Artist Profile: Virginia Spiegel

Virginia A. Spiegel
Byron, Illinois

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/

1. What is sitting on the edges of your work table? A box of metal paper
fasteners, a cone of blue thread, three pair of scissors, a box cutter, a
pattern (perhaps the only one I have ever made) cut from butcher paper, a
multi-part WIP, a bone folder, a purple sharpie, a metal square, a lint
remover. I am only in the studio in the summer when forced by the weather or
need to ship artwork. So I don't bother picking up, but do like to have an
artwork on the go.

2. If someone looked beneath the surface, what could be revealed that we
might not know about you? I'm a terrific foodie: Interested in baking, jam
making, dehydrating, growing my own food, cooking and eating healthy food,
and seeking farmers who grow food responsibly.

3. What occupies the space between your sewing machine and your cutting
table? The two tables abut, but there is currently a studio journal and a
notebook of my current exhibition paperwork laying directly behind my sewing
machine.

4. What is the most exquisite moment in your artistic life? Founding and
raising a quarter of million dollars for the American Cancer Society through
Fiberart For A Cause's wonderful supporters.

5. Do you have daily rituals in your studio? Only during the winter when I
like to start when it is still dark out.  I plug in extra overhead lights
and bask in the warm refuge of my studio.

6. Reflecting on the quilts that you have made, which one stands out to you?
I still have a hard time believing that I actually created "Moose Bay."  It
is such a large, unusual (metal paper fasteners in lieu of stitching), and
evocative artwork. It took a very long time conceptualize and create with
many layers of surface design.

7. What do you have an affinity for in your work? Meaning.

8. What kinds of patterns do you use in your work to create interest and
texture?  I love circles and spirals, and any curved line that evokes water.

9. What personal iconography is identifiable to you exclusively in your
work? Canoe shapes and the "Big Rock."

10. What was your inspiration for the Best of Dinner at Eight? My favorite
campsite on the "Big Rock" in the Boundary Waters.  It's a ritual for my
sister and I to sit on top the rock and survey the water-y world below. I
have been focusing on the Boundary Waters as subject matter for quite some
time as a way to bring awareness of this wilderness area that is under
attack by those who would develop it and exploit its resources.