Kay Collins
Line, form, space, color, texture…the elements designers
use with the principles of balance, emphasis and continuity
to create art. Sometimes it's a conscious thought process,
sometimes it's instinctive. We all share this experience.
Fiber of one sort or another has always been a part of my
life, my first making a gathered skirt in 4-H using flour
sack cloth! Influential people are my great-aunt who was never
without projects, be they sewing, knitting or crocheting.
My Mother was an excellent seamstress, making many of my clothes
when I was a young girl. My appreciation for those skills
is a part of who I am.
While teaching art, I attended graduate school at the Maryland
Institute College of Art in Baltimore and under the tutelage
of Virginia West and Carol Westphal felt I was embarking on
a journey that was meant to be. With that background, I started
as a weaver, dyer, spinner, surface and clothing designer
using silk, leather and suede. I dyed and spun wool into yarn,
wove rugs, on-the-loom clothing and handbags, wall hangings,
painted designs on silk and experimented with whatever process
I could in the textile field. Interesting to me was the discovery
from my Mother that European ancestors on her side of the
family were weavers. Could I be so lucky as to inherit the
fiber gene?
Recognitions include exhibiting at Johns Hopkins University's
Milton S. Eisenhower Library Galleries; award winner at the
Academy Art Museum's annual juried show in Easton, MD; as
a faculty member at Salisbury State University, participation
in the Prince George's County Community College's Marlboro
Gallery and the Salisbury University faculty art show at its
Blackwell Library; membership on the Maryland Arts Council
which determined quality of arts activities in Maryland's
related Art's Council's programs and grant-giving processes;
first prize in the Rehoboth Art League members' juried exhibition
of Crafts and Decorative Arts; participation in Longwood University's
Craft Objects by Virginia Arts held at the Bedford Gallery;
participation in the Baltimore Museum of Art's traveling exhibition
entitled Focus on Fiber; exhibiting at the Fells Point Gallery,
Baltimore, MD; owner of The Wooden Shuttle, a shop selling
Dorset looms and Harrisville Design yarns; and most recently
a first prize in the fiber category at the Calvert Art League's
annual juried show.
I've returned to fashion, but this time using the medium
of felt. Of the elements mentioned above, tactile and visual
texture and color appeal to me the most with interspersing
of line to tie together pieces of a design, be it on a hat,
scarf or a handbag. I'm also returning to silk painting and
making handwoven clothing.
In the Summer of 2008, I became re-inspired when I attended
the Handweavers Guild of America's Convergence in Tampa. My
eyes opened wider and took in more than I ever thought existed
in the textile arena. I had taken a necessary extended leave
of absence and decided I was ready to get back to pleasing
my artistic soul again.
My journey is just beginning.
My personal website can be found here.
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