Colleen Wise
Quilt artist, lecturer, teacher
Quilt art
My quilts are distinctive for their illusion of depth. Leaves seem to float above the surface. Balls bounce and planets swing through their orbits. Architectural elements protrude. It almost seems as if you could reach into the quilt, rather than just look at it.
Beyond the illusion, my quilts have something to say. Each has a story, and its story starts with a title. I repeat this to myself as I work, and it informs my decisions on design, fabrics, even the quilting itself. Each quilt is a collaboration between my Irish story-telling heritage, my engineering problem-solving education and my sewing skills.
Taken as a whole, they reveal my interests in geometry, astronomy, physics and biology. I love every kind of tree. I enjoy walking through old cemeteries. I never miss an opportunity to look through a telescope or a microscope. Or an art museum. I am mesmerized by marbling on fabric.
Please enjoy browsing through my galleries here.
workshops anD LectureS
I’m the author of Casting Shadows: Creating Visual Dimension in Your Quilts (2005, C%T Publishing).
You can bring me to your guild or group via Zoom. I love to share my work and my techniques.
I’m told I’m funny…I will do my best to make you laugh!
Colleen will leave you in stitches!
There are just a few spots left in each session!
UPcoming Workshops
Creative Marbling
2-day Creative Marbling workshop
Join me in the Vancouver WA area for two days of marbling on fabric.
Marbling is the dance of color on the surface of water, captured on fabric. You’ll learn the science of marbling: how to make the size, adjust your paints, and pretreat your fabric. And you’ll practice the art of laying down paint, stirring, combing — and sometimes just ‘reading’ the tray — and waiting to drop your fabric and print that unique moment. You will learn some traditional combing patterns from Turkey and suminagashi techniques from Japan, with lots of room for innovation and creativity.
As a little side show, you can also try out hydro dipping, a kind of marbling done on hard surfaces with solvent-based paint. Suggestions: metal travel mugs, leather shoes, gourds, white bowls, clear plates….
Supplied: Methocel size, marbling tray, alum pretreatment solution, 1/3 yard of treated fabric, whisks and knowledge/experience
Bring: Extra fabric, paints, buckets, gloves and an openness to exploration
Workshops will be held at the WindsRest BrewBarn, 11312 NE 207th Ave, Brush Prairie, Washington 98606. Directions to the BrewBarn here.
Want to see more examples? Check out my marbled fabric gallery!
Session 1: July 28-29, 2022, 9 am to 4 pm
Marbling, Session 1, July 28-29, 2022
Session 2: July 30-31, 2022, 9 am to 4 pm
