This midwest born girl has always had the creative urge whether living in Ohio, Louisiana or California. It seems like I’ve been weaving all my life but it has only been a short 40+ years. In between weaving and working in public schools with communicatively challenged children I’ve been married to my middle school sweetheart for over 50 years and have two talented and successful daughters, who along with their husbands, have given us wonderful granddaughters. Now from my Napa studio I continue to weave tapestries, rag rugs and weft face rugs using the shaft switching technique. I am primarily self taught but could not have done without the excellent teachers in classes and workshops and the textile books that focused on color, design and techniques. I am a student in the What If continuing education school.
My inspiration comes from the microscopic images of butterflies or flowers to broad landscapes or mountains, fields or water. In designing a piece I usually begin with a crayon color blending sketch. I will choose one that conveys the idea, mood or emotion I want to create. I may draw out a design or cartoon to follow while I weave. One step I love is making piles of different colored yarns to fit the piece. My rugs are fairly controlled and of course made to lie flat, but the tapestries more often than not become undulating valleys and hills –a dimensional and textural delight!
