Desiree Vaughn Artwork that warms the imagination-textile art

Painters usually don't talk about how the pigment feels in their hands. That's a benefit that textile art has over other visual arts; adding another sense, touch, makes it three-dimensional. Color, shape, texture. All work together to affect the way a piece evolves in my hands and on the canvass-a quilt.

 

Sometimes a single piece of fabric inspires an entire piece. Sometimes the fabric exists first in my imagination and I have to create it. Most often, the work evolves. I join two colors, then add a texture, paint or dye new fabric to fit in or contrast. My pallette includes cotton, silk, batik, even Tyvek. Finally, I quilt the piece to finish the thought, adding another layer of design. Quilting is the craft, but the object is art. Modern. Contemporary. Paradoxically simple and complicated at the same time.

My Journey

I credit my grandmother with teaching me quilting. As her age advanced, she needed help cutting, pinning and sewing the traditional quilts she made. Near the end of her life, she made a quilt for each of my siblings. She saved mine for last, thinking that I had the skills to finish it, if fate didn't give her the time to. Fate didn't. And several years after her death, I tackled the job of finishing her last quilt.

I haven't decided whether grandma overestimated my quilting skills or meant for the unfinished quilt to guide me into quilting. In short, I needed the help of other quilters to finish her quilt and found inspiration in that artistic community. It wasn't long before the craft of quilting lead to the artistry. In working on grandma's quilt, I met other textile artists, saw catalogs of gallery work and realized the breadth and wealth of artistic styles. Breaking away from grandma's traditional boundaries helped me express my vision.

I find inspiration for my modern pieces all around me. In my past, raising Quarter horses on the grasslands and in the forests of the Scioto River Valley. In my present, living on northern Michigan's Leelanau Peninsula, surrounded by rolling hills of fruit orchards, towering forests of hardwoods and the infinitely changing personality of the Great Lake around us. And in my own mind's eye-I suppose, a view of a possible future.

While there have been a few artistic journeys where I've known the destination in advance, I approach textile art rather like an afternoon walk in the woods. A fabric color may pull my attention in one direction, like the bloom of a woodland trillium. Or a loud texture may pull the piece in another direction, like the sound of crashing waves on a beach pulls you towards the lake. Once completed, I can share the travels of my imagination with you and, I hope, encourage your imagination to take its own trip.

RESUME

Solo/ Featured Exhibits

2006 Desiree Vaughn:  Quilting as Craft...Object as Art.  Gallery Fifty, Traverse City, MI.


Small Group Exhibition

1998 Lancaster Arts Festival, Lancaster, OH

Invitationals

2007 - 2009 Michigan Quilt Artists Invitational: The Art of Music.  Greater Flint Arts Council, Flint, MI.
2007  Nature of the West: Contemporary Quilts.  National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, Baker City, Oregon.
2007  Getting the Bug Out: A Celebration of Insects in Art.  Gallery Fifty, Traverse City, MI.
Award of Merit for Best Exploration of Theme.
2006-2008 Michigan Quilt Artist Invitational:  Out of This World.  Mary Andrews and Judy Dunnett, Curators.

Touring Exhibitions

2007 Fiber Renaissance, A Traveling exhibit of Contemporary Fiber Art.  Cheryl Dineen Ferrin, Curator.
2006 Fabrications; Denver National Quilt Festival, Denver, CO., May 2006;  Pacific International Quilt Festival XV, Santa Claram, CA, November 2006;  Greater Chicago Quilt Exposition, Shaumberg, IL, October 2006.
2005 Fiber Edge: Carpe Diem Challenge. Pamela Allen, Curator.  Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival, Hampton, VA, February 2005;  The Quilt Fest of New Jersey, Somerset, NJ, March 2005; The Quilt Fest of the Mid West on Tour, Columbus, OH, August, 2005; The Quilt Fest of New England on Tour, Manchester, NH, August 2005.
2004-2005 Myths and Legends traveling exhibit. Anne Copeland, Curator.

Special Exhibits

2007 Shapes, Textures, Layers.  Blue Heron Gallery, Elk Rapids, MI.
2006 Rare Threads with Another Twist . Jordan River Arts Council, East Jordan, MI.
2005 Magical Transformations: Dolls Toying with Artists,  Three Pines Studio, Cross Village, MI.
2005 Glass Paper Fiber.  Blue Heron Gallery, Elk Rapids, MI.

 Juried Exhibitions

2007-2008 Quilts=Art=Quilts Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, NY.
2007  Form, Not Function, Carnegie Center for Art and History, New Albany IN.  
Juror's Choice Award
2006 SAQA Convergence, Park Church, Grand Rapids, MI
2006 Fiberplay, Creative Spirit Center, Midland, MI
2002 World Quilt and Textile Show, Lansing, MI and Greensboro, NC
2001 Sacred Threads, Reynoldsburg, OH
1994 Ohio State Fair, Fine Arts Division, Columbus, OH

Publications

Quilting Arts Magazine, Issue 23, 2006

Galleries

Blue Heron Gallery
131 Ames St.
Elk Rapids, MI 49629
231-264-9210

Copeland Fine Art
6035 Huntley Rd.
Columbus, OH 43229
614-846-0505

Silvertree Deli
119 St. Jospeh St.
Suttons Bay, MIchigan 49682
231-271-2271

 
Professional Memberships

Studio Art Quilt Associates: Michigan Co-Representative
International Quilt Association
Fiber Edge: An international group of fiber artists