Artist Profile: Terry Waldron

Terry Waldron

Anaheim Hills, California

1. What other ideas for this theme "rituals" did you have? None!  This was a difficult theme for me, but I had wanted to do a Maasai piece for a long time, and here was the perfect opportunity.

2.  Are you involved in any community or group projects where you donate your work?  if yes, what project or projects?   A couple months ago I donated my piece "No-Stress Express" to be auctioned for the Stanislaus Literacy Center, and it sold for the reserve price.  They told me that the proceeds would fund two students for an entire year.  As a retired art/English literature high school teacher, that made me sooo happy! 

3.  Do you belong to a small group of like-minded artists?  yes/no  name/where  what is the best part of being part of an art group?  Yes, I am a member of the California Fiber Artists that is composed of sculptors, weavers, dyers, painters, and art quilters, mostly located in Northern California. Our only reason for being is to show our work in art galleries and museums throughout California as a group, and, boy, have I learned a lot! 

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? Yes, I am a Professional member of SAQA, and I have written an article for the SAQA Journal, an interview with one of the original art quilt pioneers, Virginia Avery.  What an amazing lady and what a special experience it was to get to meet her that vivacious lady!

5.  What is your favorite palette of colors that you use in your work?  name 5 and your least favorite colors?  name 5.  I love to work with earth colors: greens, yellows, blues, greens, and browns.  Muddy colors, colors that have been over-mixed, colors that are grayed down, repel me...  I can't name them because they are just mush... yuck! 

6.  Describe your creative work space in 20 words or less.  are you messy or tidy?   It's a place where I might step on a pin or trip over a gorgeous piece of cloth on my way to the design board.   

7.  What is your creative process?  think, draw, design, make or right to the design. I look, look, look, every day at every thing, always, and I think, think, think.  Then the picture appears to me.  It's like drawing with no hands!  As I work with the cloth, it determines the next size and piece, which decides the next, and so forth...   

8.   Is there a particular object or shape that shows up repeatedly in your work?  Why?  I love weeds!  I love the disorderliness and spontaneity of them, their wildness and their freedom. too.     

9.   If you had to choose a favorite artist from another media, who would it be, and why?   Only one...?  Raould Dufy, the French artist, has fascinated me since I was an art student.  His playfulness, and his distain for rigidity, for staying within the lines, is magic!  However, Gerald Brommer, the watercolorist, has been a major inspiration of mine since I began teaching high school art.  I actually met him last year and took a painting class from him,  only I brought cloth and scissors instead of paint... and he LOVED it.  No one understands rocks better than Gerry!   

10.  Have you written a book related to Art Quilts and Quilting or have an instructional DVD?  If so, can you tell us the title or titles?  No, but I've thought about doing it for many years...  If I did, it would be named "Nature's Calling..."

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?   As a retired high school teacher, I am now a full-time artist.  However, I have been making art, and speaking and teaching my art for 18 years now.

12.  What is your most thrilling news to date in relation to your art quilt life?   I will find this out in another week...  I will explain then IF the news is good...  It includes Japan and a large corporation...

www.TerryWaldron.com