Ana Buzzalino has been creating her entire life. She discovered quilting and her passion. Now she creates complex mixed media art with a variety of techniques, Ana loves layers and mystery in her work.
When was the first time that you remember realizing that you are a creative person?
This is an interesting question. I don’t remember a moment in my life when I was not creating something. I’ve been always curious about little things.
As a child, my dad used to say that it was impossible to go for a walk with me because I would stop every 5 seconds to look at something that had caught my attention: an ant carrying a leaf, a rock, a shell on the beach, a piece of driftwood …
As a teenager, I used to write poems – not very good ones, mind you, but … it was part of my creativity.
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And sewing has always been a part of my life. From the time when I was about 3 years old, I used to sit on the floor beside my mom’s sewing machine and wait for the fabric scraps she would give me so I could make clothes for my bears. Lots of ponchos that could be turned into skirts.
I dabbled in all kinds of things batik during my teenage years after a course at the library, knitting, crochet, macramé, hardanger, petit point, cross stitch, etc.
How did you get started designing textile art? Always an artist, or was there a “moment”?
My first experience with using textiles in a different way – other than to make clothing – happened at a horse jumping competition when I was a teenager. I must have been about 14 or 15 years old, and my best friend and I had gone to a horse jumping competition. We were both into horses and horse-jumping and we followed the circuit in Buenos Aires – Argentina (where I was born and lived at the time).
We were sitting on the stands watching the competition and I noticed a woman doing some hand-sewing. I went over and asked her what she was doing. She showed me her project: she was English paper piecing with denim in small diamond shapes. I was so excited! I went home and told my mom all about it. Out came the poster board, scissors and fabrics and we cut and cut and started to sew diamonds. It didn’t last very long, but it kept me entertained for a while.
Years later, once in Canada, I discovered a quilt shop and took my first class. That first year, I took every class I could get my hands on. I discovered my passion. More than 37 years later, that passion hasn’t waned. From the very first, I would change a pattern to make it my own: the scale, the colours, the setting.
In 1993, my husband at the time, the children and I moved to Buenos Aires as expats for what was going to be a 2-year contract. It turned into 9 years. By the time we came back to Canada in 2002, I and my art had changed.
By then, the quilting world was also changing. I started to incorporate paint into my quilts, and from there came a love of surface design. Textile artists were allowed to do all kinds of things with fabric, paint and thread, and to me, that was a discovery that changed everything.
What do you do differently? What is your signature that makes your work stand out as yours?
I don’t know really. It’s the work I like to make.
I create from my own heart and my own place. I love layers, and mystery.
The work that catches my attention has me looking at it and the different layers of images and marks. I don’t know really if I have a signature style, but I am constantly learning and changing the way I work to suit my needs at the time.
How does your environment influence your creativity?
If you mean the space where I create, then I have to say it’s been a constant. My studio is full of inspiration: from the shelves full of books and mementos from my travels to sketchbooks full of images that inspire me. I love trees, and from my window I have a wonderful view of bare trees in the winter.
The area around the city where I live provides inspiration too: from old barns and decaying buildings to old grain elevators with peeling paint, missing pieces, and rusted machinery. Mountains, doors, windows, cracks on the sidewalk … no matter where I look, inspiration is there!
Where do you find your inspiration for your designs?
Everywhere! I have been working on “idea” books: sketchbooks where I glue images that inspire me: from magazines, what I find online, my own photos … then I make notes beside them on how I think I could translate that image onto cloth.
Apart from those idea books, I also have a large collection of my own images to work from: old buildings, trees, windows, doors, graffiti, etc. Everything I see has a potential to inform my work.
What different creative media do you use in your work?
I like to mix and match techniques and media. I consider myself to be a mixed media artist as I tend to incorporate paint, papers, and different ways to make marks into my work. Image transfer is one way I incorporate images, be it through transfer papers, or printing on tissue paper. I also create acrylic skins that I incorporate into my work.
I use a lot of fabrics I have painted and monoprinted, or dyed. And fabrics that I design using Paintstiks – oil paint on stick form. They offer a multitude of ways to add colour and design to a piece of cloth.
I also use screen printing with Thermofax screens, plus deconstructed screen printing with thickened dyes to create interesting backgrounds.
Do you plan your work out ahead of time, or do you just dive in with your materials and start playing?
It depends on what kind of work I’m doing. Sometimes I plan or have a basic idea of what I’d like my finished piece to be, and sometimes I just start with a piece of fabric, or an image and add until the piece is telling me it’s done.
I don’t have a preference really. I use a lot of my dropcloths in my work, and that means that I find an area of the cloth that I like, put it on the design wall and then by looking at it for a while, I get a few ideas of what I can add to make a finished piece. Sometimes I add other fabrics and sections to make the piece larger.
Describe your creative space.
Mmmhhh, that’s a bit tricky, as I have creative areas all around the house. From my main floor, that has lots of art work by other artists and a cabinet full of wonderful pieces, to my top floor where I have my studio.
Talking about my studio, I have a large main table that holds my computer on the left corner. To the right, at a right angle, sits my Bernina Q20 long-arm sit down machine, to the left, on a small table, sits my small Bernina and the one I use all the time. So I basically sit inside a “U”. Behind me, lots of storage: shelves that hold the books I use more often, plus fabrics and sketchbooks; drawers with fabrics and materials. Across from me is my large design wall and another table where I teach some of the surface design classes. There’s also a printer in another corner. Against the design wall, I have the ironing board and iron.
A pony wall to the stairs holds stacks of fabrics to be made into projects, work in progress, etc.
My basement holds more books, finished pieces, and the wet area where I paint, dye fabric and do the “messy” stuff.
How often do you start a new project? Do you work actively on more than one project at a time?
I am constantly creating, especially if I’m preparing for an exhibit or have a deadline. At the time of writing this, I’m getting ready for an exhibit and working with the colour red – mostly monochromatic with touches of white, black and gray. And yellow!
I usually have more than one piece on the go. One piece might inspire me to start another one. I also have pieces on the design wall that are “percolating” – which means that I am not sure exactly where I am going with them, or something is not working quite just yet, so they sit where I can look and examine them at different times and under different lights. An idea might be sparked, so I will add something to that piece or move pieces around until I declare it finished.
I very seldom have only one piece on the go.
Can you tell us about the inspiration and process of one of your works? How does a new work come about?
Everything starts with an idea. The work I’m talking about started in 2020 really, during the lockdown and the pandemic. My daughter who was staying with me at the time and I decided to participate in The 100 Day Project for the first time. We thought to work on sketchbooks which is not a common practice to either one of us. At the time, I was dealing with some personal trauma. That on top of the pandemic and the stay-at-home directive was taking a toll. I thought I would work on a sketchbook and do some mark making in black and white. I started simply enough, but then the sketches and mark making started to get more involved. Some text started to appear when the state of the world intruded in my thoughts.
Eventually, those drawings became the highlight of my day. I would create them at night, when the house was quiet and the world slept. They would take anywhere from 1 hours to 3 or 4 to complete. I was in a cocoon of light, in silence, alone with my sketchbooks and tools and my thoughts.
This year, I decided to translate one of those drawings into a textile piece. I chose Sketch No. 116 – a drawing I made 16 days after The 100 Day Project was over. I made in total 127 drawings and sketches.
First, I turned the sketch into a collage using magazine papers. It gave me an idea of what the finished textile piece could look like, and how to go about constructing it. The original drawing is 8” x 8”. The collage is 10” x 10”.
I picked fabrics for the textile piece, and started piecing the small squares. I made the half-circles using freezer paper as a template and machine appliqued them in place. Then I appliquéd the final circles by hand after the machine stitching was done – a combination of walking foot and free-motion quilting. A facing was added instead of a binding. Voilà! Sketch No. 116 in three versions.
Which part of the design process is your favorite? Which part is a challenge for you?
I’d have to say that I really enjoy the developing of ideas, seeing where they take me, exploring different media and then bringing that idea to completion. Once the idea is set, then there’s finding the right fabrics to use for it – maybe it’ll mean painting or monoprinting or dyeing some new fabrics to use, or shopping for some commercial alternatives. Then there’s the piecing process – which techniques to use.
If I’m going to pick one part that’s a challenge, would be the finishing: once the piece is done, I want to move to something new so sewing facings on, sleeves and labels is sometimes a chore. Lately, because I’ve been creating a lot of work, I’ve been forcing myself to square, trim, face and sew the sleeve on as soon as the piece is done.
How is your work different than it was in the beginning? How is it the same?
My current work is totally different from where I started, almost 40 years ago. I began my journey as a traditional quilter, learning all the techniques necessary to complete my work with precision.
Nowadays, I still fall back onto what I learned all those years ago. Technique is important to me. I am a perfectionist – in my own way – with my own work. I want it to look a certain way. My current work still incorporates aspects of traditional work, but using different materials such as monoprinting, and lots of surface design, layers and texture.
I am also creating my own images by manipulating photos in PowerPoint and other apps, to achieve intricate images that will catch the viewer’s attention.
How do you make time for creating? Do you try to create daily?
Creating is such a part of my life. I’m always creating, even if it is a few minutes here and there on a busy day.
As part of having a creative business, I must take care of administrative duties, but once that is out of the way, I sit and try and do something every day. Sometimes it’s just looking for papers for a new collage; it could be cutting some fabrics or dreaming of new ideas. My mind is never quiet. Especially when I have a deadline, then the work takes on a life of its own.
Do you prefer the kind of project that is challenging and requires attention, or the kind where you get in your meditative zone and enjoy the process?
I like both. At certain times, I can only do simple tasks and projects, but I really like to stretch my limits and challenge myself to create different projects with new techniques and processes. But, I also do enjoy the process. Slow stitching gives me pleasure as it allows me to connect to the cloth in my hand and while stitching, I can lose myself in my own thoughts.
What do you do to keep yourself motivated and interested in your work?
Motivation is not an issue as I am normally dreaming of new work, new techniques to try or new ways to use the techniques I already have under my belt. The best way for me to stay interested and focused in creating work is to keep dreaming, innovate and be brave. Try new things or combine techniques to create work that inspires me – and that hopefully, in turn, will inspire those who see it.
Do you critique your own work? What is your process?
Oh! Do I ever critique my own work. I am brutal sometimes. Not sure if that is a good thing or not. But if I am not happy with a piece, it doesn’t matter what anyone says. It needs to get changed.
Sometimes, I don’t have all the answers right away. I only know that something is not working which means I need to try something different. The piece might stay on the design wall for a while, where I can see it often, under different lights and conditions. That may spark an idea. Although my good ideas usually happen around 2:00 a.m. when sleep won’t come! Letting work “percolate” works for me.
I find that taking a photo of the work in progress might help look at it in a different light. There’s something about looking at a photo of your own work that seems to highlight what is not working or needs to be changed.
Do you lecture or teach workshops? How can students/organizers get in touch with you to schedule an event?
I do teach workshops and offer lectures. All information, including pricing, can be found on my website at www.anabuzzalino.com. Under workshops is a list of current lectures and classes I offer, online and in person.
Online courses are where students will find the courses that are available via zoom at the time. I am also working on some on-demand classes that I hope to have available sometime soon.
Where can people see your work?
I invite everyone to follow me on social on Instagram and Facebook, where I post work in progress, and news from my studio. I also go live on Wednesdays from my studio and share news of what’s going on, work in progress, new work, ideas, and share insights into some of my processes.
I am the founder and CEO of Create2Flourish – a membership program for artists who want to learn more to develop their own voice and create work in their own style. I offer videos on different techniques and processes and a live Q&A / Coaching call every month.
Interview posted April 2024
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