I am really pleased that I have been invited to become a "Guest Blogger". I have been interested in creating different types of art work ever since I was a child. I taught watercolour and oils here in Calgary for 20 years and then branched out into fabric painting.
I have also done a number of other ‘artsy’ things over the years – to name a few: stained glass, copper tooling, clay hand building, designing my own jewelry from copper, silver and brass – and many more crafts over the years. In 2000 I became interested in fabric painting and painted many full-sized or queen-sized quilts.
I slowly branched into doing original fabric landscapes and have taught at many guilds and quilt stores in Calgary and other parts of Alberta. I became very interested in thread painting, and now incorporate rough edged applique, fabric painting and thread painting in my work. I love to teach, and as a result I opened the Learningfa yahoo group which gives free classes to its members. I teach the art quilt classes and some of our Traditional Quilters teach traditional blocks and quilts. I also do tutorials on my blog at least once a month.
I have donated my landscapes for the past 5 years, to ‘The Quilt’ for Cancer support – the quilts are auctioned in different cities across Canada. This past year I have become involved with Wellspring – a Cancer support group – having donated some of my quilts to raise funds for their wonderful group.
My art is my passion and my greatest joy is sharing what I know with those who want to learn. As I am self taught, I have some ‘different’ ways to accomplish these goals.
Shirley Paterson, Calgary, Alberta.
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