ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a fiber artist and consider myself an adventurer, experimenting with the tactility, richness, flexibility, and intimacy of textiles. I began sewing at my mother’s knee and was raised with an innate love of fabric. Although you can see the sewing and quilting roots in my work, I quickly moved through traditional quilting and on to fiber art, or textiles that removed themselves and their functionality from the bed and struck out with certainty to join art on the wall.
I am inspired by the world I inhabit and my perception of it. I am just as likely to be captured by the shape and pattern of cracks in asphalt as I am by the glory of nature. People do think you are a bit nuts photographing a parking lot on your hands and knees, and maybe they are right. But I carry on, capturing the beauty or whimsy I see and translating it to fabric. I completely lose myself while manipulating fabric by adding color, taking color away, molding it to create shapes, and by adding texture through thread and raw edges. There is a kind of alchemy, a magic, in taking a two dimensional medium and moving it out, away from the wall, in transforming the surface of fabric, in adding stitched texture to enhance the richness or depth of a design, in choosing to not clip strings or adding yet more dangling threads, and in leaving edges raw and letting them—even encouraging them—to ravel.
Cloth is such a personal and intimate thing; it covers us day and night. And maybe because fabric is so comforting and warm against our skin, textile art is the perfect medium to invite, perhaps even compel, a stolen touch. And that, too, is part of the medium’s magic. If I could be granted one art wish, it would be that everyone who sees my work would be allowed to touch it, for I think that intimacy would surely connect us. We as humans are born to touch—the world around us and each other.
My studio is in my home, and I have a dedicated space there to plan, draft, sew and create. My very basic older sewing machines, my eyes, and my hands—these are my main tools as I take a piece of fabric and with color, thread, and shape transform it into my vision.
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Invitational Exhibitions
2002 Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Provo, UT, Invitational: Utah Quilts: “Threads of Tradition and Innovation.”
2002 Utah Arts Council Traveling Exhibit Program, 2-Year Invitational Tour through Utah Venues.
2001 Rio Grande Depot Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT, “Utah Arts Council Artist Grantee Invitational Exhibit.”
1998 San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA, Invitational Exhibit, “Go Figure.” Curator Robin Treen.
Juried Exhibitions
2023 Virginia Quilt Museum, Harrisonburg VA. “No Boundaries.” Juror Dr. Carolyn L. Mazloomi.
2023 Bountiful Davis Art Center, Bountiful, UT, “48th Annual Statewide Competition” (all Utah artists, all mediums). Juror Emily Larsen, Associate Director, Springville Museum of Art.
2023 SAQA California/Nevada Regional collaborative exhibit with California Society of Printmakers, Art Ark, San Jose, CA, “Printed and Stitched.” Touring through 2027. Juror Christine Aaron.
2023 Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Art Museum, La Conner, WA, “6th Annual Birds of a Fiber Exhibit.”
2023 The Covey Center for the Arts, Provo, UT, “Resurfacing 2023” by the Utah Surface Design Group. Juror Martha Klein.
2022 Salt Lake Community College, Salt Lake City, UT, “President’s Art Show 2022” (all Utah artists, all mediums). Juried by President’s Art Show Committee.
2022 Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT, “36th Annual Spiritual and Religious Art of Utah,” (All Utah artists, all mediums). Jurors Dr. Rita Wright, SMA Director, and Esther Hi’ilani Candari.
2022 Vision Gallery, Chandler, AZ, “Art Quilts XXVII: Re-Vitalized.” Juror Shin-hee-Chin.
2022 SOFA/Intersect Chicago 2022 Art Fair, Chicago’s Navy Pier. SAQA Global/Special Exhibit. Juror Carol Sauvion. (Cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.)
2022 The Utah Cultural Celebration Center, West Valley, UT, “Utah Women Artists (AAUW of Utah) 20th Biennial Juried Exhibition: Celebrating Utah Women Artists.” Juror, Josh Heuman.
2022 Friends of Great Salt Lake, The Sorenson Community Campus Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT, “Alfred Lambourne Prize” (multidiscipline show). Juror Jaclyn Wright.
2022 Brigham City Museum of Art, Brigham City, UT, “SAQA Regional (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming) Exhibit: Wild!” Jurors Alana Blumenthal, Petra Fallaux, and Dolores Miller. Multiple addition venues in Colorado, including The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.
2022 Bountiful Davis Art Center, Bountiful, UT, “47th Annual Statewide Competition” (all Utah artists, all mediums). Juror Nancy Rivera, Utah Division of Arts & Museums.
2022 Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT, “98th Statewide Spring Salon” (best in Utah contemporary art, all mediums). Jurors Fidalis Buehler and Laura Durham.
2022 Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona. SAQA Global Exhibit: “Fur, Fangs, Feathers, and Fins.” Juror Emily Jan. Additional venues include Quilt Festival Long Beach June of 2023, and The Detroit Zoo (2024).
2021 Brigham City Museum of Art, Brigham City, UT, Utah Design Craft Artists 3rd Legacy Exhibition, “Waterways.” Juror Virginia Catherall.
2021 Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT. “35th Annual Spiritual and Religious Art of Utah,” (All Utah artists, all mediums.) Jurors Dr. Rita Wright, SMA Director, and Jean Irwin, Arts Education Manager, State of Utah, Division of Arts and Museums.
2021 SOFA/Intersect Chicago 2021 Art Fair, Chicago Illinois. SAQA Global Exhibit. Juror Barbara Lee Smith. (In person exhibition was cancelled due to COVID and a virtual exhibit was hosted by SAQA.)
2021 Studio Door Gallery, San Diego, CA, SAQA Regional Exhibit (So. California/So. Nevada), “Domino Effect,” Juror Patric Stillman.
2021 Visions Art Museum: Contemporary Quilts + Textiles, “Members Challenge Exhibition: First Responders,” Virtual On-Line exhibit on the museum’s website, San Diego, CA.
2021 Springville Museum of Art, Springville, Utah, “97th Statewide Spring Salon” (best in Utah contemporary art, all mediums), Jurors Scotti Hill and Micha Christensen.
2021 Front Porch Gallery, Carlsbad CA, SAQA Regional Exhibit (S. California/S. Nevada), “Here and Now, Now and Then,” Juror Sandra Sider.
2020 Brigham City Museum of Art, Brigham City, UT, Utah Design Craft Artists 2nd Legacy Exhibition “Design of the Times,” Juror Nadra Haffar (artist and museum educator).
2020 The Utah Cultural Celebration Center, Utah Women Artists (AAUW of Utah) 19th Biennial Juried Exhibition, “Celebrating Women Vibrant and Equal, 2020,” Salt Lake City, UT (became a virtual show due to pandemic), Juror, Susan M. Anderson, Independent Curator and Art Historian.
2019 Brigham City Museum of Art, Utah Design Craft Artists UDCA Premier Legacy Exhibition, “The Handmade Object,” Brigham City, UT, Jurors museum staff and former UDCA Board members.
2004 Ayer Lofts Gallery, “Small Works for Small Spaces,” Lowell, MA, Juror Maxine Farkas.
2004 International Quilt Festival, “I Remember Mama” Invitational and Traveling Exhibit, Houston, TX.
2003 Thayer Memorial Library, “Dreaming the Garden” Traveling Exhibit, Lancaster, MA.
2002 Whistler House Museum of Art, Juried Exhibition: “Art Quilts at the Whistler,” Curator Catherine Eldridge, Lowell, MA.
2002 Bountiful Davis Art Center, 2002 Statewide Competition “Vision and Victories,” Salt Lake City, UT (in conjunction with the Winter Olympics).
2002 Woman Made Gallery, Juried Exhibit “Censorship! A Show of Suppressed Art,” Juror: Rosemary Luckett, Chicago, IL.
2002 Mansfield/Richland OH County Library, “Fine Focus 2002, Art Quilts in Small Format,” National Juried Exhibit, Jurors: Laura Cater-Woods, Kim Ritter, and Judy B. Dales.
2001 Bountiful Davis Art Center, Statewide Annual Exhibit by Utah Arts Council “Mixed Media and Works on Paper,” Bountiful, UT.
2001 Art Access Gallery, Utah Designer Craft Alliance Inaugural Juried Exhibit, Salt Lake City, UT.
2000 Springville Museum of Art, American Association of University Women (AAUW) 10th Utah Juried Exhibition Springville, UT, Juror Liliane Francuz.
2000 Brush Art Gallery, “Quilt 21: American Art Quilts for the 21st Century,” Lowell, MA and National Juried Touring Exhibition, Jurors Maxine Farkas and Sandra Sider.
2000 Vertigo Studios, “Roots of Racism: Ignorance and Fear” Memphis, TN and National Juried Exhibition/Touring Arts in Embassies Program through the State Department, Curator Susan Lumsden.
1999 Quilt National ’99, “The Best in Contemporary Quilting” Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center International Exhibit, Athens, OH and touring venues, Jurors: Nancy Crow, Caryl Bryer Fallert, and Bruce Pepich.
1999 “Fiber Celebration ’99” Northern Colorado Weavers Guild National Juried Show, Estes Park, CO, Juror, Jean Scorgie, Editor of Handwoven Magazine.
1999 Cornell Museum, “Fine Focus,” Internet On-Line Traveling Juried 1 of Miniature Quilts, Delray Beach, FL, Juror: Sandra Sider.
1999 San Francisco State University, Department of Design and Industry, 4th Annual Women in Design Exhibit, “One Decisive Moment”.
1998 Sixth International Quilt Expo, “Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine “Rhapsody of Roses” Juried International Competition; Innsbruck, Austria; Quilt Expo, Houston TX; Quilt Market Providence, RI. Additional venues including the Musée des Tissues, Lyon France; Curator, Robert Shaw.
Group Exhibitions
2022 Doña Ana Arts Council Gallery, “Oasis” and “Cryptography”, 4 Common Corners Group, Las Cruces, NM.
2019 Union Station Gallery, “Entangled” Utah Surface Design Group, Ogden, UT.
2004 Rio Grande Depot Gallery, “Salt Lake Surface Design Members Invitational Exhibit” Salt Lake City, UT.
2004 Mary Elizabeth Dee Shaw Gallery, “Building Bridges” Utah Designer Craft Alliance Juried Exhibit, Weber State University, Ogden UT.
2003 Rio Grande Depot Gallery, Salt Lake Surface Design Members Invitational Exhibit, Salt Lake City, UT.
2002 Finch Lane Gallery, “Object Poetry” Utah Designer Craft Alliance 40th Anniversary Exhibit, SLC, UT, Jurors Martha Klein and Lennee Eller.
2002 Brigham City Museum of Art, “Utah Designer Craft Alliance Members Only Exhibit” Brigham City, UT.
2001 Rio Grande Gallery, Members Juried Exhibit for Utah Designer Craft Alliance, SLC, UT.
Awards/Grants
2023 Second Place, Cash Award, Utah Surface Design Group exhibit, “Resurfacing.”
2022 Third Place, Cash Award, Bountiful Davis Art Center 47th Statewide Exhibit.
2021 Third Place, Brigham City Museum of Art, Legacy exhibit, “Waterways.”
2021 Best of Show Award, Studio Door Gallery, SAQA Regional Show “Domino Effect,” San Diego, CA.
2020 Honorable Mention, Brigham City Museum of Art, Legacy exhibit, “Design of the Times.”
2019 Best of Show Purchase Award, Brigham City Museum of Art, Legacy exhibit in honor of the Utah Designer Craft Alliance (entries in fiber, wood, glass, clay, metal, and stone), Brigham City, UT.
2003 Utah Arts Council – Wrote Exhibition Grant awarded to the Utah Designer Craft Alliance to mount the show “Building Bridges.”
1999 Utah Arts Council/National Endowment for the Arts – Individual Artist Grant.
Media/Publications
2022 Vision Gallery “Art Quilts XXVII: Re-Vitalized” print-on-demand show Catalog.
2022 Alfred Lambourne Prize Exhibition Catalog.
2022 AAUW Exhibition 20th Biennial Exhibition Catalog.
2022 Catalog Bountiful Davis Art Center All Mediums Statewide Exhibition Catalog.
2022 SAQA Regional “Wild!” Exhibition catalog.
2020 AAUW Exhibition 19th Biennial Exhibition Catalog.
2005 Book Photo: “Art Quilt: A Celebration of 400 Stunning Contemporary Designs,” Lark Press.
2003 Book Photo: “The Roots of Racism” Exhibit Compilation, U.S. Embassy/Islamabad Art in Embassies Program.
2002 Magazine Photo: Quilting Quarterly Vol 32 Fall, “Batt to Front: 11 Artists Challenge What Goes Where”.
2002 Magazine Photo: Quilting Quarterly Vol 30 No. 4, “How to Launch a Touring Quilt Show”.
2002 Book Photo: “America From the Heart Exhibit” C&T Publishing.
2002 Newspaper Photo: Deseret News 4/28/2002 First Page, Arts Section, covering Brigham Young University .
2002 Museum of Art Invitational, “Utah Quilts: Threads of Tradition and Innovation,” Provo, UT.
2001 Book Photo: “Batik for Artists and Quilters”.
2001 Book Photo: “I Remember Mama”.
2000 Catalog Photo: AAUW of Utah, 10th Juried Exhibition.
1999 Book Photo: “QN 99 The Best in Contemporary Quilting,” Lark Press.
1999 Book Photo: “Quilt 21: Quilts for the 21st Century,” Quilt 21 Press.
1998 Article: American Quilter Magazine, Author, July 1998 Issue, “Mega Fun with Monoprinting”.
1996 Article: American Quilter Magazine, Co-Author, Summer 1997 Issue “Special Effects for Fabrics”.
Work in Private Collections
Del Thomas/Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection, Southern California.
Mr. and Mrs. Gast Waltzing Collection, Luxembourg, Europe.
Peggy Delany Collection, Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
Maggie Parke Collection, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Seth Bott and Brandon Pollard Collection, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Other Professional Activity
2022 Fiber Art Symposium Instructor, via worldwide platform Curious Mondo, teaching live class on painting with inks on fabric.
2021 Fiber Art Symposium Instructor, via worldwide platform Curious Mondo, teaching live class on creating fabric greeting cards.
Professional Affiliations
4 Common Corners Member
SAQA Member, SAQA Colorado/Utah/Wyoming Regional Exhibit Committee, secondary member SAQA California/Nevada South Region.
Utah Surface Design Group (USDG) Board Member, Exhibit Committee Co-Chair
Rosanna Lynne Welter 