about kris

Kris was born at a young age.............

Yes, I was born at quite a young age...wasn't everyone? I used to build  teepees out of rags on a little island in the brook behind our house. There I spent lots of time looking into the water and finding little larval insects under the rocks. Sometimes my dad would take me for walks in the woods and point out different kinds of trees and where there had been injuries to the tree, and what had caused them. I really liked the big old white pine trees where I read books in my treehouse (it was nothing more than a few boards laid across two or three large limbs). These early beginnings in the Adirondacks led to my love of nature and the tiniest bits of beauty that can be found when you carefully observe.

Later, while teaching science to all the fourth graders in Whitehall, I could be heard remindng them that the first job of a scientist is to observe and record. The kindergarteners called me the butterfly lady because they could see the "cages" of monarchs we had hanging from the ceiling in the fall. The students had fed the caterpillars loads of milkweed leaves, and watched them make their chrysalises and hatch out as orange and black butterlfies. In the spring our classroom had three or four plastic wading pools of crayfish. The students wrote wonderful stories about the adventures of crayfish, but only after they had carefully drawn both the top and bottom of the little critter. We placed them in clear plastic shoe box containers so we could see their undersides.
 
What's this all got to do with quilts? Well, it should give you an idea of my love of nature and desire to see all the details that has led me to do the same thing with fabric. I call myself a fabric artist because I love the fabric, and it never looks like a piece of pink material. I look for pattern and movement, and luster, and all the hues of color. The fabric is my inspiration with all its minute intrcacies which I then attempt to accent. The other part of my designing has to do with shape and form. As I mentioned on the sculpture page, I wanted to build, but my five brothers got to use all the woodworking tools while I did the child care, cleaned the house, and learned to sew. I missed learning to cook as Mom liked that, and I cleaned up after her. Anyway, I didn't get to build then, but I attempt to build now ... with fabric! I seem to like both geometric and organic forms. I'm quite sure that if I could figure out how to make the fabric get up and dance, I would. Perhaps kinetic sculptures will be in my future.

I think I would have liked being an architect, but I was still stuck with the idea that girls could be teachers, secretaries, or nurses. Pretty small-minded, I guess, but that's how I was. Teaching was very good for me, and I was pretty good for it, too. I love children and encouraging them to delve into all the wonderful things to learn. Now I get to teach how much fun it is to put fabrics together in fascinating ways.
MORE LATER...