January 29, 2004
Landscape Quilts - Margaret M. Roberts
As a child, I lived in a house perched on a hill with sweeping vistas that were spectacular morning and evening: sunrise over the mountains; sunset over the lake. I thought everyone had that beauty around them. But as an adult, all my houses have been cozy little hobbit holes: charming, not expansive, slightly subterranean. As a result, I tend to surround myself with landscapes and vistas - both real and imagined.
Fiber lends itself to graceful landscapes. Layering of textures and colors are evocative. Margaret Roberts' landscapes are exceptional fiber constructions. The color is rich and the textures is plentiful, but never heavy-handed. Roberts is also generous in letting us peek into her sketchbooks and see how her ideas develop. How she collects photographs and sketches, then supplements that with fabric scraps and snippets of yarn. She is not the silent genius behind the curtain, but rather a growing, experimenting artist - and an inspiration.
image: Field Furrows by Margaret M. Roberts
