As she worked, Heather told me how her current body of work came about. “I wrote a book called Quilt Local. I really like how the book turned out, but by late 2014 when the book was finished, I was burned out on quilting. I had to do something else for a while.”
“I tried painting, but didn’t find it satisfying. So I started doing these sewn works which are hung on the wall like a painting. They’ve been well received, both in the galleries that show my work and in various exhibitions.”
“I start with strips of cloth that I stick on the flannel wall. When I’m happy with how two of the pieces look side by side I iron them and sew them together. Then I place them back on the flannel wall and try to decide which piece of cloth should be added next. When I’m done sewing I put the finished cloth piece onto a structure so it can be hung. As I stretch the cloth some of lines that had looked straight become slightly curved.”
This is a busy month for Heather. She’s in three exhibitions. One is in Cincinnati and has an opening Thursday night from 6 to 9 pm at 1628 LTD (11 Garfield Place). It’s called “Just to be alive – an exhibition of the contemporary female artist.” Twenty artists are included in the show, including Mychaelyn Michalec, Artist.
It was obvious that Heather didn’t mind being photographed as she worked. When I mentioned that she explained that she’s done quite a few workshops and interviews on TV. So I googled her and found a great interview on Youtube on The Quilt Show. The interview referred to Heather as a modern quilter, teacher, author, and Martha Stewart American Made finalist. Check it out at https://www.youtube.com/
