Featured Artist Heather Cohen

Textile artist Heather Cohen uses different painting techniques to create boldly colorful patterned wearable art. See more of her collection by visiting her website.

 

 

I am a textile designer and artist with over four decades of design experience, currently residing in North Carolina.

 

 

I am originally from a small town called Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. From a very young age I was influenced by my aunt, a well-known batik and stained glass artist. I spent many hours in her studio learning about design and the different techniques used in fabric painting. It was during that time that my aunt recognized my ability with regard to understanding color and design.

 

 

Growing up in Africa had and continues to have a strong influence in my color palettes and fashion concepts.

 

 

After receiving a Fine Art degree specializing in Textile Design and Color Theory at The Ruth Prowse College of Art in Cape Town, South Africa, I began my career as a stylist and designer at a well-respected fabric company in Southern California. Part of my job was to travel to Europe for research and design development. I assisted in the creation of fashion forward fabric prints and fabric types.

 

 

After six years of working for them, I decided I wanted to become a freelance artist, designing for many different companies. Eventually, I decided to develop my own line of hand-painted clothing. Via seven national fashion reps, my clothing line was sold to boutiques across the country.

 

 

After a decade, my husband and I decided to go in a different direction. We wanted to sell directly to the public through fine art shows up and down the east coast. We have been doing this for the past 25 years.

 

 

I start off by creating and designing my clothing lines using only natural and organic fabrics, i.e., silk, linen and cotton gauze. These fabrics are white blanks on which I hand paint using a variety of techniques. They include batik, shibori and freehand watercolor applications.

 

 

All of my creations are unique and one of a kind. No two are exactly alike. My designs continue to reflect the influence of growing up in Africa surrounded by beautiful colors and bold African tribal motifs.

 

Heather Cohen invites you to follow her on Facebook.

 

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