In the midst of the Coronavirus shutdown, I started making pieced quilts based on wonky graphic symbols. The rectilinear Greek key and circular spirals have been two of my favorite patterns since I was a kid. Since the key is much easier to piece, I decided to focus on that design. When I combined the Greek key with other pieced blocks on my design wall, I started to see objects. I call these objects symbographs.
Symbographs have helped me develop a language for telling stories in cloth. Memories, travels, and even shopping at the local big box stores make appearances in these symbographic art quilts. I hope they make you smile and inspire you to create your own stories.
For four years (2019-2023), I belonged to Cloth in Common, a 13-member international quilt group. Every two months we received a prompt and had two months to create a quilt based on that prompt. You can learn more about Cloth in Common by visiting www.ClothInCommon.com. For twenty years, I also collaborated with Kris Sazaki under the name Pixeladies. We retired the Pixeladies brand in October 2023, but you can still see our work at www.Pixeladies.com.
I like to say that my artwork is a varied as my hair color and my glasses. So, in addition to the work shown here, I also create images digitally which I have printed on fabric. Despite being prints, I create only one edition, and I hand quilt these pieces. Probably because I am an avid user of technology and part-time pack rat, I have also created a series of small 6” x 8” art quilts created from computer parts, snippets of text printed on fabric, and other found objects.
Outside of my art career, I really, really like to travel and am fortunate to have friends who move to exotic places just so I can visit them. I live in Cameron Park, California with my husband Dave and two cats. I think the world would be a better place if people wore boas and drove colorful cars with fins.
Selected Juried Exhibitions
Selected Publications
*Work is in collaboration with Kris Sazaki as one half of Pixeladies
Education
Affiliations