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Artist’s Bio
For more than a decade I have explored the range of effects possible with fabric, batting, and thread and have only scratched the surface. Rich color, strong contrast, and sculptural quilting—that’s what I love.
My childhood in the Great Plains has had an enormous impact on my art. It left me with a love of large spaces, constant movement, and hidden complexity. Other influences on my work include Mennonite and Amish quilts, the Arts and Crafts movement, stone relief carvings, and work by modern painters as diverse as Picasso and Jean Jack.
A trained journalist and former copywriter, I was introduced to quilting in the early 1990s by a colleague at work. I began experimenting immediately and never looked back. Only a year later I participated in a round robin quilting project that led, by chance, to my designing a quilt for use in a Belgian soap opera.
In 1997 I began making commission bed quilts. Creating quilts to others’ specifications was both rewarding and challenging but left little time for my own work. By 2000 I was ready to focus again on my own designs, to get back to the spontaneity and playfulness that had drawn me to quilting in the first place.
Now I design and create fiber reliefs and contemporary quilts, dye gorgeous fabric, and write about quilting and art full time. I also enjoy sharing my passion for quilting by teaching beginner through advanced classes for both adults and children.
Exhibits-
Reflections, an on-line exhibit curated by Michelle Verbeek on the Studio Art Quilt Associates website (June-Sept 2007)
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Curator, Elemental: Contemporary Quilted Art,, Fiber Art Center (Amherst, MA; Mar. 1-Apr. 28, 2007)
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Curator: Unbound, an exhibit of quilted art by New England members of Studio Art Quilt Associates. (Traveling Apr. 2007-June 2008) at the World Quilt Expo (Manchester, NH; Aug. 17-19, 2007).
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Art and Soul, Arts Center at Southborough (Southborough, MA; Oct. 27-Nov. 18, 2006)
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The Culture of My Country,
a special exhibit during the Patchwork & Quilt Expo (Lyon, France; June 2006), the International Quilt Festival (Houston, TX; Nov. 2006) (Chicago, IL; April 2007)
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Fiber Art Center Juried Members Exhibit ( Amherst, MA; 2003, 2004)
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Hands Across the Valley Quilter’s Guild (Amherst, MA; 1999, 2003)
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Vermont Quilt Festival (Northfield, VT; 2005)
Publications
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Author, "Press Releases 101", SAQA Journal (Winter 2006/2007)
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Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. Portfolio 13 (2006)
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Author, “Exhibition Proposals With Punch” and “What to Include in a Proposal.” Art Calendar (July/August 2006) and SAQA Journal (Fall 2006)
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Author, "All Obsessed Together," Quilter's Newsletter Magazine (April 2006)
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Author, “On Technique,” SAQA Journal (Summer 2005)
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Subject, “In the Spotlight,” Fiber Art Center Newsletter (April 2005)
Professional Affiliations
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Fiber Art Center (Working member since 2001, PR coordinator 2001-2004, vendor, instructor)
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Artist in Residence, P.E. Bowe School (Chicopee, MA; Fall 2007)
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Cork Textiles Network (Cork, Ireland; Summer 2007)
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Fiber Art Center (Amherst, MA; Spring 2001-present)
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