ARTIST STATEMENT:

My art celebrates the visual drama that is present in the natural world and aims to evoke the emotion, awe and wonder I experience when I first encounter my subjects. Often described as bold and sensual, my work employs contrasts of light and shadow to intensify visual impact. Foliage, trees, flowers, and nature's cycles serve as metaphors for my inner world and for the human condition. I use my art as a means of self-expression and to communicate and connect with the world through universally-understood themes of personal growth, wonder, self-acceptance, loss and healing, joy, and the cycles of life.

BIO:

Elaine Quehl is an award-winning Canadian quilt artist and teacher who specializes in colourful and intricately stitched pieced and appliquéd art quilts. Her quilts are recognizable for their depth and contrast, exuberant colour and abundant texture. Her work has been juried into numerous shows and exhibits at the national and international level. Elaine is in great demand as a teacher, and travels across the country delivering workshops and lectures to colleges, summer art programs, guilds, conferences and shops. She is recognized for her expertise in free-motion machine quilting, fabric dyeing, and many innovative techniques for creating original quilts. Elaine is also a skillled dyer, dyeing most of the fabrics she uses in her works of art. She has been selling her hand-dyed fabrics across North America for the past six years.

Elaine grew up on a farm in Southern Ontario (Waterloo County) where she was surrounded by traditional quilts made by her great grandmothers, grandmothers, and mother. She began her quilting adventure in 1996 as a traditional quilter, but soon found herself seduced by art quilts and became devoted to developing her own artistic abilities in this medium.

Elaine is a member of Studio Art Quilt Associates, the Canadian Quilters Association, and International Quilters Association.