Pacific Palisades, California
1. What other ideas for this theme "rituals" did you have? I
ran through a number of lifetime milestone events in my mind (births,
weddings and so on). Then I thought about focusing on the more ordinary
everyday rituals, like the beauty rituals we all follow in some form or
another. The culture and history of the Japanese Geisha has always
fascinated me; their beauty ritual is so very different from my own.
2. Are you involved in any community or group projects where you donate your work? if yes, what project or projects? I donate a 12 x 12 quilt annually to the SAQA fundraiser. Recently I donated a red, white, and blue stretcher size quilt for the Wounded Warrior Project.
3. Do you belong to a small group of like-minded artists? What is the best part of being part of an art group? Yes
I am part of several art groups. One is a local group of seven, we
call ourselves the Fiber Fanatics. We meet monthly and share our latest
work over lunches at each other's homes. The other groups I belong to
focus on creating exhibitions for our work. One is the California Fiber
Artists, a group that has a wide range of artists throughout the state
who make all kinds of fiber art (art quilters, weavers, basket makers).
The other group is a Southern California art quilt group called
Quilts on the Wall. Each group provides me the double benefits of both Inspirations and friendships.2. Are you involved in any community or group projects where you donate your work? if yes, what project or projects? I donate a 12 x 12 quilt annually to the SAQA fundraiser. Recently I donated a red, white, and blue stretcher size quilt for the Wounded Warrior Project.
4. Are you a member of a professional art organization, such as SAQA? Have you ever held a volunteer position in the organization, and if so, what? I am a professional member (PAM) of SAQA. For the California Fiber Artists, I co-currated a show at the Bakersfield Museum of Art in 2011.
5. What is your favorite palette of colors that you use in your work? Name 5. Name 5 of your least favorite colors? I
love bright and contrasting colors---(they make me happy): blues,
oranges, greens, reds, purples, yellows (yes that is 6---sorry!) I am not a fan of neutrals: browns, grays, beiges.
6. Describe your creative work space in 20 words or less. Are you messy or tidy? Creative chaos of crowded table tops (from my studio to the dining room), strewn with parts and pieces of the multiple projects I work on at the same time. Yes, I am messy.
7. What is your creative process? Think, draw, design, make or right to the design? Many inspirations have come to me while walking alone with my dog Mac or from photos I have collected. I do sometimes draw out a plan, but also experiment with cut paper shapes in real size before I move on to fabric. I have weekly figurative drawing classes from artist models. Often a pose will "talk" to me, and I create a narrative for the figure to tell a story to the viewer.
9. If you had to choose a favorite artist from another media, who would it be, and why? I love the colors and brush strokes of the geometric abstract Ocean Park series paintings of Richard Diebenkorn. It is hard to narrow down my favorite figurative artists, but I admire the work of Edward Hopper, Johannes Vermeer, Lucien Freud, and again Richard Diebenkorn. They each capture in their own way the souls of the people they have painted. Their figures tell a story to the viewer, create an emotion; something I strive to do.
11. Do you make art full time? If you have another career, would you describe what you do? and how you incorporate art into your life? Yes I work happily full time as an artist. I spent years with art as a hobby while I raised our 3 daughters. Now in "retirement", I live and breathe art every day in some form.
12. What is your most thrilling news to date in relation to your art quilt life? Hearing from Martha Sielman that I have been chosen as one of the featured artists in her upcoming (March 2013) Art Quilts: People and Portraits book.
Sherry, your work is so inspiring ... especially your figural work, which I love. I also enjoyed seeing who your favorite artists are ... Richard Diebenkorn is new to me, and fascinating! Thanks for a great interview.
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