About The Artist
I’ve been drawn to creating with my hands since early childhood. Having explored many different mediums, I have found that weaving provides the perfect balance of structure and freedom. The canvas starts as blank warp ends threaded on my loom, while the design builds line by line in a slow reveal until the piece is finished. It’s not until the tapestry is cut from the loom that I see the work in its entirety and it takes on a life of its own.
My designs are intentionally spare, often abstract, and minimalist in style and composition. Small design details are embedded in the work, allowing the observant viewer to discover them on closer examination. I enjoy experimenting with materials, compositions, themes and perspectives.
My inspirations range from traditional masks of the Pacific Northwest to the sculptures of Henry Moore. These artists share an aesthetic that emphasizes form and simplicity by reducing a subject to its essence. The result may be simple, direct, emotional, sometimes fantastical, allowing space for each viewer to bring their own life experience to the piece. I liken my compositional style to music, in some ways similar to jazz rhythms that create balance without symmetry.
Some of my tapestries reflect an inner call for peace, our need for retreat and self-renewal. These works are often inspired by Nature, such as Coastal Fog and Vanishing … Other works, in my “Finding Voice” series, comment on the intensifying discord in our world. Recent themes have included such issues as climate change, immigration, racial injustice, the COVID pandemic, increasing political polarization, and the need to create an equitable world for our children.
Weaving attracts me for its simplicity: two opposing sets of threads twining together to create a whole. Working at the loom provides me the opportunity to sit in the stillness of my thoughts, allowing my hands to think.
INTERNATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITIONS American Tapestry Biennial 14, Appalachian Center for Craft, TN Tech U., Smithville, TN 2023 Heallreaf 4: International Exhibition of Woven Tapestries, Sedbergh, Chichester, and Birmingham, ENG, 2022 Kate Derum Award Finalist, South Melbourne, Australia, 2021 (also 2017) International Fiber Arts X, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA, 2021 American Tapestry Biennial 13, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA and Highfield Hall and Gardens, Falmouth , MA, 2021 Small Tapestry International 6: Beyond the Edge, Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, LA and Augustana College, Rock Island, IL, 2019 1st International Tapestry Exhibition, Oakville, ON, Canada, 2019 World Tapestry Now: American Tapestry Biennial 12, 2018 Small Tapestry International 5: Crossroads, ATA, Denton, TX and Tacoma, WA, 2017 American Tapestry Biennial 11, Contemplating the Sublime, South Bend Museum of Art and Mulvane Art Museum, 2016, & San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, 2017 Small Tapestry International 4, Honoring Tradition, Inspiring Innovation Northwestern State University, Natchiloches, LA, Biggs Museum of Art, Dover, DE, and Artspace, Raleigh, NC, 2015 Northwestern National Fiber Exhibition, The Wichita Center for the Arts, 2015 MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS 43rd Annual Contemporary Crafts Exhibition, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa, AZ, 2022 Craft Biennial Exhibition, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA, 2022 MORE IMPACT: Climate Change, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, San Jose, CA, 2021-2022 Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, 40th Annual Contemporary Crafts Exhibition, Mesa, AZ, 2019 AbstrAction, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA, 2017 Juncture, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA, 2017 SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS LeeAnn Brook Fine Art Gallery, Nevada City, CA, 2019 Belvedere Tiburon Library, Tiburon, CA, 2019 (& 2017) Marin Art & Garden Center, Ross, CA, 2017 Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce, Mill Valley, CA, 2017 Thompson Dorfman Partners, Mill Valley, CA, 2017 Gail Van Dyke Atrium Gallery, Marin Cancer Care, Greenbrae, CA, 2016 Mill Valley City Hall, Mill Valley, CA, 2016 JURIED GALLERY EXHIBITIONS The Color of Water, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA 2023 Gems V, Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA, 2022 (EM)power (EM)brace (EM)body, Surface Design Association, Online Exhibit, 2022–2023 Art to Amuse and Delight, Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA, 2022 Shift, Tapestry Weavers West, Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA, 2022 Crocker Kingsley, Crocker Art Museum & Blue Line Arts, Roseville, CA, 2021 Craft Nouveau, Blue Line Arts, Roseville, CA, 2020 IMPACT: Climate Change, Belmont, MA and San Francisco, CA, 2019-2020 Bridge to Abstraction, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 2019 A Sense of Place, Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA, 2019 Intertwined, Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Healdsburg, CA, 2018 Thread Count: New Directions in Fiber Art, Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA, 2018 Emotion, Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA, 2017 With Respect to Nature | 3 artist invitational, Liberty Arts, Yreka, CA, 2017 Paper as Voice, Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA, 2017 Pacific Time Zone, The Arts Center, Corvallis, OR, 2016 Musical, Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA, 2016 Marin Contemporary, Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA, 2016 Architecture, Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA, 2016 Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA, 2018 (also 2015 & 2016) PUBLICATIONS & CATALOGS Heallreaf 4, Exhibition Catalog, 2022 Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Contemporary Crafts Exhibition Online Catalog, 2022 American Tapestry Biennial 13, Exhibition Catalog, 2021 Crocker Kingsley, A National Art Exhibition Catalog, 2021 Designs included in Tapestry Design, Basics & Beyond, by Tommye Scalin, Schiffer Publishing, 2021 Craft Nouveau: International Fiber Catalog, Blue Line Arts, 2020 IMPACT: Climate Change, Exhibition Catalog, 2019 Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Contemporary Crafts Exhibition Catalog, 2019 Small Tapestry International 6: Beyond the Edge, Exhibition Catalog, 2019 Canadian Tapestry and Texture Centre: Premier International Tapestry Exhibition, 2019 World Tapestry Now, American Tapestry Biennial 12, Exhibition Catalog, 2018 ATA 12th International Unjuried Small Tapestry Exhibition Catalog, 2018 Excellence in Fibers Online Gallery Exhibition Catalog, 2017 ATA Small Tapestry International 5: Crossroads, Exhibition Catalog, 2017 Kate Derum Award for Small Tapestries, Finalists Exhibition Catalog, Australian Tapestry Workshop, 2017 Review of Susan Iverson workshop, Pulling Warp/Pushing Ideas, ATA Tapestry Topics, 2017 American Tapestry Biennial 11, Exhibition Catalog, 2016 ATA 11th International, Unjuried Small Tapestry Exhibition Catalog, 2016 ATA Small Tapestry International 4, Exhibition Catalog, 2015 Featured Artist, Fiber Art Now Magazine: On View Feature: Prism, Spring, 2015 Edition The Wichita Center for the Arts: National Fiber Directions, Exhibition Catalog, 2015 AFFILIATIONS & PRESENTATIONS Board Member, American Tapestry Alliance: 2020 –2022 Committee Member, Gail Van Dyke Atrium Gallery, Marin Cancer Center, 2016-present Board Member, Art Works Downtown: 2012 – 2014 Studio Artist, Art Works Downtown Member, Surface Design Association Member, Handweavers Guild of America Member, Textile Arts Council Member, Tapestry Weavers West Webinar: “Textiles and Tea,” Handweavers Guild of America, May 2021 Presentation for Tapestry Weavers West: “Tapestries, Inspiration and Process,” March 2018 Panel Discussion: “Contemplating the Sublime,” San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles 2017 Presentation for Tamalpais Textile Arts Guild: “Innovations in Tapestry” January 2016 EDUCATION B. A. in Social Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA Workshops through Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and American Tapestry Alliance
Fiber
Studio Information
Art Works Downtown
8
Contact Information
(415) 235-8245
Exhibitions & Press
37th Annual Materials: Hard + Soft International Contemporary Craft Competition & Exhibition, Denton, TX, 2024
By Hand, Blue Line Arts, Roseville, CA, 2024
45th Annual Contemporary Crafts Exhibition, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum,
Mesa, AZ, 2024
Explorations in Monochromatic Art, Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA, 2024
Arts & Crafts Exhibition, Sausalito Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA, 2024
PUBLICATIONS and CATALOGS
* Tapestry included in Tapestry with Pulled Warp; Inspiration, Technique, and the Creative Process, by Susan Iverson, Schiffer Publishing, 2024
* American Tapestry Biennial 14, Exhibition Catalog – Cover image, 2023
* Heallreaf 4, Exhibition Catalog, 2022
* Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Contemporary Crafts Exhibition Online Catalog, 2022
* American Tapestry Biennial 13, Exhibition Catalog, 2021
* Crocker Kingsley, A National Art Exhibition Catalog, 2021
* Tapestries included in Tapestry Design, Basics & Beyond, by Tommye Scalin,
Schiffer Publishing, 2021
* Craft Nouveau: International Fiber Catalog, Blue Line Arts, 2020
* IMPACT: Climate Change, Exhibition Catalog, 2019
* Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Contemporary Crafts Exhibition Catalog, 2019
* Small Tapestry International 6: Beyond the Edge, Exhibition Catalog, 2019
* Canadian Tapestry and Texture Centre: Premier International Tapestry Exhibition, 2019
* World Tapestry Now, American Tapestry Biennial 12, Exhibition Catalog, 2018
* ATA 12th International Unjuried Small Tapestry Exhibition Catalog, 2018
* Excellence in Fibers Online Gallery Exhibition Catalog, 2017
* ATA Small Tapestry International 5: Crossroads, Exhibition Catalog, 2017
* Kate Derum Award for Small Tapestries, Finalists Exhibition Catalog, Australian Tapestry Workshop, 2017
* Review of Susan Iverson workshop, Pulling Warp/Pushing Ideas, ATA Tapestry Topics, 2017
* American Tapestry Biennial 11, Exhibition Catalog, 2016
* ATA 11th International, Unjuried Small Tapestry Exhibition Catalog, 2016
* ATA Small Tapestry International 4, Exhibition Catalog, 2015
* Featured Artist, Fiber Art Now Magazine: On View Feature: Prism, Spring, 2015 Edition
* The Wichita Center for the Arts: National Fiber Directions, Exhibition Catalog, 2015
Education
B. A. in Social Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Workshops through Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, American Tapestry Alliance, and others.
