In the past, I followed a more practical path creating objects for every day use. Although I enjoy the challenge of designing ordinary items, more recently I have been moving in a different direction.

Using symbolic imagery to convey my thoughts, feelings, opinions, or emotions through fiber, I attempt to take the sum of methods learned and use them to create a painting with yarn and fabric.  I am fascinated with taking a traditional process and creating something new and unusual with it. Whenever I learn a new technique, I will first apply it in its expected use, and then make another piece in a non-conventional manner.

I love variegating the colors of the thread, either by ikat, warp painting, or vat dying it with different shades of the same color.  How a material can hold a property in one form, but then be totally repurposed or changed interests me: the transformation of the cloth as it is woven together, watching how individual threads combine to make cloth.  

Or, sculpturally, I enjoy the challenge of taking a flimsy material and giving it form without adding something with structural body, like metal or wood.  I like to take ordinary material, and repurpose it through color and physical manipulation.  Common themes pervade throughout my work: the concept of transformation and metamorphosis, use of bright colors that gradate, and/or the creation of depth or movement within a two dimensional space. 

While exploring the various woven lace techniques, I became intrigued with the line like quality of Spanish lace.  Using hand dyed shades of grey to mimic a pencil, I endeavored to make a weaving reminiscent of a sketch. In order to create the portrait, I combined woven lace with methods usually reserved for tapestry.

While I didn’t gradate the color from top to bottom, as in most of my pieces, I did use the same dye techniques to gradate the weft. There are eight different shades of grey used to form the shape of the figures in the “portrait.” 

When I learned how to create double weave fabric, I used a pick up method to bring threads from the bottom cloth to the top. I used this technique to put imagery into my fabric.  I took a combination of techniques I have acquired over the years and attempted to put them into one wall hanging. I began with hand painting the warp with dye, gradating the colors from cool blues and purples to a bright yellow.  I attempted to create a feeling of depth and movement through the painted warp. I also painted the weft to correspond with the warp, and to make the color more saturated.  I used the painted weft for the top cloth, but muted the bottom cloth colors by weaving with a white weft thread. 

Currently, in my sculptural pieces, I am attempting to transform two-dimensional material into a three dimensional form. I am also striving to take material that is either ordinary and common and repurposing it.  In one piece I used a very synthetic solid colored upholstery fabric, stripped it, and wrapped brightly dyed yarn around it.  In my second piece, I reversed the process and dyed t-shirt material then wrapped it with solid colored yarn similar in color to the upholstery material.