Byron, Illinois
1. What year did you make your first quilt? Traditional or art? I believe it was around 1989. Georgia Bonesteel’s quilt show was on PBS before “Victory Garden” which I watched every week. I saw the end of the show about making a log cabin quilt by cutting and sewing strips and thought, “How hard could that be?” Of course, I had to buy a sewing machine, fabric, cutting mat and rotary cutter, and thread first.
2. What is the first show, and year, that you ever entered your art quilts? Venue? I entered the Grout Museum (Waterloo, IA) challenge in 1996 to celebrate Iowa’s Sesquicentennial. It was a traveling exhibit. I entered an art quilt (although I didn’t know there was such a thing then) made with purchased fabrics and won a ribbon. The first art quilt (that I knew was an art quilt) made with my own painted fabric was shown at Iowa Crafts: 31 at the Charles H. MacNider Museum, Mason City, IA, in 1998. It won first place – fiber.
3. What is your artistic style? Painterly, abstract, meaningful.
4. Have you ever changed your style from when you started making quilts? My art quilts do veer from those made from thousands of pieces of fabric in a very textural manner to very flat whole cloth pieces. But both styles are characterized by the building of meaning through layers of either paint or texture.
5. What other style in quilt making piques your interest? To be honest, I have a pretty narrow focus on what topics are of interest to me and that alone dictates my style.
6. What other medium in art influences your work as a fiber artist? I enjoy printmaking in all its forms as well as photography. Both for me are about seeing and capturing moments that evoke emotion.
7. What do you have coming up? Shows, Articles in magazines, Books, etc. Form, Not Function 2013. As I write this, I am starting my summer hiatus when I garden, travel, and otherwise enjoy life outdoors.
8. Where will your art take you from here? If I knew then it wouldn’t be art.
9. Describe your studio space: I make do with whatever room is free in whatever house we are living. As long as I have lots of storage for my painted fabric, a sewing machine, and a design board, I am good to go. But I am thrilled to have an unfinished walkout basement in this house for a painting studio.
10. What was the biggest challenge you have encountered in the making of your art quilt for "An Exquisite Moment?"
http://www.VirginiaSpiegel.com
Virginia is one of my favorite people as well as favorite artists! Thanks for a lovely interview.
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