Susan is a retired middle school teacher who loves cats and her husband, Max. As a child, she was introduced to art through classes at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. She still remembers the huge bottles of brightly colored tempera paint and the stone lions that lined the path to the museum. While attending San Jose State University, she earned a minor in art with an emphasis on crafts, especially textiles. She later studied bead design with Helen Dietze and was hooked on creating jewelry from beads. Then 20 years ago while on vacation in Washington, she discovered silk painting and was immediately hooked. She now only paints on silk using watercolor techniques with liquid dyes, and sometimes incorporates her love of beads into her paintings. Her subjects range from florals to abstracts, with a particular interest in leaves and colorful tropical plants.
I drove to Ashland one recent weekend and Susan and Denise drove up from the Bay Area so I could pick up their artwork. Of course we had a wonderful visit with lots of laughter and talk of days gone by.
Susan's silk painting of "Trucked Out" is 22x28 and will be on exhibit when the gallery opens in October.
I recently shared news about Denise and her "Connecting Threads" quilt in a post dated 9/24 and now it's time to reveal more about her background and creative passion. Denise was born in Baltimore, Md and moved to California in 1960. She attended the University of California Berkeley and worked in the Information Technology area at Kaiser Permanente before retiring to work full time on her art. Denise and her husband Dean have two married sons and three grandchildren.
Nature is a source of constant inspiration for Denise and she has chosen to work in textiles because they are adaptable to many processes and she has worked with some form of fiber most of her life. She looks for patterns, textures and color combinations that can be interpreted in fabric. She has an entire wall in one room in her house that is lined floor to ceiling in shelves of fabric of every color and pattern. I know because I've seen it. Her quilts capture the simplicity, peace and tranquility of being outdoors and she strives to make viewers feel like they are in the environment she has created. She also pays homage in her work to her Japanese ancestry and to Japanese art, which is often focused on Nature.
Denise's "Moment In Time" quilt will be on exhibit at the gallery when it opens.
Meet two or three more artists in tomorrow's post. Until then ...
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