• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Create Whimsy

Create Whimsy

Inspring makers and sharing their stories

  • Quilting
    • Free Quilt Patterns
    • Art Quilts
    • Modern Quilting
    • English Paper Piecing (EPP)
    • Foundation Piecing
    • Crazy Quilting
    • Improv Quilting
    • Quilt Tutorials
    • Machine Quilting
    • Hand Quilting
  • Embroidery
    • Hand Embroidery
    • Machine Embroidery
    • Sashiko
    • Embroidery Tutorials
  • Beading
    • Bead Embroidery
    • Off-Loom Bead Weaving
  • Sewing
    • Making Clothes
      • Costumes
    • Bags
    • Babies
  • MORE
    • Surface Design
      • Eco Printing and Dyeing
    • Appliqué
      • Fusing
    • Jewelry Making
      • Wirework
      • Handmade Bracelets
      • Handmade Necklaces
    • Mixed Media
      • Collage Art
    • Kumihimo
    • Weaving
    • Crochet
    • Knitting
    • DIY Organization
      • Decorative Containers
    • DIY Home Décor
      • DIY Throw Pillows
    • Recycle DIY
    • Felting
    • DIY Gift Ideas
    • Crafts
    • Occasions
      • Easter
      • Mothers Day
      • Fathers Day
      • Fourth of July
      • Halloween
      • Thanksgiving
      • Christmas
      • DIY Valentine Ideas
    • Paper Crafting
    • Metalsmithing
    • Painting & Drawing
    • Pottery-Ceramics
    • Toys & Games
    • Sculpture

Spotlight: Paula Kovarik, Textile Artist

Spotlight: Paula Kovarik, Textile Artist

Art Quilts Quilting Spotlightby Create Whimsy

Using thread as her drawn line, Paula Kovarik connects the elements of her work with pathways that meander, while leading the viewer on a journey that begs for a closer look – not just a cursory glance.

Paula Kovarik portrait

Many art quilters began with traditional quilt making. Was that your path?

My mother started quilting in her 70s and told me I would probably enjoy it. I really didn’t think so, but tried it nonetheless. She was right (of course). I’ve never been one to follow rules, and so I have always pushed against the quilt police aspect of this art form. That allows me to look at the process as an artist rather than a quilter.

This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners. Your purchases via these links may benefit Create Whimsy. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.

Amished by Paula Kovarik
Amished, one of the the first quilts Paula made
Photo credit: Allen Mims

What is the most significant thing you learned from running your own graphic design business? 

My firm specialized in communications for large corporate groups. We spent a lot of time educating employees of those clients through our work. The most important aspect of my work as a graphic designer was the ability to synthesize what the client needed with a graphic way to present it. Listening and reading were key. I still use that process in my artwork.

Better Not Said
Better Not Said
Better Not Said - Detail
Better Not Said – Detail

Tell us about your transition from graphic design to creating with thread and fabric. What inspired you to go in that direction, and why does it hold your interest?

After selling my design business, I was intent on starting a new career as an artist. I have always loved creating tactile objects. Give me a plastic straw and I will fiddle with it until it becomes a sculpture. Fabric and thread are so versatile, from the patterns and colors they bring to the work to the many ways of stitching with them, I could spend many lifetimes experimenting with those qualities.

Child's Drawings
Child’s Drawings

What kinds of things catch your imagination and inspire you to create? Where do your ideas come from?

I read a lot—novels, news, billboards, whatever has words on it. I also take notice of details around me. The ant trails in sidewalks, the mold growth on outdoor planters, the root systems of weeds, children’s drawings – the inspirations are endless.

I recently read a quote that said “look for the uncanny in life” – those instances when unlikely coincidences happen or things that seem to be there but not there. Dreams will do that, and so will nature and conversations. Like when you read a word not normally in your vocabulary and someone says it on the same day. Or when you think of a person you haven’t spoken to for a long time and they call you 20 minutes later. Those are some of the qualities I am pursuing in my art. 

Darkheart
Darkheart

In addition, my work is influenced heavily by current events and history. I recently had a solo show called Stitched Dissent in Memphis that focused on the politics of today represented in the media and within our personal relationships. Here is a journal post about that show.

Punditocracy
Punditocracy

When you begin to create, do you visualize the finished piece? Or does the work evolve?

Sometimes I have a specific idea or colorway in mind. But usually it is a very abstract notion of what I want to communicate in a piece. It might be as simple as a word that intrigues me or an emotion I am feeling.

Then I start experimenting with raw materials. I may start with a box of scraps, or a piece of fabric that has a stain on it. Lately, I have been cutting up finished quilts to create new ones. That took a leap of faith.

Pink Rivers Cut up pieces
Pink Rivers
Masks work in progress
Masks Work In Progress

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

I’d have to say I am probably best known for my free-motion stitching because I use the thread line to tell stories, create texture and connect diverse elements. I am mesmerized by what the thread wants me to do. It is very near a stream-of-consciousness experience.

Insomnia Detail
Insomnia – Detail

The first show you entered was Quilt National, the Holy Grail of art quilting. Did you understand the significance of this show when your work was accepted?

No, I did not. A friend of mine asked me one day what I was going to do with all of the work that was piling up on my studio tables. I did not think I could sell it. There weren’t many that could be used as bed quilts or lap quilts. So she recommended that I enter a show – Quilt National – and I decided to take a chance. I had no idea of its import in my career until the piece showed up on the cover of the catalog. I was thrilled. 

City
City was juried into Quilt National 2009 and won the McCarthy Memorial Award.
City photo credit: Gary Culley

How does your studio organization contribute to your work process?

I am a true believer in studios filled to the rim with visual stimuli. I have tables of collections, walls covered in clippings, pictures that inspire me and a design wall that holds finished and unfinished work. Too organized? Then I immediately mess it up.

Another view of Paula's Studio
Paula's Studio

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

I don’t keep an active journal, but I have 10 or 15 of them hanging around. Most of my drawings are about thread line experiments. I find that if I draw without expectations of a final result, then there will be many surprises that I can apply to my textile work.

One of my favorite things to do is to draw a continuous line that winds in and out of itself creating a pathway for the eye to follow. I use a pen, not a pencil. Erasers are not allowed. I created the Pathways quilt that way.

One line drawing by Paula
Drawing with one line
Pathways
Pathways

I also experiment with different ways to create filler patterns.

Drawing spirals
Drawing Spirals
Spiral Stitching

Here are some of the posts from my online journal that would give insight into my practice. There are 12 years of posts in that Journal.

  • Working (or not working) during Covid-19 pandemic
  • Cutting up finished quilts
  • Inspirations and year-end insights
At Play in the Garden of Stitch book cover

What is the greatest takeaway you want readers to gain from your new book, At Play In the Garden of Stitch: Thoughts that come while eyeing the needle?

It’s all about the process, not the product. As an artist I think it is important to just keep doing the work without the constraint of thinking that something is a success or failure. 

What do you mean by, “Clutter is the precursor to clarity.”?

I intentionally clutter my studio with images and objects that I collect. The clutter is stimulating and enriching. It’s similar to reading–words energize ideas. As I sift through the visual and mental clutter, my work emerges with more depth. Edges are defined and structure becomes clear.  

Do you critique your own work? What is your process? 

I am in a constant dialog with myself about the pieces I am working on. I analyze them with the elements of art in mind: line, shape, color, value, texture and space. I consider the balance of the piece, contrast within the piece and movement or rhythm among the assembled pieces. After all is considered I then trust my gut. Does the piece please me? Does it do what I wanted it to do? Does it seem authentic to my voice?

What advice would you give to emerging artists?

Work hard, work every day. Then work some more. 

If we were to visit your studio today, what would we find you working on?

I am attaching some works in progress here. In my current work I am exploring 3D forms and cutting older pieces up to reconfigure them. 

Morph II work in progress by Paula
Work in progress by Paula
Paula Kovarik Quote

Kovarik uses her online journal to document her process, share her ideas and tell the stories behind her quilts. You can subscribe to her journal posts to gain further insight into her work.


Browse through more inspiring art quilts and stories on Create Whimsy.


Facebook Comments

Sharing is caring!

5.2K shares
  • Share
  • Tweet

Primary Sidebar

Newest Stories

Grouping of small amurgami space creatures crocheted by Vincent

Spotlight: Vincent Green-Hite, Crochet Designer

Large octupus squish crocheted by Tamara Kelly

Spotlight: Tamara Kelly, Crochet Designer

A woven wall hanging in progress by Allyson Rousseau

Spotlight: Allyson Rousseau, Fiber Artist

Nature Nurture painting by Tawnee Corning

Spotlight: Tawnee Corning, Artist

Popular Posts

Crumb quilting heart postcard

Crumb Quilting

Attic Window finished

Attic Window Quilt Pattern

Finished pojagi window hanging

How to Make a Pojagi Curtain

Embroidery Transfer with a Frixiron pen

7 Ways to Transfer your Embroidery Design to Fabric

Finished jelly roll rug

How to Make a Jelly Roll Rug

Fabric folded and fabric wrapped on comic book boards

Best Fabric Storage Ideas

Free Quilt Patterns

Finished shamrock quilt block

Shamrock Quilt Pattern

Rail fence quilt top sewn together from jelly roll strips

Rail Fence Quilt Pattern

Courthouse Steps final sewn together

Courthouse Steps Quilt Pattern

Crumb quilting heart postcard

Crumb Quilting

quarter log cabin layout option 2

Quarter Log Cabin Quilt Pattern

Wonky Log cabin quilt finished

Wonky Log Cabin Quilt Pattern

You Also Might Like

  • Log Cabin Quilt Pattern
  • Disappearing Four Patch
  • Monkey Wrench Quilt Block
  • Pineapple Quilt Block

More Free Quilt Patterns

Footer

Learn More

  • About
  • Work with Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Browse

  • Occasions
  • Destinations

Makers

Spotlight Stories

Marketing for Makers / Biz Tips

Participate

Copyright © 2023 · Create Whimsy®

5193 shares