Spotlight: Judith Phelps, Textile Artist

Judith Phelps focuses on the details in creating her art quilts, using a variety of techniques to catch the viewers attention. She enjoys challenges from her fiber art groups to create her intricate pieces, sometimes working until the very last minute.

How did you find yourself on an artist’s path?

I have always had the desire to create. I have experimented with pencil and paper, brushes and paint, needle and thread, clay, lettering, and assorted crafts. I make owls, snowmen, embroidered bears and assorted critters for Christmas Bazaars. As a young child I can remember drawing a person on a piece of paper and asking my mother, “I can’t get the hands right – can you draw them?” When she informed me she couldn’t, I determined that someday I would be able to draw hands. 

In high school I took classes in calligraphy, art, and learned to sew clothing in home economics. I have taken community classes and classes at community colleges when time allowed to give myself more knowledge and skills. I have an associate degree, but the college I attended did not offer art classes.

Why has my art path taken me to quilting?

I began art quilting because of the challenge. Paint a picture on paper or canvas, frame it and the art piece is finished. Paint on fabric and you still have a full set of steps to complete: sandwiching the top with batting and backing fabric, finding a quilting design that complements the quilt top, quilting the quilt, binding or facing the quilt and adding that important label. I find satisfaction in working with fabric. It  can be manipulated, has texture, and when thread adds the finishing touch there is a sense of delight.

A finished quilt that I can be proud of is what I strive for, but I love the process of getting there. My father was constantly remodeling our homes and I remember as a child watching him contemplating how to achieve what he could see finished in his mind. I’ve learned that trait from him and love the challenges of incorporating what I already know with a new technique or idea.

What do you do differently?  What is your signature that makes your work stand out as yours?

The phrase ‘the devil is in the details’ doesn’t register with me because the details are what makes art sing for me. My husband tells me I go overboard with details, and he is right, I do. 

It always amazes me what more you can see if you take the time to look. The way a shadow will play in the leaves, or how a spider web will have dew drops on it in the morning can be details that have to be in a quilt. 

I’m not sure I have a signature that makes my work stand out, sometimes it is the details that will grab the viewer’s attention and the person will stop and take a second look  I will use a variety and combination of techniques on one quilt. Appliqué, paint, thread painting, piecing and 3D objects can all be included in one quilt. I love the sheen and texture of thread, and will often thread paint a whole quilt if I have time. It is one of my favorite techniques. 

What inspires you to create?  Where do you find the inspiration for your designs?

The color, beauty and diversity of God’s creation astonishes me. Often, just looking at cloud formations will inspire me, or the different colors of blue will catch me by surprise. A photo of an insect can catch my attention. Some beetles have the sheen of metals and myriads of colors and designs on their shells and they come in all shapes and sizes. Nature is an endless smorgasbord of inspiration.  

I also belong to several small quilting groups that have three or four challenges a year. When you belong to more than one small group, you tend to try to combine some of the challenges and this has inspired more than one quilt. The Value of Gears started out from a book club challenge as a whole cloth thread painted quilt and then became a nine-block thread painted quilt because of a “series of three” challenge from another group.

The quilters in my small groups spur me on to improve my quilting and inspire me in directions I may not even think of trying.

Tell us about the Storytellers small group.

I started making art quilts around 2012 and I was asked to join these ladies about the same time.  My husband’s comment when I told him was, “You said you wanted to improve your quilting.  This is how you do it.” 

They are a wonderful group of ladies to learn from. We spend time exhibiting quilts as a group and will often spend the day at the exhibit talking to the public. They are willing to share their expertise in quilting and are a good sounding board when searching for just the right answer to a problem in a quilt. I am known in all my quilting groups for ‘just making the deadline’ for a project but because of my respect and sense of responsibility to these ladies I will usually get a quilt finished.

Do you plan your work out ahead of time or just start playing?

I am methodical in my methods. I will start with multiple idea drawings in a journal. After I have one that I am pleased with I draw and enlarge the design on paper (so I can erase a lot) and when satisfied will transfer it to the fabric. It is at this stage that I usually decide what techniques I will use and sometimes that decision is based on a time deadline. I also think about color choices, value placements and design choices at this stage. 

Unfinished projects?

When I started quilting, I attended Block of the Month clubs that concentrated on traditional blocks, so I have a few quilt tops that need to be sandwiched and quilted and a few extra blocks that are available for use. Anytime I make a quilt, I want the quilt to be my work from the beginning to the end. I feel that the quilting on a quilt is just as important as making the top, so I do have some UFO’s I hope one day to complete.

When was the first time that you remember realizing that you are a creative person?

I’ve always known that I can create for my own accomplishment, but I think anyone who creates wants the satisfaction of knowing their work is appreciated by other people. For me, this validation came when ‘The Value of Gears’ received the Moda Best Wall Quilt Award in the Paducah AQS quilt show in 2014. I love that what I create might speak to others or at least might make them stop and take a second look.

Are there reoccurring themes in your work?

Horses are a reoccurring theme in my quilts. I am drawn to the beauty of their eyes, mane and tails flying in the wind and the sense of freedom I get from them. I am also drawn to scenes that have a sense of time, solitude or give a sense of past experiences. Old homes or buildings always makes me wonder about the lives lived and the hopes and dreams of the past.

I do love color but will often work in white and black values or sepia values.

Do you have a dedicated space for creating?

I do. We have lived in our home in Battle Ground, WA for 33 years, so my children used the bonus room over our garage during their years at home. I never dreamed at that time it would become my art and sewing room one day. I am blessed. I have one large table set up for cutting fabric etc., one table set up for painting and general artwork, two sewing machines are set up and ready for use at any moment and fabric, craft and art supplies fill up the room. Our computer is also in the bonus room, so I do share the room with my husband.

If we asked a good friend of yours to describe your work, what would they say?

I asked a couple of close friends this question.  I was curious.

Responses:

Judith’s work is amazing.  She continues to surprise us with unique and varied techniques.  The details in her work draw viewers into her art. I can’t pick a favorite. She’s been “wowing” me for over a decade.  I’m so happy to see her garnering some national recognition for her talent.  Watch out world because Judith will continue to “knock your socks off.”

It’s awesome to watch Judith’s creative design processes – the details and accuracy for which she strives.  I appreciate the fact that she is always willing to share and to teach.