Bio
Descendent from a long line of seamstresses I learned to sew at age 11. Since then I have incorporated my love of color, texture and pattern into explorations of knitting, weaving, spinning, needlepoint and wearable art. For the past decade my passion has been in creating textile art for interiors with cloth, paint and stitch.
In my art I utilize commercial & vintage fabrics with complex cloth of my own design. I am fascinated by the merging of various fabrics with mixed heritage to create a new textile with depth, layering and interest. With the dye and paint process I am able to create the exact fabric I need for each piece.
In creating complex cloth I apply multiple layers of dye, selective dye removal, over-dyeing, and screen-printing with original imagery; much of which comes from photos of my travels. A path of oval rocks from a Japanese garden, a jute window covering, ancient cave dwellings, a kelp forest, even the dripping prep work of exterior house-painting have all become screens through which I have pulled paint and dye. Layers of stitching, and often more paint complete my work.
My award-winning work is in the corporate collections of The James Irvine Foundation in San Francisco, CA; Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Santa Rosa, CA and The John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, CA; as well as in several private collections in the US and abroad.
Additionally my work has been exhibited in museums & galleries world-wide. I have curated exhibits, taught design classes, been published in various textile publications and self-published the Tall-Girl Series: A Body of Work.
I am an artist member of the ACCI Gallery in Berkeley, CA www.accigallery.com and of several professional art organizations. I maintain a home studio in Sonoma County, California.