Naida Koraly has been sewing all of her life. After a career of graphic design, architectural drafting and interior decorating, she discovered fiber art. She traded her rubber cement for fusible web, and paper for fabric.
Tell us a little about your background before becoming a fiber artist.
My main source of qualification as a fiber artist comes from the fact that God gave me a brain and a pair of hands that can create, and told me to use them.
I grew up in Miami and briefly attended the University of Florida studying graphic design. After moving to the coast of North Carolina in 1977, I opened my own creative company specializing in logo branding, brochure development and advertising design and production. I coined the phrase “The Crystal Coast of North Carolina”, a branding that is still be widely used by state advertising and local businesses.
I closed my company to raise my children and concentrate on our family business. This evolved into a career in self-taught architectural drafting of over 200 houses, interior decorating of numerous model homes and creation of full marketing packages for three housing neighborhoods. Most of my creative careers were spent at a wooden drawing board when “cut and paste” meant cut with an exacto blade and paste with rubber cement. It was a sensory experience that I preferred over designing on a computer.
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When we retired our family business, Life asked, “What’s next?”
How did you get started making fiber art? Why did you choose that medium?
In 2011 I was introduced to stitched fabric art at a quilt shop in downtown Bozeman, Montana. Sewing was always a part of my life, but I was never interested in quilting with little squares. My miniature Singer Featherweight sewing machine was a gift from my big sister when I was in 9th grade and has been with me ever since. A wall hanging in the store’s window caught my eye, but I learned that it was a designer’s copyrighted work and therefore not for sale. However, the designer’s patterns were available for sale and I said, “I can do this!” I proceeded to buy the patterns and a stack of fabrics, pulled out my trusty Featherweight, followed the directions step by step and pieced together my first art quilt. I knew right away that fabric was meant to be my medium of artistic expression and I wanted to create my own designs.
My passion for developing this new craft was not a hobby to keep me busy as I grow old, but rather a new avenue for me to explore beyond the squares as a whole new world encompassed my life long passion for the arts…a vibrant career to pursue as I keep experiencing each new day. Life had already given me many lessons in discipline, creativity, philosophy and history. Many great artists began their artistic careers late in life and produced quality work for the remainder of their lives.
My medium of creating artwork with fabrics using raw edge applique and thread painting suits me because of the hands-on approach in combining the tactile sensation of touch with the visual expression of color. New fabrics even test the sense of smell. My drawing board has been replaced by a “canvas” of cotton batting sandwiched between unbleached muslin fabric. I use a plastic quilter’s rule instead of an engineering scale, a rotary cutter rather than an exacto blade and fusing webbing replaces rubber cement.
Fabrics offer me something other mediums do not. After designing my initial pattern, I chose from my “stash” of colorful fabrics, then cut, blend and fuse them onto my “canvas”. Finishing is accomplished with my “paintbrush” — the multi colored threads on my stitching machine, where free motion thread painting adds a unique perspective and dimension.
What inspires your designs?
Fundamental to my being is the belief that all people in this world come from the same source, that we have been created as individuals with particular strengths and characteristics, each with crucial roles to fill for ourselves, our families and our communities. There is a lot of symbolism throughout my artwork because I see meaning in everything and believe that the divine flow of the river of life moves through and connects us to each other on both a spiritual and molecular level.
Most of my stitched fabric art creations are in a mandala-like format. In Hindu, mandala simply means circle, and in most cultures throughout history the circle has symbolized wholeness, completion and continuation. I had the rare opportunity to watch a Tibetan monk create an intricate sand mandala. He used colored sand, tiny tools and extreme focus on this eight foot square complex repetitive design. When this fabulous work of art was completed, other monks joined him, chanting prayers as they carefully carried the sand mandala to the river bank. There, after all that time and effort of creation, they poured all of the sand back into the earth, returning it to its source in a very moving ceremony.
Because I find every day to be a new adventure and life to be a gift filled with diverse and interesting people, my signature mantra is “ah life”. That mantra is stitched in lower case cursive hidden somewhere in every one of my fabric creations. I will keep reaching higher as I keep getting older. Ah Life!
Can you tell us about the inspiration and process of one of your works? How does a new work come about?
As a lifelong learner, my greatest passions are to study, meditate and create. By converting unrelated bits of fabrics and threads into meaningful works of art, I am able to be transformed into a storyteller. I have designed and created works from tine 9″x12″ to huge 80″x80″, and each has a story to tell.
I have recently completed a 38 piece series named “Eve’s Journey – Stepping on the Snake” which follows history through the eyes of women from a variety of social levels and ethnic backgrounds in different countries around the world. I placed myself beside Eve’s namesakes and her sisters as they take this journey. Through my self-study of history over the past ten years, I noted that women have been revered in some cultures and repressed in others, and often had to shout to be heard. My use of vivid colors and bold symbolic imagery provoke those voices across time.
Although each of the 24″x24″ artworks were designed to stand alone, my vision has always been to have them exhibited as a panoramic series. When displayed side by side, the river of life that flows through each individual artwork makes a visual connection to the next in the series. It was quite a challenge to have that flow continue from one creation to the next, and advance planning was a necessity.
Coming up with 38 different designs with individual qualities that will also flow into the next and have colors that blend was a challenge I embraced. To research each piece, I would read historical fiction and non-fiction books about that particular time period and formulate ideas about my own characters and stories. I always kept a journal handy and noted ideas and descriptions. I also researched symbols online which were relevant to that time in history.
“Eve’s Journey – Stepping on the Snake” will be exhibited for the first time during November and December 2024 at the Bank of the Arts Gallery in New Bern, North Carolina. Available at the exhibition, as well as on my website www.naidakdesigns.com and online at Amazon.com will be my fictional book of letters entitled “Stories, Stitches & Sisters”, which serves as a companion to the series. Each of the 38 artworks are printed in full color along with a letter from a namesake of Eve to her sister, a namesake of Lilith, the original sister, in which they describe what is happening in their lives and tell of the history of their times and the stories from their ancestors. Eve’s Insignia Collection will offer items such as tote bags, stickers and magnets imprinted with the Eve’s Journey Insignia Logo.
What do you do to keep yourself motivated and interested in your work?
My motivation comes directly from my inspirations, which are many. Just look around! Completing “Eve’s Journey” served as motivation and inspiration for years. I also enter challenges, juried art shows and competitions with my work, and a lot of my inspiration is sparked by the themes of these shows.
Although I have had numerous artworks accepted to a variety of shows throughout the country, the upcoming “Eve’s Journey” show will be my very first solo exhibition, and it will be during the month of my 75th birthday. I am honored to be an active, creative, vintage individual who has a lot more to offer in my lifetime. Women my age are often ignored and excluded and must scream to be noticed, to be heard and understood across generations and genders.
The secret is to just keep going, just keep doing. I chose to be an inspiration to people of all ages who view my artwork, and want to spark their creativity, believing it’s never too late to light that flame.
How often do you start a new project? Do you work actively on more than one project at a time?
Although I like to work on about five projects at the same time to keep my creative juices flowing without reaching dead ends or getting bored, I insist on being a “finisher”. There are no UFOs in my studio, only artworks at various stages of completion. In order to have that many projects going at one time, it’s imperative that I keep my studio organized. I am blessed that my home studio is surrounded by windows overlooking the creek in our backyard. I generally spend several hours every day there. Although the pelicans, geese, rabbits and squirrels can be a distraction at times, they mostly offer inspiration and serenity.
My medium produces a lot of fabric scraps and paper waste. I keep a paper recycling bin under my workspace, and try to keep my fabric scraps organized by color in separate containers. Several years ago I began using my fabric scraps to create a series of “Scrappy Greetings” with inspirational and whimsical sayings and stitching sewn onto a card, packaged with a colorful envelope. Although I have created and sold hundreds of Scrappy Greetings, the scrap piles don’t seem to get any smaller!
My favorite part of the design process is choosing fabrics. Over the years I have developed quite a “stash” of fabrics which are organized by color in my studio. Since many of my designs only require a small piece of each fabric, I search through my own stash before going to buy new fabrics. In my “Eve’s Journey” collection I counted over 600 different fabrics used in 38 different artworks. Whenever my husband and I travel, he helps me seek out a small local quilt shop where I can buy unusual fabrics not available in my area. When I use those fabrics in my artwork I get an additional inspiration through fond memories of where I have been. My daughter has even started sending me fabrics from her travels, which brings me another layer of joy.
Just as in the kitchen, making sandwiches is the least favorite part of my design process. That’s the name given to my working surface, my “canvas” as such. The process requires using fabric spray adhesive to hold together two layers of unbleached cotton muslin fabric, one layer of cotton batting material, and one more layer of muslin. Then it needs to be smoothed out and prepared to received fused fabrics. This can be extra challenging on a windy day, and takes four hands for any sandwich greater than five feet wide.
Since I create my work on a flat surface, I always place it on my design wall when the initial fabric placement is finished so I can step back and make sure it is how I want it to look before doing a final steam fusing and begin stitching. I do not pre-plan my free motion stitching and thread painting, but just let it flow through my hands. Stitching is complete when all of the raw edges have been stitched in place and the amount of thread painting feels right to me. It is different for every creation, and I follow no rules.
Tell us more about Vintage Women Rock.
My inspiration to create “Vintage Women Rock” began as a challenge by a national fabric company with the theme “Graffiti”. The idea and title for my submission came to me while I was watching a video of Tina Turner at age 70 dancing in her exuberant style to “Proud Mary” on a stage in Paris. The color pallet was limited to 8 solid fabrics produced by this company, which in itself was a challenge. I immediately envisioned a dilapidated old brick building with broken windows, an old woman’s face painted on the side of the building with her hair flying. I researched different graffiti style lettering, and designed the words “Vintage Women Rock” which would be “painted” on the wall by graffiti artists. Then I took a “selfie” to use as a model for the “vintage woman”. Since embellishments where allowed, I cut lace from my “vintage”, yellowing wedding dress that I wore 55 years ago to give my lady white and grey hair. My entry did not win a prize, but was chosen to be part of a traveling exhibit which has been seen around the country for the past year, and recently won an honorable mention at the Art from the Heart show sponsored by the Arts Council of Carteret County.
I plan to continue in my craft and enjoy the journey for many years to come. Ah Life! Amen.
To reach Naida or learn more about her work:
Email – [email protected]
Website – https://naidakdesigns.com
Instagram – @naidakdesigns7
Interview posted May 2024
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