THOUGHT SERIES

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The thought series evolved after a recent trip to Peru, during which I had the opportunity to see the traditional way the women made the baby alpaca yarn. Baby alpaca yarn is not from a baby animal, it is the first sheering of a young animal. This is why it is so soft and coveted. The women are taught to spin the yarn at a young age and it takes years to become proficient at it. There are so many gorgeous all-natural dyes that are used to create the palette of the yarns. The yarns are used to make table cloths, sweaters and numerous other items. The tradition and the pride the women displayed really touched me. They seemed completely content with their lifestyle.

When I returned home, I began to think about how to incorporate the yarn into my work. It was not just about the yarn itself, but the journey that the yarn had traveled by way of these women’s lives. A simpler lifestyle that reminded me of my youth. My thought was to incorporate this idea of simplicity and pride in craft by stitching into my paintings abstractly and with text. My work has always been very intuitive, however, in this series I merge the intuitive process of painting with the deliberate process of stitching, joining together two art forms and with them, two cultures.