Spotlight: Cheryl Rezendes, Fiber Artist

Cheryl Rezendes primarily works in fiber but considers herself a painter. She works in a series and is influenced by the world around her. She uses mono printing methods, direct painting, and thread painting to create her powerful art quilts, often working on several series at a time.

How did you find yourself on an artist’s path? Always there? Lightbulb moment? Dragged kicking and screaming? Evolving?

I have considered myself an artist and writer since I was a small child.

I was fortunate to have parents who encouraged my creativity. They provided me with supplies and classes throughout my childhood and teen years. They also supported my decision to attend art school rather than a traditional college.

At 17 years old I went to Boston to attend a four-year studio art program at The School of Museum of Fine Arts.

What different creative media do you use in your work?

Even though I primarily work with fiber, I consider myself a painter.

I use mono printing methods, direct painting, and thread painting to create my art quilts.

I also create small abstract paintings with acrylic on panel, as well paper collages. These works are often printed digitally onto fabric to become a springboard for a new art quilt. I might use photographs in much the same way. 

Do you do series work? How does that affect your approach?

I almost always work in a series. It isn’t really an intellectual decision. I just naturally work that way. But I may have several series going on at the same time.

What motivates you artistically?

I am influenced by the natural world around me.

The actual process of creating artwork is my biggest motivator — color and line that comes forth as I am working.

I create my own inventory of work to draw from. For instance, I might spend a day in the studio mono printing on fabric without any plan for its outcome or what I might use it for.

Another day might be spent mono printing on paper, then creating paper collages. Again, without a plan for their eventual outcome. I’ll hang those pieces up on my board or, if I don’t really like them, I’ll tuck them away for possible future use. Those pieces will then inspire me to create my next art quilt.

My work is very visceral. It comes from a deep place in my psyche. 

When it comes to creating, are you more of a planner or an improviser?

I am an improviser. However, as a piece evolves, I will begin to plan out its progression.

Do you use a sketchbook or journal? How does that help your work develop?

I do keep a sketchbook.

It has drawings, pastel work, or paintings in both watercolor and acrylic. I might add ink or colored pencils as I work on a page returning to it several times over the course of a few days.

It is extraordinarily helpful to go back periodically and review those entries.

Working in a sketchbook keeps me from having too much angst about what I am creating. Also, it is small and can easily be carried around when I am traveling or walking through the woods with my dog Honeycomb.

How often do you start a new project? Do you work actively on more than one project at a time?

Because I am always painting and mono printing, new work is constantly being created. This process encourages me to work on more than one art quilt at a time.

I think it is a very helpful way to get perspective on any given piece. Sometimes you just have to walk away from a piece and do something else before you can come back and really see the first one.

Which part of the design process is your favorite? Which part is a challenge for you?

I don’t think I have a favorite part of the design process but certainly my least favorite is finishing up the edges of an art quilt, along with hand sewing the hanging sleeves.

Describe your creative space.

I have a magnificent 800 square foot studio with a lofted ceiling on the north facing side. It is filled with windows and glass doors letting in the beautiful view of the woods.

How does your formal art education help your work develop? Does it ever get in the way?

My formal art education was a long time ago. It certainly was instrumental in helping to shape my art perspective as I moved forward in my creative life. I learnt a great deal about art making — specifically drawing and painting. But also, about trusting in the process. 

How has your creativity evolved over the years? What triggered the evolution to new media/kinds of work/ways of working?

For many years I was working on paper with watercolor, pastel, and collage. At the time I was also sewing and restoring antique wedding gowns for a living.

At one point, I was able to take a year off from the sewing work to focus exclusively on my art. I did a great job of creating a new body of work that was well received, but I found I missed fabric running through my hands.

I began researching fiber art, then discovered that one could print digitally onto fabric. I started experimenting with printing my paper collages onto fabric. I then added stitch and more painterly techniques. 

Do you enter juried shows? Do you approach your work differently for these venues?

I enter my art quilts in juried competitions. But I never make work specifically for the Call. If I have a piece that fits their guidelines, I’ll enter it.

What advice would you give to emerging artists?

Just keep working.

Follow the advice of the contemporary painter Chuck Close who said, “Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.”

What’s next for you?

I am planning to have a solo show featuring my latest body of work which is about caregiving for someone with dementia. My mom had Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia and my husband had Parkinson’s disease dementia. The work is titled “The Dance of Dementia.”

Where can people find your work?

People can find my work on my website www.cherscapes.com or just google my name Cheryl Rezendes.

Check out Cheryl’s book Fabric Surface Design.