Holly Gardner
As we have moved into the information age with the internet taking hold of our lives, I find myself longing for the natural wonder and curiosity of my childhood. I have always loved fabric. I love the colors, textures, and patterns in fabric. I got started in creating textile art out of necessity. I wanted to put a picture of a wonderful calming nature scene above my bed; however, my husband thought that it would fall off the wall during an earthquake and kill us. So, I took an Art Quilt class at a local sewing store and from there I fell in love with representing nature in textiles. Surely, my husband couldn’t argue with a quilt! My passion for nature and fabrics lead me to create textile/mixed media works of art. My Process is intuitive. I study Flora, Fauna, and landscape by meditating on them, often sketching them out first. I look to imbue detail, curiosity, and light with the texture of threads, and the subtle use of acrylic and watercolor paints. I use pattern and color to add unexpected whimsical details of the subject by creating a collage of fabrics in my animals and the use of batik fabrics shredded to create impressionistic landscapes. Many of my pieces have both collage and impressionist elements. The overall effect is to have the viewer feel as they entered a surreal storybook that they don’t want to leave. I want the viewer to forget their work life and the Information Age and live in the piece they see if only for a little while.