Peggy Calvert - Orange, California

1. How do you describe yourself? Outgoing, curious, fun loving, fast moving, fast thinking, strong.

2. What is your creative process? planning, drawing, notes, etc. I spend a lot of time in the incubation step of the creative process, with ideas and pictures running around in my head. I actually "think" that I spend too much time doing this. I feel better when I can spill my ideas onto paper....I am more of a writer than a draw-er, so many of the pages in my idea book( can't call it a sketch book) have more words than images. The quality of my drawing is roughly 2nd grade!

3. What's your style? Still in development, though I think whimsically pictorial. I enjoy creating characters and images that tell stories.

4. How long have you been a quilt maker/fiber artist? It depends on what you call fiber art? If you include embroidery on jeans and off-loom weaving than 40+ years. If you don't, than about 4!

5. Do you listen to music when you make art? Nope! The sound of the sewing machine is the only sound I want. I can get into the zone more quickly if the room is quiet! However when working (playing?) with a group of artists, the chatter and laughter eases the intensity and is very conducive to new images and the ongoing creative process.

6. What do you do when you are blocked creatively? Change my activity, walk, look through magazines and books (not necessarily art related.) Have you ever stood in front of a really good newsstand that has hundreds of magazines and just picked up what looked interesting for a shot of ideas from-some-other-world? Very inspiring!

7. Do you teach? Not art! Still learning.

8. Are there artistic endeavors that you have yet to do? Sing in a rock band???? Seriously, there are plenty, but I am really interested in getting better at the simple stuff. I love hand dyed fabric, painted surfaces, but that is so much more stuff to buy/store/use....too overwhelming for me.

9. How do you balance your family life and art? Being single this is fairly simple. It is my cat demanding dinner not a crowd! The hard part for me is balancing time for art/swimming/reading/gardening/and oh yes, sleeping! Not to mention the 40 hours I spend so I can support my habits!

10. What is the best part about what you do? The great people I meet and the beautiful art and traditional quilts I see. I love sharing a small part of the success of other artists. The stories are the best part. The why, the how, the dream, the design, the leap over the hurdle, the frustrations and the amazing joy of publication, purchase or awards and the compliments of others who appreciate our work.

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