Indigo Composition No. 21
2022
86” x 86”
Indigo Composition No. 20/Stroke
2022
44”H x 50”W
Hand painted cotton, acrylics
Machine pieced and stitched
Private collection
Indigo Composition No. 19
2022
37”H x 37”W
Chinese Indigo cotton, hand dyed and painted cotton , acrylics
Machine pieced, machine and hand stitched
Indigo Compositon No. 19, detail
Indigo Composition No. 17
2021
38”H x 32.5”W
Chinese Indigo cotton, hand dyed and painted cotton, acrylics
Machine and hand pieced, machine and hand quilted
Abstraction: Textural Elements, Max Berk Textile Collection, Palatinate Museum in Heidelberg, Germany
Indigo Composition No. 17, detail
Indigo Composition No 18,
2021
58”H x 42”W
Chinese Indigo cotton, hand dyed and painted cotton , acrylics
Machine pieced, machine and hand stitched
Indigo Composition No. 18, detail
Indigo Composition No 16
2021
55’ x 55”
Chinese cotton, painted and hand dyed linen
Machine pieced, machine and hand quilted
Indigo Composition No. 16_detail
Indigo Composition No. 15
2021
42”x51”
Chinese cotton, hand dyed linen, acrylics
Machine pieced, machine and hand quilted
Indigo Composition No 15, detail 2
Indigo Composition No. 15, detail
Indigo Composition No. 14
First Prize, Quilts=Art=Quilts
Schweinfurth Art Museum
2021
32” x 71
Chinese cotton and hand dyed linen
Machine pieced, machine stitched.
Indigo Composition No. 14 detail
Indigo Composition No. 13
2021
78” x 85”
Chinese cotton, hand dyed linen
Machine pieced, machine and hand quilted
Art Quilt Elements 2022
Indigo Composition No.13 detail
Indigo Composition No. 12
2020
72” x 75”
Chinese Indigo cotton, hand dyed cotton
Machine pieced, machine and hand quilted
Quilt National 2021
Indigo Composition No.12 detail
Indigo Composition No. 11
2020
81”x 43”
Chinese Indigo cotton, hand dyed cotton
Machine pieced, machine and hand quilted
Indigo Composition No.12 detail
Indigo Composition No. 10
2021 Quilts=Art=Quilts, Schweinfurth Art Center
2020
81”H x 43”H
Machine pieced and stitched, hand stitched
Chinese indigo dyed cottons, hand dyed cotton
Indigo Composition No.10 detail
Indigo Composition No. 9
56.5”H x 47”W
Machine pieced and stitched
Chinese indigo dyed cotton, hand dyed cotton
Delaplaine Art Center, solo show
Indigo Composition No.9 detail
Indigo Composition No. 8
55”H x 55”W
Machine pieced and stitched
Chinese indigo dyed cotton, hand dyed cotton
2021
Art Quilt Elements, Wayne Art Center
2020
Excellence in Fibers VI Fiber Art Now
2019
Delaplaine Art Center, solo show
Indigo Composition No.8 detail
Indigo Composition No. 3
2016
60”H x 38”W
Chinese cotton
Machine pieced, machine stitched
Indigo Compositions
In 2014 I became interested in the cloth created by a Chinese ethnic minority who dye their homespun cotton with indigo. The cloth is dyed and dried several times and then soaked in a brew of ox or pig blood, raw hide, persimmon skins and pounded chestnut shells. When the fabric is dry, one side is covered with egg whites and then the cloth is beaten with a heavy wooden mallet resulting in the sheen on one side of the cloth.
Indigo Composition Nos.3-14 are a series of self-portraits. To most people I seem very strong and self sufficient. Only upon closer inspection can you see the detail, complexity, and fragility of my emotional base. Like this fabric, for the careful observer there is a lot to discover.
In 2021, my sister, brother and I moved my mother from her house of 46 years to an assisted living memory care unit. In less than a week we dismantled a house that was built by my father and full of my mother’s art. It was an upsetting experience. It was the only house I knew as a child, and was full of family memories. Indigo Composition Nos. 15-20 seek to capture the jarring emotions I felt in the aftermath of the move and during that difficult week.