Artist Statement
I make abstract art using quilt-making materials, tools, and methods. I paint with solid color fabric that I improvisationally cut and sew into large swoops and forms. I create pointillist textures by combining small pieces of printed fabrics embedded within larger compositional forms. Once I have free-hand cut and sewn a composition, I use machine quilting to emphasize design elements and add dimensionality. A quilt, most simply defined, is three layers of cloth sewn together. My work explores ideas about the layered constructs of perception and meaning. I work in black and white to show the layered interplay of lines and shapes, figure and ground, without the distraction of color. I work in color because color adds its own vocabulary of emotion to perception and meaning.
I live in the woods of western Massachusetts with long views of the Connecticut River Valley. My work is inspired by the colors and figures that surround me. Branches are a continuing fascination, both as figure and as metaphor. They represent choice points, pathways, alternatives, divergences. Much of my recent work embodies shapes and concepts of branching.
I began quilting seriously in 2015 after I retired from my first career as a professor. My work has been exhibited in juried and invitational shows across the country and is owned by collectors in the United States and Europe.