Bio

Artist Statement

My desire is always to create unique pieces that provide pleasure and serenity. I enjoy using color and texture to entice the emotions.  Bright happy colors and majestic earth tones motivate me.  I seek to provide visual appeal and a sense of beauty.  Most recently I have focused on surface embellishments, fabric painting, dying, and alteration.

I began seriously pursuing fiber art in 1991, as a quilter.  The precise nature of quilting gave me a good technical background, allowing me to produce fiber art of good quality.  With that as background experience, I began creating my own designs using non-tradition fabrics such as my own marbled, hand-dyed, and hand painted fabrics, along with imported batiks and interesting fabrics such as satins and lamé.  I use many different surface design techniques such as fusing, hand beading, dyeing, painting, and stamping for texture and intensity.  I am intrigued with embellishments and frequently use free motion embroidered techniques to create the desired visions.

As an instructor I want to share my knowledge and have fun with those around me.

Resume

Publications

• Featured in AQS 2006 Quilt Art Engagement Calendar
• Featured in Focus on Batiks by Jan Bode Smiley 2004

Commissions

• Aiken, South Carolina City Banners (3) – One displayed at City Hall in Aiken, SC.  The other 2 were sent to Aiken’s sister cities, Orvieto, Italy and Shoalhaven, Australia.

Highlights from Recent Exhibitions

• Aiken County Historical Museum 2014 – 2nd Place Wall Quilt
• AQS Charlotte, July 2014, semi Finalist, Charlotte, NC
• SC Palmetto Hands 2014, North Charleston, SC
• Art Fields 2013, Lake City SC
• 2013 Pieceful Hearts Quilt Show, North Augusta, SC, Best Use of Color Award
• 2013 World Quilt Show – New England, Manchester, NH
• 2013 American Quilting Society Quilt Week – De Moines, Iowa- finalist
• Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival 2012
• Aiken County Historical Museum 2012 – 1st Place Wall Quilt, Judges Choice and 3rd place
• International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX  2010 – Selected for display in A Quilter’s Garden sponsored display  “Still We Rise Again”
• Bunbury, Western Australia Patchwork & Quilting International Quilt Challenge 2009
• Blue Ridge Arts Center, Seneca, SC 2008
• Piedmont Arts Association-Selected for display 2007, 2005, 2004
• International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX 2006 – Selected for display
• Side Street Gallery – Pittsboro, NC – 2005 – Selected for display
• Columbia County Renaissance Festival 2005, Martinez, GA – Best in Show, First place in Fiber/Mixed Media category
• World Quilt and Textile Show (Lansing, MI and New Haven, MA) 2006 – Selected for display
• Aiken County Historical Museum 2005 – 1st Place Wall Quilt
• Craddock-Terry Gallery- Riverviews Artspace January 2005 – Selected for display
• Aiken County Historical Museum 2003 – 1st Place Wall Quilt, Best Use of Color, 2nd Place Wall Quilt
• World Quilt and Textile Show (Lansing, MI and New Haven, MA) 2003 – Selected for display
• World Quilt and Sewing Festival 2003, 2004 (Myrtle Beach, SC) – Selected for display
• World Quilt and Textile Show (Lansing, MI and Greensboro, NC) 2002 – Selected for display
• SC State Museum’s Traveling Exhibition Program, 2001 – 2003 and 2004 – Selected for display
• Aiken County Historical Museum, 2008 – 2001 1st place Art Quilt category, 2001 – Best in Show, 1st Place Group Quilt,
  1st Place Appliqué-professional category
• Palmetto Hands Exhibit, North Charleston 2001 – 2009, 2003 – Best in Fiber Art category
• International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX 2000 – Selected for special millennium display

Membership

• Aiken Artist Guild
• American Quilting Society
• Carolina Pine Quilters, Aiken, SC (President 1994, 1999), (Newsletter Editor and Web Master 2005 – 2014)
• Georgia Quilt Council
• International Quilting Association
• National Quilting Association
• Pieceful Heart Quilters, North Augusta, SC
• Quilters of South Carolina, (District III Representative 1996-2000, Newsletter Editor, 2000-2003)
• Studio Art Quilt Associates 2011 – 2014 Regional Representative SC/GA
• South Carolina Artisan Center – participating artist

Recent Classes/Lectures Conducted

• Take It All Off While Pole Dancing with Fabric – Shibori fabric dying and color discharging  – Pieceable Retreat, Winnsboro, SC, Oct 2014
• Beginning Shibori dying – Aiken SC February 2014
• Pole Dancing with Fabric – Shibori fabric dying – Pieceable Retreat, Winnsboro, SC, Oct 2013
• Scarf Dying with Color Hue Dyes – Pieceable Retreat, Winnsboro, SC, Oct 2012
• How to Critique Art Quilts   – 2012 Columbia SC (3 venues), Myrtle Beach SC,
• Dying for More color, QSC, Pieceable Retreat, Winnsboro, SC, Oct 2011
• Why Be Normal Lecture –Gate City Quilt Guild, Greensboro, NC, May 2011
• Accidental Landscapes – Lexington, SC, 2010
• Altered Fabrics – Aiken, North Augusta SC, 2009, 2010
• Painting with Crayons – Aiken, North Augusta, SC 2008, 2009
• Quilters of South Carolina, Clemson University, 2005
• House on the Hill, Aiken South Carolina, 2005