My work in textiles has definitely been an extension of my life so far. I'm very comfortable breaking the rules and challenging myself to see what's possible! From my portfolio of eclectic mixed media pieces, my art quilts that always tell a story, and my felted wearable accessories, one can be sure to find just the right piece to add to a collection, or to share as a gift.
Having sewn most of my life, it was about 15 years ago when the light came on and I knew that I needed to get my work out of the studio and into the fiber art world. No regrets, I am not looking back!
If seen in my studio at home, I am usually adding color or stitch to materials that sometimes border on the unusual. A friend once told me that I was a ""deconstructionist"" and to that end, I am proud to say that I have a ""healthy disregard for materials!""
I love dyeing fibers - cotton, silk, rayon, linen and wool roving. I have a passion for adding color with artists' crayons to whatever comes to mind and can spend a whole afternoon doing this, wondering along the way what to do with these interesting pieces!
As a part-time volunteer curator for our church's art group and together with artist friends, we have hosted 6 exhibits each in the last two years. This has been a wonderful experience and is so inspiring to me to see our members and other local artists come forth and share their beautiful art with us.
One of the other sides of life involves teaching what I have learned - I teach art classes for adults and children at the Rockford Art Museum and at other venues. It's wonderful to experience that ""a-ha"" moment when students realize that they are indeed artists.
I am inspired by life and the movement all around me, whether it is in the people I love and meet, in nature and spirituality, and always humor. This sometimes mature woman seeks and finds the little girl inside and is always ready to play.
Having sewn most of my life, it was about 15 years ago when the light came on and I knew that I needed to get my work out of the studio and into the fiber art world. No regrets, I am not looking back!
If seen in my studio at home, I am usually adding color or stitch to materials that sometimes border on the unusual. A friend once told me that I was a ""deconstructionist"" and to that end, I am proud to say that I have a ""healthy disregard for materials!""
I love dyeing fibers - cotton, silk, rayon, linen and wool roving. I have a passion for adding color with artists' crayons to whatever comes to mind and can spend a whole afternoon doing this, wondering along the way what to do with these interesting pieces!
As a part-time volunteer curator for our church's art group and together with artist friends, we have hosted 6 exhibits each in the last two years. This has been a wonderful experience and is so inspiring to me to see our members and other local artists come forth and share their beautiful art with us.
One of the other sides of life involves teaching what I have learned - I teach art classes for adults and children at the Rockford Art Museum and at other venues. It's wonderful to experience that ""a-ha"" moment when students realize that they are indeed artists.
I am inspired by life and the movement all around me, whether it is in the people I love and meet, in nature and spirituality, and always humor. This sometimes mature woman seeks and finds the little girl inside and is always ready to play.
My work can be found at:
Celebration Room Gallery at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Rockford, Illinois
Art2Go Gallery Shop, Womanspace, Rockford, Illinois
The Bomb Shop, Rockford, Illinois
Location: Rockford, Illinois, USA
Online shop: TheCreativeSpirit
Blog: julaine
Memberships: Artful Quilters, Ravelry
Languages spoken: English
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| Mixed Media Series by Julaine Lofquist-Birch |
Tags: art quilts, textiles, fiber art, wearable art, mixed media, nuno felt, hand dyed, teaching, accessories, beading
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“Drive a nail home and clinch it so faithfully that you can wake up in the night and think of your work with satisfaction,- a work at which you would not be ashamed to invoke the Muse”
-Henry David Thoreau
In our case, it would be the needle or other fiber tool. Drive it home! And, we all thank you for your words, left here to these good folks. Invoke your Muse!