Featured Artist Cindy Grisdela

Cindy Grisdela’s colorful, textural quilts are designed spontaneously, with pieces cut and stitched freehand. See more of her fiber art by visiting her website.

 

 

I describe my work as Contemporary Art Quilts for the Wall. My designs evolved out of the quiltmaking tradition, but speak to a more modern aesthetic.

 

 

Working in an improvisational style, I cut lines and shapes directly out of fabric freehand, without a pattern or template.

 

 

Usually I have an idea of what the final piece might look like, but as each decision about color and shape influences the next, many times I end up with something very different than my original plan. That doesn’t bother me. In fact it’s one of the reasons I’m excited to go into the studio every day. There’s always something new to explore—a new combination of colors, a new shape, an interesting texture.

 

 

As a child, I was fortunate to have parents who encouraged my love of art. I was exposed to painting, drawing, ceramics and sculpture. When I was growing up, my mother made clothing for herself, my sister and me. Some of my fondest childhood memories are from hours spent at the fabric store, touching the fabric and drinking in its color and pattern.

 

 

I fell in love with quilting as a young adult after seeing an article in a women’s magazine. I didn’t know what I was doing, and assumed that making a queen-sized quilt would be no problem since I already knew how to sew. A lot of mistakes were made, but working with fabric and thread spoke to me like no other art form I had tried.

 

 

I made mostly traditional quilts for many years, but my essential artistic nature eventually asserted itself and I grew bored with following other people’s patterns. It became important to me to create art that was uniquely my own. I began by experimenting first with tweaking my old favorite patterns like Log Cabin and Drunkard’s Path, before finally evolving into a more contemporary, improvisational style that makes my heart sing.

 

 

Color is very important to me. Choosing the color recipe is usually where I start with a design. Texture also fascinates me, and I stitch all my lines freehand on my sewing machine, without a computer or marking ahead of time.

 

 

One reason I am drawn to creating with fabric and thread, rather than some other medium, is the opportunity to enhance the composition with the lines I stitch into each piece. Sometimes simple vertical or horizontal lines are best, and sometimes I get to really play with different motifs to give life to the negative space in my design.

 

 

Recently I’ve been exploring large scale designs that focus on freehand curves. I like to use fabric like a painter might use paint to create bold, graphic designs that encourage the viewer to take more than one look.

 

 

I’m a full-time artist, teacher and author of Artful Improv: Explore Color Recipes, Building Blocks and Freemotion Quilting. I travel all over the country showing my work at fine art and fine craft fairs, as well as teaching and lecturing to quilt guilds and groups.

 

Artist Cindy Grisdela invites you to follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

 

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