Roxanne Brown

Encircle, 2023

Cotton fabric, Sewing threads, Fusible fleece as Stabilizing layer

10 x 8 inches; framed: 11.5 x 9.5 inches

Courtesy of the artist

www.roxannebrownart.wixsite.com/site, @rbrown8383

A daily dose of fabric, threads, and yarn is nearly as essential to me as breathing. For as long as I can remember, I have sought out the tactile satisfaction of creating with fibers. I am mostly self-taught, but completed a 2-year fiber program at the Worcester Center for Crafts (Worcester, MA) in the early 1990's. Upon graduation, I received the annual David Morreale memorial award for outstanding achievement. I returned to full-time attention to my art in mid-2021. My present work focuses on "thread painting" with a sewing machine. The natural world is my constant inspiration. Texture and close-up details catch my eye: for instance, the vein patterns of leaves illuminated by the sun. I constantly explore how to depict the textures and colors and majestic emotions of the natural world with fiber as my medium. I most often begin with one of my own photographs, enlarged and perhaps digitally manipulated to better understand light and shadows. As the stitching begins, some "editing" happens as the thread layers build onto one another. Each piece develops in its own way and, like nature, is never entirely predictable.