Artist Spotlight: Lori Nichols, Fiber
Welcome to Moss Rock Festival’s Artist Spotlight blog post series. Stay tuned for sneak peeks into some of the great creative talent that will be exhibiting at the eco-creative festival on Novemeber 5 & 6, 2011 at The Preserve in Hoover. We hope to see you all there for Nature, Eco-Ideas, Art + Design. It’s going to be a beautiful weekend. We’ve even arranged for some colorful fall foliage.
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Artist Spotlight Interview
Lori Nichols
Medium
Fiber
During Moss Rock Festival, you’ll find Lori at Booth 218.
Check out Lori’s artist page on our website
http://mossrockfestival.com/2011/09/09/lori-nichols/
What influenced your career path as an visual artist?
From as early as I can remember I was surrounded by incredible materials. My mother is an artist and also taught art so I was constantly playing with scratch board, watercolors, linoleum blocks for printmaking, clay and other great materials just lying around the house.
What kind of work will you be exhibiting for sale at Moss Rock Festival?
I will be exhibiting wool toys, ornaments and soft-sculpture fiber art as well as handcrafted bracelet cuffs and scarfs from the scraps off my studio floor!
Tell us a little bit about your creative process.
I am an illustrator by trade and have just gotten an offer for my first children’s book to be published. My toys and softies are mostly 3D creations from my illustrations. I’ll come up with a drawing for a book and then tweak it and create a pattern for it. Once I’ve created a pattern I cut it out of cereal boxes. I like to find wool coating and materials from the thrift store and yard sales. I’ll felt the wool in hot water, cut out the pattern, and then hand and machine sew them. I am also extremely inspired by nature and you’ll find acorns and tree bark on many of my critters.
How is your work inspired by nature?
I like to look at objects in nature and playfully see them as something else. Acorns become eyes, tree bark will become feathers, etc. I like to use upcycled wool. I also grew up with a mother that had a love affair with trees. She was constantly painting trees and nature. I was usually beside her, always barefoot and outside. The outside world has always been where I have felt most comfortable.
How can people find out more about you?
http://www.etsy.com/people/
Image courtesy of Artist.
