I make abstract landscape textile collages using old clothes, paint and thread that remind us of the joy of being in nature.  To create my art, I paint the fabric from deconstructed old shirts, sheets and jeans then embellish with hand and machine stitched thread.

In my art practice, I am always changing perspectives from the close-up texture of a birch tree, the horizon across the lake, or a bird’s-eye view above the Lake Michigan shoreline. My art reflects the way I see the world in both the small details and the zoomed out big picture view.

Surrounding ourselves with nature-inspired art helps people imagine the feeling of the waves on the lake, summer blooms on the prairie or watching the clouds in the sky and to remind us how good we feel being in those wild places.

For me, it always comes down to the peace and beauty of nature. I use those good memories to create art based on my favorite places in nature.

I started as a modern quilter in 1998 and felt I needed more texture and color to be able to bring forth the ideas in my head. I learned a technique for painting on deconstructed fabric that allows me to explore the depth of colors I see in nature. As a quilter, a big part of the gig is having enough fabric stash to have all the colors you might need. Now I use a more sustainable method with using fabric from discarded clothes. My color and texture possibilities are unlimited now with paints that I can blend and manipulate to make any color or texture I want.