An exploration in texture.
Sculptural quilts of botanical subjects.
Realistic to abstract.

After years of fermentation, three once separate parts of my life,
macro-photography, quilting, and botany; now come together in my fiber art. 

Once a traditional flat quilter, my work has left the surface to become sculptures
that taunt the viewer to reach out and touch.
My garden as it changes from season to season is the inspiration for my work.
Starting with botanical forms of leaves, flowers, or weeds,
reducing the designs to more abstract forms, and finding the essence of the structure.
I create art to show aspects of the natural world few stop to observe.

I use all textiles, new and vintage conventional quilting fabrics, repurposed quilts I made or collected,
reclaimed tablecloths, curtains, and clothing from family and friends, salvaged upholstery textiles,
and decorator samples diverted from the dump.
Viewing my wall of collected fabric, fabrics will catch my eye bringing color, texture, or pattern to my art.

Each piece is a unique collection of hand-cut fabrics,
stitched together with liberal use of thread by dense machine quilting and top-stitching
through multiple layers of fabric and batting, and occasionally stuffed or wired.
The fabrics form the stiffness needed to defy gravity to create the desired shape.

I am creating a whimsical garden with ties to my family and community.

— Andrea Finch —