Why have you chosen to be “one stray pin”?

I call myself One Stray Pin partly because I don’t feel like I fit in with traditional quilt textile groups. I consider myself an artist first, and my medium is fabric. And isn’t that one stray pin that you lost in the couch, isn’t it the one to beware of? 

Who are you, really?

In a world where everyone seems to want to be the same, I want to stand out. I strive to learn something new then make it my own. When I was young I learned to make my own clothes, because I saw that as a way to express my unique sense of style. If I could make it, then it was original. I embroidered on my jean jacket and I sewed swim and skating badges to display proudly, I wanted my jacket to say something about me. When it comes to textile art, it’s been a journey to find my own techniques and style and what I want to say with my art. My latest exploration in dye printing and Incorporating these unique fabrics to in my art means that each piece I make is one-of-a-kind. I don’t like to make things over and over again, I prefer to make enough to explore, understand and enjoy the process, then switch it up and evolve that idea into something new and sew on. 

Why do you do what you do?

It’s my insatiable desire to make. I enjoy the process of making one-of-a-kind marks on fabric and turning that into unique one of a kind artwork and products. I love to pass along my creative joy by teaching and inspiring others to find their one-of-a-kind style. I am driven by making yet another unique piece of fabric and the possibilities of what I can do with it. 

Who are you trying to reach?

Like most artists, I want to get my work out there and have it seen. It is my hope that I reach like minded creative types who are searching to build on their own skills, ones that are curious about my processes and the journey I take to make and create. I have built up a lot of different skills, after a long career in Graphic Design. My hope is that my textile art is seen with the added value of being an established artist.

How do you want students in your workshops to feel?

When I’m teaching my workshops, I like to emphasize creativity and originality. Students can learn many techniques and take their learnings in their own directions, my hope is that they absorb and believe that what they do is original and valuable to them, see and accept the artist they are today, and to love what they make in hopes to get better with practice. 

Why do you enjoy being a continual student?

I love discovering and learning new skills and applying them to what I do. I have always felt like I am constantly learning and evolving as an artist. I feel like I am open to possibilities and challenge myself with the “what if I do this?” I prefer to stay constantly curious, that is when I make the most growth as an artist. I search for that magic moment when creating explosively and the pure excitement I get from that. 

What kind of art and creativity makes you feel limitless or boundless?

When I was a young girl I learned to knit, crochet and embroider from my grandmother and mother. I loved home EC in jr high and started to sew on my mom’s sewing machine making stuffed animals and clothes. After high school I went to art college and learned how to be a graphic designer and illustrator. My sister and I designed our first quilt together for my grandmother to embroider. I love looking at that quilt now and that memory of where it kind of started for me and textiles.

What creative experiences led you here?

In 2005 I put my graphic design career on hold for health reasons, it was during that time I learned more about the craft of quilting. It didn't take me long to connect and apply my graphic design skills to art quilting. I learned to make collage quilts and soon had a few commissions. There was a period of time when I learned many quilt techniques from well known art quilters, I was happy to be somewhat fearless when it came to the artistic part. When my daughters were young I would make birthday presents of little quilted bags for their friends and teachers at school as gifts. I practiced my free-motion quilting skills on them, and often these now grown friends of my daughter’s say, “I am still using the quilted bag you made me when I turned 14.” I’ve made Tip to Tail Tie Totes, an origami style zipper pouch made from thrift store silk ties. When I went to an artistic textile camp for a week with other amazing creative women, I learned to dye fabric, that experience inspired me towards years of experimenting with dye, thickened dye, indigo dye, snow dyeing, and art quilting. In the past 5 years dye printing, mono printing with thickened dyes using silkscreens. My artistic styles include, traditional quilting, collage, paper piecing, and more recently abstract designs. 

I enjoy a sketchbook practice, not always daily, but often find myself urban sketching buildings. I am fascinated by old scruffy back alley’s and antique finds with a historic significance. I like to make fabric prints of these otherwise hard objects to fabric. I have been exploring the hard to soft surfaces and have made full art quilts with printed license plates, shirts, bags, silk scarves and other textiles with dye. 

I like to apply these textile printing skills to clothing designs. 

I tend to use humour in my work and enjoy having some sort of surprise to find. I have many of those things in my art piece Dying to Eat. Can you see where?