Gallery of Fiber Art - My thoughts, my stories and the creative process:
The Story: "Walkabout" is an expression of the beautiful land and colors of Australia. I fell in love with Australia during a month-long vacation there. A month, though, can hardly do it justice, the place is so expansive and the people, history and culture so varied.
At a point in recent history, Ostriches were brought in from Africa with the intent to build businesses based on them as livestock. As time went on the venture dried up and remaining ostriches were let loose in the countryside. Ostriches can stand dry, parched climates, however they were out of their element. Very few remain. This little family is traveling across the landscape as the seasons change, the skies grow stormy and the monsoons arrive, bringing moisture and rebirth.
This piece is constructed of cotton fabric, wool batting and cotton and rayon threads. The birds were drawn and painted with ink and acrylic paint, each seperately, and appliqued onto the surface in such a way as to create relief. I used rayon thread to do free-motion embroidery, creating the grasses and the foreground. It measures about 15" X 19". This piece sells for $430.00.
At a point in recent history, Ostriches were brought in from Africa with the intent to build businesses based on them as livestock. As time went on the venture dried up and remaining ostriches were let loose in the countryside. Ostriches can stand dry, parched climates, however they were out of their element. Very few remain. This little family is traveling across the landscape as the seasons change, the skies grow stormy and the monsoons arrive, bringing moisture and rebirth.
This piece is constructed of cotton fabric, wool batting and cotton and rayon threads. The birds were drawn and painted with ink and acrylic paint, each seperately, and appliqued onto the surface in such a way as to create relief. I used rayon thread to do free-motion embroidery, creating the grasses and the foreground. It measures about 15" X 19". This piece sells for $430.00.
The Story: "Tumbling Bees-Keeping it all Together" measures 8" X 16" and is mounted on an artist's canvas, making it project from the wall about 5.5". It's a story about honeybees, both their frailty and their strength through community. My thought process began with the beautiful and remarkable contruction of honey combs. Playing with octagonal shapes and a sketchbook, I began to explore how it might look if I turned the octagonal compartments inside out. Instead of dealing with the compartments as they are, small cavities, I came up with closed forms called truncated octahedrons - faceted 3-D Archimedian geometric forms.
Each form is made up of fabric-covered hexagons and squares, sewn together invisibly, by hand. I drew and painted honeybees, each an individual, on many of the facets and arranged the forms to "fall" from the surface. The surface is quilted then embroidered with metallic thread. Constructed of cotton fabric, wool batting, illustration board, illustrated with ink and acrylic paint.
The piece is a simple expression of the beauty around us and the need to wisely steward the resources we have. This pieced sells for $350.00
Each form is made up of fabric-covered hexagons and squares, sewn together invisibly, by hand. I drew and painted honeybees, each an individual, on many of the facets and arranged the forms to "fall" from the surface. The surface is quilted then embroidered with metallic thread. Constructed of cotton fabric, wool batting, illustration board, illustrated with ink and acrylic paint.
The piece is a simple expression of the beauty around us and the need to wisely steward the resources we have. This pieced sells for $350.00
The Story: "Midstream" began as a story about the Montana native butterfly, the Silvery Blue Hairstreak. This beautiful butterfly is colored a soft blue grey for the
most part, above, with a grey underside patterned with white and black spots. I
decided to get to know them because I was interested in their diet and migration
habits. The butterflies on this piece are made of cardstock, are 3D, and colored with
Caran d' Ache colored pencil. THe piece is primarily cotton fabric and batting. It's been free-motion quilted, hand embroidered and then beaded with crystal beads. It measures 14" X 21.5" and protrudes from the wall about an inch.
As the piece progressed my thoughts went to current times - social distancing
and masking are still in the headlines, and I began to think about how we as
humans are all separate creatures, much like these butterflies - blown by the wind,
traveling the currents, going solo. The butterflies ride fallen leaves downstream on
the currents, spinning where the water takes them. Their wings, highlighted with
the colors of the rainbow, are still intact as they spin near to each other but never
touching, in the current. I believe we need, now more than ever, to foster
community, show compassion and reach out, being there for each other.
I'm so pleased that this work was accepted into the 5th biennial "Wings and
Water" art exhibition at the River Arts Center in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin,
the Studio Art Quilt Associate's (SAQA) virtual show, "Bugmania", and other shows.
It sells for $620.00.
most part, above, with a grey underside patterned with white and black spots. I
decided to get to know them because I was interested in their diet and migration
habits. The butterflies on this piece are made of cardstock, are 3D, and colored with
Caran d' Ache colored pencil. THe piece is primarily cotton fabric and batting. It's been free-motion quilted, hand embroidered and then beaded with crystal beads. It measures 14" X 21.5" and protrudes from the wall about an inch.
As the piece progressed my thoughts went to current times - social distancing
and masking are still in the headlines, and I began to think about how we as
humans are all separate creatures, much like these butterflies - blown by the wind,
traveling the currents, going solo. The butterflies ride fallen leaves downstream on
the currents, spinning where the water takes them. Their wings, highlighted with
the colors of the rainbow, are still intact as they spin near to each other but never
touching, in the current. I believe we need, now more than ever, to foster
community, show compassion and reach out, being there for each other.
I'm so pleased that this work was accepted into the 5th biennial "Wings and
Water" art exhibition at the River Arts Center in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin,
the Studio Art Quilt Associate's (SAQA) virtual show, "Bugmania", and other shows.
It sells for $620.00.
The Story: "The End of the Rainbow", measuring 18" X 24", is a play on the familiar story. It shows a Rainbow Trout leaping out of the Gallatin River with pieces of gold showering from its tail along with water droplets, into a rusted out cooking pot on the shore. The Gallatin River is a local river prized for it's fishing, birding, kayaking and rafting as well as it's beauty and accessibility.
According to the Montana Natural Heritage website, Rainbow Trout are native to very northwestern Montana in the Upper Kootenai River drainage, but they were introduced to much of the rest of the state beginning in 1889. Due to current knowledge and modern regulations, they are no longer being introduced. This piece is a nod to the Rainbow's beauty, its history in Montana, and its current value as a sport fish.
I started the illustration of the trout on a piece of white cotton. I first drew the image lightly in pencil. (The drawing itself began as a sketch at a lunch break at a park bench many years ago.)
Over my pencil drawing, I painted the details with acrylic ink, water-soluble colored pencil, and black Pigma. I cut the trout out of its fabric and appliqued it to the sky. The sky itself is commercially printed cotton overlaid with sheer white organza. The whitewater, boulders and rusted pot are all painted with acrylics and black ink. The foreground water, rocks, pebbly shore and cooking pot are each separate elements appliqued to one another and overlapping each other. The cooking pot was constructed as a pocket, overflowing and spilling over with gold coins. The pebbly shore is commercially printed cotton. The beads are dyed shell (coins) and glass (water drops). The piece is currently traveling with the show, Broad Spectrum -Abundant Palette. It will travel to various locations in Montana through 2025. It's selling through the show for $650.
The Story: "Barndance - A Rooster Promenade" hangs 48" wide X 52" tall. This piece tells a story about roosters, a barn, a festive dance in the dark, and shadowy onlookers under the Milky Way. Constructed with commercially printed fabrics and free-motion quilted, it combines modern art quilt concepts with traditional quilt-piecing methods. The pieced focal point, designed to suggest a barn lit up for a barn dance, is based on Karen K. Stone's pattern, "Indian Summer" and I have used it with her permission. Its bright and varied orange and gold fabrics give the feeling of bright lanterns inside and perhaps a campfire outside. The piece is a fall celebration. Roosters come from all corners to join in the party and strut their stuff, while barn owls, painted in acrylic paints then layered with dark blue organza, peek from branches. Bats fly against the moon, winged night-flying insects shimmer in the dark and a spider guards its web on the gate. The lock on the gate is open for all to enter. The roosters coming in through the gates, the fabric daisies, gate, fence, dark tree branches, the barn owls peeking out, and the moon and bats, are all appliqued details. The Milky Way has been richly filled with hand-beaded stars, making this piece heavy. Beads form the flowers around the gates and in the barn, as well as the flying insects' bodies and the spider, whose web is sewn of metallic threads and is hung with glass bead dew drops. The night-flying insects have been made of cosplay fabric and brass beads. Jeans buttons have been attached to the places where the pieced segments come together. The padlock and chain are real. Grasses have been embroidered around the gate. Barndance was exhibited at the Transformations show, at Zoot Gallery in 2019. * This piece requires a little space - for hanging as well as for viewing. It's somewhat heavy but comes with a hanging sleeve and stabilizing framework. Due to all the handwork, including much beading, some with Swarovski crystals for added sparkle, this piece is priced at $4900.
The Story: This small piece is named "Harbinger". It's 8" X 8" inches and has been mounted on an artist's canvas for easy hanging. Created in the spring after a long winter, it features a violet nestled in a shaded woodland. The violet is painted with acrylic ink and paint on white cotton, and detailed with black ink then appliqued to a background of commercially-dyed fabric. Details include moss hand-embroidered with rayon threads, then beaded and detailed with black ink, and a locally-found snail shell, normally white and tan, now shaded with blue acrylic ink. Small hexagons run down the right side of the piece, their colors transitioning from winter to spring. Purple beads suspend purple metallic embroidery threads from one hexagon to the next, adding a little more 3-dimensionality to the piece. A metal spider bead in the overhead ferns spins a web of metallic thread adorned with raindrop beads. This piece has sold.
The Story: I created"All Settled In", which measures 18" X 24", as an answer to a call for entries by the Montana Arts Council, Art Mobile of Montana. An artist and art educator schedules and presents the artworks in rural schools, retirement homes and other places across the state. This venue is an innovative answer to Montana's long distances and wide open spaces. It has the mission of bringing original art to smaller schools and other facilities, primarily in rural areas, for the purpose of exposure and education in the arts to those who would not have such an opportunity otherwise. Children, seniors and others are exposed to the visual arts and encouraged to discuss, analyze, create, and otherwise immerse themselves.
The theme for entries was "Montana as Home". My interpretation is a depiction of species native to Montana - wild geraniums, cottonwood trees, irises and the Song Sparrow. It was an introduction to its many viewers, to the artistic medium of "art quilts", and fiber arts. This piece communicates a sense of waiting. The sparrow standing guard and waiting for her eggs to hatch, the eggs waiting to hatch, and the iris buds getting ready to bloom. The piece is made with cotton with polyester batting. The sparrow was painted with acrylics and black ink and is based on my own photos. The eggs are porcelain beads that have been inked and covered in light blue sheer fabric. The flowers are constructed of poly clay and painted, with centers of thread.poly clay beads. Each leaf is separately made of fabric layers and sewn with contrasting rayon thread - the geranium leaves are cotton and the iris leaves are green organza over cotton, and heavily stitched for shading. This piece showed in the Backyard Escape Exhibition in Fairfax, VA., sold and is in the permanent collection at University of Chicaga Medical.
The Story: This piece, called "Morning Meadow" is 30" X 30". It's made of cotton with wool batting inside. Morning Meadow was commissioned by the Inova Schar Cancer Center, Fair Oaks Hospital, in Fairfax Virginia. It's based on my smaller piece, "All Settled In", shown above. It has been included in a permanent exhibition along with 12 other pieces at Fair Oaks. Its sole purpose is to provide beauty, a sense of positivity and hopefully peace to families and patients at the cancer center. It's a great honor for me to be able to contribute to such a cause and to help further the "arts and healing" mission. Each leaf, flower, bird and butterfly, the nest and eggs, and the song sparrow's perch, have been painted and inked on white cotton fabric and cut out, then appliqued on. Free motion machine embroidery is used to depict background details - the meandering creek, the trunks of cottonwood trees in the background and the tall grasses on which the wren and butterfly are perched. free motion machine quilting finishes the piece.
The Story: "Eat Honey" was created for a traveling "trunk show" exhibit sponsored by Studio Art Quilt Associates. It's been shown in many venues, nationally and internationally. It's 7" X 10" and is made of cotton with wool batting. The honey bee was painted in acrylics and black ink and the wings are overlaid with organza. She has been appliqued to the surface. The surface itself is a double layer of yellows with hexagonal cutouts each containing a drawn and painted bee larvae. I used simple hand quilting on this piece. The lettering is done with water soluble colored pencil and black ink and appliqued leaves cover the letters a bit. Honey bees and other pollinators are so important to the world. This piece stresses their importance and fragility and I intended to convey a feeling of nurturing and caring. This piece has sold.
The Story: Measuring 9" X 12", "Luna", depicts one of nature's true wonders. A fascinating creature, the Luna lives only about a week as an adult. Like many moths, it has no mouth parts so it cannot eat. Instead, it purposefully looks for a mate, then mates and dies. Such a beautiful creature with such an enigmatic life inspires me and it prompts thoughts about what a purposeful and meaningful life might look like.
The moth is created on white cotton painted with acrylic ink in a vibrant bright green, to show the veins in the wings. I overlaid the painted moth with green sheer polyester and added details like spots, antennae and major veins with acrylics. the body of the moth is acrylic "fake fur". The moon phases are painted cotton overlaid with dark blue sheer. The moons and Luna are attached to a quilted commercially printed cotton surface. Swirls in green on the surface are details of the fabric that I enhanced with acrylic ink. Swarovski crystal beads of different sizes are sewn on in places to create visual interest. This piece has been mounted on an artist canvas for hanging. This piece was first exhibited in the show "Transformations" (my local show, see my resume'), and in "Broad Spectrum", a juried show held at Montana State University-Billings' Northcutt Steele Gallery. The "Broad Spectrum show is done touring the various Montana locations. This piece has sold.
The Story: "Hope for Today" packs a lot of color in, at only 12" X 12". It is made of cotton with wool batting. The background commercially printed fabric has been free-motion quilted. Some of the quilting stitches on the pink-yellow fabric have been wrapped with metallic thread to add interest. The Lazuli Bunting, singing its heart out, together with its chokecherry branch, is a separate element. I drew and painted them on cotton before appliqueing them onto the background, just before quilting everything. Acrylic paint, acrylic ink, water-soluble colored pencil and black Pigma were used to create the image. This piece was donated for the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) online auction this past fall and it has sold, providing SAQA with funds to provide workshops, traveling shows, education and much more to its members.
The Story: This piece is 16" X 24". "Rooted" came to me as I reflected on life - how it blows us about, bending us and breaking pieces off, changing our plans, our outlook and our lives. The shooting star flower, growing at the base of exposed rocks, springs out of last year's leaf litter while the rocks above begin to fracture and weather away. The shooting star is a hardy little wildflower that sprouts when the snow is barely gone. Its stout roots make for a sturdy plant. Resilience is at the center of this work. The hexagonal shapes, sewn together at the bottom and breaking away from each other toward the top, represent a rock outcrop that is slowly eroding away. from the bottom to the top the colors change from browns to white. The flower nestled at the base is in a place where it can withstand change for a very long time. Free-motion machine embroidery forms the bits of green lichen clinging to cracks in the rock. Leaf litter, composed of separately-constructed leaves that have been hand-sewn on, is scattered about. Snail shells, found locally, are among the leaves. Free-motion quilted, the dark green background has quilted leaves around the base of the rocks that echo the shapes of those in the leaf littler. In the background I've quilted the surface with hexagons that echo those that make up the white rock face. This piece is constructed of cotton, Bristol illustration board, rayon thread and a poly clay Shooting Star flower painted with acrylics, with a stem of floral wire. It's filled with wool batting. This piece was first exhibited in the show "Transformations" (my local show, see my resume'), and in "Broad Spectrum", a juried show held at Montana State University-Billings' Northcutt Steele Gallery. The "Broad Spectrum show has ended its tour and Rooted has been returned to me. It's for sale for $600.
The Story: "Cloud Bears" is 22' X 21". The piecing was done in an impromptu way to depict the swirling winds of the changing seasons. Made of commercially-dyed cotton and hand-dyed cotton (not by me), with a bit of my own rust-dyed cotton thrown in, it has a batting of polyester. The leaves have been appliqued on, swirling up and over the pieced left-hand side to enhance the feeling of wind and change. Grasses (hard to see in the image) are subtly embroidered and beaded on the left-hand side. The grizzly sow and cub are my drawings, done in graphite on Strathmore Bristol board then copied onto a piece of my rust-dyed cotton fabric, then cut out and appliqued onto the hand-dyed fabric. They have a high-elevation feeling. Beads made of shell, stone, fresh water pearls and glass complete this piece, the hanging beads on the border being reminiscent of bear claws. This piece is made in one of my favorite color palettes. "Cloud Bears" was accepted into the Art Mobile of Montana's traveling exhibit, was exhibited in "Transformations", and was also accepted in the Danforth Gallery's annual juried show in Livingston, Montana, and was shown in Transformations in 2019. It sells for $725.
The Story: The Longest Journey is 24" X 55". It's made of two panels that together tell an amazing tale of migration, survival and extreme adventure. The top panel shows Arctic Terns lifting off into the sea air to migrate between Antarctica and the Arctic - an annual round trip of tens of thousands of miles, feeding on the wing, flying night and day, and surviving high winds and stormy seas. The bottom panel is my depiction of their routes to and from their breeding grounds.
The top panel, made on a cotton surface, has been appliqued with my hand-painted terns wheeling their way into the sky, their path traced with metallic thread wrapped around the quilting stitches. Other details: a moon with filmy organza clouds across the surface, a reflection of the moon in the water, weathered pilings and white organza waves along the shore, and hand-embroidered beach grasses. The water near the shore and places in the rocks are hand-beaded. I've attached shells from my own ocean visits.
The bottom panel is also cotton fabric, made to feel like an old map. I drew the landforms with pencil on the surface, using several different pictures of maps to get the outlines of the land just like I needed them to be. I then inked them with Pigma pen, which is permanent and resists bleeding into the fabric, and I colored in the shore lines with blue water-soluble colored pencil. Krill and sand lances, important foods for Arctic Terns, are drawn in, rather than images of old sailing ships or sea monsters from days gone by. The terns' migratory routes are couched with red and blue threads which are beaded with metal flying birds. I've placed the migratory routes in a generalized way, finding research about this very thing online. I drew the compass rose with a graphics program, printed it on white fabric, then painted it with acrylics and acrylic ink and used Pigma pen in places. Gold trim, distressed with black acrylic paint, makes the border and shells were added. The map title and map legend are also made digitally and finished by hand and appliqued on. I've put more Arctic Terns across the bottom. Both panels have wool batting and have been backed with artist-quality cotton canvas. I added grommets, and Paracord attaches the bottom panel to the top. This piece was exhibited in Transformations in 2019, juried into the Sacred Threads 2019 exhibition in Herndon, VA. Shortly after it returned home, it was accepted into the juried show, "Gems of the Ocean", in Yachats, Oregon. The latest news for this piece: It's been chosen for inclusion in a book, "Boosting your Creativity: An Aviary of Artistic Advice" to be published in October 2023. This piece is a beautiful wall piece containing a good story with an educational message. It's for sale for $2700.
The Story: I am creating a small series of small pieces called "Remnant". These pieces are a mere 7" X 10" and are commercially dyed cotton with wool batting. This piece, Remnant I, has bits of dried poppy stems and seed pods from my flower beds. The poppies are volunteers from who knows where. They are a smoky violet with sage green leaves and are very hardy. I find the dried remains beautiful and complex. The poppies live a life in the summer, but after that, their beauty goes on.
I drew the butterfly on vellum, using graphite, colored pencil and Pigma pen. The poppy parts are real, having been painted with clear sealer then attached with thread and glue; the black "seeds" are beads. The snow is comprised of sewn-on hand-made paper and white organza. There are circles of organza appliqued onto the background. With winter comes the promise of spring and new life. After being on exhibit at the Livingston Center for Art and Culture, it has returned home and is for sale for $105.
I drew the butterfly on vellum, using graphite, colored pencil and Pigma pen. The poppy parts are real, having been painted with clear sealer then attached with thread and glue; the black "seeds" are beads. The snow is comprised of sewn-on hand-made paper and white organza. There are circles of organza appliqued onto the background. With winter comes the promise of spring and new life. After being on exhibit at the Livingston Center for Art and Culture, it has returned home and is for sale for $105.
The Story: This is Remnant II. Swedish beans from the garden are falling from a bean pod into the snow in early winter. They hold the promise of new and continued life in the spring. I've constructed a fence in disrepair from choke cherry twigs and couched black cotton thread. The beans and pod and the twigs have been sealed and are sewn on and glued where needed. The snow is white organza and there are organza circles appliqued on the background. I've drawn winter grasses with a Pigma pen among the snow drifts. Remnant II was on exhibit at the Livingston Center for Art and Culture in the fall of 2022. This piece is no longer available.
The Story: This piece is 18" X 35". Rusty Pelicans began with thoughts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and how it impacted human and animal life, including bird life. I wanted to illustrate Brown Pelicans sitting together on a rocky shore in the rust and sepia tones that remind me of them. The pelicans are drawn with black ink and painted with acrylics on a rusted cotton base. Some of the rusted fabric boulders were dipped in black tea, which made the rust go gray (tannins in the tea must have reacted with the iron oxide, a happy accident). Commercially printed cottons make up the sea, the sky and the pebbly shore. The far shore and islands, as well as the nearby boulders are rust-dyed then contoured with darker rust to give them shading and volume. The moon is a NASA image that I printed in sepia and appliqued on. Clouds and the moon's reflection on the water are appliques of iridescent organdy and Angelina fibers. The water has been beaded to add detail to the quilting and there are beaded stars emerging in the twilight sky. This piece was shown in a local show, Women in Fiber, at the Emerson Cultural Center, where it subsequently sold.
The Story: Avocet is an 8" X 8" piece. The American Avocet is painted on white cotton with acrylics, then inked, and machine appliqued to the background. I chose to make the bird much brighter than it is in real life, as it was the focal point on a piece with jewel-toned foreground and water. There are beaded areas in the foreground and the water has some beading to accentuate waves. I attached shells from my travels in the foreground, and I hand-embroidered beach grasses there. The sky, water, and land forms are all commercially printed cottons. This piece was shown at the Festival of the Thread in Livingston, Montana, where it subsequently sold.
The Story: Rest measures 35" X 31". It is made of cotton with a wool batting. The border of Rest is made of batiks. The stained-glass squares on the top and left side are pieced and appliqued to the base, as are the vines traveling across the bottom and up the right side. The center illustration is a piece, originally done in colored pencil on Stonehenge paper, that I had printed on cotton by the Spoonflower company. Having it printed for me was an experiment, as I plan to have other illustrations printed for me in the future. The drawing I used is shown in my Illustration Gallery and it's titled Prairie during the Dry Season. The tree depicted is a simplified drawing of a photo I took near Canyon Ferry, Montana. The border on this piece is symbolic of how we structure and plan our lives, all the while not really being in control of the future. Upon finding a dear friend was diagnosed with stage four cancer that was ultimately terminal, I felt the need to put the uncertainty of life into art. The squares represent how we do try to plan our lives out perfectly. The vines represent that no matter our efforts, God is ultimately in control of the details. The deer resting under the tree offer comfort in rest. This piece was juried into Sacred Threads' 2013 show in Herndon, VA and showed again in "Transformations". This piece sells for $1200.