QUILTS

I love quilts. When I made my first quilt in 2003, I started by freewheeling and eyeballing; prescribed measurements are not for me. My Anni Albers inspired quilt (left image below) was cleverly strip pieced and freely sewn using carefully selected bee inspired fabrics, but turned out as bent as a Beckham free kick. Later that same year, I took my first workshop with Nancy Crow and found a kindred spirit in her approach to quilts as a free form of art for the eye.  .

formations

The series of art quilts in Formations explores forms and colors that I find myself coming back to time and again. The color gray in all its manifestations is endlessly fascinating to me and a rectangle morphed through perspective is my go-to shape. When others see the geometric Dutch weather and landscape in these obsessions, I have to agree: you can take the girl out of Holland, but you can't take Holland out of the girl. 

INTERACTIONS

Collaborating to make a one-of-a-kind quilt is a different type of exploration that I thoroughly enjoy. It challenges my preferences and forces me to work with a different set of parameters. Finding common ground is a great way to connect and engage in making art whether functional, decorative or expressive. 

early work

Like many who take up quilting, I found my voice by feeling around the perimeters of the traditional, the modern/fresh, and the art quilt world.
From strip-piecing to exploring the log cabin motif to trying Shibori dyeing, my early work still makes me smile by reminding me of the many hours of pure joy, play, discovery, and yes, also, tears and frustration, while honing my skills.