I make art quilts, collages and mixed media constructions, all of them incorporating not only
multiple layers of materials but also designed to convey many layers of meaning. Quilts are not
just fabric, collages are not just paper, and mixed media pieces may include anything that can be
glued or nailed together.
When I began making quilts I was most interested in exploring the dynamics of color and
composition, but later I began to see possibilities for presenting a wide range of ideas in fabric.
Now I include pictures, paint, writing, tattered cloth and lots of embellishments to create quilts
that are meant to look as if they had spent a lifetime in someone’s dusty attic.
Collage and mixed media are also made from layers of materials to express a variety of concepts.
I use papers of all kinds, photos and other printed images, natural materials like sticks, stones
and leaves, and a variety of found objects, often rusty and worn, when I create these pieces.
We are often told that we should think “outside the box,” but I have a contrary view. I often
choose to focus “inside the box.” A container such as an old drawer or shabby frame provides a
perfect stage for an original character and a surrounding space for carefully selected
accompaniments. While a box may be thought to be confining and circumscribed, it can also
represent safety and security. It will focus attention on the scene that it created within.
In all of my work, whether I’m sewing, gluing or pounding nails, I try to explore issues
concerning women and family, demonstrating, I hope, an ironic, even humorous, approach
toward both historic and contemporary attitudes about appropriate female roles. I strive to make
sure that layers of materials can represent layers of meaning in each work that I create and to
present my ideas in forms that intrigue and ultimately satisfy myself and those who view it.