Artists that Inspire Me Today

I’m still basking in the warmth of all the appreciation I felt from the audience during my artist talk Monday night at the FRCQ meeting in Denver – what a wonderful group!

I shared my life journey of becoming an artist, my path from printmaking to textiles, and discussed my creative process and inspiration as I showed many images of my prints and textile paintings, printed art cloth, and eco-dye experiments.

My map of all the places I've lived - my physical life journey so far.

My introduction to creative arts came the day I was born – my Dad was just starting his professional photography career and I instantly became his most ready and available subject with which to practice his photo-making skills.  I spent the first few years of my life staring back at a camera lens a lot of the time.

Another topic I covered in my Artist Talk was “Some of the Artists that Inspire Me Today” (because there are MANY artists that inspire me and my sources of inspiration change from day to day).   I chose 8 artists because that’s how many I could fit on a one page slide and still include a thumbnail image of their work along with their website info:

Why these Artists?

Dorothy Caldwell – Beautiful abstract textile maps.  I love the mark-marking, the textures, combination of stitch and surface design techniques in her work.

Barbara Gilhooly – Wow, can she draw!  Her work is serious fun – it makes me happy.  Carved abstract paintings on wood and wire sculpture.  Best described as a “modern optimist”, her paintings have a history and texture achieved with layers of luscious color and line.  (Barbara is my partner, so I get daily inspiration and honest feedback – a wonderful benefit of being in relationship with another artist.)

Denise Burge – Her early art quilts are amazing.  She tells stories, maps of experiences in fabric.  I love the shapes, forms, colors and the masterful combination of old and new cloth and text in the imagery.

Jude Hill – Weaving and stitching a story of spirit cloth.  Amazing teacher (check out her many online class offerings) and one of the best blogs ever.  Uses old cloth, eco dyed fabrics, and hand stitching to make contemporary boro cloth pieces.  Beautiful textures, colors and line, celebrating our human spirit and stories.

Huguette Caland – Painter and sculptor.  I am very drawn to her mark-making in her paintings, which reminds me of textiles, her use of color, and also her personal shapes and forms, both in her paintings and sculptures.

Mary Lee Bendolph – One of the Gee’s Bend quilters.  I saw her show, Mary Lee Bendolph, Gee’s Bend Quilts, and Beyond 3 years ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it yet.  Included in the show were some of her first soft ground etching prints (made at Paulson Press) which reflect her textile pieces.  They touched my heart and are some of the best prints I’ve ever seen.

India Flint – Botanical Alchemist Extraordinaire.  Using cloth, paper, felt and stitch, she makes marks with with bio-regionally gathered, ecologically sustainable plant dyes to create pieces that enfold bodies and sometimes hang on walls.  Words can’t really describe the colors and marks she achieves using nature’s bounty.  Her work is pure (natural) magic.

Terry Winters –  Abstract painter who also makes wonderful etchings, his subjects often relate to “connectors” and his work is another form of mapping.  I love the rich line, texture and implied spacial depth of his (mostly) b&w and monochromatic prints.  I’m mesmerized by the depth of space and movement he achieves in his works that upon first glance could be taken as quick scribblings, but upon further study reveal very purposeful use of line and mark-making.

Commonalities I see in this of group of Artists

Maps, Storytelling,  Mark-making/Stitching, Color, Purposeful Use of Line, Texture, Layers, and Authenticity are some of the first words that come to mind.

I find myself dreaming of what fun it would be to gather this group together for an afternoon party of mark-making and storytelling.

What Inspires You?

Its a fun exercise to write about because the answers also help lead to greater understanding of oneself and one’s own work.  Which Artists are you inspired by?  Why?