cre-ate - verb - to bring something into existence, to cause something to happen as a result of one’s actions.
Creating is like breathing to me. The process of creating feeds my soul. I don’t know if creating is something that is hereditary; my maternal grandmother was a painter and made beautiful needlepoint pieces; my paternal grandmother loved to embroider and sew; my paternal grandfather worked with stone; my father was an industrial designer and woodturner and my mother is a photographer. Creating is in my DNA, I am sure of it. My journey into creating began in a ceramic studio and a weaving studio designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and continued years later at a local community college. I have never questioned why I am drawn to creating with my hands and am inspired by my travels, my community and my everyday life.
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Eco-printed Scarves
Inspired by the flora of the natural world and my life long love of textiles and fabric, I ventured into the natural dyeing technique of eco-printing with eucalyptus and plant species native to my hometown of the Pacific Northwest.
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Wearable Art - Wool Cowls
I began working with wet felting with the desire to make a piece of cloth that I could then eco-dye and print with the same foliage, eucalyptus and maple, that I use to create the layers of color on the scarves that I design and dye.
I fell in love with the process of wet felting and being able to design a felted fabric to print upon. After making several of these felted cowls I was eager to see how the eco-printing would turn out. I knew that with the texture in the cowl, it might be a challenge, but I was up for it.
Well….the eco-printing was stunning, deep oranges and reds, muted greens and browns, this is the magic of using wool with eco-printing. And that’s about all that was successful. As I feared, the texture and the ruffle did not work at all, actually down right bad, and I mean really bad.
I did not let that get in my way of creating this cowl series, I just pivoted to using roving that had already been dyed and knew that this is a process that I will continue to develop.
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Eco-printed Mono Prints
The Mono Print series was inspired by the process of eco-printing on a larger scale that would feature the magic that happens when flora meets textile.
