A couple years ago I was featured in Quilting Arts Magazine – the Year of the Rooster! The piece I submitted, entitled Regal Rooster, was made of wool, cotton and silk velvet (that I dyed myself) using a variety of threads, but predominantly Eleganza Perle Cotton from Sue Spargo. She has the most luscious… Continue reading Quilting Arts & A Rooster
Author: arianezurcher
Artist, designer, writer and award winning jewelry designer - www.arianezurcher.com
The Undermining of “Craft”
“Crafts” have occupied a large part of my life. I was fifteen years old when I knitted my first sweater. My mother taught me to knit when I was so young my fingers had trouble wrapping the yarn around them. I didn’t realize it then, but being left-handed certainly must have made it more difficult… Continue reading The Undermining of “Craft”
Power Struggles
Above is one of the images my teenage daughter sent me saying that she wants to dye her hair pink. I don’t have a problem with that, except for the fact that her hair is already pretty fried from having gone platinum (like Gwen Stefani) for years, and only in the last year plus has… Continue reading Power Struggles
Coping by Stitching
People often say to me things like – “You’re so patient” or “I could never do that, it’s so tedious.” What I want to tell them is that I am so NOT patient. I am incredibly impatient, so much so that as a child my impatience was something often commented on by others, not just… Continue reading Coping by Stitching
Left-Handed in a Right-Handed World
I am left-handed. While only about 10% of the population is left-handed, there are a great many who work in the arts. I don’t know that a greater percentage of artists are left handed than in the regular population, but I do know that we lefties have had to come up with a great many… Continue reading Left-Handed in a Right-Handed World
But is it Art?
This is one of those questions that guarantees the page will remain blank, the canvas untouched, the design wall bare. This is a question best left unasked. It’s like asking, “Do I look fat?” Whatever the answer, it will do nothing to placate the nagging doubt. Ask 100 people how they define “art” and you… Continue reading But is it Art?
Finding One’s Voice
In January I had the opportunity to go to one of Sue Spargo‘s fabulous workshops in Tucson, Arizona, a place I’d never been. While there I met some lovely people, one of whom was Anna Bates, who has a blog, Woolie Mammoth, a YouTube channel – Quilt Roadies, and blogs for The Quilt Show once… Continue reading Finding One’s Voice
Acrylic on Paper
Last month I went to Hudson River Valley Arts where Jane Davies was teaching a week long workshop. I found Jane on Pinterest, which led me to her website where she has tons of videos showing her process and work. As with most things I find interesting, I soon became obsessed and began systematically going through almost… Continue reading Acrylic on Paper
Obsessive About Dyeing
Dyeing fabrics is an obsession. I began with cottons as directed in the Elizabeth Barton class, Dyeing to Design, that I took over at Academy of Quilting. I had little interest in dyeing or so I thought, and only took the class because Elizabeth was teaching it and I wanted to take a class with… Continue reading Obsessive About Dyeing
