My artistic spirit developed early in life and was nurtured by the talented women living in the small towns of Eastern Canada in which I was raised. I first learned the skill of cross stitch from my mother, and was then taught other embroidery techniques from the local women who loved them. Lessons in other needle crafts and sewing followed, all giving me the foundation on which to stitch my creative future.
Though awe inspired by the closeness and friendships in these groups of stitching women, I soon became uninterested in constantly repeating the same techniques. Unmoved to work from the same patterns and create the same designs that all the other women had completed, I stopped stitching and moved on to other endeavors. I explored pottery, ceramics, painting, and beadwork. These activities gave me the sense of original creativity that I was seeking, but didn’t give me the same pleasure as working with needle and thread.
Years later, and entirely by chance, I stumbled upon a group women making “fiber art”. It was here I learned that all the techniques I knew could be combined without the restriction of patterns and rules to follow. That first meeting set my artistic self free.
No longer feeling confined by a set of rules, my pieces often combine cloth, clay and stitch. I am inspired by structural form, in both its 2 and 3 dimensional aspects. Furthermore, I am intrigued by the way subtle differences in texture and colour lend themselves to the overall feel of an item. Attention to small and sometimes unnoticeable detail is important in overall design. Hand embroidery is the technique most dear to my heart- I feel each carefully shaped and placed stitch imparts the sense of personal reflection that I strive for each work to portray. With the belief that machine stitching doesn’t give the same personal feel to my art, most finished pieces bare many hours of hand stitching and embroidery.
Many of my designs were inspired by the legends and lore of the places I have lived in or travelled to, as well as by aspects of the people who have influenced my life. I create for my personal satisfaction, but hope each piece of art will resound with something in the viewer’s soul as well.
