Artist Profile: Susie Monday

Susie Monday

Pipe Creek, TX

www.susiemonday.com

1. Did the change in dimensions present any specific challenges for you?  I LOVED the size. My ideas seem better suited to the square format and even if the square footage is the almost same as the vertical pieces, the scale seemed larger!

2. Describe your design area, specifically your work table:  what is the best thing about it? I work in the studio of my dreams! I have a large design table 9 ft. by 6 ft. that is simply two 8 ft. folding tables, on risers with MDF table tops on them. Depending on the task at hand I have the table covered with brown painters paper, with padded surface for printing or ironing, or a plastic drop cloth for messy work. I work flat, only hanging up the work to see on my wall after it is constructed, so I use my iPad over head to check the design in process. That said, “Agave” was composed on the the space of my iPad screen.

3. What set this quilt apart from other recent projects you have been working on? I committed to using a “realistic” image, altered and composed with my iPad from a photograph. The whole cloth image was printed at Spoonflower, and then collaged, fused and quilted with other fabrics to enhance the composition. I wanted to do this, because I needed an example of this approach for the iPad online workshops I am now teaching.

4. When you get “stuck” how do you deal with a “design block”?  How do you overcome it? I don’t often get stuck. My studio time is precious to me so I always have several projects going. If one isn’t working, I switch to a different piece or a different task. I also always have some kind of drudgery to avoid, so making art seems like the better choice.

5. Do you work on single or multiple projects at the same time? As above, multiple. But often in the same series.

6. What do you hope people take away from your work? A willingness to try new techniques, tools and materials as they explore their own creative strengths. I think I am mostly a “producing” artist because I want to model creativity, improvisation and following one’s innate vision and personal story.

7. What are the best parts of working on an art quilt:  What are your least favorite parts? Favorite: Designing on the fly, collage fusing (improvisationally), finding the story. 

Least Favorite: Finishing, dang sleeves and labels and the paper work of entering exhibits, keeping an inventory and shipping!

8. What art/quilt-related organizations do you belong to? Surface Design Association, Studio Art Quilts Associates, Fiber Artists of San Antonio, Southwest School of Art

9. Do you have a preferred color palette?  Why? I never met a color I didn’t like if it was hanging out in the right company, but most of my work includes clear, saturated hues.

10. What do you regard as your most interesting milestones along your art journey? At 50, I quit my last full time job and committed my creative energies and time to the path of being an artist. While I was wonderfully blessed to have worked at creative, art-filled employment practically since I was 12 years old, I made the leap to working for myself. Moving to the country 12 years ago gave me the studio where my work as an artist and teacher could blossom.  And, I suppose, buying my first iPad turned me onto the possibilities of this as a tool for surface design and textile design.