Bio

I am intimately familiar with traditional forms of needlework as an antiques textile restorer and conservator specializing in quilts and hooked rugs for over 30 years, starting in 1979 at America Hurrah Antiques, NYC.

In 2006 I returned to college to complete an undergraduate degree at Goddard College in Plainfield, VT, an independent/individualized study of American history through women’s handmade textiles. After graduating in 2009 I set my restoration business aside and committed my time to creating contemporary fiber works that blend my appreciation and admiration of early American textiles with a knowledge of textile construction techniques.

A few awards are top honors at Newtown Hooked Art 2014 exhibit at the University of CT on the Stamford Campus; two Awards of Excellence from the Surface Design Association and Jurors’ Choice from the Newtown Hooked Art Show. Best Mixed Media at Guild Hall’s Member Exhibit in 2014 and received awards both years of participation in LongHouse Reserve’s “Planters ON/OFF the Ground” exhibit, both in East Hampton, NY. My works have been shown in juried and invitational exhibits including “Beyond Rugs!” at the Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, ME; “Stripes” a traveling exhibit to Japan; two pieces in the national tour in 2014 of “9x9x3: New Visions” as part of the Textile Study Group of New York; an exhibit in South Korea in late 2016 and three solo exhibits. 

In early 2017 my book, Coils, Folds, Twists and Turns: Contemporary Techniques in Fiber will be released. I contributed extensively on a book about early American handmade rugs by Jan Whitlock, American Sewn Rugs: Their History with Exceptional Examples, published in October 2012. Appearances have been twice on Martha Stewart’s Living television program, on HGTV. Work has been included in Mary Sheppard Burton’s A Passion for the Creative Live: Textiles to Lift the Spirit and in Mary Schoesser's Textiles: The Art of Mankind and in other books and magazines.

I strive to expand the possibilities of traditional hand-made techniques such as rug hooking, collage, appliqué and embroidery in diverse contemporary fiber pieces. Using a combination of new, old and repurposed yarns and fabrics as well as non-traditional materials my work is intuitive and spontaneous. I make one of a kind works as well as several in a series inspired by themes of personal interest, such as the Fly Over Land Series, based on a sense of place; horse related pieces and Black T Boros inspired by patched Japanese Boro Noragi textiles.