Design Concept

LIFE IN THE MARGINS #8 is one of a series of small works in which my process is very much like doodling with fabric, i.e.  The design was developed spontaneously, working directly on a black background, with bits of hand painted fabric randomly cut, and arranged layer upon layer.  After the fabric was arranged on the background, machine embroidery was added in a style I call "drawing with thread."  Each part of the design grew out of the last, just as a doodle grows to fill a page, when the mind is engaged elsewhere.  As a child, all the margins of my school notebooks were filled with doodles, thus the title of this series— "Life in the Margins." This composition was machine quilted and finished with a solid black binding.

Exhibitions:

• FROM THE SPIRIT: National Craft Leader Exhibition, Bank One Gallery, (American Crafts Council invitational) 1996, Louisville, KY

Publications

• FROM THE SPIRIT: National Craft Leaders Exhibition Catalog, p. 7
• DYES & PAINTS, 1998: Elin Nobel, Fiber Studio Press, p. 65