Featured Member Interview: Katherine Stein

Nuno scarf I

Visit Katherine's blog, Designing Dragonflies

and her Facebook page, here.

 

What inspires you to create? 

Everything inspires me.  Trees, grasses, birds, berries, fruits, vegetables, sunsets, sunrises, gloomy days near water (a perfect example of monochromatic) buildings, mountains, oceans, deserts, cities, villages, people, dogs, cats, the moon and stars, books, the Milky Way, fiber, fabric and color, color, color!

When did you decide to pursue art, or did art pursue you?
I grew up wanting to be an artist so I guess I pursued it.  I LOVED art class in school and when I was able to choose classes in high school I took every art class I could. I wanted to paint and was really into embroidery in high school. I took some pottery classes but I just couldn’t get into it. After I got married at the tender age of eighteen I was broke and got into sewing, recycle, and nature art (anything I could do cheaply) In my thirties I started to work full time and went to (shudder) business college at night…which did require some creative thinking but kept me so busy I had no time for art. Ten years later, when we moved down to North Carolina, I found some boxes of my old projects and it was like finding a forgotten old friend. I’ve decided that this is my time to get back into what I loved doing, so here I am. I’ve declared to myself and to others that I AM a Fiber Artist (who meddles in paint, art journals, and whatever catches my attention) and I’m never going to let that part of me go for anything or anyone. Whether I stay in fiber or move on to the other mediums who knows, but it’s a journey that doesn’t really end and that’s the best part.

Nuno scarf II

If you weren't an artist, what would you be?

Hmm...been there temporally already, bored, frustrated, television watching zombie (and kinda bitchy as well).

Fairy Grandmother

What other jobs have you had which have aided you on your artistic path?

Different scarves

Working at a flower shop was really awesome because of the different colors of the flowers and plants.  But what gave me the discipline of color was working at Perrigo in Allegan, Michigan in the Graphic Arts area (Print Shop) I had to learn about four color processes, and the printing process, flexo and offset. It has turned out to be my favorite job so far.

At an art supply store, which section do you gravitate to first?

It depends on which art store, what day and what whim.
At Jerry’s I go for the fabric dyes, however I may want to check out what is new in paper, pens and paint. At Askew-Taylor I just want to slowly explore the whole store bit by bit, it’s like going into Aladdin’s cave. At Ornamentea I start with wool fiber and then look at seed beads and any other sparkly item that catches my eye. Quilt stores and Joanne’s is totally fabric.
 

Shibori

What new technique or art form would you like to learn?  Do you have plans to do so?

Since I’ve joined CMMAG, I’ve been exposed to so much beautiful art, I want to learn and master it all. However my top picks are to learn how to Art Journal, paint, draw better, and expand my fiber art knowledge. My New Years Resolution for 2012 has been to learn a new technique every month and so far I’ve done pretty well. January I taught myself Nuno Felting, February was portrait drawing, March was making a sweat shirt jacket using layered waves,  April I designed and made cell phone bags, May, I learned a new way of appliqué, June I started to learn how to Batik. July is furthering the Batik to a new level. I need to pick up some painting classes, an Art Journal class and possibly book binding to finish off my year.

If you could do anything, and knew you could not fail, what would you choose to do?

I would buy an old warehouse or mill, renovate it into a combination of Art studios, meeting rooms/ class rooms, gallery and an inn. This way, I’d be able to accommodate different artists needing space, provide space for guilds to meet, as well as classrooms (at a reasonable rate).  Also, I'd sponsor weekend workshops and the inn aspect of it would accommodate students. The gallery would be a co-op of all the artists in the studios.

Sounds like a wonderful place, Katherine...sign us up! 

Thanks for the interview, and best of luck meeting your New Year's Resolution goal...you're well on your way.

Raleigh 004