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A brown pelican poised on the wind's lip |
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Kathleen Field Background : Collections : Influences Background Born in Chicago, raised in Lake Forest, Illinois, and yes, I am still here. Living in a house across the street from the house where Dave Eggers lived, as he mentions in A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. In 1972, I graduated from Marquette University with a BA in English and History. I taught fifth grade in an economically depressed area for a number of years. Towards the end of my teaching career, I had three babies within a span of eighteen months, two came at once, that was in 1983-84. People often ask if I learned to quilt at my grandmother's knee. Wish I could say that I did, but this is something I discovered quite independently. In 1985, I purchased a four poster bed for my oldest daughter, Emily, and I wanted to make her a quilt. Since I had never sewn before, I had no idea the magnitude of the task I was about to undertake. I went into a fabric store and picked a quilt off the wall to make. Over the next few weeks I was submerged in the world of fabrics, patterns, and tools. And when Emily's quilt was finished, I realized I had found my vocation. So, for the next several years, I studied the techniques and skills of quilting, albeit by machine and not by hand. From the local art fairs, such as the Deerpath Fall Festival of Art in Lake Forest and the Port Clinton Art Fair in Highland Park, Illinois, I began displaying my quilts. Two years later, in 1987, David Lipschutz encountered me at the Custer Street Art Fair and asked if I would like to hang my quilts in his vegetarian restaurant, the Blind Faith Cafe, in Evanston. And a beautiful romance began – my quilts with his walls. Having been raised by a strict, first-generation American mother and taught by the nuns, I obeyed every rule - as I did in my quilting – making over two thousand traditionally pieced quilts with a contemporary flavor from 1985 to 1993. A significant departure occurred in 1993 – I began a series of chair quilts - all styles of chairs, comprised of commercial fabrics on hand-dyed backgrounds. Many great painters of the past and present incorporate chairs in their work and it was this painterly quality that I wanted to evoke in fabric. In 1996, the College of Lake County commissioned me to make a large triptych (7'x21') of chairs for their new campus. Influenced by David Hockney and Henri Matisse, I incorporated my chairs into room settings 1994-1995 – a great many with windows and vases of flowers. Several of these quilts are in the Chair Gallery. | ||||||||||||
In 1995, I helped to make the 10th anniversary quilt for Chicago House, an agency finding housing for those with HIV. The 12' x 12' quilt was displayed in Washington, D.C. in 1996, along with all the quilt panels from the AIDS Memorial qulit, the last time ever for all the panels to be shown together. Its home is now with the NAMES Project in San Francisco, CA. With the planting of my perennial garden, it was natural for me to move outdoors with my work - capturing fountains, forest gardens, and botanic samplers with a medieval feel. A few of these can be viewed in the Botanical Gallery. | ||||||||||||
In 1997, I got sick, yet continued to make quilts. In August of 1998, I made "A Year Less Well Traveled," a quilt depicting my year of breast cancer treatment. During this time, I saved a quote made by Lauren Hutton, concerning a subject dear to women breast cancer survivors and I made "Lauren Hutton, Silence". Personal and family issues led to a self-imposed sabbatical from 1998-1999, a year which culminated in a thematic change in my work. Inspired by images and text, I transfer these by enlarging, reducing and manipulating. I, then, combine these to form a quilted union of color and composition. From this, I conceived my series "Pages Torn." In 2000, a workshop by Jonathan Talbot, enabled me to create, "Pages Torn, Part 2". | ||||||||||||
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Collections & Exhibitions Selected exhibitions: 
Themed traveling quilt shows are an excellent way to showcase the work of fiber artists. My first traveling show was called "Calendar Girls" - a show involving the months of the year. Since I was the last to sign up, I was left with September. The obvious Labor Day theme was not me, so I chose to make one on the fall equinox. The quilt originally made for the show is very small, 20" x 22", so I chose to make a larger version, Fall Equinox II. | ||||||||||||
The second invitation I received was for a show called "Alphabet Soup", not wanting to be last again, I immediately responded and chose the letter "P", thinking, of course, of split pea soup. However, the show's name was later changed to "Character Traits" and each letter was to be predominately displayed. So split pea soup didn't make sense anymore. After consulting with a friend about "p" possibilities, the word puppet came up in conversation and I thought back to childhood of puppet theaters. And "Punch and Judy" came into being. | ||||||||||||
In 1997, my critique group FACET, initiated a show called "Windy City Blues." My quilt is called "The Invitation." I chose for my subject the Newberry Library, inspired by a poem written by a friend. On an overcast day I took 48 photos of the library and had them enlarged and then enlarged again. And made my first collage. This was done just in time, the library's façade has since been powerwashed and I could not have captured the same essence as when the poem was written. "Windy City Blues" is continuing to travel from Colorado to Florida to Chicago. | ||||||||||||
A new challenge was launched by the Museum of American Quilter's Society in Paducah, KY in the spring of 2000 for FACET to create a new traveling show and thus, "Narrative Portraits" was conceived. The show is currently travling around the country. My piece is called, "Advocate to Christ". | ||||||||||||
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2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
Selected Collections:
Influences & Other Favorites
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