Quilting started as my hobby, but has turned into a
passion and a business. I teach quilting classes at
local quilt shops, and have published patterns for
my original quilt designs. They are carried by
pattern distributor Eagle Pattern Depot, as well
as Moda/United Notions, Keepsake Quilting and
Clotilde catalogs, and FatQuarterShop.com.
I love traditional hand quilting and needleturn
appliqué, but have embraced innovative machine techniques. I started making “art quilts” — works
of art executed in fabrics and fibers — in 2005. My
quilts have won national as well as local awards, and have
been exhibited at national and international venues.
Through Black Cat Graphics, my graphic design
and communications business, I have been designing
logos, corporate identity systems, newsletters,
magazines, annual reports and brochures since 1989.
I am an experienced writer, and have worked in
corporate communications and also as a page
designer for The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
and The Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.). Many clients
of Black Cat Graphics come to me because of my combination of skills in both the verbal and the visual.
I grew up in Mt. Lebanon, Pa., a suburb of Pittsburgh,
and earned my B.A. in English at Allegheny College (Meadville, Pa.) and my M.A. in journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I now
live near Charlotte, N.C., with my husband, Rob,
and two daughters.
Artist’s Statement
Creating fiber art is my consuming passion. I am an artist who works in fabric and thread. I find great joy in creating works that draw people closer and invite them to savor color and texture. All my art is a deep expression of my values and a succinct statement about my hopes for and concerns about our world.
Each piece is an emotional catharsis, and begins when
I am filled with a strong emotion: awe at the beauty of nature, joy in nursing a baby, anger at an injustice.
Art is my way of celebrating and documenting the deep mysteries of human beings’ relationships with each other, with our innate creativity, and with the natural world. Much of my work explores metamorphosis and transformation.
Creating fiber art is an intense tactile experience.
My core materials — cloth and thread — are the result
of my background as a traditional quilter. But I also use substances foreign to traditional quilters, such as fabric paints and dyes, Tyvek, Angelina fibers, and water-soluble wax pastels, to transform the cloth.