Artist's Statement | Biography | Resume

Artist's Statement:

I make art quilts because it is my method of artistic expression. It is the process - and the freedom to make choices and changes throughout that process - that I love. My inspiration is where and how I choose to look for it, and may be an element of nature, a mundane object viewed from a fresh perspective, a geometric arrangement of shapes and lines, or even a piece of cloth. My recent work has been inspired by unique and interesting pieces of commercial and hand-dyed fabric.

I take photographs to capture and preserve a visual moment in time. While some of the photos may inherently be art, they primarily serve me as a resource for inspiration and as a tool to experiment with concepts of design.

Biography:

Before I made quilts, my creative energies were expressed through basketmaking, small-loom weaving, and papermaking with natural plant materials. All of these endeavors taught me a great deal about color, texture, and design. I was always intrigued by the geometric patterns of the Navajo weavings and the unusual color combinations of the Amish quilts. At one point during my papermaking phase, I experimented with quilt designs using handmade papers to construct Amish quilt blocks. Later, through the trial-and-error process, I taught myself to hand-piece fabric into geometric patterns. Over the years, my quilts have evolved from hand-pieced and hand-quilted Amish-inspired designs to less-structured machine-quilted pieces that I am currently working on. Less structure in my work is an ongoing goal.

Although I was born in Germany, most of my childhood years were spent in Ohio. In college, I earned an undergraduate degree in plant science, and a Ph.D. in soil and environmental science. Until recently, I worked in this field, focusing primarily on marine environmental issues. I currently live in the small coastal town of Scituate, Massachusetts, where inspiration is right outside my window.

Resume:

Juried Exhibits and Shows

2007

  • "Celebrate Spring," Special Exhibit, International Quilt Festival, Chicago, IL

2006

  • "Quilts: A World of Beauty," International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX
  • Lincoln Center Galleries, "25th Annual Fabric of Legacies National Quilt Exhibit," Fort Collins, CO (entry selected for publicity postcard)
  • Tims Art Quilt Gallery, "MicroCosmos," La Veta, CO
  • Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, XVII, "On the Cutting Edge," Hampton, VA. Third Place Prize
  • "Road to California," Montclair, CA

2005

  • Creative Excellence award, "Husqvarna Viking International Convention, Creative Challenge 2005"
  • Lincoln Center Galleries, "24th Annual Fabric of Legacies National Quilt Exhibit," Fort Collins, CO (entry selected for publicity postcard)

2004

  • "Images 2004," Lowell Quilt Festival, Lowell, MA
  • "Small Wonders," exhibit at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX and Chicago, IL
  • "A Quilters Gathering," Nashua, NH

2003

  • "Down By the Sea," special juried exhibit at the Quilt & Sewing Fest, Myrtle Beach, SC
  • "A Quilters Gathering," Nashua, NH

2002

  • "A Quilters Gathering," Nashua, NH

Group Exhibits

2006

  • Self Portrait Challenge, sponsored by Quilting Arts Magazine, selected for traveling exhibit.
  • South Shore Medical Center, Coastal Quilt Artists Exhibit, Norwell, MA
  • International Quilt Festival, "A Page From My Book," Journal Quilt Project, Chicago IL
  • Arsenal Center for the Arts, Quilters Connection 29th Annual Show, Watertown, MA

2005

  • Bridgewater Public Library, Coastal Quilt Artists Exhibit, Bridgewater, MA
  • International Quilt Festival, "A Page From My Book," Journal Quilt Project, Houston TX
  • "Straight and Narrow Challenge," online exhibit sponsored by QuiltArt.com

2004

  • North River Arts Society, Coastal Quilt Artists "Cloth is Our Canvas," Marshfield, MA
  • Bridgewater Public Library, Coastal Quilt Artists Exhibit, Bridgewater, MA
  • "It's a Small World," worldwide postcard quilt touring exhibit, 2004 Alaska Fiber Festival, Anchorage, AK

Publications

Memberships

  
All images © by the artist and are not to be copied,
reproduced or distributed in any manner.
Last update 10/9/06.