• Sara’s Ark

    When I make wall hangings, I have fun with the process of getting to know the clients who commission them. I begin with asking a series of questions, and each answer leads to more questions. Some of the questions I ask are about childhood experiences, favorite books, fables, and fairy tales, because I believe as adults, we still have deep visual and sensory connections we tap into from time to time. I am interested in childhood sensibilities and evolving influences, and I like to capture those themes in my fabric art pieces.

    Face Jug American Gothic

    Paulette Haywood Ogard, writer and co-author (with Sara Bright, photographer) of Butterflies of Alabama: Glimpses into their Lives, commissioned me to make a large fabric art panel for her home office. I imagined Paulette sitting at her desk, writing, and taking a break to look out into the garden through the french doors to watch the butterflies. I was thrilled that she would ask me to make a wall hanging for her, and my ideas went straight to bright and colorful butterflies. When she said, “No, no, I don’t do butterflies,” I was surprised, and then stuck, because I couldn’t imagine anything else.