This is the second in a series of small quilts about dance. To me, dance symbolizes the energy of life and a sense of freedom. This is a small composition study for a much larger piece (Dancing with the Shadow #1: Harmony). Although the silhouettes were taken from real dancers, this piece is not so much about the dance itself as about the harmony and beauty that can emerge when we combine our positive energies in a creative way.

The silhouettes of the dancers were drawn then scanned into the computer. I used a computer assisted drawing program to manipulate, arrange and color them in the computer to arrive at the final arrangement. The silhouette of each dancer was printed on dye painted cotton fabric, and the individual figures were carefully cut out with embroidery scissors and fused to a background of darker, dye painted fabric. The composition was machine embroidered with cotton thread, and quilted to wool batting. A narrow binding of dye painted fabric completes the composition.

Exhibitions:

• Small Works: The Gallery at Studio B. 1995, (invitational QSDS faculty exhibition) Lancaster, OH
• The Marbaum Collection: 25 Years of Contemporary Quilts, 2008, The Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, OH
• Cream of the Cloth: Quilts from the Marbaum Collection of Hillary & Marvin Fletcher, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, 2010
  

Publications

• THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH, Columbus, OH, June 11, 1995 p. 8F, review by Art Critic Jacqueline Hall - Photo