[I was] notified by e-mail that I was chosen – this was my reaction: First there was a smile, swiftly followed by a scream of excitement! Needless to say I was and am thrilled!

Truthfully a visceral girl at heart ... my creative process is obtained through intuition rather than from reasoning or observation. I am completely intoxicated with color and texture. I am strongly influenced by fashion in both my jewelry and fabric art. In addition to that the written words found in poetry and vintage books combined with the graphic nature of its text has strong inspiration to me. As a result countless creative ideas have arrived from glancing through my beloved collection of antique books.

I cannot think of a time in my life that I did not create something. I was the young girl always working on some kind of a project. I spent most of my days outdoors. I loved to dig into the earth, sow seeds and watch things grow! In addition to that I treasured my rug hooking and leather tooling kits! Alongside that was needlepoint and cross-stitch. In early adulthood my passion moved on to creating jewelry. Arts and crafts it seems have always been a part of my life. At this moment I find great comfort in knowing that I have truly became the sum of all my parts and currently take pleasure in combining my collective skills into my fabric art.

Fibers, threads and cloth

Coming from a strong jewelry background I was used to working with hard durable elements. I wanted to somehow bring a softer edge to my jewelry; thus I started to combine fibers and silk ribbons in my metalwork. Soon after I started spending time in yarn and fabric shops looking for additional elements to add to my jewelry. Immanently I became captivated by the colors and textures. I was fascinated by how pliable yet durable the fibers and clothes are. In addition to how many different ways textiles can be manipulated. Once I discovered the world of fabrics my artistic path of a fiber artist was set into motion!

If you have the desire to see your work in print then go for it! Take that leap of faith in your self and your art. Send it off to the world of publications and take the chance that it will be well received. However if for some reason your work is not chosen do not let this define you or your art. Further more do not look at it as a failure. The creative path is firstly a personal thing. Moreover, if it makes you joyful then keep following your heart no matter what!

Currently I am writing a book about fabric art in which I will be sharing my fabric altering methods and tips that I have developed, combined with 20 mixed-media sewn projects. (To be published by F&W publications around September of 2009.) Furthermore, I am working on designing a rubber stamp line, whilst in the dream stage of creating a fabric line.

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart.” ~Helen Keller