My job

My job is to observe and to pay attention to feelings that come over me and then translate them into something that can be understood by other people.    

My work's job is to be a pathway for emotion.  It does not need to be identical to my emotion, it can be entirely individual for the person encountering it.  

I remember the moment I became an artist and it was because I had such a strong feeling that I had to  communicate it.  The moment was when I saw my young children playing in the sunshine.  I was overwhelmed by the wonder of watching my children and I painted them.   

I painted my children for about ten years. 

Almost all those paintings sold to people who were not my family.  

I think that it didn't matter who the child was for those people who collected the paintings because the paintings were not specific, they were more about a universal feeling of childhood.

Quilts came into my life early and I continue to make them.  

I like that quilts take a long time to make and seem to hold the lives that whirl around while they are being stitched.  

I like that quilts are used to protect and care for people.

I like that the old patterns tell stories with a secret code.  The strips of cloth in this one look like streaks of lightening.  

The title of the quilt is Thunder and Lightening.  In order to have a good storm you have to have both thunder and lightening, and in order to have a good piece of art, you have to have both art and craft.  

An artist is someone who pays attention and tries to communicate an emotion.  

There are many kinds of artists.

Poets are artists.

Musicians are artists.

Actors are artists.

Painters are artists.

Quilt makers are artists.

I began making quilts when I was twenty years old and I am still making them.

I like that quilts can be abstract. 

I like that quilts can use repetition.  

I like that quilts can look like paintings

I like that quilts can fold up around a body.

I like that they are full of touch.

I studied fine art at university and now have two degrees from two different universities.

I have come to understand the power of moving through art as if you are moving through nature and occasionally I make installations.  The first installation I made is the House with the Golden Windows  shown above.

Sometimes the installations are more about time than space.  

The installation in these photos took three years to make.

I worked the same amount on it every day for three years.

It is called Not to Know But To Go On

My job is to make my work.

My work's job is to awaken other people to their own feelings.  Those feelings inside them, their hopes and dreams and memories as well as the wonder in our beautiful world.  

My job is to show the light.

My work's job is to be the light.