Flora
My love of flowers and plants came from my mother, Flora, and I honor her here. She was an artist, seamstress and master gardener. I learned much in each of these areas from her. She taught me to grow flowers and vegetables, to sew, to make linoleum printing blocks, and to explore different media such as collage. We worked with copper enameling, tie dye and so much more. She encouraged me to take my art into different directions from hers and to focus on my imagination and creativity. She admired my color sense and use of multiple materials in non-traditional ways.
Iris
Iris is a mixed media layered art quilt that has a base of kimono silk collage. The Iris flowers are appliquéd and decoratively stitched while the leaves and stems are needle felted from wool roving and wool yarn. Acrylic paint gives depth to the surroundings and the entire piece is quilted for additional texture.
18’ 30’ mat (mat not shown here)
Available
Mythical Flora
Mythical Flora was created entirely from vintage kimono silks. The ranges of greens and purples, touched with rust and burgundy provides a lush but calm, tropical feel. Playful stitching surrounds this imaginary flower.
18” x 18” mat (mat not shown)
Available
Tree of Life
A Tree of Life with symbolic pomegranates honors the Tree of Life Synagogue is Pittsburgh. Creating is a way for me to cope with trauma and bad things in the world. Tree of Life is an appliquéd textile piece made of cottons.
12” x 17” without a mat
Available
Kyoto Autumn
Kyoto Autumn is a mixed media piece made with kimono silks along with Japanese art and rice papers. The purples, reds and oranges are reminiscent of an autumn flower garden.
11” x 14” frame
Available
Flower Power
Flower Power has a retro feel with flower designs that harken back to the 1960’s and 70’s. The flowers come from a Japanese silk obi along with vintage silk kimonos. Rice type paper and decorative stitching provide additional texture.
18” x 18” frame
Available
Textural Flora
This is a highly textural multi-layered textile collage. Many of the first layer fabrics are heavy kimono or obi fabrics. Curving pieces of tulle add more drama, mystery and depth to this work.
18’ x 18’ frame
Available
Lace Cap Hydrangeas
On a trip to Milwaukee, I went to Mitchell Park and saw a large display of Lace Cap Hydrangeas. To recreate just a small grouping, I found crisp silk kimono lining in just the right color. It was perfect for creating dimensionality of each individual petal. The centers are made of real lace and the leaves and backgrounds of green silks.
14” x 18” frame
Available
Kimono Flower Garden
Both adult and children’s kimonos often have bold, stylized flowers as part of the design. These tempted me to take the bright and dramatic flowers into an imaginary garden. The leaves are made from Japanese papers and there are many other pieces of floral kimono silks surrounding the main plant. Nepalese yarn made of sari silk wanders around the garden as well.
20'“ x 20” mat
Available
Tropical Vines and Tropical Flora
Tropical Vines and Tropical Flora are mixed media collages made out of vintage kimono silks and rice paper. Both are machine and hand stitched using the Japanese Boro technique, which combines small pieces of old fabrics to create new textiles. The two pieces are bright, cheerful and lush, allowing you to escape into a fantastical jungle.
Matted on white
Currently available at Bull City Art and Frame Company in Brightleaf Square in Durham, NC