Me? I had fine art training and am a painter at heart who has sculpted, still does photography and basically isn't happy unless I am making something. I've always known I'd become some kind of artist but to my surprise QUILTS became my greatest passion...
I grew up in Minnesota. My father is a farmer with an upholstery business and my mother sews and is generally a creative person. Her mother, my grandmother, was an avid QUILT maker and her QUILTS have inspired me all my life. To be a little girl buried under her warm quilts during the Minnesota winters was wonderfully comforting. As I grew I was transported into the world of color by the color in her crazy QUILTS and as I got older I used my sewing abilities in my art, which was frowned upon at the College of Visuals Arts in St. Paul for being "too crafty".
After I graduated, I focused all my efforts on my art and moved to New York City in 1994. Starting out in NYC was intimidating and expensive, so I always had my sewing machine handy to whip up a few skirts for work. I painted furiously, had a few shows, but in the end, I kept coming back to sewing.
In 2008 I saw a popular quilting blog online and I thought "Hey! I can do that" and here I am.
My approach to QUILTING is very much the way I draw. I use warm up excercises to get me started... 15 minutes at a time...
15 minutes of "play" and inevitably a QUILT idea emerges.
I love QUILTING for myself and I love QUILTING for other people. It makes me very happy to be commissioned to make a QUILT for someone who I know will cherish it. A QUILT I have made keeps me attached to the people who live with it and that, besides my loving family, brings me the greatest joy.
Info regarding my online classes and lectures is listed here. And any in-person teaching or lecturing is listed here.
-Victoria
