My quilting activities are a mixture of discovery and elation. I have been an artist for most of my life (my parents gave me a set of oil paints in 3rd grade). I have painted and crafted for over 50 years, mostly in my home raising 4 sons and working in retail and administration. I returned to school at the age of 46, earning a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin and a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the California Institute of the Arts in 2001. I began quilting in 2016 when I retired from my Administrative position at the University of Texas at Austin. I was searching for a new creative endeavor and happened on “modern” quilts when I was googling for a new bedcovering. The works of Nancy Crow and Gwen Marsden caught my attention and I wanted to make what they were making. No one in my family quilted or did any kind of handwork so quilting was not something I was familiar with. I took a beginning piecework class at a local quilt store and was hooked. I love making “functional” art. I consider my quilts paintings using fabric as my medium. Currently I am working in my studio, teaching Zoom workshops and presenting Zoom lectures/trunk shows, and travelling all over the world teaching in-person workshops. I’ve even a book on my signature style of improvisational quilting, Dancing With The Wall.
My work has been exhibited throughout the United States and is included in private and museum collections. In 2019, I received the Emerging Artist Award at Quilt National, 2nd place finishes at QuiltCon 2019 in the Improv category and in the 2-Color Challenge Category. I was awarded the first place award in the Improv category at QuiltCon 2020 and a third place at QuiltCon 2023. In 2021, I was awarded a Juror’s Choice Award at the Quilts=Art=Quilts Exhibition at the Schweinfurth Arts Center and the “In The Abstract” award in Visions Museum’s Quilt Visions 2021. To add icing to the cake, I have been chosen as a juror for Quilt National 2023. Most recently, I received “Best of Show” for the Q=A=Q Exhibition, Schweinfurth Arts Center and the Japan Prize at Visions Museum’s Quilt Interpretations 2022.
