sutton071

 Illustration: Carol Taylor. Bountiful quilt. Carol Taylor is a quilter of international renown who has created nearly five hundred uniquely different quilts in her short career as an art quilter, which started in 1993. Taylor works in such a wide and varied theme and format, that choosing a small number of quilts in order to illustrate this article is very hard. However, I have decided to choose three quilts from her large body of work that I am both intrigued by and admire. These three quilts may well not be the first choice of many when considering the typical character of Taylor's work, but they do seem to highlight the balanced maturity that she has achieved with her departure from the traditional structure of the quilting medium. Illustration: Carol Taylor. Bountiful quilt (detail). The three quilts that I have chosen deal with the theme of nature in a semi-abstract manner. Using harmonious, balanced and sympathetic colour tones, along with the natural and effortless curve...

Illustration: Cynthia Corbin. Permeable, 2008. It is sometimes difficult to categorise Cynthia Corbin's work as it is so much more than the title of quilting or even textile art can do justice to. The techniques used in order to produce the resulting textural and painterly aspect of her work could very well be seen as on a literal par with some of the best efforts of fine art abstract painting. The fact that Corbin does indeed work with fabrics and stitching and not oils, acrylics or pastels is all the more remarkable as all the fabrics used are individually painted with dyes, rather than bought or dyed en masse. This attention to detail, taking each separate fabric as a project in its own right, allows Corbin to build up a unique library of artistic moments which gives her a perspective towards quilting that is much deeper, more personal and certainly more creative than most.  Illustration: Cynthia Corbin. Blocked, 2008. It is the mark making techniques and textures that have a...

Illustration: Nelda Warkentin. Summer Light. Nelda Warkentin's textile artwork can be said to have at its root, the acute observation of nature. This observation however, is not limited to the scientific and objective analysis of nature, but has much more to do with recognising the balance, symmetry and rhythm that is a fundamental part of the natural world. Warkentin lives and works in Alaska where you can imagine that nature is writ large, but she also travels extensively and is able to appreciate the natural world in its many guises, which is then incorporated into her work. She is naturally aware of interesting elements of line, pattern and colour from a blade of grass to the surface texture of an ocean.  Illustration: Nelda Warkentin. Palms Swaying, Whales Breaching. Warkentin's style can be seen on a number of levels. Her appreciation of the natural world is obvious and can be immediately seen throughout most of her work. However, underlying this appreciation lie a numb...