On Making "Cat by a Koi Pond"

One of the reasons I am personally proud of “Cat by a Koi Pond” is that everything I did on it is SELF TAUGHT!

I spent a lot of time doing the theoretical work necessary prior to the practical application of putting needle to fabric. I watched and learned from other artists: quilters, embroiderers, painters, sketch artists, anime artists, and even poets writers, musicians, and actors.

Although I’ve done machine applique and thread painting prior to this art quilt, I had only once before (many, many years ago when I was first starting out) created a piece using primarily those techniques to create a piece of representational art. So this was a new experience for me. Although it took me a while to get each part to look as close to how I had imagined it, I took my shot and did it.

Sometimes I had to take a break and work on something else. Sometimes life got in the way and I had to reprioritize. But here I am, at the end of this particular journey with this art quilt and very happy with the results.