Artist Profile: Deborah Boschert

Deborah Boschert

Lewisville, TX 

DeborahsJournal.blogspot.com

www.DeborahsStudio.com

1.  Describe your signature style in 5 words: layered, iconographic, narrative, graphic, stitched

2.  Do you ever work in another medium and, if so, what is it and what appeals to you about it? In the past, I created zines and artist books, but over the past few years, I’ve chosen to focus on art quilting. I never tire of choosing fabric, designing compositions, creating patterns with paint and stitching details, so that’s where I’ve put my time and energy.

3.  What's coming up for you in your artistic world? I have quilts in several traveling exhibits. (They see more of the world than I do.) I’ll be giving program and workshops around Texas and developing some new online workshops.

4.  Do you have any studio rituals? I need to de-clutter and clean up regularly. It’s not really a ritual, but it’s a cycle. When I’m working on a project, there is a certain amount of active chaos, but it needs to be reigned in before it becomes passive chaos.

5.  Who has inspired you on your artistic journey? I am continually inspired by my artist friends. When a friend really knows me as a person, but also understands my artwork, that creates a kind of intimacy and support that I treasure.

6.  What are the 5 essential things in your studio that you cannot live without? a variety of fabrics, fusible webbing, embroidery floss, paint and podcasts on my iPhone

7.  What is on your design table right now? I’m working on a landscape that will be constructed in a completely new way. I also just pulled out the fabric pieces of the silhouette that were cut away to create my Reflections piece. I’m thinking about making a companion piece with those “opposite” pieces. Maybe I’ll use a waxing crescent, rather than a waning crescent.

8.  How do you juggle your artistic life, family, friends, etc? I just try to make good choices about how I spend my time day to day. I go through cycles where I spend more time in the studio and cycles when I’m focused on other parts of my life. 

9.  Do you have any studio companions (human or otherwise)? My dog, Lincoln, used to love to sit on the red couch in my studio, but he’s got a bit of arthritis in his hips and he hasn’t been jumping up as much lately. 

10.  What was the biggest challenge in creating your piece for Reflections? Once I settled on the concept and how it related to the theme, the size and symmetrical composition were the biggest challenges. I had to create the silhouette so it fit the space and then she needed to be aligned just right within the dimensions of the quilt. (Actually, she is leaning just a tiny bit.)