Embroidery leads Dorothy Thompson to crazy quilts

Dorothy Thompson's crazy quilt, Bucolic Scene, drew me right to it. I wanted to sit right down in her little embroidered garden. It was so inviting and intricately worked and colorful with a hint of crazy. It took a while to track Dorothy down. She tends to spend her evenings working on crazy quilts and rarely ventures near a computer! But with the help of the Alliance for American Quilts and Dorothy's computer savvy friend, Carol Pope, we finally connected. She graciously shares not only photos of her romantic, beautifully crafted creations, but also a bit of herself. Please give Dorothy Thompson a warm Subversive Stitchers welcome. Maybe a raised needle salute! -- Dawn (First photo, Down the Garden Path, details)

Dorothy Thompson: Crazy quilting is my passion.

The threads, the beads, the techniques, all speak to me. Most evenings I sit and lose myself in the worlds I create. I hope that the energy and love that go into my work are transmitted to the viewer.

"Doing and making are acts of hope, and as that hope grows, we stop feeling overwhelmed by the troubles of the world." --Corita Kent

I am inspired by the area in which I live--the Olympic Peninsula of Washington--70 miles west of Seattle--the upper left-hand corner of the map. This area, although further north than Maine, has a gentle climate similar in many ways to southern England. It is a lovely region full of trees and flowers and gentle rain. I have a cottage garden and our property is also a designated wildlife refuge.

How did I get so involved in crazy quilting? My grandmother taught me to embroider at an early age. I have tried many crafts, but I always come back to embroidery. I really got started crazy quilting in 1997.

I saw an ad for the crazy quilt club by Carolyn Cibik of Evening Star Designs and joined. Once a month a magical package arrived with fabrics and threads and beads and ideas and wonderful quotations about women.

I traveled to Portland and took a course from Judith Baker Montano and then went to a crazy quilt conference in Omaha. There I saw magnificent quilts by Christine Dabbs and my horizons truly expanded. I had never imagined the level of needlework she attained! I also discovered Inspirations magazine--especially the work of Carolyn Pearce--and learned even more techniques. I've never stopped.

One of the things I like best about crazy quilting is that there is always room for something new I want to try or a new idea that seizes me.


My husband of 42 years, Earle, has a strong background in art and is my most loyal fan and best critic. I am also fortunate to belong to a small, informal group of women--Slippers and Sweats--who get together and stitch once a week. They have believed in me when I couldn't believe in myself. It was because of all this support that I had nerve enough to enter my crazy quilt, Down the Garden Path, into big shows. (Photo 1, details of Down the Garden Path)

It was juried into the Association of Pacific Northwest Quilters show in Seattle in 2006 and then into the American Quilters Society show in Paducah,, Kentucky in 2007. What a thrill!

I entered the Crazy for Quilts contest put on by the Alliance for American Quilts and was fortunate that my quilt, Bucolic Scene, won an Honorable Mention. (Dorothy's Bucolic Scene is shown in the right column of Subversive Stitchers.) Those quilts will be at the International Quilt Association in Houston this fall. Another thrill to have a quilt there!

The Alliance for American Quilts does great work in documenting, preserving, and sharing the story of American quilting. My quilt, along with the others in the contest, will be auctioned off on eBay to benefit their organization.

I teach at Quilted Strait here in Port Angeles. I have included some samples (see photos) --the crazy quilted bear, a crazy-quilted top to a sewing box, and a heron embroidery from a pyramid with a series of scenes with herons.

Downunder designs and global gift swap brought together by Fiona Marie Clark

We've had some discussion about using commercial patterns. Fiona Marie Clark gives several excellent reasons for investing in patterns and receiving more than you ever expected from them.

She also gives us a peek at what some patchwork designers are doing. Such delight and whimsey, you can't help but smile and feel your creative urges slide into a more light hearted frame of mind.

I hope you'll warmly welcome Fiona Marie to Subversive Stitchers and check out her web site. Fiona Marie has her own story, so read to the end. -- Dawn

Fiona Clark in her own words:

On my side of the world, commonly referred to as ‘Downunder’, we are fortunate to be home to a growing number of patchwork quilting designers.

The predominant trend in their work is the merging of simple stitchery designs within a traditional patchwork setting. The stitchery designs are generally set in a randomised layout, and often overlap onto the pieced block giving the quilt an unstructured, organic look. (Photo 1: Journey of a Quilter Block – Leanne’s House)

Bronwyn Hayes, an Australian designer, is one of my most popular designers whose work follows these principles. She is slowly becoming better known throughout the world especially in Europe. Her latest design and one I am working on myself is a quilt featuring the Gingham Girls called ‘My Favourite Things’

Like the Red Hat Ladies before them, the Gingham Girls are enormously popular with quilters, embodying the spirit and philosophy this demographic strongly identifies with.
(Photo 2: Gingham Girls Quilt Block by Bronwyn Hayes.)

For me personally working on this quilt is a holistic patchwork experience and its stitches will be the threads weaving together my memories of 2009.

When you start the quilt you are given the opportunity to join a cyber group in flickr called ‘The Gingham Girls’ where questions can be asked and photos are posted of blocks throughout the quilt makers journey. Purchasing this pattern set has now become an interactive quilt making experience you can share with others along the way.


Photo 3: Butterfly Garden Block – Leanne’s House

Australian designer Leanne Beasley who produces patterns under the Leanne’s House label has three beautiful heirloom proportioned quilts in this style, ‘May your Heart make you Grateful, ‘Journey of a Quilter’, and her latest release ‘Butterfly Garden’. All these quilts can be viewed in their entirety at this link.

Leanne’s quilts again follow the theme of incorporating beautifully worked stitchery panels into a pieced patchwork layout.

Many other Australian designers including Cinderberry Stitches, Rosalie Quinlan Designs, Hugs n’ Kisses, The Birdhouse and Lynette Anderson Designs, are also producing patterns in this style or a close variation to it.

Photo 4: Little Patchwork Village – Rosalie Quinlan Designs

Another popular pattern trend is the increase in smaller projects being designed with a practical everyday use. This trend I am sure is influenced by the high proportion of designers who are working mothers and understand there are many women who simply lack the time, means, and energy to justify embarking on large projects without a practical use.

Photo 5: Birdhouse Bag – Lynette Anderson Designs

I am fortunate to own a business in the patchwork quilting industry, which means I can justify spending an hour of my quiet work time each day stitching!

I stitched my first little quilt in the Spring of 1995 while awaiting the birth of my first child, now fourteen. Encouraged by my Mother I used fabric from her stash and purchased a pattern from a local quilt shop by American designers ‘Little Quilts’.

At this time the naïve design, soft country colours, simple buttonhole appliqué, and small project size that characterise ‘Little Quilts’ designs appealed to me and were perfectly matched to my skill level. It was when stitching this first wall hanging my love affair with patchwork quilting began and since then I have gradually immersed myself in the craft both in my leisure time and in a commercial venture through my online pattern store fionamarie.com.

In 2007 my youngest daughter at age six was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Leukemia. She is now in remission and thriving. I mention this not to solicit sympathy but to identify the catalyst that played a large part in moulding my outlook on life in recent years and how this experience has influenced my patchwork quilting.

Today, I take a more holistic approach to the craft, I have become more traditional in my tastes, I prefer to work by hand rather than machine, and I’m no longer scared off by large projects.

I am spoilt for choice running a pattern store and it is often overwhelming deciding what to make next, but every time I pick up a pattern and begin a project I see myself as having started a new journey.

I am never quite sure where it will take me, who I will connect with along the way, what emotions I will experience, but when I have a needle between my fingers I am confident I’m headed in the right direction.

Have your own holistic patchwork quilting experience by joining the 2009 Great Global Christmas Swap and make the acquaintance of a stitcher from another country, in the spirit of friendship, who shares your passion for this craft.

Books written by our friends and colleagues

This is in no way a comprehensive list of my friends and readers' books, but just a few I happen to be thinking about at the moment. If any of you would care to send me information about your books, I'd be most interested!

First up is a new release by two creative fabric and mixed media artists who have both guest blogged here at Subversive Stitchers. Check the right column under Guest Bloggers for a look at what they've written. -- Dawn

Creative Ways with Books and Journals

by our very own Sue Bleiweiss and Terri Stegmiller!!!

It is available through Amazon of course or from the authors themselves. Cost at Amazon is $22.99.

Product Description:

Combine traditional book binding techniques with fabric and fibers to create journals to keep for yourself or give as gifts. You'll learn how to make beautiful hand painted fabrics using shibori and water soluble crayons and explore mixed media techniques with tissue paper, kitchen foil, paper fabric and recycled envelopes. Create gorgeous textured surface journals using machine cord, linen strips and pearl beads. With easy to follow directions accompanied by full color photos even the most inexperienced book maker will have no trouble making the eight soft cover and four hard cover book projects.

Product Details:
Paperback: 130 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (September 18, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 144212573X
ISBN-13: 978-1442125735
Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces

Of course we couldn't forget Lyric Kinard's recent release:

Art + Quilt

Product Description:

Secrets for quilting success are presented through a variety of techniques, exercises, and insider tips to inspire novice quilters and experienced textile artists to make genuine works of art. Simplifying the basic fundamentals of art and teaching the underlying principles of the visual language, this guide explores texture, shape, line, color, and value with examples and hands-on exercises. Essential principles—such as focal point, balance, repetition, scale, and space—are paired with creativity exercises while guest essays, guest artwork, and inspiring artwork from the author allow readers to analyze how other artists utilize key artistic elements or principles and see how to successfully use these elements in their own work. Both a personal creativity coach and a guide for a hobbyist or professional artist, this reference clarifies quilting goals and takes the craft to the next level through design and composition.

About the Author:

Lyric Kinard is an award-winning master quilter whose articles have appeared in Quilting Arts magazine, and her works have been featured in numerous books and exhibitions. She lives in Cary, North Carolina.

Product Details
Hardcover-spiral: 136 pages
Publisher: Interweave Press; (September 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1596681063
ISBN-13: 978-1596681064
Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 9.1 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds

For more information about and inspiration from Lyric, check out the latest guest blog! She has great advice.

This I Accomplish

by Kyra Hicks

One of my favorite fellow bloggers (check out my blog list to the right for Black Threads) has written a thoroughly researched and respected book about the quilts of Harriet Powers.

Product Description:

The powerful quilts of Harriet Powers (1837-1910), a former Athens, Georgia slave, continue to capture our imagination today. Her two-known creations, the Bible Quilt and the Pictorial Quilt, have independently survived since stitched more than a century ago. Over the years, thousands of museum visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston have stood transfixed viewing her artwork. Powers' two quilts are arguably the most well-known and cited coverings in American quilt history. But, until today, no one has told the entire, dramatic story of how these two quilts, one of which initially sold for $5, were coveted, cared for, and cherished for decades in private homes before emerging as priceless, national treasures.

This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilts and Other Pieces brings to light new, exciting facts - many never before published: complete exhibition history for both known quilts; proof Harriet Powers was a literate, award-winning quilter, who stitched at least five quilts and promoted her own artwork; profiles of the two nineteenth century women who sought to purchase the Bible Quilt; profiles of the three men who once owned the Pictorial Quilt; unveiling of a young artist who embellished the Pictorial Quilt; and the name of the person who first made the connection in the twentieth century that Harriet Powers stitched both quilts.

This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilts and Other Pieces is the most comprehensive resource guide on this influential African American quilter. The book includes nearly 200 bibliographic references, most annotative, including books, exhibition catalogs, newspapers, plays, poetry, interactive map and more. For the first time ever, readers are provided with clues and encouraged to search for Harriet Powers' lost 1882 Lord's Supper Quilt.

This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilts and Other Pieces is written by Kyra E. Hicks, a quilter whose story quilts have appeared in over forty group exhibitions in places such as the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, NY, the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the American Folk Art Museum in NY. Hicks is the author of Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook and Martha Ann's Quilt for Queen Victoria. She lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Product Details:

Paperback: 182 pages
Publisher: Black Threads Press (July 6, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0982479654
ISBN-13: 978-0982479650
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces

Congratulations to all of these artists for their accomplishments and hard work. And I've found all of their publications, blogs and work most inspirational and helpful. -- Dawn

Lyric Kinard's secret: How to do it all

ARTIST’S
STATEMENT:

In a world where too often, the images we feed ourselves are full of
violence and fear, my goal is to create beauty and remind us of the strength we
all possess.







If you've been following this blog for the past few months you will have heard me singing the praises of Lyric Kinard and her Playing with Paint class through Quilt University. I continue to reap the rewards from that class. Not just in the fabrics I painted, but in the attitude adjustment about success and failure and 'just do it!'


Her energy and enthusiasm vibrated all the way from her house through the Internet and right into my fingertips! And now she's published her book that opens with inspiration from several sources. I'll have more to say about her book in an upcoming review. But, for now, here's Lyric in her own words. -- Dawn


Lyric Kinard:



I hear it all the time. “How do you do it all?”

My student is usually looking at my book or at artwork I’ve produced.

I’m wondering if they think I wave a magic wand and the work just pours forth fully formed. I open my mouth and say, “I don’t do it all.”

That work on the wall? It might be the only thing I finished last year. The book? It’s done but ask my family about the sacrifices they made to give me the time to do it. I don’t do it all, at least not all at once. I do one thing at a time as time allows.
What my students are really asking is “why can’t I do more?”

It’s easier to feel sorry for ourselves than to accept or to change where we are in our artistic careers.

I’ve fallen into that trap myself. I’ll look at a prolific artist and begin to feel jealous only to find out they don’t have children.

Ah. I have to remind myself that I’m blessed to have children and chose to put my family ahead of my career. I remind myself that children grow. Quickly. There will be a season for greater productivity.

“No time” is excuse number one for not being productive.

I am the mother of five children. I’m involved in my children’s activities, my church, and my community. I have almost no spare time, but I have learned to leave the TV off. I take my sketchbook and a small “to-go” project everywhere. I stitch during hockey practice - a friend elbows me when I need to cheer. I bead through school concerts, sitting on the back row by the sound booth window and it’s light. It’s amazing how much work gets done in these little “lost” bits of time. I sketch everywhere - doodles and form studies sitting next to lecture notes and to-do lists.

I’m still learning about discipline. I’m working on keeping the computer off until after I’ve met my art goal for the day in the studio. I’m still working on limiting the engagements and deadlines I take on. It’s important to take care of the business and marketing side of the art - but you must create the art in the first place. That is one of the wonders of textile art. You can create it three stitches at a time in between interruptions. You can set it down and come right back to it later.

So - now. Off to create. Today’s goal is to clean off half of the work table and to sketch two more dancers for an idea I’m working on. Manageable.

The kids get home in an hour so I’d better get to it.

Photo Info: 1. projects to go - work in progress, sketchbook, mint tin with beading supplies .

2. pic- moonflower - 4" x 6", dyed, beaded

3. Lyric's newly published book "Art + Quilt"

4. violin pic - title Soar 20" x 20" dyed, discharged, printed, painted, stitched beaded

BIO: Lyric Kinard (see photo) is an artist with a serious addiction to fabric. Her award-winning wall quilts and wearable works of art are a product of her need and passion to create order and beauty while living a chaotic life as the mother of young children. She often says that her art is the only thing she does that is not undone by the end of the day. Her second love is teaching, which she has been doing in various capacities for the past 12 years. She loves to share her joy in the process of transforming plain fabric into a work of art.

Lyric has studied with many well known textile artists around the country and continues to expand her skills in the area of surface design. She has a BA in English Literature from the University of Utah and has also formally studied music and architecture. She currently lives in Cary, North Carolina with her husband and five children.

For more about Lyric and her work check out her website, blog and etsy account.

Question of the Day: What scissors do you run with?

I'm introducing a new addition to my blog and hope you will all respond.

Now and then I'll post a question and hopefully you will all chime in with your best answer, advice, favorite whatever the question requires.

Today's question: What do you love to use to cut your fabric?

What brand scissors or if you prefer, rotary cutter. Or in fact, do you use something else? Let us know your favorite cutting tool and if you have a story -- please share!



My favorite scissors were given to me as a high school graduation gift from two older women I worked with at The Leader Store. Ages ago! They are a pair of Farr scissors and have not required sharpening for 40 years and I've cut everything with them. I don't know if they are even for sale any longer.



How about you? Tell me about your scissors, please. --Dawn

Inspiration struck Ellen Guerrant like a hurricane!

Dawn asked me to write a guest column after seeing a photo of my quilt Hurricane Warning on my blog. Thank you, Dawn. -- Ellen Guerrant

Living in Florida has brought hurricanes into my life with a new uncomfortable reality. When I saw Ellen's quilt, somehow it was soothing and put things back into perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed her creative use of a weather map and warning flags and the tiny bird in the center of the storm (that's me!). As a journalist and a creative soul I am always interested in the story behind the story and this quilt piqued my curiosity. Thanks Ellen for sharing your art and your inspiration. -- Dawn

Please welcome Ellen Guerrant in her own words! And note the photo of the quilt that inspired this blog: Hurricane Warning, 42x55” Fused appliqué.

My quilting began with a class at the YWCA. I jokingly tell everyone I only chose quilting because the aerobics class was full. I was so hooked after the first class that I went looking for an all-night fabric store!

My quilts were traditional at first, but quickly began to reflect my own design ideas and more personal themes. I joined guilds and professional organizations and was soon teaching and lecturing on what had become my life’s work.

I’m from the tall grass prairie – one of four sisters born in the Land of Lincoln. I was familiar with tornadoes and storm cellars but knew nothing about hurricanes until I moved to North Carolina.

When the Professional Art Quilt Association (PAQA–South) issued a call for entries for Vantage Point–South: Art Quilts, the rules stated, “Each quilt must illuminate the vantage point of the Southern artist.” Oh my. Ideas came and went until it was almost too late. With the deadline looming large, I suddenly remembered an image seen years before.

We’d been watching news of evacuations from Charleston just prior to hurricane Hugo when I’d
been struck by the graphic beauty of the red and black flags seen whipping in the strong winds. I later learned these were hurricane warning flags.

Hurricane warning flags! Of course! I would use them in my entry. As many good ideas do, this one struck in the middle of the night. With no time to waste and no time to go to a quilt shop for the perfect fabrics, I was forced to go shopping in my stash.

My color scheme began with the red and black of the flags themselves. A white fabric with black abstract scattered lines reminiscent of flying debris made a perfect background. Then I chose two border fabrics. Strong graphically, they began as black on white and gradated to white on black.

As I pinned the first fabrics to my design wall, I suddenly knew this quilt would be larger than the 20x24” I had originally planned. This quilt had to have impact! It had to be BIG, by my standards.

For the hurricane image itself. I needed a swirling motion – but had to think a bit about how to place concentric circles on the white background fabric without having to mark it. As placement guides, I cut a huge circle from freezer paper and then smaller and smaller ones which were ironed onto the background fabric one at a time.

I literally composed Hurricane Warning by ironing fused fabric shapes of red, black and gray directly to the background fabric on my design wall. A fabric printed like a newspaper, with a weather forecast, became part of one circle along with the word No! In the very center I placed a cutout of a bird - a virtual bird’s eye view.

This quilt had to come together very quickly, as I had just one week to deadline. I finished just in time to get slides in the mail.

I later learned jurors Susan Brandeis, artist and professor at NC State University College of Design and Jane Shuping Tyndall, owner of Tyndall Galleries in Chapel Hill, had chosen 45 quilts from 30 artists from eight southeastern states for Vantage Point-South. I was so pleased that Hurricane Warning was among them, and totally thrilled when it was chosen for the show’s poster and postcard image!

The quilt was later shown in Explorations in Fiber: New Works (by members of the Art Quilt Network) at The Concourse Gallery, Upper Arlington, OH, and subsequently purchased for its permanent collection.

Hurricane Warning was one of those magical quilts that “just happened.” I had a very limited amount of time and a limited number of fabric choices. These both worked to my advantage. We sometimes tell ourselves we have to have every fabric available, every new gadget. I didn’t, and I know quilters before us didn’t. They used what they had; I used what I had.

This quilt is very unlike my other work, some of which is shown here. I create bright contemporary quilts, frequently inspired by the humble log cabin, as well as those with more personal themes.

Images:

2. Hold on My Heart....Throw Me a Lifeline 52” square. Commercial cottons and silk, hand painted and beaded. Created as a healing quilt for my family following the heart transplant of our son.
3. His Eye is on the Sparrow, 20x24” Commercial cotton, hand-dyed and painted fabrics, my son Matthew’s shirt from 3rd grade.

4. Toast with Jam 26x31” Commercial, hand-dyed and repurposed cottons. Hand-dyed chenille cording.
5. We Fix Broken Hearts, 51x63” Collage and pieced cottons and hand-dyed fabrics. Painted and beaded. Created to honor those who heal.

Ellen teaches and lectures nationally. Please visit her website and blog for information on her workshops and patterns.

Bio: With a teaching style described as relaxed and enabling Ellen loves sharing her passion for innovative design. She encourages students to find their own creative voice by veering off the paths labeled safe and correct.

A free-spirited quilt artist, Ellen has conducted workshops for conferences such as AQS, NQA, NCQSI (North Carolina Quilt Symposium), VCQ (Virginia Consortium of Quilters), Gulf Coast, Tampa Bay and dozens of guilds across the country.

Ellen was the featured artist in American Quilter magazine, spring 2007. Her work has been published in Focus on Batiks, Great American Quilts 2004, Quilter’s Newsletter magazine, IQA Journal fall 2002, spring and summer 2003 and summer 2004, Quilting Today and American Quilter (article) 1992.

Her work has been exhibited internationally and is in many collections. She has received over 70 awards.

Ellen attended Northern Illinois University as an education major. She lives in Charlotte NC with her husband Bill and their grand-dog, Numa. Their son Matthew and his wife Suzie will soon make their home in Asheville NC. In addition to her quilting interests, Ellen owns a small antiques business and collects vintage textiles and buttons. But most of all, she loves to make people laugh.

Layers, not time, significant in Maya Schonenberger's art

Photo's artist's statement for Quilt National 09 piece: Rejection: Reflecting on the elaborate and artful phrasing of my various rejection letters (and there are quite a few) I decided to use them in my new art work. After a ‘call for rejection letters’ among my artist friends I started the project. China, the Olympics and especially impressions of the ‘Yangtze River’ provided the background for my work and should be a reminder that rejection is the other side of winning.

I took one look at Maya's art and felt myself pulled deeper and deeper into it. It is, for me, like poetry. I have a love-hate relationship with poetry and most of the time I don't get it. Other times I have an ahhhh moment and everything falls into place and changes my perspective. Maya's work gives me an AHHHHH! moment. I hope you feel it too. And, as a writer, I can thoroughly understand her inspiration for this first piece: Rejection. Her other work resonates as well and I love her sense of humor.

So I am pleased to present Maya Schonenberger in her own words. -- Dawn



'How long did it take you?’…..

I am sure you all have heard that question many times in your life. In general I appreciate very much when people ask questions about my work. But years ago I decided, that ‘how long did it take you’ was for sure my least favorite one. Every time I am asked that question I am very tempted to answer ‘what difference does it make’.

Think about it, does it really matter (except for yourself) how long it took to create a piece? Is the piece worth more if I have spent more time on it? Is the question asked to compare the sale price with the time it takes to create the piece or is it true admiration and one would like to know how many hours it really took to create a piece like that.

Both are legitimate reasons and I of course try to answer the question. That is when the problem starts. What can I include in my working hours? Where is the beginning of a new piece? When do I start adding up the hours?

Should I include the time I needed while studying and practicing the new Photoshop program that I needed for my new creation? Are all the experiments in painting, printing and other techniques part of my hours even if not all of them are finally used? I think yes, but then maybe they are not?

I do not and cannot keep track of my hours anymore; I simply have way too many things that I need keeping track of like receipts etc. Therefore I try to answer the questions by describing the different steps that are involved in my artwork. By doing so I hope one obtains a better feeling for the various parts that make up my artwork and can therefore relate to the hours it takes to create one of my pieces.

These three photos: 'Dusting the Bottom,' 'Lady in Red,' and Sea Slug Frank (Tridachia crispata)are pieces I made for Nature Conservancy exhibitions at the Nature Conservancy in Jupiter Florida.

BACKGROUND

I start out with cotton fabric (light color) the size of the piece. The background of the pieces contains several layers of different materials such as all kinds of fabrics, print material and papers. I then glue, fuse and stitch the layers together. At that stage I basically chose whatever technique creates the effect I want and leads me to my goal, anything goes. The amount of stitching on that first level depends a lot on how easily I can glue or fuse the materials on top of each other. Decorator fabrics for example are often very difficult to glue or fuse, therefore they require a lot of stitching, while cotton and silk stick together without any problems. I make certain that all pieces are well secured on this first layer. Since almost all of my pieces contain environmental, political or social statements I add quit a bit of newsprint to my work. (I am not going to touch the copyright problems at this point but I can assure you I observe all those laws and ask for permission whenever they are needed).

Photos, either transferred onto fabric or on paper are also a vital part of my backgrounds. The next step in the background process is the first layer of painting. I like painting wet on wet but usually let the piece dry in between layers. If desired I add more layers of fabric and paper, again securing them with stitching.

Photo inspiration: During the last year I started a new series called ‘Hindsight’. The expression ‘Hindsight is 20 / 20’ led to this new series of work. (Thus the animal butts.) It focuses on issues such as endangered animal or plant species, political, economical and social issues. Living in southern Florida exposes me to more than just lush, rich tropical life and beautiful waters but also brushfires, floods, droughts, spills, pollution and ‘raw’ politics. I have always been interested in nature, in our evolution and our history. Here I focus on the interaction of humans with nature and the changes that result from this process. Intrigued by the possibilities that textiles offered I started exploring different techniques guided by my sense of colors and the feelings they invoke. I strive to be in tune with my mind, body and surroundings, continuously searching for new ways of expressing my thoughts, feelings and concerns.

The last photo is my newest work: Brain-E-Scape: left and right Hemisphere. I haven't written my artists statement, yet. It is a difficult one for me to write because it is a 'complex' idea. Menopause influenced this piece and I borrowed the shape of the planet to signify the way 'losing my mind' makes me feel like I'm in outer space. You are viewing a planet -- planet Maya. I've hidden several ideas inside this mysterious me -- some appear primeval -- others I leave for you to discover.

Bio: Maya Schonenberger is a certified arts and crafts teacher from Switzerland. After teaching for several years she started her career as a studio artist and is now living in Miami. She teaches her workshops in the US and in Europe.

Her award winning artwork has been shown nationally and internationally in exhibitions such as Quilt National, FAVA, Art Quilts at the Sedgwick, Art Quilt at the Whistler and Fine Focus. Her work is in private and public collections in Switzerland, Italy, Germany and the US.

Maya was the featured artist in ‘Quilting Arts Magazine’ June / July issue 2008. Her latest solo show ‘See Sides’ was at Biscayne National Park, February 8 through May 11, 2008.

Several of Maya's works will be featured from Sept. 18 through Nov. 6 in a special exhibit Earth Elements at Pensacola Museum of Art in Pensacola, FL. To see more of Maya's work and learn more about what she's up to, visit her website and her blog.