Teaching Perspective

I’ve spent time working my own way out of these same places, and while each of us is unique in how we pursue our work, I hope my experience can be a positive guide to those on the search for authenticity in their own work.

Contact Cynthia to schedule a workshop or lecture.

Basic Classes

Seat of the Pants Composition and Construction
Class Description:   3– to 5–Day Workshop
All Levels/Comfortable with Sewing Machine

Challenge yourself! This class is an in-depth exploration of a direct and free-hand approach to composition and construction. Each day we focus on a new series of abstract studies, considering for inspiration everything from traditional quilt blocks to primitive human figures. We consider complex fields, complex forms, and the structure of a composition—in a direct, experiential process. We explore, analyze, and refine to achieve work that is satisfying and fresh.

Small Conversations
Class Description:   2–Day Workshop
All Levels/Comfortable with Sewing Machine

Why not think about composition as a conversation? It is a place to begin. Whether it’s a conversation between the fabrics, shapes or lines, a composition is a conversation between the elements you are interested in. And that can be anything you can think of.

This class reflects the approach I used to create a series of small works called Small Conversations. It is a “user friendly” way to get past those first daunting moments of staring at a blank design wall, and let the composition flow in a natural way.

Over the course of two days, students will explore the possibilities of two different ways of looking at composition as conversation. Small studies will be worked in a series to illustrate how the ideas build from one to another.

Arriving at the Essentials
Class Description:   2– to 3–Day Workshop
All Levels/Comfortable with Sewing Machine

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to START. Getting an idea out and into a working composition can be daunting. An easy way to get rolling is to begin with a picture, or photo, and focus on what is essential to that composition. Then reduce that image to its essentials of line and form to arrive at a completely new composition.

Through the analysis of existing compositions, explore what works and how to make the ideas your own. Students will construct one or more series of small studies based on the essentials they discover in their compositions.

New Directions
Class Description:   4– to 5–Day Workshop
All Levels/Comfortable with Sewing Machine

First the idea! How do you get it? Then what? How do you take an idea through a process that leads to a truly unique quilt—one that communicates who you are and what you want to say as a quiltmaker? This class is for students eager to use what they know about quiltmaking and to take it in new directions— beginning with generating and developing their own ideas, then using an approach to design that culminates in unique and personal work.

Explore your language of quiltmaking—whether it be traditional, ethnic, commemorative, personal, realistic, or abstract. Whether you employ the traditions of stitching or other methods of joining fabric to fabric, fiber to fiber, find ways that develop the character of your own work. The goal is to design quilts that work, that communicate and illustrate each student’s unique personality and vision.

In an encouraging atmosphere, students will explore the use of small studies to find and evolve their ideas. The studies will be preliminary work leading to a final project to be completed in class.

Structure and Variations: Black Fabric Sketch
Class Description:  2– to 5–Day Workshop
All Levels/Comfortable with Sewing Machine

In my own work, I have occasionally used what I term a black fabric sketch. It is a way to compose directly and spontaneously, as well as to see clearly the structure of a composition. Thinking of the technique as “sketching” on black fabric with the rotary cutter, a composition is cut, and then arranged on a design wall. The black fabric sketch becomes the pattern for a series of studies and variations, as well as a visual aid to composition

The emphasis is on variations. Each student will compose a minimum of two black fabric sketches. These will be the basis for a series of studies, carrying each composition through systematic variations, and exploring a wide variety of fabrics—from solids, hand dyed/painted, to commercially printed fabrics. Studies will be based on explorations of value relationships, pattern scale relationships, color, adding complexity in field and form, and construction techniques.

Intermediate to Advanced Classes

Finding Abstract Form
Class Description:   3– to 5–Day Workshop
Intermediate to Advanced

The goal is to create powerful, evocative abstract forms, and use them successfully in our work. Through my own exploration, I have come to think of abstract form in terms of identifiable form, and un-identifiable form. Or quite simply, stuff that looks like what it might be, and stuff that doesn’t.

We will consider such subject matter as the human figure, landscapes, arrangements of geometric forms, or the singular beauty of a line. We are going to explore the possibilities—with careful attention to line, balance, scale, color and value, and relying heavily on gut instinct and intuition.

Emerging Style
Class Description:   3– to 5–Day Workshop
Intermediate to Advanced

What is it that defines an artist’s style? I think it is a combination of the ways they like to work, the materials they like to work with, and the subject matter they are interested in. It can be influenced by the colors they prefer, the way they make a line, and probably what they had for breakfast. (I like oatmeal.) In short, style results from who we are and what we care about. And it develops over time, mostly when we are not looking.

To keep growing as an artist, it is always good to stretch the possibilities. In a series of studies, we will work with our favorites—colors, subjects, shapes—and explore their opposites. We will pay attention to what is strong in our compositions, and what is weak.

We will concentrate on translating ideas into fabric, pulling for a sense of meaning that is not obvious, not automatic, but unexpected and surprising—something that demonstrates who we are as individual artists.

To Be Continued
Class Description:   4– to 5–Day Workshop
Intermediate to Advanced

Think of the work you create as a conversation between you and the fabric. It is exploration, experimentation, and practice, practice, practice. You could also say it is process, process, process—turning your own ideas into successful work.

This class is designed for those students ready for more challenging, independent and focused study, and problem solving critique. While it is perfect for returning students, it is open to any experienced student ready to take the plunge.

The content for this class will change and evolve, reflecting the study and practice I pursue in my own work. We will also draw on exercises from all of my classes—as the needs demand. It is designed as a process class, focused on continued and fresh exploration. As always, the goal is the refinement and clarification of individual work.

Daily studies will be preliminary work for a final project to be completed in class.

Current Lectures

Bread Crumbs or Sign Posts: Finding a Way

I’ve decided that there is no right or wrong way to go about it, and this lecture reflects the convoluted path I have taken. I focus on my own process—asking questions of the work I do, and using the work to find the answers. It’s all about the process, the experimentation, and even the mistakes.

  All the Bad Quilts

And don’t worry, I’ve thrown in a few slides of successful work so we won’t get too depressed. What the heck is bad, anyway?