Page 36 - The Digital Cloth Holiday issue 2

and possibilities I became
aware of the amazing work
being done by fiber and
textile artists especially in
the field of art quilts and
textile collage. I looked at
different methods and artists
and found one that looked
appealing. Susan Carlson a
textile artist from Maine who
has published several
instructional books,
teaches workshops all over the
world and blogs weekly about
her art. I bought one of her
books, made my first
textile collage and fell in
love with the process. Textile
collage has become my medium
of choice.
In high school my favorite
subject was art and I took as
many courses as I could. Then,
for many years, there was
little time for making art
as I went to nursing school,
spent a few years in the Army
Nurse Corps, married and had
my three children. I continued
to work as a nurse for a short
while but found that teaching
was a much better fit.

Teaching high school art for
26 years was my next
full-time job. I loved the
kids and learned so much from
them. Going to work every day
to help someone else learn to
create something
beautiful definitely falls
into the great job category. I
always told my students that
making images was way
better than drugs for
clarifying your thoughts,
being in a world of your own
creation, or just relaxing.
After teaching I worked for
seven years as a child
advocate, case manager and
guardian with the Guardian ad
Litem program.