I spend as much time as I can around animals with a camera in hand. When I get back to the studio, I study the expressions and body language I caught with the camera. When a particular animal jumps out at me and has something to say, I will listen and translate for the viewer.
That begins the process of choosing the color, be it natural or expressive, as a starting point. I dive into the extensive collection of fabric that fills the bookcase in my studio. Some of this is commercial fabric, new and old, or fabric that has been hand-dyed or hand-painted. Recently there has been an influx of mono-printed/stamped fabrics I have created to add to the palette.
I know everything is coming together when I have to force myself from the studio for meals or to sleep at night. That devotion is rewarded when viewers become emotionally involved with the piece and tell me stories about the animal. I know I have done my job if they can look into the animal’s eyes and know this is a sentient being.
Resumé
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
Walk on the Wild Side, Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Golden, Colorado, 2021
Animals with Attitude 2019, CSU Veterinary Hospital, Fort Collins, Colorado, 2019
Animals with Attitude 2017, CSU Veterinary Hospital, Fort Collins, Colorado, 2017
Animals with Attitude 2016, CSU Veterinary Hospital, Fort Collins, Colorado, 2016
A Shortgrass Revival: A Solo Show, Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, Commerce City, Colorado, 2015
Animals with Attitude, Bas Bleu Theater, Fort. Collins, Colorado, 2015
Colorful Creatures, NCAR, Boulder, 2013
JURIED EXHIBITIONS:
2020
Portfolio 2020 – Best of 2019, Front Range Contemporary Quilters Online Exhibit
2019
FACE of Fiber in the Rockies, Estes Park Art Center, Estes Park, Colorado
2015
Wild Fabrications, SAQA traveling exhibit opening at IQF Houston
Labor Day Juried Art Exhibition, Boulder Art Association, Hyatt Place, Boulder, Colorado,
Salon des Refuses, Lincoln Gallery, Loveland, Colorado
Pieced Together, First Congregational Church, Boulder, Colorado
Fiber Celebration 2015, Tointon Gallery, Greeley, Colorado
“CREATION” Health, Rocky Mountain Adventist Healthcare Foundation
2014
Portfolio 2015 – Best of 2014, Front Range Contemporary Quilters Online Exhibit
It’s Raining Cats and Dogs, IQF traveling exhibit opening at IQF Houston
Evolutions: Juried Quilt Challenge, Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Golden, Colorado
Small Vision, Big Voice 2014, Tactile Textile Arts Center, Denver, Colorado
Denver National Quilt Festival, Denver, Colorado
Celebrating 25 Years: Front Range Contemporary Quilters, Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder, Colorado
2013
It’s Raining Cats and Dogs, IQF traveling exhibit opened at IQF Houston
Small Vision, Big Voice 2013, Tactile Textile Arts Center, Denver, Colorado
Deux, SAQA traveling exhibit opened at IQF Chicago
Denver National Quilt Festival, Denver
Fiber Celebration 2013, Loveland Museum, Loveland, Colorado,
2012
BIG, Red Rocks Community College, Longmont, Colorado, July 5 – August 9, 2012
Fiber Celebration 2012, Longmont Museum, Longmont, Colorado, March 10 – April 29, 2012
WOW Show, CORE New Art Space, Denver, Colorado, March 8 – 28, 2012
2011
Muses: Life’s Inspirations, Durango Arts Center, Durango
Frontiers: Colorado Inspirations and the Innovative Fiber Art of FRCQ, Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Golden, Colorado,
Colors of Life: The Fiber Art of the Front Range Contemporary Quilters, Carnegie Arts Center, Alliance, Nebraska,
AWARDS:
Award of Merit, FACE of Fiber in the Rockies, Estes Park Art Center, Estes Park, Colorado
People’s Choice, Fiber Celebration 2015, Tointon Gallery, Greeley, Colorado
1st Place, It’s Raining Cats and Dogs, International Quilt Festival, Houston
3rd Place, Evolutions, Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Golden, Colorado
2nd Place, Wall Quilt, Denver National Quilt Festival VIII, Denver, Colorado
SDA Award of Excellence, Fiber Celebration 2013, Loveland Museum, Loveland, Colorado
Juror’s Choice, Fiber Celebration 2012, Longmont Museum, Longmont, Colorado
3rd Place, Non-functional Two Dimensional, Fiber Celebration 2008, Lincoln Center Galleries, Fort Collins, Colorado
PUBLICATIONS:
Man’s Best Friends, Art Quilting Studio, Winter 2020
The Contemporary Art of Nature: Mammals, E. Ashley Rooney, Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 2014
A Quilted Menagerie, Machine Quilting Unlimited, January/February 2014
Noteworthy, Machine Quilting Unlimited, July/August 2013
It’s My Nature, The Quilt Life, August 2012
Reader’s Quilt Show: Frontiers: Colorado Inspirations, Quilters Newsletter, February/March 2012
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:
Boundless Fiber Artists
Front Range Contemporary Quilters (FRCQ)
NoBo Art District
Open Studios
Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA)