Margaret Anderson, member Sedona Fiber Arts Studio
As a young child, artist Margaret Anderson was surrounded by music and learned to play classical piano, practicing diligently. Little did she realize this would help prepare her for her present career as a contemporary art quilt artist. In her formative years she learned the precision of hand eye coordination, the importance of rhythm and timing and the lyrical movement of shape and sound. Because of this knowledge and experience, quilting seemed natural to her when she discovered it. As her searching for purpose ended she became enthralled with the contemporary art quilt movement. And as her passion for this art form grew she began plotting how she could spend more time pursuing her obsession.
Walking into her studio, you first encounter the piano where it all started. As you continue on and are surrounded by her work, it becomes difficult to tell where her house ends and her studio starts. But always central is the echo of music which is reflected in each piece.
“Margaret Anderson has a lovely and lyrical color sense. I could sense air and light in her work – some looked almost lit from behind,”says Penny McMorris, past art curator for the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corporation.
Ms. Anderson’s ideas and techniques have evolved into contemporary fiber art works that hang on the wall and utilize acrylic paint on silk and cotton layered with hand stitched collage. She approaches her abstract designs intuitively and with a sense of adventure. As she spontaneously builds multiple layers of collage, it is as if she is writing for the different instruments in a musical piece. Her ideas gradually become defined until the final design emerges.
According to Dorothy Twining Globus, Curator of Exhibitions at the Museum of Art and Design in New York City, “Margret Anderson builds up layer upon layer to create a remarkable luminosity of color.”
Ms. Anderson has studied art at the Ohio State University and Bowling Green State University. She has won many awards such as an invitation to the Pushing the Surface 2009 National Invitational; the “Whistler Award” at Art Quilts at the Whistler in Lowell Massachusetts; the jurors choice award at “Quilts-Art-Quilts” Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn NY; and the Jurors Choice award at Quilt National 2007, Athens Ohio.
As a member of “Fiber Arts Sedona” (FAS), Ms. Anderson will be showing her studio and art work in the community along with four other fiber artists during October. FAS is presenting a fiber art exhibition at the Kinion Gallery, 361 Forest Road , in the vault during the month of October. Opening night will be October 2nd, first Friday. This exhibit will be the appetizer for a “Fiber Crawl” better known as an open studios art event, which will occur on the weekend of October 2nd & 3rd, daily from 10-5pm. The public is invited to visit and see the artists working in their work space. For more information contact Margaret Anderson at 928-203-4355.
