Artist statement

Member PT Gallery - a cooperative - since 2021
715 Water Street
Port Townsend, WA

Member Peninsula Fiber Artists since 2017

I am a bead and fiber artist creating critters, vessels, jewelry and wall art. I have participated in juried shows around the Olympic peninsula since moving from Wyoming to Port Townsend in 2004. I was invited to show at Grover Gallery in PT, Port Angeles Fine Art Center and the Quilt and Fiber Museum in LaConner. I have been in juried shows at Northwind Arts in PT, Vashon Island Center for the Arts, Collective Visions Gallery in Bremerton and Schack in Everette.

I am passionate about birds, not a “birder” but always aware of birds in the yard, when out walking and when traveling. I use photographs in books and magazines to create my patterns. My birds are made with scraps of silk kimono or with pages from discontinued upholstery sample books and from found objects.

l layer fabric with thread, beads, trinkets, shells, stones and found objects. Pieces are mostly hand sewn and embellished with embroidery and by stitching one bead at a time.
There can never be enough color in my world. My philosophy is More is Not Enough. When people see my work, I hope it makes them smile.

BIO

I was raised as an army brat, moving frequently on the east coast and in France. My passion has been fiber ever since my grandmother taught me to embroider and to crochet rag rugs when I was five.

My husband and I raised our two daughters in Riverton, Wyoming on the Wind River Reservation. I was active in the art and fiber community creating, volunteering and participating in craft fairs around the Rockies. My main focus was weaving and quilting.

Port Townsend, Washington has been our forever home since 2004. Here I discovered beads and bead embroidery and they have taken over my life! I am a member of the Port Townsend Gallery, belong to the Surface Design Association and am inspired and challenged as a member of Tangled Fibers - tangledfibers.weebly.com

Follow me on instagram  @patherkalbeads