Is it Worthy?
It took me a lifetime to allow myself the “luxury” of making art purely for pleasure, rather than feeling like everything I do has to have “worth.” What is “worth” anyway? As defined by The American Heritage Dictionary, it is “the quality that renders something desirable, useful or valuable” and “material or market value.” That’s what I grew up believing, so after high school and taking community college art classes, I chose the career paths of fashion and graphic design, rather than living the Bohemian life and attending the art institute I coveted. I knew I could make a living as an artist that way.
PHOTO CAPTION: My first art show, circa 1972. I actually won a student award in this show!
After employment as a display artist in department stores, a layout artist in newspapers, and graphic artist in my own business, the tactile sensations of working with cloth enticed me. I made soft-sculpture art dolls, learned how to dye and manipulate fabric, and taught myself art-quilting. But I still felt it all had to have WORTH and be marketable. I got involved with local galleries where I could sell my wares and justify this path. But my work felt, and looked, predictable and often not very exciting, at least in my eyes. I wasn’t really happy and now I’m too old to be unhappy in my work.
PHOTO CAPTION: Little fabric journals for sale…but they didn’t sell too well.
So just a few years ago, by doing some serious soul-searching, tapping into my “inner child” and taking intensive classes from renowned instructors, I have been able to meld my personal graphic style with a plethora of techniques and processes, and finally feel I have found my voice. My works are taking a welcomed turn to the graphic and abstract rather than obvious or representational, and I love what is emerging from my creativity.
PHOTO CAPTION: Our Happy Place, my largest art quilt to date. Many surface design techniques used in this piece, including dyeing, silk screening, painting, piecing and stitching.