Yvonne Porcella - Modesto, CA

1. How do you describe yourself? artist, author, teacher, lecturer, advocate for art quilting, founder of SAQA, board member for non-profit quilt organizations, quilt museum advocate, wonderful person, cancer survivor, grateful, very active in my spiritual life.

2. What is your creative process? I just go for it in most quilt designs. I have also done small sketches and enlarged those to size for my quilts made with applique over a full size cartoon.

3. What's your style? I only made one whole cloth quilt, my first attempts at a baby quilt gift. I have done all styles of quiltmaking except traditional or classic. Only quilt made for a bed was a commission for Jim Henson, all my quilts are made for the wall.

4. How long have you been a quilt maker/fiber artist? Do I have to tell you how long?
My work was published in many books and magazines probably before you were born.

5. Do you listen to music when you make art? I like silence. If I had to listen to music it would be classical and opera.

6. What do you do when you are blocked creatively? Make something, anything!

7. Do you teach? Yes. What’s your favorite part about teaching? I love meeting students, showing the path to making their own work. I also like to lecture on many subjects, wearable art, history of art quilts, personal journey.

8. Are there artistic endeavors that you have yet to do? Oh yea, I know there are more quilts in my future, just can't wait until they appear. I was an oil painter in the past, if I had to pick an area of improvement it probably would be in improving drawing skills and mastering photoshop.

9. How do you balance your family life and art? They balance me. When I first started making fiber art, I used each interruption by family or life as an opportunity to re-evaluate the
work when I had the chance to return to my work space. When my children were old enough to enjoy a trip with me they were invited to see that Mom was indeed working while away from home.

10. What is the best part about what you do? The only thing I don't like to do is paperwork. Traveling and meeting people is the best part, making new friends is a gift.

Gerrie Congdon - Portland, OR

1. How do you describe yourself? An energetic, red headed fiber artist and wife, mom and grandma who loves her life and feels blessed to have found this creative outlet post retirement.

2. What is your creative process? I usually get a visual in my mind. Perhaps I see something that sparks my imagination. Sometimes, it is a word that I want to translate. I create my own fabric with dye, paint and discharge. Sometimes, I create the cloth for a specific piece and sometimes the cloth dictates the art. Because I do not want to cut into the fabric until I know a design will work, I often print photos of the fabric and cut it up to work out the design. Sometimes I do a sketch.

3. What's your style? I definitely love to work abstract. However, as I said before, surface design of cloth is an integral part of my work.

4. How long have you been a quilt maker/fiber artist? Then I retired in 1999, I discovered Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson. The first show that I watched was with Katy Pasquini Masopaust. I was in awe of what she did with fabric. I got hooked. I started with a few traditional quilts, but I quickly moved on to art quilts. I formed an art quilt group in Santa Rosa, CA where I lived at the time and we called ourselves The Pointless Sisters.

5. Do you listen to music when you make art? For some reason, I work better with the tv on in the background. I don't really pay too much attention, but the noise of people talking seems to stimulate my right brain.

6. What do you do when you are blocked creatively? I make small art quilts out of scraps. I really love doing this. I also look at art, not art quilts, to see how painters and sculptors and mixed media artists express themselves in their work.

7. Do you teach? No, I have been asked to teach, but at my age, I do not want to give up time that can be spent in my studio.

8. Are there artistic endeavors that you have yet to do? I would really like to have my work juried into one of the BIG shows, like Quilt National, Visions or Art Quilt Elements. A girl can dream!!

9. How do you balance your family life and art? I am so blessed to have a very supportive partner in my husband, Steve. We are both retired. He knows that I hate house work. I love to cook and make art. He does every thing else. I love making time in my schedule to spend with my grandchildren. We moved to Portland so that we can be a part of their lives.

10. What is the best part about what you do? Being in the zone and having the cloth and the ideas flow. The satisfaction of looking at a piece of art that I have created and knowing that it is successful. The incredible group of friends that I have gathered who share my passion and support and sustain me.

Gerrie Congdon in Portland, OR

Visit my blog at http://www.gericondesigns.com/weblog/

Paula Chung - Zepher Cove, NV

1. How do you describe yourself? I'm a young person in an older body. I feel there is so much to learn, especially in the art world, and so little time. I am basically an obsessive person, concentrating on a few things too much, or accumulating items, as silks, dyes and paints. I take things way too seriously, but enjoy the sense of relief when I can step away. I admire those that live life easily or well. I tend to make things harder and make living a more difficult process.

2. What is your creative process? I study nature, it's form, color, line. I photograph subjects that I find interesting or have a message, then work directly on that photograph to create my designs.

3. What's your style? I do abstract and pictorial appliqued pieces.

4. How long have you been a quilt maker/fiber artist? I have been using the present process for about 5 years, but have been an art quilter for about 8 years. I had started traditional quilting in the 1970s, but lost interest in it shortly after that.

5. Do you listen to music when you make art? what kind? I listen to classical music or jazz.

6. What do you do when you are blocked creatively? When I'm blocked, I go back to nature and study. Sometimes, I take a detour, studying new artists or learning new techniques, then try to use that knowledge and skill to another project.

7. Do you teach? No.

8. Are there artistic endeavors that you have yet to do? Always. One goal I have is to meld my study of painting with my fiber art. The painting experience does inform my art, especially in the use of color, but I'd like to see the two be incorporated somehow.

9. How do you balance your family life and art? Since we have no children, balancing my family life is easier than for most artists. My husband and I are retired, pursuing our passions. I do tend to be obsessive and work very long hours and that does create some tension. My husband has grown to understand that part of my personality. But I tend to lose track of time, or try to squeeze in too much in too little time, and I'm learning to monitor that better.

10. What is the best part about what you do? The best part of creating art is the planning--that big moment when you have an inspiration. Then the process of making that inspiration into something tangible. As humans, we are always trying to escape. When we're creating, we get lost in the moment, where nothing else exists. The creating is what all artists live for, to be in that timeless euphoria.

visit Paula's website in the right column

Terry Waldron - Anaheim, CA

1. How do you describe yourself? I'm an amazingly lucky person who has loved every single day of my professional careers, first teaching secondary English and art in public school, and, after retirement, being a full-time professional artist. I guess it's "the luck of the Irish!"

2. What is your creative process? planning, drawing, notes, etc. My creative process is all internal. I don't draw or make a plan that anyone else can see. I'm ready to go when I see it inside my head. I freely cut the fabrics impromptu. The fabrics seem to choose themselves. I guess that's the value of having much too much cloth in my studio!

3. What's your style? I'm a pictorial artist, but my pictures are the way I see the world, not necessarily the way the world really looks. Many times, my work is the way I WISH the world was...

4. How long have you been a quilt maker/fiber artist? I started making fiber art in 1994, so it's been 16 years now.

5. Do you listen to music when you make art? what kind? Jazz has always been my music since high school, but my best work is done when there is a Cary Grant or an Audrey Hepburn movie on TCM television. It puts me "in the zone!"

6. What do you do when you are blocked creatively? I don't get blocked! I actually have so many ideas that carving out enough time to do each piece as carefully as I like to do my work has been my problem.

7. Do you teach? What's your favorite part about teaching? When I was 4 1/2 years old I decided I wanted to be a teacher, and it happened! Now that I've retired from teaching school, I am as busy as ever showing my work and teaching my art techniques at guilds and conferences all over the country. Again, how lucky can I be!

8. Are there artistic endeavors that you have yet to do? Oh so many... But every day, it seems, there are wonderful opportunities coming my way, sometimes very small ones and occasionally big ones. It started when I sold 2 pieces to the new St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica where my brother was born so many years ago. Who would have thought that would happen? I will tell you about my other secret ambitions if and when they come true!

9. How do you balance your family life and art? If you know how to do that, PULEEZ tell me how it can possibly be done! Everyday one or the other has to be sacrificed to some degree.

10. What is the best part about what you do? For me the best part is the people that I get to meet on this journey. When I teach and see people find out that they are much more talented and able than they ever thought, that makes me glow. But that glow is simply the reflection from THEIR faces.

visit Terry's website in the right column under BTS Artists

Jane LaFazio - San Diego, CA

1. How do you describe yourself? Medium tall. Oh, and an artist who works in paper and cloth.

2. What is your creative process? planning, drawing, notes, etc. Just start making, working intuitively, then assemble smaller pieces into a large piece.

3. What's your style? Abstract, pictorial, surface design, whole cloth, etc. Given those choices I guess surface design.

4. How long have you been a quilt maker/fiber artist? About 7 years (I’ve been a full time artist for 12 years)

5. Do you listen to music when you make art? what kind? No. TV’s on.

6. What do you do when you are blocked creatively? That just doesn’t seem to happen. I have a zillion ideas and directions I’d like to try.

7. Do you teach? What's your favorite part about teaching? Yes, I teach a lot. I love hearing the students share their work and processes with the others, and the support and feedback in a class setting.

8. Are there artistic endeavors that you have yet to do? I just wove my first scarf (in a workshop), so I can check that off the list. I’d like to do more felting.

9. How do you balance your family life and art? I have a very supportive husband and a not so clean house.

10. What is the best part about what you do? Makin’ art!!! I love love love the creative process and making things.

visit Jane's website and blog - right column

Wen Redmond - Strafford, NH

1. How do you describe yourself?My logo is ‘Contemporary Art in Fiber- An unusual use of fiber combines painting and digital media into a one of a kind art piece’. I consider myself a mixed media artist. Jason Pollen recently said “We are artists, you don’t need to say fiber artist- artist will do nicely’. My general artist statement is “Making art is like a meditation. I put that energy into my creations. Later, viewing a piece, revisit that feeling; like reading a poem or familiar story. It brings you back.”

2. What is your creative process? planning, drawing, notes, etc. I am a process person. My process is fed by my love of being outdoors. I’m passionate about coming up with ideas and working out the kinks. It speaks to me. Part of that process is photography. I can see the most exquisite scenes or combinations of patterns and want to share that beauty. My art represents these moments. They are what lie beneath. I bring them back to share, to remember, to remind. These moments become my source, my well. This is when inspiration strikes, allowing thoughts percolate up from the unconscious and become my art, or poetry or prayers.

3. What's your style? Abstract, pictorial, surface design, whole cloth, etc. I do all of these. My main works are digital, collage, and surface design; sometimes works will feature one of these styles but often they blend together.

4. How long have you been a quilt maker/fiber artist? I took to fiber in High School- making my own clothes and prom dresses, graduating with a BS in Home Economics from collage. I started the artistic part of my fiber-oriented career with batik soft sculpture in the late 1970’s. When I moved to NH and joined a quilt guild I mastered hand piecing, and quilting, slowing processing back into doing whatever I chose to do. I embrace the pioneering fiber art movement of today.

5. Do you listen to music when you make art? what kind? Music comes and goes. Sometimes, I need it to provide distraction from outside sounds, other times I need the meditative, joyous, blues, even rock music to bring in certain flow. It all depends on my state of mind and where I am in the creative process. Often I work in complete silence because my inner muse is whispering.

6. What do you do when you are blocked creatively? I haven’t been blocked in years, especially now- I almost feel like I’m bent over backwards on top of a rocket, watching the inspirations wash over me as I fly skyward. However, that is not to say I haven’t been blocked. I find that is time to step back and feed the soul by walking on a beach, in the woods or sitting by a lake; or taking myself to museums or galleries. I journal; I make hand bound books where drawings are kept, inspirational quotes and clippings. I can be inspired by a well put phrase or poem in addition to the visual.

7. Do you teach? What's your favorite part about teaching? I have taught for at least 20 years at a very easy pace. I kept this slow allowing plenty of studio time. I have ‘put myself out there’ this year and will do so for a while until I need to retreat. I love interacting with fellow fiber fellows. The energy is greater than the whole and I always learn from my students.

Current Workshops

Holographic Memories Fabric * Transformations Workshop Series; Fab Fabric Painting Techniques, Stupendous Fabric Stamping, Irresistible! Resists and Masks, Make your Mark! Mono Printing, Gelatin Printing, Easy Image Transfer, Journal Creations, The Thermal Facts, Digging into Digital Fabric Printing, Mixed Media Collage Workshop, Piecing in the Flow, an intuitive curved piecing technique, Petite Collage "Inspiration=Art Pieces

8. Are there artistic endeavors that you have yet to do? Yes, I am by no means without plans. This is such a vibrant green growing thing.

9. How do you balance your family life and art? That is a challenge that many female artists face. I chose to have a family and for many years worked in bits and pieces snatching time here and there. After the children left home, I had a difficult time adjusting to longer working hours. Now I can work and not know the passage of time. This is a gift I honor.

10. What is the best part about what you do? I love what I do! I love the processes, the places I go when I see color or get inspirations, and the connections with artists. Artists tend to be a little left of center. They see more, feel deeply; they are kindred spirits on so many levels. I must do my art.“

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” Thomas Merton

visit Wen's website and blog in the right column

Beneath the Surface - Artists

We are going to highlight every artist that is in Beneath the Surface on this blog - with ten (10) questions that we feel people would want to know about them.

Top 10 Questions
1. How do you describe yourself?
2. What is your creative process? planning, drawing, notes, etc.
3. What's your style? Abstract, pictorial, surface design, whole cloth, etc.
4. How long have you been a quilt maker/fiber artist?
5. Do you listen to music when you make art? what kind?
6. What do you do when you are blocked creatively?
7. Do you teach? What's your favorite part about teaching?
8. Are there artistic endeavors that you have yet to do?
9. How do you balance your family life and art?
10. What is the best part about what you do?