Artist Profile: Linda Anderson

Linda Anderson
La Mesa,CA
www.laartquilts.com

1. Did the change in dimensions present any specific challenges for you?  Or if this is your first time with us, how did you like the size?  I loved the size.  I usually work at least this big or larger so this was very comfortable for me.

2. Describe your design area, specifically your work table:  what is the best thing about it? I work in a very small space.  My work table is 4 ft by 6 ft,, including the 18” sit down medium arm machine.  I have about 1 foot of space on one side of the table and 3 feet on the other two sides.  The other side is against a wall window.  That’s it!  Did I say small space?  I do almost everything in this space.  A place for everything, and everything in its place.  That comes from living on a boat for 3 years. 

3. What set this quilt apart from other recent projects you have been working on? Ah-h-h-h.  I got to take a special connection in myself and make it visual and tangible.  And working out the imagery to do that was exciting.

4. When you get “stuck” how do you deal with a “design block”?  How do you overcome it? I always draw out my quilts beforehand using colored pencils to create it exactly as it want it to look when finished.  This is when I will draw and redraw until I have it right.  It could take a week of working daily, just on this part of it.

5. Do you work on single or multiple projects at the same time?  I only work on one project at a time.  My brain is so wrapped up in that project and imagery and the challenges inherent in it, it’s all I can do to just focus on that one piece. 

6. What do you hope people take away from your work? Intrigue, wonder, a sense of beauty, a glimpse of a story, an image that stays in their mind.

7. What are the best parts of working on an art quilt:  What are your least favorite parts? I don’t know if I love the painting or the sewing more on my art quilts.  They are both so integral to the finished piece, they’re inseparable in the outcome.  I’m not sure I have a least favorite, but perhaps it’s weaving in my threads on the back to hide them invisibly.  But then a jazz station is good to work from then.

8. What art/quilt-related organizations do you belong to? I belong to California Fibers, SAQA, Quilts on the Wall, and Beyond the Edge Fiber Artists.

9. Do you have a preferred color palette?  Why?  Probably complementary colors such as violets and golds, and blues and oranges, all done from darks to lights within each spectrum.  Complementary colors just sing in their own special way.  I make sure I have all the value scales within each color.  There’s a richness in strong contrasts of values when also juxtaposed with subtleties.  . 

10. What do you regard as your most interesting milestones along your art journey?  Being part of Invitationals in museums and galleries around the US has been mind blowing to me. Winning my first few competitions stunned me.  Working in solitary day in and day out, I never know how others will react to my work.  I just know I have to do it.  So when I get recognition, I have to pinch myself.  To me, I’m doing the only thing I know to do: create.  And that others appreciate it is icing on the cake.