About Mara - CV

MARA GILES

I am an emerging, self-taught artist working in fabrics and textiles, using primarily quilting techniques and various materials for embellishment of my art quilts.

Education

2017 – present

• Self-taught in mixed media art quilts

2006 – 2008

• Basic beginner quilting lessons, The Fabric Fairy, Auburn NE

2006

• MA, Cultural Anthropology and Human Behavior & Evolution, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Lincoln, NE

1995

• BA, Philosophy, St. John’s College, Santa Fe, NM

Continuing Professional Development and Education

2021

• Workshops

  • Stephen C. Wagner Professional Development Programs, San Francisco Artist Network (multiple months)

  • Craft Your Creative Vision, Haute Culture Creations (multiple months)

  • Resist Nothing with Kim Eng, Eckhart Teachings (Oct)

Exhibits

2022    Entered, in review

• MOTION, Digital Exhibition, ArtFluent, Boston, MA

• SAQA Online Collection, Digital Exhibition, SAQA: Studio Art Quilt Associates, Hebron, CT

2021                           

• FOCAL POINTS: Minimal vs Maximal, FOUND:RE Contemporary Art, Phoenix, AZ (“Untitled (with brushstrokes)”) Selected

• Botanical Art & Illustration, Las Laguna Art Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA (Ferns Unrolling Their Young Fronds) Selected

• Healing from Within, Create! Magazine, Philadelphia, PA (not selected)

• ConTEXT, Digital Exhibition, ArtFluent, Boston, MA (not selected)

2019                           

• Emerging Artist Showcase, Digital Exhibition, Fiber Art Now, Assonet, MA (not selected)

• The Garden, Herberger Theater Center's Art Gallery, Phoenix, AZ (not selected)

Collections

Personal collections in: Arizona, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania, USA; Puerto Rico

Publications

2020 – present

• Sew What’s Different, monthly newsletter

• Flaminia and The Machine, an ArtSewDifferent comic strip

Presentations & Teaching

2021

• My Journey to Becoming an Artist (and Why I Love Foxes)

  • Invited presenter to Symposia & Associates, online

  • Guest presenter at The Gables Bed and Breakfast, Philadelphia, PA (Aug)

  • Participant presenter, SJMQT Artist Support Group, online

• Basics of quilting to beginner students, ArtSewDifferent Studios, Glendale, AZ

Memberships, Organizations, and Clubs

2021-present

• Art Fluent

• Artlink, Inc.

• Eckhart Teachings

• Haute Culture Creative

• Modern Quilt Guild

• SJMQT Artist Support Group

• Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA)

2020-present

• ArtworkArchive

2019-present

• Artfair Insiders

• Fiber Art Network

• National Quilters Circle

Other Related Experience

2019-2021

• The Art Store at ArtSewDifferent, LLC, online store

2018-2020

• Etsy Shop: ArtSewDifferent

List of Major Works (alpha by date)

2022

• Floral Tree (Working title, in progress)

• Shame and Redemption (Working title, in progress)

• They/Them (Working title, in progress)

• Yehkatah (Working title, in progress)

2021

• Untitled (with brushstrokes)

2020

• Cat by a Koi Pond

2019

• Anemones

• Connections

• Darkwind

• Desert Wind: Circles

• Ferns Unrolling Their Young Fronds

• Sharp Tongue, Soft Heart

2018

• Desert Wind I

• Día de Muertos II

  • Desert Gothic

  • Desert Morning

  • I Love the Very Bones of You

  • I Sing the Body Electric

  • Past And Future

  • Spring Renewal

  • The Mother, the Grandmother, and the Formidable Strength

  • The Trellis of Mortality

• DNA: Diversity iN America

• DNA2: Diversity Now & Always

• Friendship

• Little Boxes

Techniques, Skills, and Materials

Machine, free-motion, and hand quilting; Machine, fused, raw-edge, and reverse appliqué; Hand-stitching and hoop embroidery; Art beading; Hot iron facets and ribbon; Fabrics (cotton, cotton blends, silks, and various other materials) and battings; Threads (cotton, cotton blend, polyester, rayon, silks) and other fibers