Andi Shannon – Fiber Artist

Everything I create, from a handbag to a wall piece, is one of a kind. I work at improving my craft and expanding my art every day.
Learning intrigues me. The fact that no matter what I think I know, there is comparative infinity to what I don’t know and never will in this life. If I find an author I’ve never read, a food I’ve never eaten or a place I’ve never heard of before, that bit of information adds to my experience. Art is the way I weave experience and understanding together, whether it’s just delight in the way my day in the studio is going or the deeper joy of life unfolding. Each day I learn and understand, a small part of wisdom is added to my life.
I made my first quilt, a very simple one, in a log cabin on the Yukon River in Alaska. After deciding that quilting wasn’t for me, ten years passed before I couldn’t resist trying it again. I started with traditional type quilts and wondered, as many artists do, “What if I…?” I began to play with color and texture and line. I haven’t settled on a particular style and I usually have several projects tumbling together in my head and on my sewing table and results in scraps covering my studio floor. Each day I have a different favorite. I may pull out solid black and jewel toned fabric for stained glass or it might be boxes and boxes of yarn and ribbon to layer and create new fabric to build textured pieces. I might just pick a color and see what’s waiting in the closet. I could decide to make a piece for the wall or a handbag or play with dye. Sometimes I start with a rough sketch, but, more often, I just start cutting and sewing to see what happens. I hope I start all my days wondering, “What if I…?”