Textile

In early 2020, I had an epiphany.

Inspired by my own chronic illness, over the years, I had collected drawings / pictures of anatomy, vertebrae, hearts and cells. They’d always been waiting to be used for a painting, I just didn’t know how yet. So they remained buried within me and in my files waiting for their time. At the height of the pandemic, April rain outside, I glanced at my medic alert bracelet on my wrist. There, in a split second, the connection was made:

I was going to start making repeating patterns with the snake wrapped around a staff, the symbol for medicine, that I had worn for years. Patterns of the red cross. Patterns with anatomy. Bandaids. Lungs. I started sketching, but the ideas were faster than my pencil. Then, I realized I had another hurdle: I had never made a repeating pattern before…

Being a stubborn artist with a vision, I strode forward and taught myself how. From that point on, I’ve had them made into fabrics that I use for my figurative paintings. My next pursuit will be to design entire collections that will be used for attire, upholstery and wallpaper. Stay tuned!