Drawing on my experience as a watercolorist and photographer, I have fun playing with this very slow and meditative technique of creating an image out of fabric. I describe it as solving a jigsaw puzzle while simultaneously designing the final image and cutting out the pieces at the same time!

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis is a deeply personal exploration of transformation, intertwining the life cycle of a butterfly with my own journey from childhood to adulthood. The quilt features four images of my face at different ages, alongside motifs that symbolize growth and change. Hidden “Easter eggs” throughout the quilt represent the helpers and guiding influences I’ve encountered along the way, offering a tribute to the forces that support us during our most profound transitions. Below, I’ve shared some images of the process along the way.

First I created a collage blending a blue morph butterfly with images of my profile at 1, 8, 32 and current.

I then drew the design onto a 3’ x 4’ piece of muslim fabric.

Each face was worked separately. Above you can see the early stages of cutting out bits of fabric and playing with the arrangement.

My parrot, Gideon, checking out progress.

The first drafts of the faces are complete, but there will be many more iterations.

Starting on the butterfly wings. Compare these early versions of the faces with the finished versions below.  It is hard to know when to stop!

One year old.

Eight years old.

Thirty-two years old.

Current

 

Wisdom of the Horse

Wisdom of the Horse is a fabric collage portrait of Conan, a deeply intuitive horse who lives in the jungle of Costa Rica. Three times he has selected me to work with him during equine-assisted learning programs. Conan and I had a powerful connection when we were working together in Costa Rica that I continued to feel throughout the making this quilt. I was determined to take the quilt back with me to Costa Rica to show it to him. Costa Rica is very rainy and humid so I knew that the quilt needed to be actually quilted in order for it to be safe to travel. That involved pulling an all-nighter the night before I left during which time I taught myself how to machine quilt using scraps and then quilted the thing. The binding was added after I came home.

What I loved about showing the quilt to Conan is how curious he was about it. He clearly knew it was connected to him and to us. Showing him the finished quilt and seeing his reaction was a highlight of my artistic life.