Courtney Ley, photographer and videographer extraordinaire created the promotional video below for me (IE users, click here to play this video).
Cindy Heath Fiber Artist from Courtney Ley Photography on Vimeo.
As many of us do, I learned to create and sew from my mother, making crazy quilts from worn out clothing scraps and using a blanket for batting.
These early experiences led to further creative expression in ceramics, wood, paper, metal, photography, and eventually college classes in studio art. My love of creative problem solving has been the thread connecting my work, play, and spiritual journeys, and fiber construction has been my consistent artistic medium of choice.
With several art quilts in progress at the same time, I use a holistic approach to creating multi-layered expressions of geometric patterns, landscapes, and abstractions symbolizing the challenges and joys of life – chaos, resilience, reflection, persistence, beauty. It is true, I think, what Aristotle has said, that “Art Imitates Life”.
Through the process of applying varying levels of fabric layering, abstraction techniques, and creative threadwork, movement becomes an important element in my art work. I practice fusing, painting, monochromatic, and full color spectrum approaches. I have recently begun to collaborate with Carla Kimball, a photographer whose beautiful images I have abstracted using textiles.
My work as a fiber artist has evolved over many decades of hand and machine sewing, teaching art and quilting to children and adults, and studying with internationally known art quilt master teachers. Over the last 10 years, I have been finding ‘my voice’ in fiber, and experimenting with new techniques in various textile applications.
My design inspiration is derived from nature, master art works, fellow textile artists, and my own photographs. These explorations have taught me the value of playing with color and cloth, setting limits, being focused (and not) in the studio, working in a series, and discovering the business side of the arts through juried gallery submissions.
I am a self-taught fiber artist, and have studied art quilt design, construction, and abstraction with fiber artists Sue Benner and Katie Pasquini Masopust at Hudson River Valley Art Workshops, and Jane Dunnewold online and in private study.
For more than 25 years, I taught quilting and art to children and adults through my previous work as a public parks and recreation practitioner. I currently work from my home studio in New Hampshire.
To further my creative education and learn from fellow fiber artists, I maintain active membership in the Surface Design Association and Studio Art Quilt Associates. Local gallery memberships include WREN, Long River Gallery & Gifts, Catamount Arts, and Women’s Caucus for Art/NH.
To view my exhibition history and creative resume, click here.