It has been said that art imitates life. For me, art imitates dreams. Driving forces behind my art are a vivid, unpredictable imagination, the curiosity of what the end result will be (ya never know), the joy of hands and imagination creating something new.
Although I have been a photographer for 20 years, cloth is currently my medium of choice. For lack of a better term I define myself as an "art quilter". The method of construction and some of the materials I use have their roots in the traditional quilting. While most traditional quilts are made to be used as bedcovers (and are works of art themselves), art quilts are meant to be displayed as a painting or a photograph would be displayed.
Fabric is a wonderful medium – you can stitch it, bead it, paint and dye it. 
I can incorporate photography into my art quilts by printing them directly to fabric using an inkjet printer. It's also fun to use found objects such as wire, twigs, rocks, and even those net bags you buy oranges in.
I'm inspired by modernists of the early 1900s – Kandinsky, Klee, Delauney. I also find inspiration in mythology, symbolism, and, sometimes, just color and texture. I usually to work spontaneously and intuitively, with little or no planning – I like to let the work takes shape on its own terms. The process can be joyous, maddening, giddy, depressing, but it is, in the end, gratifying.
Sharon Benton
Your Email Comments Welcome
Please visit my web site at www.q42designs.com.
