Spotlight: Valerie Maser-Flanagan, Fiber Artist

Valerie Maser-Flanagan has been a maker since a young child. She explored a variety of techniques, and eventually focused on making quilts. After exploring traditional quilts, she wanted to learn more about the principles of art. She took a class with Nancy Crow and the rest is history!

What Inspires you to create?

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

I was always a maker of things; even as a child. I was drawn to learning techniques and explored knitting, spinning yarn, natural dyeing, basket making and rug braiding. Yet, I never saw myself as an artist or capable of art.

I eventually narrowed my focus to making quilts. I was a traditional quilter for a number of years. While I still admire traditional quilts, I became interested in studying the principles of art. I asked myself if I could study with any one, who would I want to be my teacher. I immediately knew it was Nancy Crow. What amazed me was that she had an opening in an upcoming class and I jumped at the opportunity. I kept my focus on taking classes with Nancy Crow. In between classes I pushed myself to integrate this new material into my compositions.

When I decided to dye my own fabric, I studied with Carol Sutherland. I then added classes on color and composition with David Hornung. The information taught by these three teachers served to integrate and support the art design principles I was learning.

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

I find it very powerful to work in a series. It provides a structure to maintain a focus and explore the work on a deeper level.

Working in a series has allowed me to make small shifts and see the impact on a piece.  I can explore principles of color, scale and proportion, repetition, dimension, and size, using my central idea. Working in a series has provided me with an approach to develop my own voice as an artist. The great thing about working in a series is that you create a body of work where the pieces relate to each other and look interesting when hung together.

Do you use a sketchbook? 

I rarely use a sketchbook. I find it difficult to express myself with a pencil. This is probably because I haven’t practiced enough. I am very comfortable drawing lines and shapes in fabric with a rotary cutter. I enjoy the process of arranging lines and shapes on a design wall. Through moving them about in numerous positions, I can create ideas faster than through a pencil and paper drawing. I use the ipad to take pictures of each idea and that becomes my sketchbook. I sometimes print them out, cut them up and rearrange them further.

I have learned from Nancy Crow that it is important to have a bank of ideas. With this in mind, I like to create small compositions in black and white using a variety of lines and shapes. These small compositions become a collection of individual ideas that can be combined and expanded into a larger composition. In this manner I do not have the stress of facing a blank design wall without an idea I want to put forth.

That all being said, I admire artists who have beautiful sketchbooks. There have been a few times that I have sketched an idea and it has resulted in fresh material that I have used for a composition. 

Do you plan your work ahead of time, or do you just dive in with your materials and start playing?

I generally have a sense of what I plan to work on. However, I try to stay flexible and may shift course. Quite often I have started with a plan and changed my plan drastically.

Sometimes I am not in the mood for the color palette I have chosen and make a total change to a new palette. I have started a piece and realized that it was not going to achieve the result I was hoping for and made a total shift in the technique I was using. I try to pay attention to small changes happening in a composition that I was not aware of, but once noticed become an important component to focus on.

For example, I was working on the series Leaning Inward and I noticed some dimensionality occurring. This lead me later to create a new series, Up the Rabbit Hole, where dimensionality was the focus of the series.

Do you critique your work?

I do critique my own work. I hold back judgement until I have the composition on the design wall. Then I start to question if the composition is balanced, do the colors work, do the proportions work, does the design seem dynamic. As I sew the composition together and the proportions change, I continually ask these questions.

How do you manage your create time? Do you schedule start and stop times? Or work only when inspired?

I generally maintain a daily schedule of being in my studio. I am a big goal setter and have learned to set realistic measurable goals. I set monthly goals and break them down into weekly goals. I have become good at estimating time and I am usually successful in achieving my goals. If I don’t achieve my objectives, I think about why I didn’t. Often life just happens, unexpected appointments, etc. But at least I can stay honest with myself.

Making art is about doing the work, even if you don’t feel inspired at that moment. Inspiration, for me, often comes from the doing and not passively waiting for the inspiration to hit me. If I am not feeling the drive to start a large piece, I find that making smaller pieces can shift my mood into a creative spirit. Making a quilt is very time consuming and much of that time is spent with the technical skill of constructing the piece. Our time on the design process is often less than the time spent constructing the composition. Making smaller work, such as 12×12 inches provides more opportunities to have design practice. I try to incorporate smaller work or small collages into my studio time to provide this practice and to try out new ideas and to take risks. Sometimes these smaller works become the kernel for a larger body of work.

Do you work on more than one project at a time?

I work on one project at a time and finish it. I do not have UFO’s lying around. If I have a large piece on the design wall and feel a need to take time to study it before making a decision, I may start a collage or a small piece of work. But mostly I push forth in a composition with the understanding that it represents where I was in that moment in time. On a different day I may have made different decisions and created a different composition.

Which part of the design process is your favorite?

Each process has its own unique feel and it is exciting to shift from one process to another.

Hand dyeing is hard work but meditative as I mix the hues in large pots by hand.

Working on a design on the wall is exciting but cognitively demanding but it is the stage where most of the creative decisions are made.

Sewing the components is one of my favorite parts because the seam lines are added and the design becomes neat and tight.

Machine quilting is a lovely meditative process but working on a large piece is also physically demanding as I work on a domestic machine.

The only part I do not enjoy is sewing on the facings and the sleeves. They are a necessary finishing technique but they do not add to the design process.

Can you tell us about the inspiration and process of one of your works? How does a new work come about?

Up the Rabbit Hole is a series that followed my Leaning Inward Series. I was taken with elements of dimension that I noticed in one of the Leaning Inward pieces and made it the focus of the Rabbit Hole series. As this series involves curves, I needed a bit more structure than I usually implement in my design process. After selecting my palette, I laid out the curves using interfacing. I then made each section, knowing that I had some flexibility with how I cut the curves and that I could narrow them down, but basically the structure was established early. 

I love color but it is a challenge for me. In Up the rabbit Hole # 5 it was exciting and surprising to see how the addition of a new color affected the total design. I removed 4-5 sections and replaced them because I did not like how they influenced the design.

How do you know when a piece is finished?

I often put more into a composition then I need and it becomes too busy. I have learned that sometimes it is good to remove some components, even if you love them, to determine if they are necessary and if you miss them when they are removed.

In the composition Structure #3, I had a number of additional components but when I removed them, I felt the composition became simpler and more appealing to me. And yes, I did use the removed components in another composition.

What advice would you give to an aspiring textile artist?

Foremost I would say to work on what you love and not what others tell you to do or what you see other artists focusing on. It is important to have your own focus. This will allow you to go deep into your work and find your own voice.

It is great if you can find a teacher to study with who is right for you and the work you hope to create.

If you decide to enter your work into a juried exhibit, recognize that it is the opinion of that juror whether or not your work is accepted. Another juror in a different exhibit might make a different decision.

Develop realistic, goals that can be measured. Something general such as “work more in my studio” or “get accepted into Visions or Quilt National” are difficult to measure and difficult to break down into smaller goals. More specific goals such as “work in my studio 4 hours a day” Create 3 small compositions 20 x 20 this month may be easier to measure. 

Make a lot of work, knowing that they will not all be successful. Study the pieces that were not successful to understand why. Sometimes a small change can have a strong impact on a design.

What is the best advice you’ve received?

Paraphrased from my first Nancy Crow class: Art is a process of discovery. You need to do the work. Create, fail, and create again. You are gathering a wealth of knowledge and ideas. 

You can learn more about Valerie on her website, and follow her on Instagram.

Interview posted April 2024