Meet Judith~~
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My Mission: I focus on color, texture, and stylish elegance. I strive to develop exciting new shapes that surprise and delight, and my artisan garments are carefully constructed to be versatile, functional, and easy to wear. I design for a confident, modern woman who seeks a look in sync with her own vision of creativity and independence. |
Watching the spring shearing of alpacas, llamas, and sheep.
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Art Resume
American Craft Council show, Saint Paul, MN, April 2018
Sugarloaf Craft Festivals, Oak, PA & Edison, NJ, November 2017
The Art Fair at Queeny Park, 2013 - 2017
Award of Mastery, The Art Fair at Queeny Park, 2013
Art St Louis juried exhibition Rabbit Hole, August 2017
Unique Boutique, John Burroughs School, 2013 -2017
St Louis Artists Guild juried exhibition It's not the Heat, It's the Humidity, June 2013
Greater St Louis Art Association, Board member and juried
American Craft Council
Best of Missouri Hands, juried member
Missouri Fiber Artists, member
Fiber Art Now, member
Surface Design Association, member
Art St Louis, member
St Louis Artists Guild
Study, imagine, experiment, create, persist.
I am part of a community of makers. I am keenly aware that all creative work builds on what came before, and I am inspired by both the traditions of the craft of knitting and the joyful experimentation of my peers.
For me, knitting is all about vibrant color, elegant neutrals, and intriguing textures. There is something magical about taking simple tools and materials, in this case, two sticks and some string, and building a complex fabric under my hands that is bold and modern. The enduring challenge is to make something that is not only artistically beautiful, but also functional, versatile, and easy to wear.
This versatility is demonstrated by my Urban Slant line of ponchos, and my Metro Bias line of shrugs and ponchos. All the wraps are artistic, highly textured, and lovely to see and touch. They often feature beaded fringes, irregular hemlines, lace inserts, and large designer buttons.
Recently, I have developed a line of cardigan sweater jackets. I use finer gauge yarns for a sleeker, more sophisticated style, and chunky yarns, often with oversized collars, for a casual, rustic look.
I employ the highest quality fibers, such as, for winter, alpaca, cashmere, llama, mohair and various breeds of sheep wool, often blended with silk or another fiber such as Tencel, for strength and softness. For the warmer months, I use silk, linen, cotton, bamboo, soy and other cooler fibers.
And I have become fascinated with surface design. As I have mastered the intarsia on my knitting machine, (a form of color work), I have also begun to use painting, embroidery, applique, sequins and beads to adorn the surfaces of my wearable art. See my home page for comments on surface design.
In one way or another, I have been working with textiles all my life. I was taught to sew, knit and crochet at a very young age by my mother, and by high school, I made most of my everyday wardrobe items as well as coats and prom dresses. My crafting activities were put on hold while pursuing a busy career in accounting and computer consulting, and raising two boys. Ironically, it was my boys' passion for ice hockey that brought me full-circle back to fiber. I filled those long hours at the ice rink with rediscovering my love of working with textiles, this time through knitting, and before long a pastime became a vocation, and a small but growing business.
In 2010 I was accepted as a resident artist in Mindworks Gallery in Chesterfield Mall. I experienced a paradigm shift once I started hanging out with artists. I began to view my work as art, and this changed my whole approach to design. I graduated from crafter to artist.