My Creative Process

A printmaker from the start, I never left my love of block relief carving and printing when transitioning from paper to fabric. Carving is a subtractive process. Intentionally leaving some of the block uncarved or purposely designing shapes to slightly misalign when printed in repeat creates the hand-carved & printed quality I still admire in many relief printmakers and tile artists working by hand. 

Printing the yardage by hand only occurs at the tail end of the process of repeat pattern screen printing. All the detail work and long hours occur in designing the image, formatting the repeat, developing color separations, making the stencils and “burning” the images onto the screens, then testing the repeat, mixing a color palette, and finally laying out yardage and setting up the registration. This process requires precise decision-making and exactitude from the start. Every decision is critical. A part of me loves this design process because the effort is worth the outcome: I end up with a lot of printed fabric.

This is where my playfulness and love of exploration come alive. I am free to paint, draw, block or screen print in any way I choose. This process requires some courage, however. Free thinking can lead to unexpected results, and a lot of creative problem solving! This process stretches my surfacing abilities in new ways and keeps me coming back to the print table to see what will happen next.

Surfacing fabric is my greatest joy; a close second is creating products with my fabrics. Designing, cutting, piecing, and constructing the fabric into tangible, useful products is challenging yet so satisfying. I love using daily what I create; and I love enriching the everyday lives of my customers.