TANGLED FIBERS

Artist Statement
Tangled Fibers is a small group of fiber and mixed media artists who meet regularly to share ideas about art and art-making.

Together we go to museums, galleries, and exhibitions to look at the work of other artists and discuss what we see. We look for exhibition opportunities at regional and national venues appropriate for showing our work. Most importantly, we provide support to each other: encouragement, critique, and feedback, acting as a kind of salon for working out ideas and considering new paths.

Each of us has different skill sets and different areas of interest, allowing us to cross pollinate each other with ideas from various media. We all explore multiple fiber techniques and love to build up layers and combine techniques and materials. When a member learns a new technique, it is shared and discussed. If one of us is in a creative quandary, we can bring that to the group to hash out.

We are: Pat Herkal, beading and embroidery; Barbara Ramsey, quilting, fiber dyeing, and felting; Jean-Marie Tarascio, who combines paper and clay to make sculptures; and Cathie Wier, a weaver and ply-split braid artist. We regularly exhibit our work and are active in our local art community. A recent group collaborative installation is “Flora Fauna Fiber”, where we transformed an alcove window on a busy street corner into an engaging fiber forest. We were then invited to install the forest and additional pieces of art at the Port Townsend Art Experience - the Port Townsend School of the Arts' downtown gallery.