Long before I ever had any sewing skills, I was drawing fashion illustrations, pages of them! When I began to create with fabric, I also began to realize how much there was to learn! I've been on that journey ever since, honing my skills with a BFA in Crafts through Virginia Commonwealth University in 2000 and then working for and with many flavors of business owners and artists. Though I've explored many mediums as an artist, fabric remains my siren call, enticing me with its variety of colors, patterns, textures, fibers, weights, drape. Fabrics have personalities and like people, they don't always play nice. I have spent years getting to know them while following my own creative flights.
As often as possible, I use natural fibers, organic fabrics, vintage goods and found objects. Salvage and recycling both pre-consumer and post-consumer goods are integral to my process. There is an abundance of clothing & fabric out there that is discarded as out of style or beyond repair. Nay, says I, collaging all sorts of scraps, salvaged elements, bits and baubles into a whole. I work them until I find the balance I'm seeking, which means the process of finding, manipulating, and arranging is key, and can take a great deal of time. Then there's the actual build, which frequently involves plenty of hand-stitching or basting. I've never found sewing-or any art, for that matter-to be a quick process!
Because of my penchant for working with salvaged goods, each piece is one-of-a-kind. This suits me fine, because it defies the capitalist mentality of mass production being the goal of making goods, and is a reminder to respect the whole process of designing and making as valuable. I create with the idea that we are not here to corral ourselves to literally and figuratively "fit in", but to appreciate our difference and uniqueness to stand out!