Artist Statement: I love the medieval calendars that mark the passing of time. They unite ancient figurative art with Christian symbols and signs of the Zodiac to create rich illustrations of life based on the agricultural seasons. Sometime in 2002 I saw a Secessionist piece of art glass: a beaker with a yearly calendar inscribed on it. The image of the vessel holding the year resonated with me and it occurred to me that my art practice has its seasons also. I conceived of the Seasons of the Muse quartet. I identified Focus, Desire, Mutability and Action as the seasons of my feelings while I struggle to bring an idea into reality. In my art practice numerous ideas occur to me as subject matter for an art work. After some consideration I will Focus on one of my ideas and take Action to make it into concrete reality. I know that along the way the forces of Mutability will come into play as the reality of my materials meets the amorphous quality of my Desire. As I am working on these major creations, the work evolves. Sometimes I speed along feeling that all my choices are working well. At other times none of my choices seem to be correct and I often experience the situation of taking three steps forward in my work only to take two steps backward. The crucial aspect is to listen to the demands of the work as each new element is added and to remain centered in the work as the changes occur around me. For the past 15 of the 25 years that I have been making art quilts, I have used my dolls from my childhood collection of over 100 paper dolls (with all their outfits). They are stylized images and can easily carry allegorical meaning. I return to my dancers often as they symbolize the dance of life. In Seasons of the Muse I gave the dancers multiple arms, in the spirit of Hindu gods, to imply the energy that each phase of creation requires from me as an artist.

Dimensions: 29" wide x 36" high

Materials and Techniques: My work is pieced and appliquéd from commercial fabrics. The paper doll is a color copy of my original, heat-transferred on to cloth. Machine-stitching and beading complete the details of the piece.