Artist Bio

It never occurred to me to be anything but an artist.

I guess that working in textiles and creating my marks on a sewing machine was in my DNA. At the tender age of seven, one of my first projects - a pot holder created on my mother's sewing machine- was embellished with a thread drawing of a man. After all these years I am still perfecting that same technique.

My interest in fiber as a medium grew in earnest across my teens. I tried macramé, sculptural crochet, hand embroidery, and weaving.

By the time I entered college, I was sure that I wanted to be a weaver. Two semesters of weaving classes convinced me otherwise. Instead, I returned to my sewing machine, making line drawings with thread.

After college, I focused on crochet and knitting, trying to eke out a living producing one-of-a kind sweaters and hats. About this time I joined a crafts cooperative in Blowing Rock, NC, where among other things, I met my future husband, Randy. At that time, Randy's kiln-fired glass business had become more time-consuming than he could handle, and I began working in glass. As the heady 80's ended and the glass business slowed, my thoughts returned to fabric. I began making art quilts, quilted jackets and vests. In 1992 I became a member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild. It became very clear to me that I had at last found my medium. I have since broadened my work to include hand-dyeing and printing.

Currently, my work reflects my love of nature and the wonder of spiritual possibilities.

FIBER ARTIST SINCE 1974. FULL-TIME SINCE 1991.

EDUCATION

APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY
BA, Art Marketing, 1987 (Minor in Fashion)

SELECTED HONORS

  • Third Place, Annual Florida Craftsmen Membership Show, St Petersburg, FL 2011
  • Honorable Mention, "Go Green", FSU Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, FL 2008
  • Third Place, Regional Arts Competition, Mazie Jones Gallery, Boone, NC, 2000
  • Juried member of Piedmont Craftsmen, 2000
  • Front Cover, Making Handbags and Purses, Carol Parks, 1998
  • Invited to make Ornament for White House Christmas Tree, 1994
  • Juried member of Southern Highland Craft Guild, 1992

PUBLICATIONS

  • Simple Contemporary Quilts: Bold New Designs for the First-Time Quilter, 2007, Valerie Van Arsdale Shrader (ed.), Lark Books (Random House)
  • Quick and Easy Vests and Jackets, Mathews, K. (ed), Lark Books (Random House) p. 83,108-109.
  • Swing, K. J. (1999). Tips for Embroidery Embellishments on the Sewing Machine, Quilt Almanac, p.
    29, 113.
  • Weekend Sewer's Guide to Dresses, Mathews, K (ed), Lark Books (Random House), p. 76-78, 132-134.
  • Guide to Blouses, Mathews, K. (ed), Lark Books (Random House), p. 100.
  • Making Handbags and Purses, Parks, C. (ed), Lark Books, p.10-11, 16-17, 87-88, 110-111.
  • Perennial English Garden, in Fiberarts Design Book V, Janeiro, J. & Larsen, J. L., Lark Books, 1995 p. 57.
  • Make Your Own Great Vests, Parks, C. (1995). Sterling/Lark Books p. 74-75.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

  • Southeastern Decorative Fiber, Sawtooth Center, Winston-Salem, NC. June- August, 2006
  • Power of Excellence, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Crafts, Winston-Salem, NC.
    October 2004 - January 2005.
  • 75th Anniversary Exhibition, Southern Highland Craft Guild, Arrowmont School of Arts and
    Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN. 2005
  • Variations on a Theme, Brevard College, Brevard, NC. September 2004.
  • Solo Show, Mazie Jones Gallery. Boone, NC. September, 2003.
  • ReConnecting. University of North Carolina-Asheville, Asheville, NC. March 2003.
  • Invitational Show. Brevard College, Brevard, NC. February, 2003.
  • Georgia O'Keeffe Theme Juried Show, Thirteen Moons Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, June - July, 2000.
  • Focus Gallery (2 person show), Folkart Center. Asheville, NC. June - July 1998.
  • Spotlight 97, American Craft Council Southeast Region Juried Show. Hickory Museum, Hickory, NC. June 21 - August 3, 1997.
  • Solo Show, Wilkes Art Gallery. North Wilkesboro, NC. May 5 - 31, 1997
  • Crafts of the Southern Highlands, William King Regional Arts Center. Abingdon, VA, September - December, 1996.
  • Rhythms of Nature, Rhythms of Life, Solo Show, Mazie Jones Gallery, Boone, NC, December, 1996

GALLERIES

  • Piedmont Craftsmen, Winston-Salem, NC. Since 2001
  • Craft Shop, John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC. Since 1998
  • Hand in Hand Gallery, Flat Rock, NC. Since 2001

JURIED MEMBERSHIPS

  • Piedmont Craftsmen, Winston Salem, North Carolina. 2000 -
  • Southern Highland Craft Guild, Asheville, North Carolina. 1992 -

PROFESSIONAL

  • Gallery Coordinator, Transylvania Community Arts Council, June 2005-October 2007
  • John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC since 1996
  • Machine Quilting and Embroidery (week-long intensive workshop). 1996 -
  • Designing Your Own Fabric (week-long intensive workshop). 1998 - 2006)

© Copyright 2012 - Karen James Swing - Tallahassee, FL - Karen.Swing@gmail.com