk Fusion by Karen Selk from Salt Spring Island, BC. I took it and fell in love with the technique of making sheets of silk by bonding them together. I have combined my weaving and embellishments knowledge with the silk fusion to create one of a kind art pieces.
I also love paper and a friend convinced me to join the NorthWest Collage Society and I now also work in collage. As a child I always loved paper but did not know that I could create art with it other than drawing. Imagine how excited I get now when I am working with it. That same friend got me to join the Contemporary QuiltArt Association even though I had only made one small wall quilt for my granddaughter. I have found that they are all much related in the way I approach them. It doesn’t matter if it is fabric or silk fiber or paper. When I am working in one of these three mediums I always think “Oh, this is the one I love most.” But I actually love all three and will continue to explore all of them. I now made four more small art quilts. Quilt making uses all those years at the sewing machine. I think I could sew blindfolded.
My studio is next to my house so it is a short walk to my haven. I never get tired of working there. It seems the rest of life gets in the way of my work but that is okay. I have been married for 50 years; have 4 sons and 4 daughter-in-laws and 7 grandchildren and one great grandson. All these things influence my work and why I work. I want to leave something more than the usual for my descendants. I want to leave a legacy of a creative spirit. On my web-site I have written “Creating is not an option, for me it is a passion, it is my life."
Location: Leavenworth, Washington, USA
Memberships:
NorthWest Collage Society
Seattle Weavers Guild
Contemporary QuiltArt Association
Languages spoken: English
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"Desert Rhapsody" by Margaret C. Wheeler
Tags: weaving, beading, bowls, silk, paper, yarn, ribbon, quilt, paints, dolls
Thanks so much Margaret for getting the website funds to its goal. Lovely work.
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