As much as I like to write and enjoy words, I dislike trying to put visual art into words. I want everyone to look at a piece, examine it, and study it for themselves. Visual art is expression that requires no words - unless they are written on the art. My art is about whatever comes into my head and keeps returning, what just won't go away until I try to make it visible to others. Everything influences me, everywhere I have lived and each place I have visited. The more time passes, the more influences there are. I am at a stage of life where I am certain that I make art to please me. Now that I live near a river again - the water, the animals near the water, the birds, and the daily weather are all greater influences than in the past. I have a short attention span, a lot of energy, multiple interests, a strong work ethic and a desire to keep making art. My work does not seem highly consistent to those who see it from day to day except for the strong colors I use. I work in groups of three or four projects at a time, and all may look unrelated. I love the technical aspects of working with fiber, and I often get involved in inventing new techniques for the engineering of the work. The important thing is that I enjoy my work, I am compelled to do it, and others seem to get pleasure from seeing it and/or using it. I am sure that I have been influenced by every work of art that I've ever seen - and in my childhood it was mostly Asian art and gardens because they were most available to me. In the 70s and early 80s I particularly admired European art quilters and later in the U.S. those such as Tafi Brown, Jane Burch Cochran, Michael James, Therese May, Miriam Nathan-Roberts, Yvonne Porcella, and Susie Shie. Only when their work began to be published did I realize that there were other fiber artists out there in the U.S.
JUDITH FREDMUND MCIRVIN
Chantilly, VA
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
As a child I spent hours in my grandmother’s sewing room. She was an artist even if she didn't recognize her own talent. Much of the motivation and inspiration for me to develop my own skills with fabric came from early times with her. I was lucky to attend school in Iowa where I had art classes every year, and there were few conflicts there regarding a kid who loved art as well as academics. In my Iowa town kids could spend all day in the library, a park or a museum. In college I studied psychology and philosophy. I took only one art class, but I spent many hours in the art building with students who were studying art. Throughout the following years, as I attended graduate school, worked outside my home and expended my energy on my children, I always "made art". It often involved fabric art of one kind or another and there was always at least one project in progress. I am not really self-taught, since many people have taught me much, but I have little formal art training.
Until July 2000, I lived in the DC metro area and worked as a school psychologist. Quilt making took my mind away from the tragedies I dealt with in my work, but I was also driven to do it. I have been a full time fiber artist since 2001. Since that time I have been much more involved in interacting with other fiber artists - joining and becoming active in professional organizations - and exhibiting more widely. In 2009 my husband and I moved to Colonial Beach VA. Here I have the opportunity to be involved with other artists who work in a variety of media, and I have local opportunities to exhibit.
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
American Craft Council
Colonial Beach Artists' Guild Coordinator of Second Friday Art Walks, Colonial Beach VA
Fiber Art Study Group DC Metro Area
Studio Art Quilt Associates Professional Artist Member
