Announcement    My introduction to fiber art came at age 10 when my mother and grandmother took me to our local yarn shop to pick out my first knitting project. Little did I know that I would be turning this skill into a lifetime passion of working with fiber. When I walked into that little yarn shop stacked with wool, my eyes were like saucers taking in the bright and warm colors and textures. All of the women in my family were knitters. I can still hear the clicking of needles and the conversation about day to day events whenever I walk into a yarn shop or begin a new project.
I was 16 when I made my first garment, a knitted dress made with pink chucky merino wool on size 32 needles. It was the 1960’s, a time of diverse trends that broke fashion tradition and influenced my garment making. This influence can be seen today in the playful way I combine wool , silk and other fibers to create nuno felted fabric. Nuno is a Japanese term meaning cloth. I use silk as my base cloth and add merino wool, silk roving, strips of fabric, yarn and ribbon to create texture and pucker to the fabric that I use to make clothing and accessories.
Since moving to Ashland in 2004, my work has been inspired by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Elizabethan costumes, a walk in the woods to forage for mushrooms, a stroll through Lithia Park and the view from my deck of the majestic Cascade and Siskiyou Mountains.
I have a my dye studio at the Fiber Arts Collective, 37 N Third Street, Ashland, Oregon where I teach and create. Working with textiles takes me back to a time in my childhood when I was part of a circle, belonging and loved.