Alabama Craft Guild

Terry's passion is fiber.  Once she discovered spinning and making her own yarns she enjoyed the creative freedom so much that she added dyeing, weaving, knitting, ply-splitting, felting, silk fusion, inkle weaving and just about any fiber technique she could to creating her fiber art.  Her unique hand woven pieces begin with combining, hand painting and/or dyeing yarns.  This process transforms the yarns into one-of-a-kind pieces of art themselves.  This transformation also adds some fun and lightness into the forming project.

"The first thing I discovered when I began my adventure into weaving was a world of color, texture, pattern and creativity.  The artistic pallet was so large it was not easy to decide where to go first.  As I grew with this form of expression I found even more to like by adding dyes and developing my own weaving patterns, textures and shapes.  Natural fibers like cashmere, other soft wools, silk, linen, bamboo, cotton and tencel make the touching and draping of the piece come alive for an art experience that encompasses not only sight and touch but also for most of the senses.

"I find inspiration in observing different forms of art including painting, jewelry, metal work and pottery and incorporating that into my woven pieces. Lately color has added to my work in a big way. I will often start a piece with white fiber or threads, first winding and measuring some yarn on a warping board. Then I will process the fiber, lay it out on a long table and hand paint the fibers with dyes I mix. I will then create a weaving pattern, or decide on a texture for the cloth, take the dyed warp and dress my loom. This is just a way of getting ready to actually weave on the loom.

"Once the warp is on the loom the world of possibilities is still open. From the choice of weft, color or white or black, do I want the piece to really pop or do I want a more subtle look and feel? Do I want a stiffer fabric or one that is barely there? There are so many choices for the adventures in my chosen art form.

"After the piece comes off the loom there is still plenty of finishing work to do, from the washing and creating the fringe to the hard pressing.  Many, many hours go into each piece but it’s still fulfilling to see that beautiful piece of art go home with someone to continue enjoying it."

Terry has exhibited her work in several galleries including Maralyn Wilson's Gallery and Lyda Rose.  She is a juried artist with the Alabama Designer Craftsmen.  She received an Honorable Mention at the juried Leeds Art Show, and has been juried and shown her work at the Magic City Art Connection.