I´m a writer who some years back started turning textile artist. Being used to weaving words and embroider them over and over, this step turned out to be an easy and very consistent one.
Not surprisingly, there are quite a lot of words to be found in my textile and mixed-media work - machine stitched, hand embroidered, taken from old books...
So, I still tell stories – to myself, in the first place - but I´d be glad if you can hear them, too…
Artist's statement: I aim at creating textile pieces and mixed-media artwork that might have a calming quality, being interesting nevertheless, informative, and inspiring - each of them is one-of-a-kind...
I am a fiber artist with a love of cloth, color, movement, texture…and the desire to share beauty with others. I also have an ongoing community project: The Bhavana Project, based on Tibetan prayer flags. Please visit! The third set of flags is currently in progress.
Artist statement: I came to quilt making in the 1990’s with a varied background in fine arts and textiles. A love of fabric made the fiber arts medium an easy choice once I realized that drawing, painting or printmaking skills could be added to quilting. The desire to slow down and feel the cloth beneath my fingers continually nudges me back to my roots in hand work, especially embroidery, which I incorporate into my pieces. I thrive on the unpredictability of the art making process, and find manipulating the fabric surface with paint, water, heat or thread a wonderful way to play. This layering technique stretches not only the cloth’s textural potential, but my creative visualization.
My imagery is inspired by flowing water, the power of the sun, or the interplay between dynamic movement and stillness. Inspiration is linked to being present in the moment. For me, creative practice and meditation practice go hand in hand. Both ground and nourish my journey of discovery. In turn, I delight in sharing what I have learned with others so that they can also open to their unique creative voice.
Hi! I'm Christine and I'm a resident artist at Williams Mill Visual Arts Centre in Glen Williams, Ontario (near Toronto). I'm now in my 7th year there as a professional fabric artist and my work has evolved dramatically over time. I often create my fine art pieces improvisationally, however I still enjoy traditional quilting from time to time.
I'm addicted to shiny things so I create a lot of beaded jewelry as well, often incorporating fabric and fiber whenever possible. My latest addiction is bookbinding. I create a lot of leather bound, hand stitched journals these days. I also like to create fabric art journals in my trademark style of fabric collage as well.
Prior to being a visual artist, I worked for over 20 years as an actress and singer, working extensively in theatre, TV and film. I still enjoy performing onstage from time to time and sing regularly in an acoustic band called "Random Roads".
I think my performance background has influenced my artwork which tends to be bold, colorful and dramatic.
My work can be found in the shops below and at The Silo Weavers, St. Jacob's Ontario.
Artist's statement:
To strive for high quality workmanship while continuously spreading my wings artistically and technically.
To elevate the status of art quilts to that of any other artistic medium ie. oil paintings.
To provide my clients with "red carpet" treatment and to guarantee my work.
To be guided by my principles and not my necessities.
I am a contemporary fibre artist. I have a love of machine and hand embroidery. For my artwork I essentially draw and paint with thread, using the needle as a pencil and the fabric as my canvas. Combining a variety of threads, fabrics and mediums to create works of two or three dimensional art. I have challenged myself to explore the use of basic straight and zig zag stitch to create cloth with stitch only...with some help from a water soluble fabric! Using this technique and exploring different stitch tensions, I can create 3 dimensional artwork using only thread. Whatever the technique or medium, the detail, design and texture, I always make my artwork unique.
Artist's Statement: My love of all things fabric and stitch related comes from a childhood spent in the sewing room with my mum. As a result, I have been designing, dressmaking and embroidering for as long as I can remember. Now I like to think of myself as a fabric artist as this fits well with my chosen techniques.
I completed my HND and BA Hons in Fashion and Textile Design in the UK. During this time, I developed my love of machine embroidery and continued over the years to experiment whenever I could.
In the Summer of 2005 I completed my City & Guilds Level 3 Machine Embroidery Course which helped me to take my ‘playing’ and ‘experimenting’ to a higher level. Shortly after, I moved from the UK to Vancouver, Canada, where I am continuing to develop my design work and creativity, whilst finding new and abundant sources of inspiration.
I am a purist when it comes to my art work. I design and create all my own patterns and everything must include some form of embroidery. I take a lot of photographs which I often refer to for inspiration.
I am stimulated and inspired by my environment, people, cultures, travels, textures and fabrics. All of which I fuse together to create and develop my own style of stitching and art. I like to experiment with unusual materials, pushing the boundaries of design, my imagination, and of course my sewing machine!
Location: North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
ITSA Studio is not only my working studio, (Barbetta Lockart Contemporary Art), but it also houses all the wonderful treasures found on my itsastudio.com site. I carry surface design supplies, jewelry supplies, beads, and wonderful world market items. Always a bead lover, always a lover and appreciator of all the world’s cultures, and always a creative sort, I put all those interests together and opened a bead shop many years ago. Closing the shop to get back into my own studio did not change any of that, hence ITSA Studio was created. Although it is online, I welcome visitors to the studio so they can browse through all the treasures and be dazzled.
Mission: As artists we all need wonderful items for inspiration, great supplies to work with, and interesting ‘stuff’, as well as the occasional treat for ourselves. We also sometimes need information from someone familiar with the products/items. ITSA Studio offers all that and more, including cups of tea, good music…and classes.
Brick and Mortar: ITSA Studio is located at 4330 24th Street, #2, Sacramento, California, 95822 USA. Visitors are very welcome at the studio, whether they want to shop art supplies, beads, or world treasures, discuss techniques, or just have a leisurely visit discussing art and fiber. A cup of tea is always ready for you, but I ask that you contact me through my website(s) to make an appointment since I don’t have regular ‘retail’ hours.
Stitching and fabric have been an important part of Anni’s life since childhood. As so many people do she started making clothes, then moved on to quilting and now is making stitched, dyed and painted 3d pieces and wall hangings. All art making gives its creator certain freedoms and creating work in 3D has given her a new view of what she wants to and can do.
Having had a career in “grayscale” imaging she has necessarily become acutely aware of subtle changes in shade. In many ways this has pushed her towards a love of, and perhaps a need for, the rich and colourful, but at the same time kept her very aware of changes in hue and tone. As an artist she has found this very helpful.
The sleek and elegant lines of Japanese design concepts has also been a strong influence on Anni. She finds its strength and simplicity inspiring and in a way comforting.
With her containers she wants to create the contradictory feeling of containment and freedom, a contradiction which is something that everyone finds in their lives.
Artist's statment: I have always had a very good ""eye"" for subtle changes in colour . I think my thirty years in ""grayscale"" imaging in medicine has definitely honed those skills to a finer degree than most. So it is wonderful to be able to apply that in stitch with the use of fibre and threads to create a rich and colourful texture reflecting nature in my work.
I tend to use my surroundings from the west coast and nature to influence and inspire me.
My design sense has definitely been influenced by sleek, elegant Japanese lines and the Art Deco clothing styles of Erte` to which I apply to my wearable art creations.
My work is available at Crafthouse, a gallery run by the Craft Council of British Columbia.
"Family Connections" by Anni Hunt
Location: West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Memberships:
SDA, Surface Design Assoc.
SAQA, Studio Art Quilts Assoc.
Gail Harker Creative Studies
I am a fiber artist, formally trained, with both BFA and MFA degrees. I construct textile compositions that are unpretentious stories. Typically small-scale, they are easy-to-live-with pieces, often quirky, and very enjoyable. This work is defined by a passion for collecting cast-offs: delicate handkerchiefs and monogrammed linens; handwritten notes and letters from another era; and odd photos. I identify with the history each item carries and am obsessed with assembling found parts into a new whole, inventing a new message for the appropriated materials.
My work is meticulously conceived and honors fine craftsmanship.
Most pieces are small-scale, single unit/single element compositions, formally framed. Other work is in traditional quilt form – both art quilt and functional.
My work has been exhibited in hundreds of group and solo shows, recently: the ARC Gallery, Chicago IL; Fuller Museum of Craft, Brockton MA; Carnegie Center, New Albany IN; Turchin Center, Boone NC; Prescott College/Sam Hill Gallery, AZ; Craft Alliance Gallery, St Louis MO; Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Riga LATVIA; and soon, Selden Gallery, Norfolk VA.
My work is sold through exhibitions and now by direct contact through my blog.
Artist's statement: The textile art that I create is emotionally linked to everyday humble craft- forms and the tactile, sentimental memories they can embody. I transform the mundane parts of an ordinary life into compositions that evoke intrinsic beauty and a viewer’s curiosity - objects that become new and extraordinary decorative elements.
Location: USA. Split residences-Massachusetts and Alabama
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.
My work can be found at:
Celebration Room Gallery at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Rockford, Illinois
I am a mixed media textile artist living in Chicago. I teach workshops in art quilt and mixed media techniques nationally and internationally. I have written numerous articles for Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors magazines, have three instructional DVD's available from Interweave, and have been a guest multiple times on Quilting Arts TV.
Artist's statement: One part gypsy and two parts visual alchemist, I believe that all the places I have lived have in many ways taken up residence in me and manifest in the diversity of my work. Exploring themes drawn from folklore, history and nature, I enjoy working in a variety of media. Often blending quilting skills with techniques drawn from my graphic arts background, I use textile paints, dyes, inks, acrylic powders, artist’s pencils and occasionally stitch metal onto my fabric.
Ames Douces (fr. Ah-meh Dooseh) is French for ""gentle souls"". These dolls are not dolls you would typically find in a toy store. Rather, they quietly accompany adults and children alike on their journeys through life. These gentle souls are worry dolls. They are talismans or mascots of sorts to help you wade through the difficulties you might encounter as you go about your daily lives. They were created to do your worrying for you. Make one your personal hero.
I also sell vintage lettering and other supplies in my Simon et Cie shop on Etsy.
Artist's Statement: My mission is to make people happy. I am a worry wart by nature and it has often gotten in the way of enjoyment and happiness in my life. One day, I decided to stop worrying. I found myself having difficulty with this. I felt that someone had to worry lest things go wrong everywhere. I had once heard about Guatemalan worry dolls and set off to find out more about them. It seemed amazing to me that something so simple could actually work so I decided to create my own worry doll that I could project my worries onto before resting my head on my pillow. Lo and behold, although it took a little practice (worriers always tend to want to hang onto things), lo and behold, I feel more free to enjoy life than ever.
My mission is to help those who need a little help to stop worrying. We all need a little rest from that now and then so that we may live life to its fullest!
I am a fiber artist working in 2D, 3D and installation format using free motion stitching as my primary method. In addition to my conceptual, non-functional works, I also make unique items for body and home for my Etsy shop and stores and gallery shops. I also teach at arts centers, run the after school art program at a private school in Atlanta and conduct workshops and arts events. I have been featured on the PBS artist special “IN CONTEXT”; featured in the books, “The Best of America Sculpture Artists and Artisans” Kennedy Publishing and “Quilt National 2009” Lark Books and exhibit locally, nationally and internationally. I hold MFA and BFA degrees in Fibers and a Bachelor of Education in Art.
Artist's Statement: At age four, while in the hospital for deafness, my mother made Barbie doll clothes for me to dress my Barbie and Ken in. One dress in particular, made of a fiery red satin, provoked my infatuation with the tactile qualities inherent to textiles and fiber, and my interest in working 3 dimensionally.
I am involved with continuous exploration and development of the ways which man-made materials can be formed into work that references nature or natural systems and how, when I magnify these human-made “systems”, they form a new reality. This attempt is in response to my dissatisfaction with the impact of human behavior on the natural world. I am seeking to create a unique world of my own design, made from that I shun and that I embrace.
In my 3 dimensional and installation works, I address this by looking at items usually ignored: a small stone kicked aside while walking, a bit of broken glass, a fossil, a shard of twisted metal, a shell, leftover plastic, a microscopic cell. I transform those simple, ordinary objects into the extraordinary in order to give them greater significance. Using the power of scale—from minuscule to gargantuan—I portray and bring to notice an important essence I see in each object.
The 2 dimensional, somewhat Neo-Surrealist fiber pieces I am creating interject personal storytelling into a broad visual commentary on that dysfunctional society. My wall works at first glance might be likened to that of a painting - an initial impression of color and form -but the viewer of my work is usually confused by a texture unlike that in painting and is then sucked in for a closer look. I want that element of hidden surprise to grab, so that they are drawn in to my story.
Feminists might postulate that my use of fabric and the intricacy of the stitching in the works harks back to the days of quilting bees, when women shared stories, solved the problems of the day and bonded tightly as they worked with tiny stitch. As society has become more complex and humans increasingly disconnected from each other and from nature, artists like myself end up holed up alone, a stranded worker bee…transforming what I can, a bit at a time.
I live and teach in Atlanta, Georgia. I have been married for 24 years, have two beautiful daughters and I will soon become a grandmother for the first time!
FIBRE ARTS AUSTRALIA organises four events each year. Twenty international and Australian tutors are invited to each event to share their skills and knowledge over a five day period. These fibre/textile events are five day workshops that contain: hands on experiences, lectures, fibre/textile exhibitions, traders, networking with like minded people all in a wonderful live-in environment. They are held in country areas in Australia.
Mission: Fibre Arts Australia endeavors to bring the best Fibre/Textile Artisans in the world to a place where knowledge can be shared with like-minded Fibre/Textile enthusiasts in a nurturing environment.
Location: All over Australia Blogs: fibreartscollage fibreschat Memberships: Craft Australia, NAVA Languages spoken: English
Hi, my name is Jules Rushing and I live in Lantana, Texas. I am the luckiest Fiber Artist in the world, because I’m married to “Mr. Wonderful”. I wouldn’t be able to create without the awesome support he has always given me. But I do have to confess, I have an addiction….it’s fabric.
So, what do I like to do with fabric? Dye it, paint it, quilt it. Several years ago, I was introduced to traditional quilting and then I found art quilts. Art quilting has become a passion. Being able to create color, texture, depth and visual appeal out of something that feels so wonderful and looks so luscious…. what can I say? All of my quilts are original designs and most of the fabric I use has either been dyed or painted and sometimes both! If I’m not using hand dyed/painted fabric, then I’m using batiks.
I have won a couple of ribbons with my quilts and will have one in a special exhibit this year with the International Quilt Festival. I sell my art quilts through galleries and my ArtFire studio. I also sell my hand dyed and hand painted fabrics through StudioJules on ArtFire.
Artist's Statement: Color, I love color, bright colors. My art quilts display the color and the movement of color that I see in my head. I am fascinated by the colors in flowers and the texture they have. Architecture comes through my creative thoughts in an abstract way. So, that is what I try to accomplish with fabric, paint and thread – color, texture, depth, dimension and an illusion. My goal is to create an image that seems ordinary and expand on it. If I see someone stop and look at one of my quilts and pause for a just few minutes, then I know I have accomplished my creative goal with that one-of-a- kind piece.
Location: Lantana, Texas, USA Online shop: studiojules Blog: julesrushing Memberships: Dallas Area Fiber Artists
Studio Art Quilt Association
Surface Design Association Languages spoken: English
"Sunflower with a Passion for Color", Art Quilt by Studio Jules Art
I'm essentially a collage artist who uses fabric as her medium. But if I tell you I'm a fabric collage artist you're likely to picture something very different. I use adhesives, rather than stitching, and my images are somewhat abstract, based on natural elements.
So far my art has been well-received locally, with many pieces commissioned for area hospitals. This has been a good fit because while I intend my art to have an unexpected nature to it, at the same time it's soothing and uplifting.
I hope to connect with others working with fiber in interesting ways, and to learn from their paths, both in terms of process and marketing.
Artist's Statement: I create my collages out of my love of color, texture, and the rich possibilities fabric brings to design. In celebration of the beauty around us, I choose forms that refer to nature, and play with their shapes and colors until something new emerges. People don’t generally expect to find textiles framed in glass, as many of my collages are, yet I enjoy how framing highlights the painterly quality of fabric.
Fabric collage allows surface decoration to inspire vision, and texture to define details. I hope to make art that brings a rush of familiarity and pleasure at the same time it evokes something unexpected and unique in the viewer's mind.
"It's a Jungle Down There!" by Julia R. Berkley, Fabric Collage
